Acer sikkimense

Acer sikkimense is a rare Asian species of maple. It is native to the Himalayas and nearby mountains in Sikkim, Bhutan, Nepal, northern India, Myanmar, Tibet, and Yunnan.
"Acer sikkimense" is a deciduous tree up to 20 meters tall with dark gray bark. Leaves are non-compound, up to 14 cm wide and 8 cm across, thin and papery, with no lobes, but sometimes with small teeth along the edges.


Beaumontia

Beaumontia is a small genus of evergreen woody vines in the Apocynaceae. It is native to China, the Indian Subcontinent, and Southeast Asia.
Description.
"Beaumontia" plants are often rampant climbers and vines. They are mostly evergreen, though in subtropical gardens "Beaumontia grandiflora" loses many leaves in winter. Leaves are large, smooth and opposite with sticky white sap.
The large white fragrant flowers are borne in corymbs terminal and in the leaf axils. The calyx is 5-lobed and the corolla is dark funnel-or bell-shaped with 5 lobes. Stamens are attached near the base of the corolla tube and have slender filaments with arrow-shaped anthers. They are very showy when in full bloom and are regarded as among the most outstanding vines of the world.
The fruits comprises a pair of thick woody follicles.
Cultivation.
The "Beaumontia" species are cultivated as ornamental plants, with "Beaumontia grandiflora" widely grown by the nursery trade. They prefer good soil, adequate water and hot moist conditions. They are found planted and trained as vines in subtropical climate gardens, such as in Southern California.
They are propagated from seed or half-hardened cuttings taken with a heel, rooted in sandy soil under mist.


Pottiales

Pottiales is an order of mosses in the subclass Dicranidae.
Classification.
The following families are recognised in "Bryophyte Biology":
Some other families are recognised by other sources:


Lathraea

Lathraea (toothwort) is a small genus of five to seven species of flowering plants, native to temperate Europe and Asia. They are parasitic plants on the roots of other plants, and are completely lacking chlorophyll. They are classified in the family Orobanchaceae.
The toothwort is a protocarnivorous plant. Most of the plant consists of a branched whitish underground stem closely covered with thick fleshy colourless leaves, which are bent over so as to hide the under surface; irregular cavities communicating with the exterior are formed in the thickness of the leaf. On the inner walls of these chambers are stalked hairs, which when stimulated by the touch of an insect send out delicate filaments by means of which the insect is killed and digested.
Etymology.
The genus name "Lathraea" derives from the ancient greek (), meaning "clandestine", which is a reference to the fact that it is inconspicuous until it flowers.
Phylogeny.
The phylogeny of the genera of Rhinantheae has been explored using molecular characters. "Lathraea" is the sister genus to "Rhinanthus", and then to "Rhynchocorys". These three genera share phylogenetic affinities with members of the core Rhinantheae: "Bartsia", "Euphrasia", "Tozzia", "Hedbergia", "Bellardia", and "Odontites". "Melampyrum" appears as a more distant relative.
Species.
In Pavel Ivanovich Melnikov's "In the Forests" a Russian wise woman ("znakharka") calls this plant Peter's Cross and says it protects against devils but only if collected with a prayer to God.


Solanum citrullifolium

Solanum citrullifolium is a species of flowering plant in the Solanaceae family. It is a nightshade referred to by the common name watermelon nightshade, as its leaves somewhat resemble those of a watermelon plant (the melon-leaved nightshade is a different species, "S. heterodoxum", whose leaves resemble those of a normal melon plant). It is a white-stemmed shrub with purple star-shaped flowers. It is native to the southern United States and it is grown in home gardens as an ornamental plant.


Anisophyllea beccariana

Anisophyllea beccariana is a tree of tropical Asia in the family Anisophylleaceae. It is named for the Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari.
Description.
"Anisophyllea beccariana" grows as a tree up to tall. Its bark is flaky or scaly. The ellipsoid fruits measure up to long.
Distribution and habitat.
"Anisophyllea beccariana" grows naturally in Sumatra and Borneo. Its habitat is mixed dipterocarp and "kerangas" forests from sea-level to about altitude.


