Plant bioacoustics

Plant bioacoustics refers to the creation of sound waves by plants. Measured sound emissions by plants as well as differential germination rates, growth rates and behavioral modifications in response to sound are well documented. Plants detect neighbors by means other than well-established communicative signals including volatile chemicals, light detection, direct contact and root signaling. Because sound waves travel efficiently through soil and can be produced with minimal energy expenditure, plants may use sound as a means for interpreting their environment and surroundings. Preliminary evidence supports that plants create sound in root tips when cell walls break. Because plant roots respond only to sound waves at frequencies which match waves emitted by the plants themselves, it is likely that plants can receive and transduce sound vibrations into signals to elicit behavioral modifications as a form of below ground communication.
Buzz pollination, or sonication, serves as an example of a behavioral response to specific frequencies of vibrations in plants. Some 2000 plants species, including "Dodecatheon" and "Heliamphora" have evolved buzz pollination in which they release pollen from anthers only when vibrated at a certain frequency created exclusively by bee flight muscles. The vibrations cause pollen granules to gain kinetic energy and escape from pores in the anthers.
Similar to buzz pollination, there's a species of evening primrose that has shown to respond to bee wing beats and sounds of similar frequencies by producing sweeter nectar. "Oenothera drummondii" (beach evening primrose) is a perennial subshrub native to the Southeastern United States, but has become naturalized on almost every continent. The plant grows among costal dunes and sandy environments. It has been discovered that "O. drummondii" flowers produce significantly sweeter nectar within three minutes when exposed to bee wingbeats and artificial sounds containing similar frequencies. A possibility for this behavior is the fact that if the plant can sense when a pollinator is nearby, there is a high probability another pollinator will be in the area momentarily. In order to increase the chance of pollination, nectar with a higher sugar concentration is produced. It has been hypothesized that the flower serves as the “ear” which contains mechanoreceptors on the plasma membranes of the cells to detect mechanical vibration. A possible mechanism behind this is the activation of mechanoreceptors by sound waves, which causes a flux of Ca2+ into the plant cell causing it to depolarize Because of the specific frequencies produced by the pollinators’ wings, perhaps only a distinct amount of Ca2+ enters the cell, which would ultimately determine the plant hormones and expression of genes involved in the downstream effect. Research has shown that there is a calmodulin-like gene that could be a sensor of Ca2+ concentrations in cells, therefore amounts of Ca2+ in a plant cell could have substantial effects over the response of a stimuli. Due to the hormones and genes expressed in the petals of the flower, the transport of sugar into the nectar was increased by about 20%, giving it a higher concentration than compared to the nectar of flowers that were exposed to higher frequencies or no sound at all. An LDV (Laser Doppler vibrometer) was used to determine if the recordings would result in vibration of the petals. Petal velocity was shown in response to a honey bee and moth sound signal as well as low frequency feedbacks, but not high frequency feedbacks. Sugar concentrations of nectar was measured before and after the plants were exposed to sound; significant increase in sugar concentration was only observed when the low frequency (similar to bee wingbeats) and bee sounds were played. To validate that the flower was the organ sensing the vibration of the pollinator, an experiment was ran where the flowers were covered with a glass jar, while the rest of the plant was exposed. Sugar concentration of nectar showed no significant difference before and after the low frequency sound was played. If petals act like the ears of the plant, then there must be natural selection on the mechanical parameters of the flower. Its resonance frequency depends on size, shape and density. When comparing the traits of plants based on their pollinators, there is a pattern between the shapes of flowers with “noisy” pollinators. Bees, birds and butterflies – the flowers they pollinate all correspond to having bowl-shaped/tubular flowers.
Plants emit audio acoustic emissions between 10–240 Hz as well as ultrasonic acoustic emissions (UAE) within 20–300 kHz. Evidence for plant mechanosensory abilities are shown when roots are subjected to unidirectional 220 Hz sound and subsequently grow in the direction of the vibration source. Using electrograph vibrational detection, structured sound wave emissions were detected along the elongation zone of root tips of corn plants in the form of loud and frequent clicks. When plants are isolated from contact, chemical, and light signal exchange with neighboring plants they are still able to sense their neighbors and detect relatives through alternative mechanisms, among which sound vibrations could play an important role. Furthermore, ultrasonic acoustic emissions (UAE) have been detected in a range of different plants which result from collapsing water columns under high tension. UAE studies show different frequencies of sound emissions based on whether or not drought conditions are present. Whether or not UAE are used by plants as a communication mechanism is not known.
Although the explicit mechanisms through which sound emissions are created and detected in plants are not known, there are theories which shed light on possible mechanisms. Mechanical vibrations caused by charged cell membranes and walls is a leading hypothesis for acoustic emission generation. Myosins and other mechanochemical enzymes which use chemical energy in the form of ATP to produce mechanical vibrations in cells may also contribute to sound wave generation in plant cells. These mechanisms may lead to overall nanomechanical oscillations of cytoskeletal components, which can generate both low and high frequency vibrations.


Pittosporum brevispinum

Pittosporum brevispinum is a species of plant in the Pittosporaceae family. It is endemic to New Caledonia.


Lithophragma cymbalaria

Lithophragma cymbalaria is a species of flowering plant in the saxifrage family known by the common name mission woodland star.
It is endemic to California, where it is known from moist, shady habitat in the California Coast Ranges and canyons from the San Francisco Bay Area to the Transverse Ranges in the Los Angeles region, and the northern Channel Islands of California.
Description.
"Lithophragma cymbalaria" is a rhizomatous perennial herb growing erect or leaning with a slender naked flowering stem. The small leaves are mostly located on the lower part of the stem, each divided into three rounded lobes.
The stem bears 2 to 8 flowers, each in a cuplike calyx of red or green sepals. The five petals are white, under one centimeter long, and smooth along the edges or very shallowly toothed.


Bitterbark

Bitterbark or bitter bark is a common name for several species of plants and may refer to:


Festuca polesica

Festuca polesica is a species of grass, a perennial bunchgrass native to the sand dunes of northern Europe.


Corymbioideae


Tripsacum dactyloides

Tripsacum dactyloides, commonly called eastern gamagrass,or Fakahatchee grass, is a warm-season, sod-forming bunch grass. It is widespread in the Western Hemisphere, native from the eastern United States to northern South America. Its natural habitat is in sunny moist areas, such as along watercourses and in wet prairies. In some areas, it has adapted well to disturbed conditions.
Eastern gamagrass is a widely cultivated for its use as forage.
Description.
Usually gamagrass grows to a height of , but it can be as high as . "Tripsacum dactyloides" is one of the species in the family Poaceae, tribe Andropogoneae, and subtribe "Tripsacinae". As the plant is a distant relative of corn, it shares common subtribes with the "Zea mays" corn species.
Roots: Eastern gamagrass has several short, fibrous, thick rhizomes. Eastern gamagrass can survive droughts and floods for a long time because of its rigid and thick rhizomatous roots which firmly holding the plant upright. The deep and hollow roots of the plant branch out from lower nodes.
Leaves: Since the grass has short internodes, all the leaves grow out from the plant's base. Each clump's diameter can increase up to .
The stems and leaves have a purplish color and are glabrous. The glabrous leaf-blade is around long, wide and has hairs at the base. The distinct midrib leaves of gamagrass can grow up to a height of and a width of .
Flowers: The flowers of eastern gamagrass, which blooms from late March to early October, consist of spikes made up of female and male spikelets. "Tripsacum dactyloides" has separate female and male flowers on the same individual making it a monoecious plant. The inflorescence of the terminal axillary bud is long. The type of inflorescence is usually a single raceme or a panicle with a combination of two to three unisexual single racemes.
Fruits: The seed-producing season of the grass is from June to September. The seeds mature disproportionally and production is commonly slow. The joints of the seedhead break into two as the fruit matures and each seed-bearing part contains one seed. The size of the seedhead can range from 6 to 10 inches. Usually spikelets of grass assist reproduction by holding the grain and fruit. When the mature female spikelets are destroyed they separate like pop-beads.
Distribution.
"Tripsacum dactyloides" is widely spread throughout the United States, from Connecticut to Nebraska and south to Florida and Texas. It is also found as far south as South America, in Paraguay and Brazil. The plant has been cultivated outside of its native range in the southwestern United States and elsewhere.
Cultivation.
The best growing conditions for eastern gamagrass are provided by wet land, such as floodplains along riverbanks. Moreover, moist, nonalkaline lowland areas will maintain the growth of gamagrass because the land can endure a longer time under flood conditions. The soil that is most suitable for eastern gamagrass is moist, little drained fertile soil that has an annual precipitation of and a pH of 5.5 to 7.5.
"Tripsacum dactyloides" can tolerate a maximum of three weeks of flooding without dying. The deep roots, which extend to around underground, are the key structure that allows gamagrass to tolerate drought.
Uses.
Eastern gamagrass was widely considered a high class feedcrop among the early settlers of the United States. However, it started to disappear because of grain crops and cattle grazing. Around the late 1980s and early 1990s, people started to pay attention again to eastern gamagrass as a good productive forage in summer, since it is productive, palatable and easily digestible by almost all cattle. For these reasons, gamagrass is ideally suitable for feed crops, including hay and pasture forage for which rotation of grazing seasons is controlled. It is used as forage because the growing season of the grass is earlier compared to other warm-season grasses and later compared to cool-season grass and legumes. Eastern gamagrass requires a moderate amount of carbohydrates stored in the leaf bases for regrowth. If the plant is grazed before carbohydrate accumulates in the leaf bases the plant will die from overgrazing.
Gamagrass is also suitable as a wildlife habitat. Hollow space in the middle of dispersed bundles and the tented canopy created by the leaves growing from the rhizomes and dropping into the middle make the plant an attractive location for wildlife. For example, the empty space in the middle of bundles is large enough for wild animals like quails and prairie chickens to build nests. Moreover, the grass provides good cover during the winter for grassland sparrows.
Gamagrass grows from mid-April to mid-September. This is a little earlier in the year compared to other native warm-season grasses like big bluestem, ("Andropogon gerardi") and switch grass, ("Panicum virgatum"). The high relative yield of gamagrass in summer is the major reason why this grass is a good feedcrop when cool-season grasses ("tall fescue") are undeveloped.
Genetics.
Hybrids have been created by combining "Zea mays" and the octoploid (2"n" = 72) form of "T. dactyloides".