Earina autumnalis

Earina autumnalis, (commonly known as Easter orchid, or in Māori, raupeka) is a species of orchid that is endemic to New Zealand (North and South Islands, plus Chatham Island).
Its small white flowers produce a strong fragrance - a generally pleasant scent which is often compared to vanilla in nature. It generally occurs as an epiphyte or lithophyte - in the former situation it frequently grows in close association with other endemic orchid species such as "Winika cunninghamii".


Vittarioideae

Vittarioideae is a subfamily of the fern family Pteridaceae, in the order Polypodiales. The subfamily includes the previous families Adiantaceae (adiantoids or maidenhair ferns) and Vittariaceae (vittarioids or shoestring ferns).
Description.
The subfamily includes two distinct groups of ferns: the adiantoids, consisting of the single genus "Adiantum", and the vittarioids, several genera, including "Vittaria", which typically have highly reduced leaves, usually entire, and an epiphytic habit. The ferns historically considered as "Adiantum" include both petrophilic and terrestrial plants. The vittarioid ferns are primarily epiphytic in tropical regions and all have simple leaves with sori that follow the veins and lack true indusia; the sori are most often marginal with a false indusium formed from the reflexed leaf margin. The family also includes a species, "Vittaria appalachiana", that is highly unusual in that the sporophyte stage of the life cycle is absent. This species consists solely of photosynthetic gametophytes that reproduce asexually.
Taxonomy.
Molecular phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the vittarioid ferns were nested within the genus "Adiantum" as it was originally circumscribed, making that genus paraphyletic. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), the family is treated as the subfamily Vittarioideae] of the family Pteridaceae.
The following diagram shows a likely phylogenetic relationship between the Vittarioideae and other subfamilies of the Pteridaceae.
History.
The first suprageneric classification based on "Vittaria" was made by Carl Borivoj Presl in 1836, who erected the tribe Vittariaceae to contain the genera "Vittaria" and "Prosaptia", the latter now included in the grammitid ferns. He invented the new genus "Haplopteris" to accommodate another group of simple-leaved ferns separated from "Pteris", but placed it in tribe Adiantaceae instead, due to the location of its sori just behind the leaf margin.
In his 1911 treatment of the tribe, Ralph Benedict adopted a circumscription similar to modern treatments, within which he recognized the genera "Ananthacorus", "Anetium", "Antrophyum", "Hecistopteris", "Monogramma", "Polytaenium", and "Vittaria". He described "Radiovittaria" as a subgenus of "Vittaria", subsumed "Scoliosorus" within "Polytaenium" as doubtfully worthy of subgeneric rank, while "Rheopteris" had not yet been discovered. "Haplopteris" he explicitly synonymized with "Vittaria" in 1914.
Carl Christensen used the name "Vittarioideae" in Verdoorn's "Manual of Pteridology" in 1938, but did not include a description, leaving it nomenclaturally invalid. Ren-Chang Ching raised Vittariaceae to the rank of a family in 1940.
The first well-sampled molecular phylogenetic study of the vittarioids was based on the chloroplast gene rbcL. In this study, it was found that the type species of "Monogramma" is embedded in "Haplopteris"; the segregation of "Vaginularia" from "Monogramma" was also supported, as members of "Vaginularia" formed a clade sister to "Rheopteris" and distant from "Monogramma" "sensu stricto". A later molecular phylogeny, published in 2016, established the genus "Antrophyopsis" (formerly a subgenus of "Antrophyum") for three species placed in "Scoliosorus" but more distant from the type of that genus than "Antrophyum". This treatment also sank "Anetium" into "Polytaenium" and "Monogramma" into "Haplopteris". Since the name "Monogramma" has taxonomic priority over "Haplopteris", a proposal to reject "Monogramma" in favor of "Haplopteris" has been put forth to conserve the name and comparatively stable circumscription of "Haplopteris".
Genera.
The following genera are recognized in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I):
The following phylogeny for the currently recognized genera of the subfamily was presented by Schuettpelz "et al.":


Sedum ochroleucum

Sedum ochroleucum, the European stonecrop, is a species of "Sedum", native to Europe and Turkey.


Galium cometerhizon

Galium cometerhizon is a species of plants in the Rubiaceae. It is native to the Pyrenees of Spain and France, and the Island of Corsica in the Mediterranean.
"Galium cometerhizon " is a low-growing, mat-forming herb with succulent leaves and white flowers.