Nepenthes palawanensis

Nepenthes palawanensis is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sultan Peak on the island of Palawan in the Philippines, where it grows at elevations of 1100–1236 m above sea level. It was discovered in February 2010 by Jehson Cervancia and Stewart McPherson.
The species appears to be most closely related to "N. attenboroughii", which grows on nearby Mount Victoria. "Nepenthes palawanensis" can be distinguished from "N. attenboroughii" by its pitchers, which are even larger, sometimes exceeding 35 cm in height, and with a capacity of 1.5–2 litres of water. (The largest pitchers remain those of "N. rajah".) Another difference from "N. attenboroughii" is that the pitchers of "N. palawanensis" are lined with orange to red hairs.
"Nepenthes palawanensis" was featured as number 4 on Chris Packham's "top ten discoveries of extraordinary and weird new species from the last decade" on the BBC programme "Decade of Discovery", first broadcast on December 14, 2010.
The discovery of "N. attenboroughii", by a team that included McPherson, helped to obtain local support for the protection of the Mount Victoria range; following the discovery of "N. palawanensis", it was hoped that similar support for the Sultan range might result. To date, neither mountain has been afforded protected status.
"Nepenthes palawanensis" forms natural hybrids with a taxon resembling "N. philippinensis".


Ozothamnus hookeri

Ozothamnus hookeri, commonly known as kerosene bush, is an aromatic shrub species, endemic to Australia. It grows to between 0.5 and 1 metre in height and has white-tomentose branchlets. The scale-like leaves are 4 to 5 mm long and 0.5 to 1 mm wide. These are green on the upper surface, and white tomentose below. The flower heads appear in dense clusters in summer and autumn The species occurs in boggy sites and subalpine heathland New South Wales and Tasmania.
The species was formally described in 1853 by German botanist Otto Wilhelm Sonder.


Acer hyrcanum

Acer hyrcanum is a maple species sometimes referred to as Balkan maple. It grows in southeastern Europe and western Asia.
"Acer hyrcanum" is a deciduous tree up to 15 meters (50 feet) tall. Leaves are up to 4 cm (1.6 inches) across, usually 5-lobed but occasionally with only 3 lobes, dark green on top, lighter green underneath because of a layer of wax.


Nephrocytium

Nephrocytium is a genus of green algae in the family Oocystaceae.


Euonymus lanceifolia

Euonymus lanceifolia is a species of plant in the family Celastraceae. It is endemic to China.


Alyssum desertorum

Alyssum desertorum is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common name desert madwort. It is native to Europe, north Africa and Asia, and it is found in parts of western North America as an introduced species and sometimes a weed. This is a hairy annual herb producing upright stems up to about 20 centimeters tall. The leaves are linear to oblanceolate-linear in shape, 0.5-4 millimeters long and 0.3-3 millimeters wide. The entire plant is covered by 8-20 rayed stellate trichomes, giving the plant a grayish appearance. It produces small yellowish flowers with petals that are 2-2.5 millimeters long and round, notched fruits 2.5-4.5 millimeters long. The brown seeds are winged, arranged two to a locule, and are about 1.5 millimeters long.
Pronghorn antelope eat this plant in the winter. Western harvester ants have been recorded harvesting the seeds in Wyoming.


Gentiana triflora

Gentiana triflora (三花龙胆 san hua long dan in Chinese, called clustered gentian in English) is a tall, flowering perennial plant in the genus "Gentiana" native to higher-elevation (600–1000 m) meadows and forests of China (Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol), Mongolia, Eastern Russia, Korea and Japan.
Gentian blue petals predominantly contain the unusually blue and stable anthocyanin gentiodelphin (delphinidin 3-O-glucosyl-5-O-(6-O-caffeoyl-glucosyl)-3′-O-(6-O-caffeoyl-glucoside)).


Fuchsia corymbiflora

Fuchsia corymbiflora is a species of shrub in the family Onagraceae. It is endemic to Peru, and was first introduced to the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew in 1840.
Etymology.
"Fuchsia" is named for Leonhart Fuchs [1501-66], a renaissance botanist and professor at Tübingen. "Corymbiflora" means 'with flowers arranged in flat-topped heads (corymbs)'.


Euonymus carnosus

Euonymus carnosus, called the fleshyflowered spindletree, is a species of flowering plant in the genus "Euonymus", native to southeast and southcentral China, Taiwan, the Bonin Islands, the Ryukyu Islands, and Japan. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Antennaria stenophylla

Antennaria stenophylla is a North American species of flowering plants in the daisy family known by the common name narrowleaf pussytoes. It is native to the Great Basin, Columbia Plateau, and Snake River Plain of the Western United States, in the States of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah.
"Antennaria stenophylla" is a relatively small plant up to 15 cm (6 inches) tall. Male and female flower heads are on separate plants, with several heads clumped together on each stalk. The species usually grows on hillsides in sagebrush steppes, frequently dominated by sagebrush ("Artemisia" spp.).


Nuytsia

Nuytsia floribunda is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree, as the display of intensely bright flowers during the austral summer coincides with the Christmas season.
Description.
The habit of the species is a tree up to high, or as a shrub. The rough bark is grey-brown. Flowers are a vivid yellow-orange, appearing between October and January. The inflorescence on each flowering stem may be up to one metre in length.
It is a root hemiparasite, is photosynthetic and mainly obtains water and mineral nutrients from its hosts. The haustoria arising from the roots of "Nuytsia" attach themselves to roots of many nearby plants and draw water and therefore nutrients from them. Almost all species are susceptible to attack; haustoria have even been found attached to underground cables. In natural settings "Nuytsia" withdraws relatively little from each individual host, but is attached to so many other plants that the benefit to this hemiparasitic tree is likely to be considerable.
Roots and rhizomes extend out and may sucker to form new branches that give the appearance of a grove of trees. A network of fine and fragile roots arise from these larger underground parts, forming haustoria where they meet the roots of other species.
The trunk is reported as up to 1.2 metres in diameter, with multiple layers of wood and bark that allow the tree to withstand fire. An unusual characteristic of the seedlings is the four to six cotyledons rather than two.
Taxonomy.
Recognised in early descriptions as a species of the family Loranthaceae, a group almost entirely represented by epiphytic mistletoes, allied to the order Santalales. The current treatment of "Nuytsia floribunda" is as a monotypic genus, Nuytsia. This species was seen as a sister taxon to "Atkinsonia ligustrina" (Loranthaceae) in the description "Nuytsia ligustrina" by Allan Cunningham in 1817, before its later arrangement to a separate genus, "Atkinsonia", which also describes a single species of Loranthaceae.
The first description of "Nuytsia floribunda" was published by Jacques Labillardière in his 1805 work "Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen", as "Loranthus floribundus", the specific epithet describing the profuse flowers he would have observed at Esperance. The botanist Robert Brown published a remark on the species in 1831, giving a new genus name without a formal description. The description was published by George Don using Brown's name "Nuytsia", an epithet that commemorates the seventeenth-century Dutch explorer and colonial official Pieter Nuyts.
The Noongar names for the plant are moojar, moojerool, munjah and mutyal.
The regional name of 'Christmas tree' has been applied since the nineteenth century. James Drummond noted in 1843 that the colonists at the Swan River referred to this species as the 'fire-tree', given for the resemblance of the inflorescence to a fire in its habitat. William Milligan reported that the first colonists used the term 'cabbage tree', a reference to its fragile, white and spongey branches that can be snapped off as easily as the stalks of the European vegetable, cabbage.
Distribution and habitat.
"Nuytsia floribunda" is well known in Southwest Australia, especially due to the appearance of abundant flowers in summer which is a spectacular display. Although "Nuytsia" seeds germinate readily and seedlings are easy to grow for a year or two, cultivation of the species to maturity is regarded as difficult, with little success outside of its native habitat. It appears on a variety of soil types throughout Southwest Australia, the distribution of the species extends to the east of the Esperance Plain and to the north on the Geraldton Sandplains. (Distribution records: The Australian Virtual Herbarium.)
The species was once common across the Swan Coastal Plain, now mostly cleared around Perth with changes in land use since colonisation.
Uses.
The Nyungar people made use of the species during the season Kambarang, around October to early December, obtaining bark to make shields. The gum that exudes from the wound can be collected later, it is sweet and eaten raw. Moodjar (or Muja) is regarded as a protected tree by the Nyungar peoples of Southwest Australia, the species is noted as being incorporated into rituals and having a conservation status that forbids their destruction. The plant is venerated by some who learn that it should not be sat beneath or its flowers, leaves or branches touched or taken. The sugary gum is consumed in modest quantities, and children are warned of overindulgence with the story of a monstrous, invulnerable and inescapable nocturnal being who cry of 'Nhervalong' could be heard as it collects the gum on which it subsists. Seasonal use by other groups of the roots is also known, Ethel Hassell at Jerramungup was invited to taste some being harvested by a group of women, reporting the taste of the flesh beneath an easily removed skin as sweet, brittle and somewhat watery.
The wood of the tree was noted as commercially useless, and that cultivation and transplanting difficult or impractical for gardens or landscaping by the state's conservator Charles Lane Poole (1921), deeming the showy display of flowers to be its only desirable quality. Poole also notes the 'gum' that is exuded from the tree may be useful.
The artist Marianne North featured the tree in an illustration titled 'Study of the West Australian Flame-tree or
Fire-tree’ (c. 1880), now held at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and recorded her effusive impressions, "I shall never forget one plain we came to, entirely surrounded by the nuytsia or mistletoe trees, in a full blaze of bloom. It looked like a bush-fire without smoke. The trees are, many of them, as big as average oaks in our hedgerows at home, …" The early settler George Fletcher Moore described this parasitic tree as another "anomaly in this land of contradictions".
A journal of systematic botany, "Nuytsia", published by the Western Australian Herbarium, is named for this tree.
The "Annals of Natural History" (1842) reported a specimen being grown at a government garden in 1841, and the attempt to raise the few seed it produced; the correspondence is printed as from "H. Bidwell … of Sidney [sic]".
Ecology.
The flowers produce large amounts of pollen and nectar that is consumed by insects.
The parasitic relationship of "Nuytsia floribunda" on host species was poorly understood until an investigation by the botanist D. A. Herbert was presented to the Royal Society of Western Australia, contradicting the assumption that proximity to other tree species of banksia and jarrah, "Eucalyptus marginata", was a requirement. Herbert discovered the extended network of filaments that embrace the roots of many other species, explaining the persistence of trees conserved in agricultural land cleared for introduced crops.
There are various lists of both native and introduced host species that are vulnerable to attack, however evidence suggests "Nuytsia" is capable of parasitising an extraordinarily wide range of taxa with only a single published account of a species that appeared immune. The generalised nature of the mode of host root attachment presumably allows parasitism to occur on just about anything within reach.
"Nuytsia floribunda" was once common and well known on the coastal plain around Perth, often remaining in remnant bushland and gardens, becoming more scarce as the extent and density of urban development increased.


Clematis montana

Clematis montana (mountain clematis also Himalayan clematis or anemone clematis) is a flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. A vigorous deciduous climber, in late spring it is covered with a mass of small blooms for a period of about four weeks. The flowers are white or pink, four-petalled, with prominent yellow anthers. It is native to mountain areas of Asia from Afghanistan to Taiwan.
Cultivation.
"Clematis montana" is a popular garden plant in temperate regions, with the ability to scramble up and over unsightly features such as sheds and fences. Left unchecked it can grow to . Numerous varieties and cultivars have been bred for horticultural use, including:-
Those cultivars marked have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Etymology.
"Clematis" is the Greek name for several climbing plants, and is a diminutive of "klema", meaning "vine shoot".
The Latin specific epithet "montana" refers to mountains or coming from mountains.
Collections.
The UK national collection of " Clematis montana" is held at By The Way, at Woodfalls, near Salisbury, in Hampshire, within the New Forest National Park. Hundreds of clematis are integrated within the garden, many grown from British Clematis Society seed.


Helixanthera schizocalyx

Helixanthera schizocalyx is a species of loranth, or tropical mistletoe, discovered by a research team from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew on Mount Mabu in northern Mozambique in 2008. In December 2010, it was announced that it was a new discovery and determined to be vulnerable to extinction.
Description.
"Helixanthera schizocalyx" is a relative of the European and North American varieties of mistletoe. It is closely related to "Helixanthera verruculosa", a species known only from the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. "Helixanthera schizocalyx" has been found attached to the branches of stunted trees such as the "Psychotria zombamontana" of the coffee family that grow where wet montane forests give way to bare granite peaks at the summit of Mount Mabu.
"Helixanthera schizocalyx", which reaches a height of 50 cm, is hairless and parasitic. Its leaves are in opposite pairs and are thin and elliptic in shape. Mature flowers have not been observed, and senior research botanist at Kew, Bill Baker, said that berries have not yet been observed either. Five specimens have been collected as of December 2010.
The genus "Helixanthera" is apparently notable within the loranths in that most species seem to have flowers pollinated by insects, as opposed to birds.
Discovery.
"Helixanthera schizocalyx" was discovered in 2008 by East African butterfly specialist Colin Congdon in dense foliage on Mount Mabu in northern Mozambique. (Lepidopterists look for loranth species which support specialized butterfly species.) Congdon, who was part of a conservation and biodiversity research team from Kew, noticed that the plant was unlike any he knew from the mountains in Malawi and Tanzania.
In December 2010, scientists at Kew confirmed that it was a new species and that it is globally threatened and vulnerable to extinction because of its limited distribution. "Helixanthera schizocalyx" is listed at the top of Kew's "botanical discoveries of 2010" list.


Pterocacteae


Logania

Logania is a genus of plants belonging to the family Loganiaceae. Native to Australia and New Zealand, the genus includes at least 24 species including herbs, shrubs, trees and climbers.
Species include:


Lithops comptonii

Lithops comptonii is a species of plant in the family Aizoaceae, indigenous to South Africa.
Distribution.
"Lithops comptonii" is naturally found in the far southwest of South Africa, in an arid inland region of the Western Cape Province. The furthest southwest of any Lithops species, this range includes the Karoo areas north east of the town of Ceres.
This dry area is subject to a winter-rainfall climate.
Cultivation.
It is sometimes used as a houseplant or for landscaping.
Like all "Lithops", it requires extremely well-drained soil. Like all "Lithops" it also grows in annual cycles, as the leaf-pairs flower, and then each produces a new leaf-pair that replaces the old one (which shrivels away). The principal rule of watering is that "Lithops" should be kept dry from when they finish flowering, up until the old leaf-pairs are fully replaced.
Of the "Lithops" species, "L. comptonii" is one of the few which is adapted to a predominantly winter-rainfall climate (together with "Lithops viridis", "Lithops divergens", "Lithops meyeri" and "Lithops helmutii"). This means that its flowering and leaf-replacement process happens over the summer.


Cyclas (plant)

Cyclas is a genus of plants in the family Fabaceae.


Lithops gesineae

Lithops gesineae is a species of the genus "Lithops" under the family Aizoaceae. It is native to Southern Africa.
Description.
"Lithops gesineae" is a succulent plant with leaves that grow in pairs. The leaves are gray or brown with tinges of green, and have spots of brown or darker color on the top. Flowers are yellow.


Areca vestiaria

Areca vestiaria (pinang yaki or pinang merah) is a species of palm native to the rainforests of eastern Indonesia especially North Sulawesi. Its morphology is more diverse than other species of palms, and in particular the color of its upper trunk / crownshaft changes depending on altitude (varying between red and orange).
The people of Sulawesi, near Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park, have long used the fruit of this palm as a male contraceptive. They drink a decoction of the fruit flesh boiled in water. The chemical composition of the fruit has been investigated with this in mind, but this does not represent evidence of its effectiveness as an antifertility agent.


Cardamine californica

Cardamine californica, or milkmaids, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae, native to western North America from Washington to California and Baja California. It is common in a variety of habitats including shady slopes, open woodlands, chaparral and grasslands in the winter and early spring. In the San Francisco Bay Area, it is one of the first wildflowers to bloom, with blossoms from January to May.
Description.
"Cardamine californica" is an herbaceous perennial plant growing to about 1 foot tall. The flowers are borne on a raceme inflorescence, each flower about 1/2 inch in diameter with four white to pink petals. The flower closes its petals in late afternoon as the sun goes down and nods its pedicel before a rain, protecting the pollen.
Hand pollination of two milkmaids populations in the San Francisco Presidio improved seed set from 8% to 85%, with seeds ripening in about 53 days.


Lithocarpus indutus

Lithocarpus indutus is a species of plant in the family Fagaceae. Some common names it goes by are bataruwa, pasang bodas, and pasang balung.
It is a tree endemic to Java in Indonesia. It is a vulnerable species threatened by habitat loss.


Abelmoschus

Abelmoschus is a genus of about fifteen species of flowering plants in the mallow family (Malvaceae), native to tropical Africa, Asia and northern Australia. It was formerly included within "Hibiscus", but is now classified as a distinct genus. The genus name derives from Arabian meaning 'father of musk' or 'source of musk' referring to the scented seeds.
The genus comprises annual and perennial herbaceous plants, growing to 2 m tall. The leaves are 10–40 cm long and broad, palmately lobed with 3-7 lobes, the lobes are very variable in depth, from barely lobed, to cut almost to the base of the leaf. The flowers are 4–8 cm diameter, with five white to yellow petals, often with a red or purple spot at the base of each petal. The fruit is a capsule, 5–20 cm long, containing numerous seeds.
"Abelmoschus" species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including "Chionodes hibiscella" which has been recorded on "A. moschatus".
Uses.
Several species are edible, with both the young seed pods and the young leaves being eaten as a vegetable. The most important commercially-grown species is okra.
"Abelmoschus manihot" (aibika) furnishes cordage like jute, and "Abelmoschus moschatus" (abelmosk) is grown for musk seeds (musk ambrette, a musk substitute, which can cause phytophotodermatitis).


Epacris gunnii

Epacris gunnii is a plant species endemic to Australia. It is a shrub comprising a few erect branches, growing up to 1 metre high. The leaves are 2 to 7 mm long and spaced evenly down most of the length of the branches. The white flowers are crowded at the top of branches, spreading down the branch for 20 to 30 cm. These are about 5 mm in diameter and appear between April and October in New South Wales and September to December in Tasmania.
The species occurs on peaty soils in association with "Leptospermum glaucescens", "Sprengelia incarnata" and "Ranunculus" species.
The species was first formally described by English botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker in 1847 in "Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany".


Polygala hottentotta

Polygala hottentotta is a species of flowering plant in the milkwort family (Polygalaceae). It is native to South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe.


Orbea ciliata

Orbea ciliata, called the starfish stapelia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae, native to the Cape Provinces of South Africa. A succulent, it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Sophora tetraptera

Sophora tetraptera, commonly known as large-leaved kōwhai, grows naturally only in the central east of the North Island in New Zealand. "S. tetraptera" has larger more widely spaced leaves than the other seven species of kōwhai.
Etymology.
The generic name, "Sophora" derives from the Arabic, "sophora" (any tree with pea-flowers), and the specific epithet, "tetraptera", comes from the Greek (four-winged) and refers to the fruits.


British NVC community MG8

British NVC community MG8 (Cynosurus cristatus - Caltha palustris grassland) is one of the mesotrophic grassland communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of three communities associated with poorly drained permanent pastures.
It is a widespread but localised community of the British lowlands. There are no subcommunities.
Community composition.
The following constant species are found in this community:
No rare species are associated with this community.
Distribution.
This community is widespread in the British lowlands, though rather localised.


Parsonsia eucalyptophylla

Parsonsia eucalyptophylla, whose common names are gargaloo and monkey vine, is a woody vine in the family Apocynaceae. It is native to the east coast states of Australia.
Description.
"Parsonsia eucalyptophylla" is a tall woody climber; the young plants climb by clinging roots, and the older plants using twining stems. It has watery rather than milky sap. The yellow flowers appear from spring to autumn. The leaves are linear to lanceolate and 8–24 cm long and 0.5–2 cm wide, with lower surface paler than the upper.
Distribution and habitat.
"Parsonsia eucalyptophylla" is native to New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria in Australia, and is widespread in woodland and scrub in inland areas.
Taxonomy.
"Parsonsia eucalyptophylla" was first described in 1861, by Ferdinand von Mueller, and later redescribed, in 1868, as "Lyonsia eucalyptifolia" by Bentham. Its currently accepted name is "Parsonsia eucalyptophylla".


Nothofagus macrocarpa

Nothofagus macrocarpa, commonly known as roble de Santiago or Santiago's oak, is a deciduous tree in the Nothofagaceae family that is endemic to the mountains of central Chile.
It is sometimes regarded as a subspecies of "Nothofagus obliqua". "N. macrocarpa" proposed to be renamed "Lophozonia macrocarpa" in 2013.