Pachyphytum oviferum

Pachyphytum oviferum, the sugaralmond plant or moonstone, is a species of plant in the genus "Pachyphytum".
The meaning of the name "Pachyphytum oviferum" is "thick plant bearing eggs".
It comes from Mexico, in the rocky cliffs of the state of San Luis Potosi at 1200 meters altitude.
Description.
The leaves are succulent and egg-shaped, which gave its name to the species.
The stems (20 cm long, 1 cm thick) rise then fall with about 15 leaves. These leaves are 3 to 5 cm long, 1.8 to 3 cm wide and 8 to 17 mm thick.
Leaves are pale blue-green to bluish-purple, looking like a sugared almond confection.
The inflorescence consists of a 30 cm stem bearing scarlet, bell-shaped flowers.


Eucalyptus luculenta

Eucalyptus luculenta is a species of mallee that is endemic to a small area on the south coast of Western Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped to egg-shaped leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, pale yellow to white flowers and cup-shaped, barrel-shaped or cylindrical fruit.
Description.
"Eucalyptus luculenta" is a mallee that typically grows to a height of and forms a lignotuber. It has smooth greyish to pink powdery bark on the trunk and branches. Young plants and coppice regrowth have stems that are more or less square in cross-section and sessile, broadly lance-shaped leaves that are long and wide. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, the same dull greyish green on both sides, lance-shaped to egg-shaped, long and wide, tapering to 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 oval to pear-shaped, long and wide with a beaked operculum long. Flowering has been observed in October and November and the flowers are pale yellow to white. The fruit is a woody, cup-shaped, barrel-shaped or cylindrical capsule with the valves protruding above the level of the rim. The fruit have a waxy coating but are markedly glossy underneath.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Eucalyptus luculenta" was first formally described in 1999 by Lawrie Johnson and Ken Hill from a specimen collected by Johnson in 1983 between the Balladonia Roadhouse and Mount Ragged. The description was published in the journal "Telopea". The specific epithet ("luculenta") is a Latin word meaning "full of light" or "bright", referring to the glossiness of the fruit underneath a waxy coating.
Distribution and habitat.
This eucalypt is confined to the Mount Ragged area where it grows in sandy calcareous soils.
Conservation status.
This eucalypt is classified as "Priority Two" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife. meaning that it is poorly known and from only one or a few locations.


Lithothamnion

Lithothamnion is a genus of thalloid red alga comprising 103 species. Its members are known by a number of common names. The monomerous, crustose thalli are composed of a single system of filaments which grow close to the underlying surface. "Lithothamnion" reproduces by means of multiporate conceptacles.
Species.
The valid species currently considered to belong to this genus are:
Uses.
The species "Lithothamnium calcareum" is, besides Tricalcium phosphate, often used as food fortification in plant-based milk substitutes to achieve a similar calcium content as a cow milk which is around 120 mg/100 ml.


Puccinellia lemmonii

Puccinellia lemmonii is a species of grass known by the common name Lemmon's alkaligrass. It is native to western North America, particularly the northwestern United States, where it grows in moist, saline soils.
It is a perennial bunchgrass forming clumps of stems up to 40 centimeters in maximum height with narrow, almost hairlike leaves located around the bases. The inflorescence is a spreading array of a few branches containing rough-haired spikelets.


Loropetalum subcordatum

 Loropetalum subcordatum is a species of plant in the Hamamelidaceae family. It is found in China and Hong Kong. Previously considered a separate genus, "Tetrathyrium", " Loropetalum subcordatum" is one of four species of "Loropetalum", and is placed in tribe Loropetaleae, subfamily Hamamelidoideae, family Hamamelidaceae of the Saxifragales. Its conservation status is considered vulnerable.


Ceriops

Ceriops is a genus of mangroves in family Rhizophoraceae.
There are 5 accepted species and 17 known synonyms.


Markea epifita

Markea epifita is a species of plant in the family Solanaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador.