Mitella ovalis

Mitella ovalis is a species of flowering plant in the saxifrage family known by the common names coastal miterwort and oval-leaf miterwort. It is native to western North America from southwestern British Columbia, including Vancouver Island, to northern California as far south as Marin County. It grows in moist, shady habitat, such as coastal forests and streambanks. It is a rhizomatous perennial herb growing up to about 35 or 40 centimeters tall. The leaves occur around the base of the stem. They have oval blades up to 5 centimeters wide with toothed, lobed edges. The erect inflorescence bears several flowers, generally 20 to 60, usually along one side of the stem. The distinctive flower is saucer-shaped with five greenish yellow petals which are divided into narrow, whiskerlike lobes.


Chlorella sorokiniana

Chlorella sorokiniana is a species of freshwater green microalga in the Division Chlorophyta. It has a characteristic emerald-green color and pleasant grass odor. Its cells divide rapidly to produce four new cells every 17 to 24 hours. The alga was found by a Dutch microbiologist Martinus W. Beijerinck in 1890. In 1951, the Rockefeller Foundation in collaboration with the Japanese Government and Hiroshi Tamiya developed the technology to grow, harvest and process "Chlorella sorokiniana" on a large, economically-feasible scale. This microalga has also been used extensively as a model system to study enzymes involved in higher plant metabolism.
Also, "Chlorella sorokiniana" is used to research a way to improve biofuel efficiency.


Conospermum wycherleyi

Conospermum wycherleyi is a shrub endemic to Western Australia.
The erect shrub typically grows to a height of . It blooms between July and November producing cream-white flowers.
It is found on sand plains along the west coast in the Mid West and Wheatbelt regions of Western Australia where it grows in sandy soils over laterite.
There are two known of subspecies:


Bryidae

Bryidae is an important subclass of Bryopsida. It is common throughout the whole world. Members have a double peristome with alternating tooth segments.
Classification.
The classification of the Bryidae.
Superorder: Bryanae
Superorder: Hypnanae


Ceratozamia morettii

Ceratozamia morettii is a species of plant in the family Zamiaceae. It is endemic to Mexico, where it is limited to the state of Veracruz north of Jalapa. It grows on steep clay and basalt cliffs in cloud forest habitat.
This cycad is palm-like in appearance but with a trunk no more than 30 centimeters long, often shorter, and quite variable in shape. It has up to 10 leaves which are up to 140 centimeters long by 65 wide and are made up of 12 to 25 pairs of leaflets.
Other native plants in this species' nearly inaccessible cloud forest habitat include "Alnus jorullensis", "Clethra mexicana", "Dendropanax arboreus", "Dicksonia gigantea", "Ilex discolor", "Liquidambar macrophylla", "Magnolia schiedeana", "Marattia laxa", "Oreopanax capitatus", "Ostrya virginiana", and "Podocarpus guatemalensis".


Leocereus

Leocereus bahiensis is a species of cactus and the only species of the genus Leocereus.
Distribution.
The cactus is endemic to Brazil, within Bahia state. It is found growing in the campos rupestres (rocky fields) montane savanna ecoregion of the Atlantic Forest biome.
It grows in rocky shady places such as amongst shrubs, or near cliffs and rocks.
Description.
"Leocereus bahiensis" has stems that are long, thing and almost terete. A full adult plant can grow up to 2 meters in length and about 1.5 cm in diameter.
They tend to grow like vines, they do not have wool or hairs but the do have needle like spines (about 4 cm long, yellowish brown in color) and felt. In Bahia it is called the "tail of the fox" due to its long thing bristle like composition.
The flower is white and narrow and within it are hair bristle spines.
The areoles are close together and circular. The Leocereus bahiensis has fruit 10 to 12 mm with seeds about 1.5 mm long.
"Leocereus bahiensis" are being affected by habitat loss, though it has a wide range. The eastern range of the plant is generally regarded as ending up in an area that is not ideal for agricultural growth. The major threat to habitat loss that happens within numerous national parks (Parque Nacional da Chapada Diamantina, Parque Estadual de Morro Chapeu, Parque Nacional Boqueirão da Onça and Parque Nacional do Rio Parnaiba) is due to industrialization. The western area of its range is most affected by industrial-scale agriculture of soy, Eucalyptus and cotton.
Uses.
This plant is one of the few cacti that contain caffeine and mescaline. Mescaline is a psychedelic drug that is produced by some cacti and also called peyote. "Leocereus bahiensis" was not confirmed part of the genus "Leocereus" until 2012


Pythium emineosum

Pythium emineosum is a plant pathogen, first isolated in Canada.


Redfieldia flexuosa


Cryptocoryne mekongensis

Cryptocoryne mekongensis is a species belonging to the Araceae genus "Cryptocoryne" that was described in 2010.
Distribution.
The species is found in the Mekong region of southern Laos and Cambodia.
Description.
The species is characterized by a one to three times twisted spathe limb that is purple colored at the inside, with a purple collar. The limb also has pronounced transverse surface ridges.
Cultivation.
The species is easy to cultivate emersed with much light in a sandy soil with some loam added.


Acanthosyris

Acanthosyris is a genus of plants in the family Santalaceae. It contains the following species:


Lonicera reticulata

Lonicera reticulata, commonly called grape honeysuckle, is a species of honeysuckle that is native to North America.
It is a perennial vine that produces creamy white or yellow flowers that age to pink in late spring.


Oxalis magnifica

Oxalis magnifica is an "Oxalis" species found in Oaxaca, Mexico, described in 1919.


Cryptogramma

Cryptogramma is a genus of ferns known commonly as rockbrakes or parsley ferns. They are one of the three genera in the Cryptogrammoideae subfamily of the Pteridaceae. "Cryptogramma" ferns can be found in temperate regions on several continents worldwide. These ferns have two kinds of leaves which often look so different that at first glance they appear to belong to different plants. The fertile leaves have long, narrow, bumpy segments with undersides covered thickly in sporangia. The edges of the segments may curl back to cover the sporangia, forming a false indusium. The sterile leaves have thinner, wider segments which may be rounded and resemble the leaves of parsley. These ferns grow in rocky areas, often in crevices and cracks.
Distribution.
In North America, species within this genus are distributed over western and northern United States, Northwestern Mexico, and Canada.


Antimima aurasensis

Antimima aurasensis is a species of plant in the family Aizoaceae. It is endemic to Namibia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and rocky areas.


Diospyros clementium

Diospyros clementium is a tree in the family Ebenaceae. It grows up to tall. The fruits are ellipsoid, up to in diameter. The tree is named for American husband-and-wife plant collectors Joseph Clemens and Mary Strong Clemens. Habitat is mixed dipterocarp forests from sea level to altitude. "D. clementium" is endemic to Borneo.


Zygnemataceae

The Zygnemataceae are a family of filamentous or unicellular, uniseriate (unbranched) green algae. The filaments are septated and reproduction is by conjugation; "Spirogyra" is commonly used in schools to demonstrate this kind of reproduction. The family is notable for its diversely shaped chloroplasts, such as stellate in "Zygnema", helical in "Spirogyra", and flat in "Mougeotia". The Zygnemataceae are cosmopolitan, but though all generally occur in the same types of habitats, "Mougeotia", "Spirogyra", and "Zygnema" are by far the most common; in one study across North America, 95% of the Zygnemataceae collected were in these three genera. Classification and identification is primarily by the morphology of the conjugation, which is somewhat rare to find in natural populations of permanent water bodies; when in the vegetative state, the rarer genera resemble the three most common, and are often mistaken for them and catalogued as such. Conjugation can be induced in low-nitrogen culture. While they occupy many habitats, in North America all are found solely in freshwater or subaerial habitats. Species typically exist as floating mats in stagnant water in ditches and ponds, but some also grow in moving water, attaching themselves to a substrate by rhizoid-like projections of the basal cells of the filament. The mat species rise to the surface in early spring, grow rapidly through the summer, disappearing by late summer. Members of the Zygnemataceae, such as "Spirogyra", fall prey to parasites, especially chytrids. Most genera (all except "Mesotanium" and "Spirotaenia") previously assigned to Mesotaeniaceae as well as the Desmidiales actually emerged in the Zygnematacae.


Acer yui

Acer yui is an uncommon Asian species of maple. It has been found only in Gansu and Sichuan Provinces in western China.
"Acer yui" is a small deciduous tree up to 7 meters tall with gray bark. Leaves are non-compound, up to 7 cm wide to 2.5 cm across, thin, with 3 lobes but no teeth.


Polygala nicaeensis

Polygala nicaeensis is a species of flowering plant in the milkwort family (Polygalaceae). It is native to France and Italy.


Heisteria cyathiformis

Heisteria cyathiformis is a species of plant in the Olacaceae family. It is endemic to Ecuador.


Selaginella moellendorffii

Selaginella moellendorffii is a lycophyte that is an important model organism, especially in comparative genomics. "S. moellendorffii" is a member of an ancient vascular plant lineage that first appeared in the fossil record some 400 million years ago. They would later form a dominant part of the world's flora during the Carboniferous period. These lycopsids lack true leaves (having microphylls instead) and roots and thus represent an important node on the plant evolutionary tree. As the earliest diverging group of modern vascular plants, they are essential to understanding the evolution of plants as a whole.
Genome sequencing.
The nuclear genome size is approximately 100 mega base pairs, one of the smaller genome size found for any plant species. The genome has been sequenced and assembled by the United States Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute. Community annotation of the genes and other elements of this genome began in September 2007. Gene content of "Selaginella moellendorffii" and diverse taxa, have showed that the transition from gametophyte to sporophyte dominated life cycle entailed the addition of fewer new genes than the move from nonseed vascular plants to angiosperms.


Adiantum diaphanum

Adiantum diaphanum, the filmy maidenhair fern, is a species of fern in the genus "Adiantum", native to East Asia and Australasia, from southern Japan south to New Zealand. It grows to 20 cm long at the most, with very dark green fronds covered with bristles.
Distribution.
It is native to China (Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan, Jiangxi), Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands.