Thalassia testudinum

Thalassia testudinum, commonly known as turtlegrass, is a species of marine seagrass. It forms meadows in shallow sandy or muddy locations in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Turtle grass and other seagrasses form meadows which are important habitats and feeding grounds. The grass is eaten by turtles and herbivorous fish, supports many epiphytes, and provides habitat for juvenile fish and many invertebrate taxa.
Description.
"Thalassia testudinum" is a perennial grass growing from a long, jointed rhizome. The rhizome is buried in the substrate deep, exceptionally down to . Some nodes are leafless but others bear a tuft of several erect, linear leaf blades. These are up to long and wide and have rounded tips. The flowers grow on short stalks in the axils of the leaves and are greenish-white, sometimes tinged pink, and are followed by seed pods.
Distribution and habitat.
Turtle grass grows in meadows in calm shallow waters throughout the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, and as far north as Cape Canaveral in Florida. Extensive meadows can be formed on muddy sand, and coarse sandy and clayey seabeds, especially those with a calcareous content. This grass favours high-salinity waters with low turbidity, such as calm lagoons. It cannot grow in fresh water but some growth is possible at a salinity of 10 parts per thousand. The plant's preferred salinity range is 25 to 38.5 parts per thousand with a temperature range of . It is found from the low-tide mark down to depths of , depending on water clarity. It often grows in meadows with other seagrasses where it is the climax species.
Its temporal range spans from the Middle Eocene to present.
Reproduction.
Turtle grass can reproduce both through vegetative and sexual reproduction. The main propagation method is by extension of the underground rhizome, or stem. This increase in rhizome length results in asexual ramets, or clonal colonies which are genetic replicates of the parent plant. Although asexual propagation results in an increase in the size of the turtle grass bed, extensive asexual reproduction limits genetic diversity and can put the meadow at severe risk if there is a disease outbreak. It has been found that where plants have been damaged mechanically, such as by the propellers of boats, the cut ends of rhizomes are unable to grow and holes may develop in the turtle grass meadow.
Turtle grass can also sexually reproduce through the production of underwater flowers and hydrophily. Turtle grass is dioecious, which means that there are separate male and female plants, each which produce an imperfect flower containing only one sex. Sexual reproduction takes place from April to July depending on location, though flowering has been observed during warm winters in Tampa Bay, Florida. The small flowers are each borne by a peduncle. Female plants typically grow one green flower, while males often produce three to five pink or white flowers. At night when male flowers are fully mature, they release mucilaginous pollen into the water column. The following morning, female flowers open.
There are two methods of pollination: hydrophily and biotic pollination. In hydrophilic pollination, the pollen grains are carried through the water column by tides or currents and deposited upon an open pistillate flower. Underwater video cameras have more recently revealed crustaceans, polychaetes, and amphipods swimming towards open male flowers. These creatures were attracted to the seagrass’s nutritious mucilage—a carbohydrate-rich substance that houses pollen. As the invertebrates feed on the mucilage, excess pollen grains stick to their bodies. They move from flower to flower, feeding and spreading the pollen from male to female.
Seeds begin to develop in about 2–4 weeks if fertilization occurred. Female turtle grass fruits develop into green capsule about 20–25 mm in diameter and can include 1-6 small seeds. After about 8 weeks of growth, the fruit undergoes dehiscence (botany), which releases neutrally buoyant seeds into the water column. If an event occurs producing significant water turbulence, an immature fruit may break off from the peduncle. This buoyant fruit acts as a transportation vessel as it continues to develop. The fruit will moved around by wind, currents, and tides until it eventually splits open to release the negatively buoyant seedlings into a new area. If the new location has favorable environmental conditions, the seedling will begin to grow. This is one way viviparous seedlings can start new patches of seagrass.
Ecology.
Turtle grass and other seagrasses form meadows which are important habitats and feeding grounds. Associated seagrass species include "Halophila engelmannii" and "Syringodium filiforme". Many epiphytes grow on the grasses, and algae, diatoms and bacterial films cover the surface of the leaf blades. The grass is eaten by turtles, herbivorous parrotfish, surgeonfish, and sea urchins, while the leaf surface films are a food source for many small invertebrates. Decaying turtle grass leaves are responsible for the majority of detritus in meadow areas. This grass is subject to periodic dieback episodes in the Florida Bay area. One such episode in 1987 killed off a large proportion of the plants and the resulting increased sedimentation and greater growth of epiphytes on the remaining plants caused a secondary dieback event. The areas affected have since been reseeded and planted with rhizomes and have recovered. In general, the population of this grass is stable.
Rhizomatous green algae in the genus "Caulerpa" often live among the grasses and many animal make seagrass meadows their home. These include bivalves and other molluscs, polychaete worms, amphipods, juvenile fish (which hide among the leaf blades), sea urchin, crabs, and caridean shrimps.
Relationship to humans.
Along with "Thalassia hemprichii" (which shares its common name with "Thalassia testudinum"), turtle grass makes its way into the aquarium trade and it may be cropped at 12 in/30 cm.


Setaria verticillata

Setaria verticillata is a species of grass known by the common names hooked bristlegrass, rough bristle-grass and bristly foxtail. It is native to Europe, but it is known on most continents as an introduced species and often a noxious weed. It is a hardy bunchgrass which grows in many types of urban, cultivated, and disturbed habitat. It is a weed of many types of agricultural crops, growing in vineyards and fields. Herbicide-resistant strains have been noted.
This is an annual grass with decumbent or erect stems growing up to a meter long. The leaf blades are up to 25 centimeters long and have a long sheath around the stem. The inflorescence is a dense panicle up to 15 centimeters long which tapers at both ends. It contains many small spikelets and bristles. The bristles have tiny backwards-pointing barbs that help them hook onto clothing or animal fur, facilitating their dispersal.
Seeds of the grass are used to make beer in South Africa and porridge in Namibia. They have been used as a famine food in India.


Clinogyne

Clinogyne is a former genus of monocotyledonous plants, which have been moved to other genera. Its species included the following:


Eriogonum luteolum

Eriogonum luteolum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name goldencarpet buckwheat. It is native to many of the mountain ranges of California and southern Oregon, including the Sierra Nevada, Cascades and California Coast Ranges. It grows in mountain and foothill habitat, such as forest and woodland, on granite and sometimes serpentine soils.
Description.
This is an annual herb varying in size and form from erect to 60 centimeters tall to prostrate and spreading in a mat. The woolly leaves are rounded and petioled and are mostly located around the base of the plant, but sometimes appear higher on the stem.
The branches of the flowering stem bear many small clusters of white to bright pink or yellow flowers, each just a few millimeters long.


Pinus montezumae

Pinus montezumae, known as the Montezuma pine, is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae.
It is native to Mexico and Central America, where it is known as ocote. The tree grows about 35 m high and 80 cm in diameter; occasionally it may reach a height of 40 m and diameter of 1 m. It has a round crown. The bark is dark brown-grayish.
It is found from the Mexican states of Nuevo León (25° N. Lat.) and Jalisco (22° n.l.) to the north and to Nicaragua (15° N. Lat.) to the south. It occurs on both mountain ranges of the Sierra Madre Oriental and Sierra Madre Occidental. It grows at altitudes from 2000–3200 m above sea level. It is found in areas between 800–1000 mm rainfall per year. In most of the tree's habitat, rain falls mostly in summer, but in the state of Veracruz, precipitations are spread year round and the climate is very wet. However, specimens from the state of Jalisco grow in semi-arid places. It occurs in warm temperate to cool climates (18 °C to 10 °C). At the highest altitudes of its distribution it usually receives snow in the winter.
Ocote wood is yellowish-brown white, with the heartwood being light brown, is hard, heavy and used for construction. It is appreciated for its resin. The resin is so flammable that a cut branch will burn as a torch emitting black smoke when ignited; for this reason, it is very common in Mexico to use ocote wood as a fire starter for campfires and barbecues. Growth is slow in the first three or six years, after this stage it is a fast-growing tree. The cities of Ocotlán in Jalisco Mexico and Ocotal in Nicaragua derive their names from this tree.
It is planted in plantages in South Africa and Queensland, Australia at mid altitudes; in Kenya, Malawi, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Bolivia at high altitudes. Trees planted in New Zealand and New South Wales, Australia near sea level have done very well.