Demersatheca

Demersatheca is a genus of extinct vascular plants of the Early Devonian (Pragian, around ). Fossils were first found in the Posongchong Formation of eastern Yunnan, China. The plant had smooth leafless stems at least 1 mm in diameter, but only regions which bore spore-forming organs or sporangia are well-known. Sporangia were borne in 'spikes' or strobili, at least 40 mm long; one had 32 sporangia. Sporangia were arranged in four rows, two sporangia being opposite to one another on the stem with the next two being at right angles. Each sporangium consisted of two 'valves' which opened at the top to release their spores. A particular feature of "Demersatheca" which distinguishes it from other zosterophylls is that the stalk-less sporangia were sunken into the stem of the spike, so that the outer valve was flush with the surface.
Taxonomy.
"D. contigua" was initially called "Zosterophyllum contiguum" by Li and Cai, based on parts of two spikes (strobili) of sporangia. When further specimens were found, a review by Li and Edwards agreed that the plant was a zosterophyll, but decided that the sunken sporangia and the absence of sporangial stalks were sufficient to require a new genus, "Demersatheca". The name is derived from "demersus", Latin for sunken, and "theca", Latin for container, referring to the organization of the sporangia. Hao and Xue in 2013 considered the genus as "incertae sedis" within the tracheophytes (vascular plants).


Cissus javana

Cissus discolor, or the rex begonia vine, is a species of "Cissus" found in Southeast Asia in China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand at elevations of 600–2000 meters


Oxalis rubra

Oxalis rubra is a species of flowering plant in the woodsorrel family known by the common name red woodsorrel and windowbox woodsorrel. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of "Oxalis articulata". It is native to Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, but it is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant and can sometimes be found growing in the wild as a garden escapee. This is a perennial herb growing from a woody rhizome. There is generally no stem, the leaves arising on long petioles from ground level. Each leaf is made up of three leaflets which can vary in shape but are often heart-shaped. The inflorescence is a loose array of white to purple-pink flowers.


Sphenolobus

Sphenolobus is a genus of liverworts belonging to the family Scapaniaceae.
The genus has cosmopolitan distribution.
Species:


Polygala africana

Polygala africana is a species of flowering plant in the milkwort family (Polygalaceae). It was first described in 1893.
Distribution.
It is endemic to Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Northern Provinces, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zaïre, and Zimbabwe.
Description.
Height grows to 8–15 centimeters with stems branching. Its flowers are pink.


Centropogon rubrodentatus

Centropogon rubrodentatus is a species of plant in the family Campanulaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.


Mildella

Mildella is a genus of ferns in the subfamily Cheilanthoideae of the family Pteridaceae. Species are native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.
Species.
The Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I) placed seven species in the genus, although recognizing that the genus was then not monophyletic, since the New and Old World species belonged in different clades. , the "Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World" placed only two New World species in the genus:
The "Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World" placed former "Mildella" species in the genus "Oeosporangium":


Cyanea grimesiana

Cyanea grimesiana is a rare species of flowering plant in the bellflower family known by the common name splitleaf cyanea. It is native to Oahu and Molokai, where it is known from 12 occurrences. It is a federally listed endangered species. Like other "Cyanea" it is known as haha in Hawaiian.
This is generally considered a species complex made up of at least three subtaxa. One, var. "cylindrocalyx" (sometimes treated as a separate species called "C. cylindrocalyx"), is thought to be extinct. The other two are divided into twelve occurrences on two islands, for a total of fewer than 50 plants. The ssp. "grimesiana" was formerly found on Oahu and Molokai, but has not been observed on Molokai since 1991, while ssp. "obatae" is limited to the Waianae Mountains of Oahu. The latter subspecies may only be composed of five individual plants today, and all are located on private, unprotected land.
This Hawaiian lobelioid is a shrub which can exceed three meters in height. The stem and herbage are prickly. The tubular flowers are up to 8 centimeters long and may be purple, green, or yellow with reddish stripes. The fruit is an orange berry.


Falcatifolium sleumeri

Falcatifolium sleumeri is a species of conifer in the family Podocarpaceae. It is found only in a small area in the far west of Western New Guinea (Papua).


Sarcocornia quinqueflora

Sarcocornia quinqueflora, commonly known as beaded samphire, bead weed, beaded glasswort or glasswort, is a species of succulent halophytic coastal shrub. It occurs in wetter coastal areas of Australia and New Zealand.
Historically, people used to burn glasswort to collect the ashes. The ashes contained a high amount of soda in them, which was used to make soap and glass. This is thought to be how glasswort received its name.
Taxonomy.
It was first published as Salicornia quinqueflora in 1866, but transferred into "Sarcocornia" when that genus was erected in 1977. The Maori name is ureure. The placement of the species within "Sarcocornia" is not universally accepted, however, with the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network listing the species within the genus "Salicornia", and considering "Sarcocornia quinqueflora" to be the junior synonym.
Description.
Glasswort, "Sarcocornia quinqueflora," is a species of succulent, salt tolerant plant. It grows as a small shrub, with a lifecycle of several years – which is also known as a perennial lifecycle. They are normally found near salt water bodies (along the coast or estuaries) and grow in a mat form along the ground. The stems are jointed and fleshy when young, but they dry out and appear woody when ageing. The young, fleshy stems are grey or green with sometimes red colouring along the tips. The leaves grow opposite to each other and are connected at the base. They grow on small bumpy petioles – which is the part of a stalk that attaches the leaf to the stem. The leaves then extend down the stem – which in turn, forms the noticeable joints. The leaves look like tiny blades, wrapped around the stem. This formation of the leaves gives the stems a ‘beaded’ look. Growing at the end of the stem, the inflorescences (another name for clusters of flowers) are spikey, and made up of small segments with small, paired cymes. Cymes are a group of flowers with a central stem that matures before the others. Each cyme usually has three flowers entirely immersed in the fleshy part of the joint. The unisex or bisexual flowers are nearly always identical in size and grow in an outwardly symmetrical style along the stems. The flowers have three to four fleshy exterior parts that connect to the apex (highest part of the stem), one or two stamens (the pollen-producing reproductive organ) and an ovary with two or three parts that hold the pollen (the stigma). There is a lot of fruit found in the outer part of the flower, and the fruit wall has a membrane. The seeds are vertical and spherical in shape, light brown, hairy and also have a membrane on the exterior. The hairs take on many forms – they can be angular, slight, curved, conic or straight. There is no feeding tissue (also known as the perisperm) within the seed.
Distribution and habitat.
Natural Global Habitat.
Glasswort, "Sarcocornia quinqueflora," is not endemic to New Zealand. In New Zealand it is found mostly on the shoreline in regions throughout the North Island. In the South Island "S. quinqueflora" is widespread on the east coast, but isn't found on the west coast. In Australia it occurs on the south west and south east areas, and also in parts of the Nullarbor Plain, and part of the east coast of Cape York Peninsula.
There are many species of "Sarcocornia," which are also distributed world-wide.
New Zealand range.
In New Zealand, glasswort is found in mainly coastal areas. It can be found on all islands of New Zealand – including Stewart and the Chatham Islands. Glasswort grows on both coasts of the North Island and down the east coast of the South Island. Interestingly, it is also found in Central Otago, in two locations, roughly 70 km offshore.
Habitat preferences.
Glasswort’s preferred habitat is anywhere where salty water tends to be – so along coastlines, salt marshes, sandy beaches and rocky areas. It grows below and above the high tide mark along the coasts.
Phenology.
Reproductivity and life cycle.
Glassworts are perennials, meaning that they go through many reproductive cycles and they do not necessarily need to produce genetically unique seeds all the time. For this reason, they often use ramets to propagate clonally. They make genetically identical copies of the healthiest organisms to spread quickly and asexually. When growth is strong and the environment is right, glassworts will produce genets, a genetically unique individual through seeds in order to keep the population diverse and evolving. Ranets often remain connected to the parent plant in order to survive in harsh conditions until they are fully developed and do not have enough nutrients and water to survive on their own. Seeds generally germinate during the early spring when temperatures begin to warm.
Flowers.
The glasswort is officially characterized as gynodioecious, meaning that there are populations containing only hermaphrodite plants as well as populations containing both female and hermaphrodite plants. Most populations are entirely hermaphrodite except for the coasts of Nelson & Foxton, Tasman Bays, and the central regions of Otago in New Zealand. For the hermaphrodite flowers, they are protogynous. This means that the female stigma matures before the male anther to prevent self-fertilization. For these hermaphrodites, the stigma protrudes 1–2 days before the anther, and the stigma are then visible for 4–6 days. Anthers are revealed individually, one at a time. Anthers open up in the early morning to release pollen. This pollen is then distributed by wind. The flowers produce no nectar and are generally not pollinated by insects. Although, introduced honeybee, "Apis mellifera," has been recorded visiting the flowers of the plant and collecting pollen on parts of its body, so this species is thought to possibly help spread pollen. For the female flowers, the stigma protrudes at the same time as the anthers of the hermaphrodite plants. This allows the pollen from the hermaphrodite plants to fertilize the female plants, and the life cycle can begin.
Soil and environmental preferences.
Soil preferences.
The glasswort is a halophyte, so it prefers soils with high salinities. This is the main factor determining its success. It is typically found in areas with high moisture levels because of the high salinity of the soils near coastlines; however, glassworts are tolerable to a wide range of soil moistures. They can handle areas with completely dry soil and soils that are completely water logged. "Sarcocornia quinqueflora" has a healthy population in Otago, where it is extremely dry and arid. It also has a large population on the extremely wet coastlines of Nelson.
Environmental preferences.
Glassworts, like other halophytes, can handle a wide range of temperatures and are evolved to handle sudden environmental changes. Producing offspring through clonal reproduction allows them to survive in conditions that are less than ideal . The preferred climate type is warm-temperate and subtropical regions . where they can easily reproduce through seeds to keep populations genetically stable.
Threats and predators.
Invasive species.
The introduction of invasive species into the endemic regions for glasswort are a major cause of habitat loss. Non-native species tend to grow quicker and faster than the native glasswort, allowing them to easily overtake their habitats. One example of this is in Victoria, Australia where Invasive Cordgrass ("Spartina" spp.) has changed the makeup of the intertidal sediment flats. The introduction of cordgrass caused these habitats to transform into marshlands. The previous intertidal habitat was important for the survival of the glasswort species, so the transition to marshland left the native glasswort without its habitat.
Glasswort Gall Mite.
The glasswort gall mite, "Aceria rubifaciens", was discovered in Auckland in 1948 and rediscovered in 2013 in an estuary near the Firth of Thames. This tiny, endemic mite only feeds on the glasswort, which the feeding causes pocket galls on the fresh, young stems. The mites live inside the galls which offer them protection from larger predators and weather conditions.
There isn’t a lot known about these tiny mites, mainly because they have only been found on this particular species of glasswort. So far it has only been found in the North Island, but it can be assumed that it would affect the other populations throughout New Zealand.
Other predators.
Glasswort is also edible and palatable, so is known to have been consumed by both animals and humans. It could then be argued that both animals and humans are also considered predators of glasswort.
Other information.
Habitat in inland Otago.
Glasswort has been found growing in inland regions of Central Otago, the Maniototo Plain. This is odd because of its liking for salty soils near coastal areas. The Maniototo plain has developed highly saline soils due to the extreme dryness of the area. As rocks erode, the soil became more and more salty, and there was not enough rain to wash the salt away. This left the soil salty enough to support the glasswort. As the seeds were transported into the area by birds, the plant began to grow in the inland region.
Food Source for Orange Bellied Parrot.
One species known to rely heavily on the glasswort is the Orange-Bellied Parrot ("Neophema chrysogaster"). This parrot is critically endangered, having only around 180 individuals left in the wild. This native Australian bird feeds primarily on the seeds of "Sarcocoria quinqueflora". As habitats for the glasswort decline due to human development, it becomes harder for the parrot to find the amount of seeds it needs to survive.
Glasswort Use in Recipes.
Glasswort, apart from being a subshrub that can grow in incredibly harsh conditions, is also an edible plant. It is recommended to eat the fresh, young, upper parts of the glasswort stems raw, as they are tender and more flavourful. People are able to eat glasswort on its own, like in a salad, or mixed with other salad ingredients. It can also be used as a garnish with seafood – similar to how restaurants use parsley or watercress. The natural salty content and flavor means that glasswort is good in soups or stews for extra flavour, or can be served as a hot vegetable as well. Using the fresh parts of the stems, glasswort can also be pickled – but very carefully, as like anything when pickling.
A different subspecies of glasswort grows in Nevada and Utah in America, and the Native Americans use the seeds of that particular plant to make ground flour.
There are also certain medicinal properties to glasswort. It is high in Vitamin C, Vitamin A and the B-complex vitamins and has also been described as helping flatulence and digestion. There are also certain glycosides, the bioflavonoid quercetin and isorhamnetin, which have been mentioned as possible aids for cancer.