Viburnum lantanoides

Viburnum lantanoides (commonly known as hobble-bush, witch-hobble, alder-leaved viburnum, American wayfaring tree, and moosewood) is a perennial shrub of the family Adoxaceae (formerly in the Caprifoliaceae), growing 2–4 meters (6–12 ft) high with pendulous branches that take root where they touch the ground. These rooted branches form obstacles which easily trip (or hobble) walkers – hence the common name.
The shrub forms large clusters of white to pink flowers in May–June. The flowers on the outer edge of the clusters are much larger (3–5 cm across). The whole cluster is typically 10 cm across. It has large, cardioid leaves which are serrate, 10–20 cm long. The bark is gray-brown and warty and the fruit is a red drupe, which turns to black when ripe.
The flowers provide nectar for the "Celastrina ladon" (Spring Azure) butterfly. Mammals and birds feed on its fruit, twigs, and leaves. The large showy flowers along the edge of the cluster are sterile, while the small inner flowers have both male and female parts.
Distribution.
"Viburnum lantanoides" is found in the eastern U.S. and Canada from Georgia to the Canadian Maritimes.
It grows in rich, moist acidic woods, stream banks, and swamps.
Uses.
The fruits can be eaten raw or made into jelly.


Alsophila archboldii

Alsophila archboldii, synonym Cyathea archboldii, is a species of tree fern native to New Guinea and Bougainville, where it is common in submontane rain forest at an altitude of 1000–3000 m. The trunk is erect and up to about 3 m tall. Fronds are bipinnate and 2–3 m long. The rachis may be purplish and has short spines and scales. The scales range in colour from pale to brown, to bicoloured (brown with dark brown) and have fragile edges. Sori occur in two rows along each side of the pinnule midvein and are covered by firm indusia.
"A. archboldii" has a wide altitudinal distribution and has been collected in habitats ranging from forest to alpine shrubbery. One variety, "A. archboldii" var. "horrida", was recognised by Richard Eric Holttum in 1963. "Alsophila foersteri" and "Alsophila nigrolineata" are thought to be the closest relatives of this species, but differ in frond shape (lower pinnae are more reduced) and in having shorter stipes.
The specific epithet "archboldii" is thought to commemorate Richard Archbold (1907-1976), an internationally known explorer and heir to the Standard Oil Company. Archbold led several biological expeditions to Madagascar and the interior of New Guinea.


Sarawakodendron

Sarawakodendron is a genus of plants in the family Celastraceae. The sole species in the genus is Sarawakodendron filamentosum, a tree endemic to Borneo where it is confined to Sarawak.


Amentotaxus assamica

Amentotaxus assamica is a species of conifer in the family Taxaceae. It is found only in India. It is threatened by habitat loss.


Garcinia hanburyi

Garcinia hanburyi is a plant species in the genus "Garcinia", the gamboge trees.
Cytotoxic xanthonoids (gambogin, morellin dimethyl acetal, isomoreollin B, moreollic acid, gambogenic acid, gambogenin, isogambogenin, desoxygambogenin, gambogenin dimethyl acetal, gambogellic acid, gambogic acid, isomorellin, morellic acid, desoxymorellin, hanburin) and isomorellinol can be isolated from the dry latex of "G. hanburyi".


Quillaja brasiliensis

Quillaja brasiliensis is a plant of the genus "Quillaja" native to Brazil.


Phyllostachys

Phyllostachys ()
is a genus of Asian bamboo in the grass family. Many of the species are found in central and southern China, with a few species in northern Indochina and in the Himalayas. Some of the species have become naturalized in parts of Asia, Australia, the Americas, and southern Europe.
The stem or culm has a prominent groove, called a sulcus, that runs along the length of each segment (or internode). Because of this, it is one of the most easily identifiable genera of bamboo. Most of the species spread aggressively by underground rhizomes.
Some species of "Phyllostachys" grow to 100 ft (30 m) tall in optimum conditions. Some of the larger species, sometimes known as "timber bamboo", are used as construction timber and for making furniture. Several species are cultivated as ornamental plants, though they can become invasive and troublesome in gardens, unless artificially restricted or grown in containers.
The name "Phyllostachys" means "leaf spike" and refers to the inflorescences.
Some of the smaller species can be grown as bonsai.
Taxonomy.
species now considered better suited to other genera: "Bambusa Chimonobambusa Pseudosasa Semiarundinaria Shibataea"
Ecology.
Fungi and pathogens growing specifically on "Phyllostachys" have "phyllostachydis" or "phyllostachydicola" species epithets.
Regulations.
Connecticut property owners are liable for the cost of removing "Phyllostachys" bamboo that grows onto neighboring property, any resulting damages, and fines of $100 per day for growing this bamboo within 40 ft of any adjoining property or public way.
New York has proposed regulations listing" P. aurea" and "P. aureosulcata" as prohibited invasive species.