British NVC Community M3 (Eriophorum angustifolium bog pool community)


Castanopsis javanica

Castanopsis javanica, the Javan chestnut-oak, is a tree in the beech family Fagaceae. The specific epithet "" is from the Latin, meaning "of Java".
Description.
"Castanopsis javanica" grows as a tree up to tall with a trunk diameter of up to . The brown bark is smooth or scaly. The coriaceous leaves measure up to long. Its discoid to ovoid nuts measure up to long.
Distribution and habitat.
"Castanopsis javanica" grows naturally in Thailand, Borneo, Java, Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra. Its habitat is hill dipterocarp forests up to altitude.
Uses.
The wood is locally used in construction. The bark can be used in tanning. The nuts are considered edible.


Buxus nyasica

Buxus nyasica is a species of plant in the family Buxaceae. It is endemic to Malawi. It is threatened by habitat loss.


Euphrasia crassiuscula

Euphrasia crassiuscula is a perennial herb in the genus "Euphrasia". It is endemic to the Victorian Alps in Australia.
The species was formally described by French botanist Michel Gandoger based on plant material collected by Carl Walter. Three subspecies are currently recognised:
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.


Persian berry

Persian berry, also called Avignon berry or French berry, is the fruit of the Avignon buckthorn ("Rhamnus saxatilis"), a species of buckthorn, used for dyeing yellow (see Pinke).


Asteropeia mcphersonii

Asteropeia mcphersonii, a species of plant in the Asteropeiaceae family, is a shrub to large tree, up to 25 meters tall. Its oval leaves are about twice as long as they are wide and have a leathery texture. It is endemic to Madagascar, distributed in mid-elevation forest in a narrow band from Ambatovy to Zahamena RNI. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss, with an estimated total population of 1000–2,500 mature individuals.


Passiflora discophora

Passiflora discophora is a species of plant In the family Passifloraceae, endemic to western Ecuador. "Passiflora discophora" is endemic to western Ecuador. It is restricted to closed wet coastal forest, and considered Critically Endangered due to the rapid ongoing deforestation of Ecuador's coast.


Forsythia suspensa

Forsythia suspensa (, weeping forsythia or golden-bell) is a species of flowering plant in the family Oleaceae native to Asia. It is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine. It contains the lignans Pinoresinol and phillyrin.
Characteristics.
"Forsythia suspensa" is a large shrub. It can be grown as a weeping shrub on stream banks and can be identified by its pale flowers. Garden cultivars can be found. It is a spring flowering shrub, with yellow flowers. It is grown and prized for its toughness. It is believed to be one of the parents of "Forsythia × intermedia".


Asplenium australasicum

The bird's nest fern, or crow's nest fern (Asplenium australasicum) is an epiphytic Australasian species of fern in the family Aspleniaceae.
Taxonomy.
"Asplenium australasicum" was originally described by English botanist John Smith in 1857 as "Neottopteris australasica". He had reclassified the already known "A. nidus" in its own genus "Neottopteris". Other botanists reclassified the genus as a section, "Thamnopteris", within the genus "Asplenium", and William Jackson Hooker gave it its current binomial name in 1859. Although the section "Thamnopteris" is distinctive, defining the species has been difficult as the morphology of the plants is so simple. "A. australasicum" has been confused with (and called) "A. nidus", and Japanese populations which were considered to be "A. australasicum" by their morphology have been found to be genetically distinct and reclassified as a new species, "A. setori".
A global phylogeny of "Asplenium" published in 2020 divided the genus into eleven clades, which were given informal names pending further taxonomic study. "A. australasicum" belongs to the ""Neottopteris" clade", members of which generally have somewhat leathery leaf tissue. While the subclades of this group are poorly resolved, several of them share a characteristic "bird's-nest fern" morphology with entire leaves and fused veins near the margin. Both the 2020 study and a 2015 molecular study found that "A. australasicum" is polyphyletic, meaning that some populations were not closely related to others—"A. australasicum" from Fiji and Vanauatu were not closely related to "A. australasicum" from Australia and New Caledonia. Hence a revision with sampling of the species across its range was required to delineate the taxon and identify cryptic species. "A. australasicum" forms a clade with the morphologically similar "A. nidus" "sensu lato", but other bird's-nest ferns such as "A. antiquum" and "A. phyllitidis" form a separate subclade which is not particularly closely related.
Description.
"Asplenium australasicum" grows as shrubby plant, with a rosette of yellow-green fronds which are 60 to 80 cm (24–32 in) long and 3 to 21 cm (1.2–8.4 in) wide. It can be distinguished from "A. nidus" by its prominent midrib under its fronds, giving the fronds a keeled appearance. The spores form in parallel lines which run in parallel with the veins and oblique to the midrib.
Distribution and habitat.
"A. australasicum" grows on rocks or as an epiphyte on trees and is native to eastern New South Wales and Queensland. The clumps can reach a large size, with the centre of the fern acting as a reservoir for debris. The colonial botanist William Woolls wrote "... as a caution to fern gatherers, sometimes a species of black snake coils itself up in the centre" (of the birds nest fern).
Cultivation.
"Asplenium australasicum" specimens were taken from logged areas, which helped them become popular in horticulture. It adapts readily to cultivation, as long as it has good drainage. Poor drainage renders it vulnerable to rotting. It can be grown in a tub or barrel. In cultivation it is occasionally attacked by white coconut scale on the underside of the fronds.
Uses.
Apart from its use as an ornamental plant, bird's nest fern is also a popular vegetable in Taiwan, particularly in the Eastern part of the island where the young emerging fronds are used as a leafy vegetable, from both wild and cultivated plants. The fronds are now also gaining in popularity elsewhere because of the pleasant texture and taste.


Mirabilis nyctaginea

Mirabilis nyctaginea is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family known by several common names, including wild four o'clock, heartleaf four o'clock, and heartleaf umbrella wort.
Four-o'-clock is native to the central section of North America, and it occurs elsewhere as an introduced species, including parts of Europe. Its exact native range is obscure, and it is often weedy throughout its range, spreading into disturbed habitat easily.
Four-o'-clock is a hairy to hairless perennial herb growing erect to over a meter in maximum height. The leaves are oppositely arranged mainly on the lower two thirds of the plant below the upper forkings of the stem. Each thin green leaf has an oval or heart-shaped blade up to 10 centimeters long. The flowers occur in leaf axils on the upper branches. A cluster of 3 to 5 flowers blooms in a bell-shaped involucre of five partly fused bracts. Each five-lobed, funnel-shaped flower is about a centimeter wide and magenta or pink to nearly white in color. The flowers open for only a few hours and drop, leaving the shaggy-haired developing fruits in the drying, papery cup of bracts. The root is a thick, fleshy taproot.
Four-o'-clock is host to the larvae (caterpillars) of several micromoths: "Embola ionis" is a stem borer, "Neoheliodines cliffordi" and "N. nyctaginella" are leaf skeletonizers, and "Aetole tripunctella" is a leaf miner.
Traditional uses.
"Mirabilis nyctaginea" was called "Kactáhkata" in the Skiri Pawnee language. "Its root, yellow and sweet, was used to treat coughs. Also used in powdered form as a remedy for sore mouth in babies and in tea form by women after childbirth to reduce abdominal swelling."


Elaeocarpus recurvatus

Elaeocarpus recurvatus is a species of flowering plant in the Elaeocarpaceae family. It is found only in India. It is threatened by habitat loss.


Briza media

Briza media is a perennial grass in the family Poaceae and is a species of the genus "Briza".
Common name includes quaking-grass, common quaking grass, cow-quake, didder, dithering-grass, dodder-grass, doddering dillies, doddle-grass, earthquakes, jiggle-joggles, jockey-grass, lady's-hair, maidenhair-grass, pearl grass, quakers, quakers-and-shakers, shaking-grass, tottergrass, wag-wantons
Description.
Grows to 40cm and flowers June to September in the UK. Characterised by fine stems and hops-shaped green and purple spikelets. Distinguished from the closely related Briza maxima by the size of the flower spikelets.
Distribution and habitat.
This grass species is common in England and Wales It grows in dry calcareous grassland. Its seeds are consumed by many farmland birds.


Erythroxylum acranthum

Erythroxylum acranthum is a species of plant in the Erythroxylaceae family. It is endemic to Seychelles. It is threatened by habitat loss.