Nicandra

Nicandra is a genus of flowering plant in the family Solanaceae, native to western South America. It was first described by Michel Adanson in 1763. The genus is named for Greek poet Nicander of Colophon, who wrote about plants – notably in his poem "Alexipharmaca", which treats of poisons and their antidotes.
, Plants of the World Online accepted three species:
From 1763 until 2007, when "Nicandra john-tyleriana" was described, the only species in the genus was "Nicandra physalodes". A third species, "Nicandra yacheriana", was described in 2010.


Coccothrinax

Coccothrinax is a genus of palms in the family Arecaceae. There are more than 50 species described in the genus, plus many synonyms and subspecies. A new species ("Coccothrinax spirituana") was described as recently as 2017. Many "Coccothrinax" produce thatch. In Spanish-speaking countries, "guano" is a common name applied to "Coccothrinax" palms. The species are native throughout the Caribbean, the Bahamas, extreme southern Florida and southeastern Mexico, but most of the species are known only from Cuba.
Description.
"Coccothrinax" is a genus of small to medium-sized, fan palms with relatively slender stems and 8 to 22 palmate leaves. The stems are initially covered by fibrous leaf sheaths. These break down into a network of fibres or spines, eventually leaving a bare trunk covered with leaf scars. The undersides of the leaflets are often silvery-grey; this is reflected in the common name "silver palm", which is given to many species of "Coccothrinax". The base of the petiole is not split longitudinally. The absence of this trait is a distinguishing character that separates "Coccothrinax" from "Thrinax".
"Coccothrinax" species bear branched inflorescences that are located among the leaves. The bisexual flowers, which are borne on short stalks, have between 6 and 13 stamens and a single carpel. The fruit are small, single-seeded, and range in colour from purple-red to purple-black, to brown. The seeds are deeply grooved "and resemble a brain".
Taxonomy.
The genus "Coccothrinax" was first described by American botanist Charles Sprague Sargent in 1899. He split the genus away from "Thrinax" based on characteristics of the fruit and seeds. The genus was based on Sargent's description of "C. jucunda" (now "C. argentata") and "C. garberi" (also synonymised with "C. argentata"). He also assigned "Thrinax argentea" and "T. radiata" to the genus; while the former is now recognised as part of "Coccothrinax", the latter remains in "Thrinax". The generic epithet combines "coccus", the Latin word for berry, with "Thrinax".
"Coccothrinax" is the most diverse genus of Caribbean palms. Although Andrew Henderson and colleagues only recognised fourteen species in their 1995 "Field Guide to the Palms of the Americas", the current "World Checklist of Arecaceae" recognises 52 or 53 species.
"Coccothrinax" is placed in the tribe Cryosophileae.
Distribution.
"Coccothrinax" is a primarily Caribbean genus—it is found throughout the insular Caribbean, and in adjacent areas of Mexico and Florida. Species are usually found in dry, open or exposed habitats, on limestone, serpentine or sandy soils.
"Coccothrinax argentata" ranges from Florida and the Florida Keys, through the Bahamas and San Andrés Island to southeastern Mexico. "Coccothrinax barbadensis" ranges through the Lesser Antilles to Trinidad and Tobago and the Netherlands Antilles. The remaining species have narrower distributions; many are known from single populations in Cuba or Hispaniola.
Botanic gardens.
Large collections are grown in Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (more than 250 plants, more than 23 species), in Miami, Florida, Jardín Botánico Nacional (15 species) in Havana, Cuba, and Palmetum of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (more than 1,000 "Thrinax" and "Coccothrinx" plants), in the Canary Islands, Spain.


Leucopogon setiger

Leucopogon setiger is a shrub from eastern Australia. It grows between 0.3 and 1.5 metres tall. It grows in eucalyptus forest on sandstone based soils, and sometimes in mallee heath in wetter areas. Most often recorded from near Sydney and the Blue Mountains. This plant features delicate white bell shaped flowers. Leaves are up to 12 mm long, 2 to 4 mm wide. The fruit is in the shape of an ellipse, around 4.2 mm long. Yellowish green, dry and hairless.
The specific epithet "setiger" is from Latin, and it refers to the “bristly”, short pointed leaves. This plant first appeared in the scientific literature in 1810, in the "Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae", authored by the prolific Scottish botanist, Robert Brown.