Pome

In botany, a pome (derived from Latin "pōmum", meaning "fruit") is a type of fruit produced by flowering plants in the subtribe Malinae of the family Rosaceae.
Etymology.
The word "pome" entered English in the late 14th century, and referred to an apple or an apple-shaped object. It derived from the Old French word for "apple": (12th century; modern French is ), which in turn derived from the Late Latin or Vulgar Latin word "apple", originally the plural of Latin "fruit", later "apple".
Morphology.
A pome is an accessory fruit composed of one or more carpels surrounded by accessory tissue. The accessory tissue is interpreted by some specialists as an extension of the receptacle and is then referred to as "fruit cortex", and by others as a fused hypanthium (floral cup). It is the most edible part of this fruit.
The carpels of a pome are fused within the "core". Although the epicarp, mesocarp, and endocarp of some other fruit types look very much like the skin, flesh, and core respectively of a pome, they are parts of the carpel (see diagram). The epicarp and mesocarp of a pome may be fleshy and difficult to distinguish from one another and from the hypanthial tissue. The endocarp forms a leathery or stony case around the seed, and corresponds to what is commonly called the core.
 Pome-type fruit with stony rather than leathery endocarp may be called a polypyrenous drupe.
The shriveled remains of the sepals, style and stamens can sometimes be seen at the end of a pome opposite the stem, and the ovary is therefore often described as inferior in these flowers.
Examples.
The best-known example of a pome is the apple. Other examples of plants that produce fruit classified as a pome are "Cotoneaster", "Crataegus" (hawthorn and mayhaw), medlar, pear, "Pyracantha", quince, rowan, loquat, toyon, and whitebeam.
Some pomes may have a mealy texture (e.g., some apples); others (e.g., "Amelanchier", "Aronia") are berry-like with juicy flesh and a core that is not very noticeable.


Artemisia pontica

Artemisia pontica, the Roman wormwood or small absinthe, is an herb used in the production of absinthe and vermouth. Originating in southeastern Europe (the specific name refers to the Pontus area on the shores of the Black Sea,) it is naturalized over much of Eurasia from France to Xinjiang, and is also found in the wild in northeastern North America.
"Artemisia pontica" is called "little absinthe" because it is smaller in stature and leaf than the "great absinthe" "A. absinthium". It grows as a rhizomatous perennial with erect stems up to tall; the grey foliage is finely divided and aromatic. Flowers are small, yellowish, and appear in loose panicles at stem tips.
The essential oil contains cineol, camphor, thujone, and borneol among other components. It is said to be less bitter than great absinthe and is the principal flavoring of vermouth. It is commercially cultivated in Spain and Lithuania


Ceratotheca

Ceratotheca is a genus of plants in the family Pedaliaceae (sesame family) comprising about five species native to worldwide tropical areas and to southern Africa.
Species.
Species include:


Alsophila ferruginea

Alsophila ferruginea, synonym Cyathea ferruginea, is a species of tree fern endemic to the Philippines. It is native to the islands of Negros, Palawan and Balabac. It grows in mossy forest up to an altitude of about .
Description.
The trunk of "Alsophila ferruginea" is erect and tall. Fronds are bi- or tripinnate and up to in length. The stipe bears short spines and sparse scales, which are dark brown in colour and have pale, narrow, fragile edges. Sori occur near the fertile pinnule midvein and are covered by thin, pale indusia.
Large and Braggins (2004) note that the specific epithet "ferruginea", meaning "rust-coloured", may refer to the brown scales of this species.


Octoknema

Octoknema is a genus of flowering plants in the family Olacaceae. It contains the following species (but this list may be incomplete):


Clarkia unguiculata

Clarkia unguiculata is a species of wildflower known by the common name elegant clarkia or mountain garland. This plant is endemic to California, where it is found in many woodland habitats. Specifically it is common on the forest floor of many oak woodlands, along with typical understory wildflowers that include "Calochortus luteus", "Cynoglossum grande" and "Delphinium variegatum". "C. unguiculata" presents a spindly, hairless, waxy stem not exceeding a meter in height and bears occasional narrow leaves. The showy flowers have hairy, fused sepals forming a cup beneath the corolla, and four petals each one to 2.5 centimeters long. The paddle-like petals are a shade of pink to reddish to purple and are slender and diamond-shaped or triangular. There are eight long stamens, the outer four of which have large red anthers. The stigma protrudes from the flower and can be quite large. Flowers of the genus "Clarkia" are primarily pollinated by specialist bees found in their native habitat "Clarkias independently developed self-pollination in 12 lineages."


Ardisia amplexicaulis

Ardisia amplexicaulis is a species of plant in the family Primulaceae. It is endemic to India.


Chimaerochloa archboldii


Encephalartos macrostrobilus

Encephalartos macrostrobilus is a species of cycad in Africa. It is found only in Moyo District, northwestern Uganda, which is populated predominantly by the ethnic Madi.
Description.
It is a cycad with an arborescent habit, with an erect or decombent stem, up to 2.5 m tall and 30-45 cm in diameter.
The pinnate leaves, arranged like a crown at the apex of the stem, are 1.4-2.2 m long, supported by a 12-15 cm long petiole, and composed of numerous pairs of lanceolate, leathery leaflets, up to 25 long cm, insert on the rachis at right angles
It is a dioecious species, with male specimens presenting from 6 to 14 closely ovoid cones, erect, 18–20 cm long and 5 cm broad, olive green in color, and female specimens with 1-3 large cylindrical-ovoid cones, long to at 80 cm and 30 cm wide, initially dark green, olive green when ripe.
The seeds are coarsely ovoid, 3.2-3.6 cm long, covered by a yellow to red seed coat.


Tsuga heterophylla

Tsuga heterophylla, the western hemlock or western hemlock-spruce, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in northern Sonoma County, California.
Habitat.
"Tsuga heterophylla" is an integral component of Pacific Northwest forests west of the Coast Ranges, where it is a climax species. It is also an important timber tree throughout the region, along with many of its large coniferous associates.
Description.
Western hemlock is a large evergreen coniferous tree growing to tall, exceptionally , and with a trunk diameter of up to . It is the largest species of hemlock, with the next largest (mountain hemlock, "T. mertensiana") reaching a maximum of . The bark is brown, thin and furrowed. The crown is a very neat broad conic shape in young trees with a strongly drooping lead shoot, becoming cylindric in older trees; old trees may have no branches in the lowest . At all ages, it is readily distinguished by the pendulous branchlet tips. The shoots are very pale buff-brown, almost white, with pale pubescence about long. The leaves are needle-like, long and broad, strongly flattened in cross-section, with a finely serrated margin and a bluntly acute apex.
They are mid to dark green above; the underside has two distinctive white bands of stomata with only a narrow green midrib between the bands. They are arranged spirally on the shoots but are twisted at the base to lie in two ranks on either side of the shoot. The cones are small, pendulous, slender cylindrical, long and broad when closed, opening to broad. They have 15–25 thin, flexible scales long. The immature cones are green, maturing gray-brown 5–7 months after pollination. The seeds are brown, long, with a slender, long pale brown wing.
Ecology.
Western hemlock is closely associated with temperate rain forests, and most of its range is less than from the Pacific Ocean. There is however an inland population in the Columbia Mountains in southeast British Columbia, northern Idaho and western Montana. It mostly grows at low altitudes, from sea level to , but up to in the interior part of its range in Idaho.
It is a very shade-tolerant tree; among associated species in the Pacific Northwest, it is matched or exceeded in shade tolerance only by Pacific yew and Pacific silver fir. Young plants typically grow up under the canopy of other conifers such as Sitka spruce or Douglas-fir, where they can persist for decades waiting to exploit a gap in the canopy. They eventually replace these conifers, which are relatively shade-intolerant, in climax forest. However, storms and wildfires will create larger openings in the forest where these other species can then regenerate.
Initial growth is slow; one-year-old seedlings are commonly only tall, and two-year-old seedlings tall. Once established, saplings in full light may have an average growth rate of (rarely ) annually until they are tall, and in good conditions still annually when tall. The tallest specimen, tall, is in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, California (United States). It is long-lived, with trees over 1200 years old known.
Western hemlock forms ectomycorrhizal associations with some well-known edible fungi such as chanterelles ("Cantharellus formosus", "C. subalbidus", and "Craterellus tubaeformis"). It is capable of associating with wood-decay fungi in addition to soil fungi; this enables its seedlings to survive on rotting stumps and logs.
Uses.
Western hemlock is the state tree of Washington.
Cultivation.
Western hemlock is cultivated as an ornamental tree in gardens in its native habitats and along the U.S. Pacific Coast, where its best reliability is seen in wetter regions. In relatively dry areas, as at Victoria, British Columbia, it is exacting about soil conditions. It needs a high level of organic matter (well-rotted wood from an old log or stump is best; animal manures may have too much nitrogen and salt), in a moist, acidic soil. It is also cultivated in temperate regions worldwide. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Forestry.
When planted well upon the banks along a river, western hemlock can help to reduce erosion.
Outside of its native range, western hemlock is of importance in forestry, (as a softwood) for timber and paper production, it is used for making doors, joinery and furniture. It can also be an ornamental tree in large gardens, in northwest Europe and southern New Zealand.
It has naturalised in some parts of Great Britain and New Zealand, not so extensively as to be considered an invasive species, but an introduced species tree.
Food.
The edible cambium can be collected by scraping slabs of removed bark. The resulting shavings can be eaten immediately, or can be dried and pressed into bread, as was done by the Native Americans of southeastern Alaska. The bark also serves as a source of tannin for tanning.
Tender new growth needles (leaves) can be chewed directly or made into a bitter tea, rich in vitamin C (similar to some other hemlock and pine species).
Western hemlock boughs are used to collect herring eggs during the spring spawn in southeast Alaska. The boughs provide an easily collectible surface for the eggs to attach to as well as providing a distinctive taste. This practice originates from traditional gathering methods used by Native Alaskans from southeast Alaska, specifically the Tlingit people.


Elaeodendron transvaalense

Elaeodendron transvaalense (bushveld saffron, , "Lepelhout", or "Oupitjie", , , ) is a protected tree in South Africa. It also occurs in other Southern African countries like Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini and Mozambique.


Cuphea oreophila

Cuphea oreophila also known as the sacred flower of the Andes is a "Lythraceae" perennial plant that grows into a small bush. Native to the Mexican state of Chiapas and to Guatemala, it was first described by TS Brandegee and in 1933.
Description.
"Cuphea oreophila" has strongly veined lime-green leaves long and wide and narrow bright red trumpet-shaped flowers or long. It grows to a maximum height of in the wild but usually tall and wide in cultivation. It has unusually large leaflike appendages.
The species is native to montane forests in Chiapas near its border with Oaxaca, at elevations of between and , and in 1982 was also collected in Guatemala.


Burmeistera cuyujensis

Burmeistera cuyujensis is a species of plant in the family Campanulaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.


Aristotelia australasica

Aristotelia australasica, the mountain wineberry, is a shrub in the family Elaeocarpaceae. It grows in or near cool rainforest areas in northern New South Wales, Australia.


Nasturtium africanum

Nasturtium africanum, the Moroccan watercress, is an aquatic plant endemic to Morocco. Two subspecies are recognized:
Both subspecies are considered endangered.


Camissoniopsis luciae

Camissoniopsis luciae is a species of evening primrose known by the common name Santa Lucia suncup. It is endemic to California, where it grows in the mountains of the Central Coast, mainly in chaparral habitat. It is a hairy annual herb producing an erect stem up to half a meter tall from a basal rosette. The hairy leaves have lightly toothed edges and are up to about 5 centimeters long. The nodding inflorescence produces flowers with yellow petals a few millimeters long with red markings near the bases. The fruit is a straight or coiling capsule.


Bridal wreath

Bridal wreath or bridalwreath is a common name for several plants and may refer to:


Ilex williamsii

Ilex williamsii is a species of plant in the family Aquifoliaceae. It is endemic to Honduras. It is a seldom collected species of cloud forest and is of a terrestrial ecozone. The plant is critically endangered as of 1998.


Psammophora

Psammophora is a genus of plant in family Aizoaceae. It contains the following species:
Plants in this genus are known for their ability to entrap sand (psammophory), possibly offering protection against being eaten, or against high wind abrasion or insolation.


Rumex longifolius

Rumex longifolius, commonly known as the dooryard dock or northern dock, is a perennial species of plant in the genus "Rumex".
A variety has been described:
Description.
"Rumex longifolius" is a perennial plant that grows to a height of . It has large, broad leaves, the edges of which are crinkled and undulating. The upper surface of the leaves is hairless and the under surface hairy beside the veins. The stems are erect, tough, and unbranched until just below the inflorescence. The junctions of the stems are covered by two fused stipules which form an ochrea, a thin, paper-like sheath - a characteristic of the family Polygonaceae, and fringed above in this species. The stem leaves are alternate and are narrowly ovate–lanceolate and have a rounded or tapered base. The leaf stalks are approximately the same length as the leaf blade. The inflorescence consists of large clusters of racemes which contain small greenish flowers that are bisexual. The perianth-segments are in two whorls of three. Segments in the outer whorl are small and spreading while the inner whorl forms the fruit valves, which are rounded or kidney-shaped and have either entire edges or crinkly ones. Each flower has six stamens, a pistil consisting of three fused carpels and three styles. The fruit is a glossy brown nut with a triangular cross section. This plant blooms from July to September.
Distribution and habitat.
"Rumex longifolius" is native to Europe, including Britain, from Scandinavia southwards and eastwards to the Pyrenees, the Caucasus, Western and Central Asia. It chiefly grows in open areas such as on roadsides, in arable fields and in damp grassy places.


Commicarpus

Commicarpus is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Nyctaginaceae. The genus contain some 30 to 35 species which are native to the tropics and subtropics. Most are found in Africa and western Asia, and eight species are native to southern Africa.
Species of the genus are distinguished from one another by details of the anthocarp and the shape and indumentum of the flower's lower coriaceous (or leathery) part. They grow in soil that is rich in calcium, and especially soil with a strong component of heavy metals.
Species.
The genus includes the following species:
Govaerts, Rottbøll and Greuter & Burdet have published several combinations in the genus "Boerhavia". If these are followed the genus "Commicarpus" would be much smaller.


Tillandsia turneri

Tillandsia turneri is a species of flowering plant in the Bromeliaceae family. This species is native to Venezuela, Colombia, Guyana, and northern Brazil.
Three varieties are recognized:


Silene nutans

Silene nutans is a flowering plant in the genus "Silene", most commonly known as Nottingham catchfly.
Description.
"Silene nutans" is a diploid, mainly outcrossing, herbaceous, perennial plant.
It grows up to tall, from a branching, woody stock with a thick taproot. The lower leaves are up to long, spathulate and have a long stalk, while leaves higher on the plant are lanceolate, subsessile and acute; all the leaves are covered in soft hairs. The flowers are wide, long, and drooping, on short, viscid stalks. The petals are white or pinkish and divided into two narrow lobes. Each flower remains open for three nights as a means of preventing self-fertilisation; the flower reveals one whorl of stamens on the first night, the second whorl of stamens on the second night, and the three styles on the third night. The seeds are wide and kidney-shaped.
Distribution.
"Silene nutans" is widespread across Europe, from southern Spain and Italy north to the British Isles and Scandinavia, and is also found across large parts of Asia. It has been introduced to North America, where it is known as the Eurasian catchfly. It is found in the U.S. states of Michigan, Ohio, New York, Vermont and Maine.
"Silene nutans" can sometimes be found in the very widespread MG1 ("Arrhenatherum elatius" grassland) community of the British National Vegetation Classification, and thus can be found where "Arrhenatherum elatius" (false oat grass) or "Dactylis glomerata" (cocksfoot) occur.
Ecology.
"Silene nutans" is a steppe species across most of its range. At the periphery of its distribution, it has a patchy distribution in xeric habitats, such as open grasslands and on rock outcrops at forest margins, on both acidic and alkaline substrates (pH 3.8–8.0). In the far north of its range, "S. nutans" is characteristic of maritime cliffs.
"Silene nutans" flowers during the night, and produces a strong floral scent to attract its pollinators, which are mostly night-flying moths. Chemical compounds in the scent include benzyl acetate and benzaldehyde.
"Silene nutans" is the host plant for the leaf mining moth "Coleophora galbulipennella".
Nottingham.
The common name Nottingham catchfly commemorates the former occurrence of "S. nutans" on the walls of Nottingham Castle, and the species was chosen to represent the unitary authority of Nottingham as its county flower. Despite this association, Nottingham catchflies no longer occur in either the city of Nottingham or the wider county of Nottinghamshire.
Nottingham Castle Trust asked volunteers to grow the plant from seeds supplied to donate the successful plants back to the City to commemorate the re-opening of the renovation of Nottingham Castle.


Pseudocalliergon trifarium

Pseudocalliergon trifarium (vernacular name: three-ranked spear-moss) is a species of moss belonging to the family Amblystegiaceae.
It has almost cosmopolitan distribution.
Synonym:


British NVC community W9

NVC community W9 ("Fraxinus excelsior - Sorbus aucuparia - Mercurialis perennis" woodland) is one of the woodland communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of the six communities falling in the "mixed deciduous and oak/birch woodlands" group.
This is a community of northern and western Britain, particularly widespread in Scotland and Wales. There are two subcommunities.
Community composition.
Ten constant species are found in this community:
The following rare species are also associated with the community:
Distribution.
This community is widespread throughout upland areas in northern and western Britain, where is replaces community W8. It is particularly well represented in Scotland and Wales, and the far northern counties of England. It has also been recorded at a single site in Devon.
Subcommunities.
There are two subcommunities:


Passiflora cincinnata

Passiflora cincinnata is a species of Passiflora from Brazil.


Pittosporum viridulatum

Pittosporum viridulatum is a critically endangered species of plant in the Pittosporaceae family. It is endemic to the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu, India.


Eucalyptus minniritchi

Eucalyptus minniritchi is a species of multi-stemmed, spreading mallee that is endemic to Central Australia. It has glossy, brown to grey, "minni ritchi" bark on the trunk, elliptical to egg-shaped adult leaves, flower buds mostly in groups of seven, pale creamy yellow flowers and conical to hemispherical fruit.
Description.
"Eucalyptus minniritchi" is a dense, spreading mallee that typically grows to a height of and forms a lignotuber. It has glossy, reddish brown, minni ritchi bark that peels in thin strips to reveal reddish or greenish new bark. Young plants and coppice regrowth have more or less round leaves that are the same dull, bluish colour on both sides, up to long and wide. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, the same dull greyish or bluish colour on both sides, elliptical to egg-shaped, long and wide on a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of seven on an unbranched peduncle long, the individual buds on pedicels long. Mature buds are spherical to oval, long and wide with a hemispherical operculum long. Flowering usually occurs after rainfall and the flowers are pale creamy yellow. The fruit is a woody, conical to hemispherical capsule long and wide with a powdery covering at first, the valves protruding. The species has characters intermediate between "E. orbifolia" and "E. websteriana" but is distinct from both.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Eucalyptus minniritchi" was first formally described in 2001 by Dean Nicolle in the journal "Nuytsia" from specimens collected in the Petermann Ranges. The specific epithet ("minniritchi") is a reference to the bark of this eucalypt.
Distribution and habitat.
This mallee occurs in scattered populations on ridges in the central ranges of Australia, mainly in the Petermann and MacDonnell Ranges. It typically grows between boulders in open mallee shrubland with a "Triodia" understorey.


Astilbe glaberrima

Astilbe glaberrima, called the florist's spiraea and smooth rock astilbe, is a species of flowering plant in the genus "Astilbe", native to Yakushima Island, Japan. Some authorities have it as a subspecies of "Astilbe japonica", "Astilbe japonica" subsp. "glaberrima". Its dwarf variety "Astilbe glaberrima" var. "saxatilis" has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Varieties.
The following varieties are currently accepted:


Aristolochia delavayi

Aristolochia delavayi is a species of flowering plant in the family Aristolochiaceae. It is endemic to China.


Prasinococcales


Anacampseros arachnoides

Anacampseros arachnoides is a species of succulent plant native to the Little Karoo region of South Africa.
Description.
This species grows slender erect stems (5 cm tall).
The leaves are hairy, compact, and densely arranged in a 2/5 spiral (In contrast, those of "An.albidiflora" and "An.filamentosa" are generally in a 3/8 spiral).
Each leaf is ovoid in shape, about as thick as it is wide (20mm in length x 15mm wide), and has a tiny acute point.
The flowers are pink-to-white.
Distribution.
"An. arachnoides" occurs in the Little Karoo region of the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. It can also be found just to the north, in the southern edge of the Great Karoo.


Anthonomus phyllocola

Anthonomus phyllocola is a weevil and a major pest of lodgepole pine ("Pinus contorta") in Scandinavia.
Life history.
Larvae develop in the male flowers of lodgepole pine.