Eucalyptus rigens

Eucalyptus rigens, commonly known as saltlake mallee, is a species of sprawling mallee that is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three on a flattened peduncle and sessile, ribbed fruit.
Description.
"Eucalyptus rigens" is a sprawling, sometimes almost prostrate mallee that typically grows to a height of . It has smooth grey over white bark that peels in strips. Young plants and coppice regrowth have leaves that are up to long and wide. Adult leaves are the same shade of greyish to light green on both sides, lance-shaped, up to long and wide, firm, stiff and often erect. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of three on a strongly flattened peduncle up to long. Mature buds are oval, ribbed, up to long and wide with a ribbed, conical operculum. Flowering occurs from July to September and the flowers are creamy white. The fruit is a woody, sessile, cup-shaped or conical capsule long and wide with the valves near rim level.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Eucalyptus rigens" was first formally described by the botanists Ian Brooker and Stephen Hopper in 1989 in the journal "Nuytsia" from material they collected in the Truslove Nature Reserve near Grass Patch. The specific epithet ("rigens") is a Latin word meaning "stiff" or "rigid", referring to the leaves.
Distribution and habitat.
Saltlake mallee grows in sandy soils around the edges of salt lakes, usually in mallee shrubland, to the north and north-east of Esperance.
Conservation status.
This mallee is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.


Nepenthes krabiensis

Nepenthes krabiensis is a tropical pitcher plant native to southern Thailand, where it grows at 600–700 m above sea level. It is closely related to "N. rosea".
The specific epithet "krabiensis" is derived from the name of Krabi Province, to which it is apparently endemic, and the Latin ending "-ensis", meaning "from".


Castanopsis hystrix

Castanopsis hystrix is a species of evergreen broadleaf tree, which grows up to 30 meters in height.
The tree is found in subtropical broadleaved evergreen forests, ranging from the eastern Himalayas of Nepal, Bhutan, and northeastern India, across Indochina (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam), southern China (Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, southwestern Hunan, southeastern Tibet, and southern Yunnan), and Taiwan. It ranges up to 2400 meters elevation in the Himalayas, and up to 1600 meters elevation in southern China. It thrives in moist soils, and is often found in association with trees of family Lauraceae.


Greyia flanaganii

Greyia flanaganii, commonly known as the Kei bottlebrush, is a species of plant in the Francoaceae family. "Greyia flanaganii" is one of the related species of the taxonomically isolated and endemic southern African family, the Greyiaceae. "Greyia flanaganii" is endemic to southeastern South Africa. It is named after Henry George Flanagan, a South African farmer and botanist from Komga, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Description.
It is more often a shrub than a small tree. The lower side of the leaves are covered in dense hairs, similar to those of the woolly bottlebrush, but the leaves are less strongly lobed around the base.
Range.
It is present in the hills and rocky valleys around Grahamstown, but may be found from Queenstown to Komga in the Eastern Cape. It is indicated as rare on the SANBI red data list, but is not threatened by extinction. They are usually found growing as individuals, and are distributed in about 10 known subpopulations.
Relationships.
The two related species in Greyiaceae, namely "Greyia radlkoferi" and "Greyia sutherlandii" are dormant and leafless in winter, unlike "Greyia flanaganii", which is evergreen. "Greyia radlkoferi" is found in the Mpumalanga and eastern Limpopo provinces South Africa, while "Greyia sutherlandii" is from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The greyias of South Africa do not appear to have close similarities with other plant genera in the world, and some botanists support a theory that they deserve a separately place in the world of trees. Greyiaceae was formerly placed in a monotypic order between the Saxifragales and Francoyales.


Gayophytum humile

Gayophytum humile is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common name dwarf groundsmoke. It is native to western North America from Alberta to California, and can also be found in parts of South America. It lives in many types of mountain habitats, especially moist areas. It is a small, thin annual herb not exceeding 30 centimeters in height. Its erect stem has few branches and sparse narrow leaves. The stem and leaves are green to bright red, or green with reddish edges and tips. The plant produces tiny white flowers each about half a centimeter across. The fruit is a capsule one to one and a half centimeters long containing up to 50 seeds.


Ardisia jefeana

Ardisia jefeana is a species of plant in the family Primulaceae. It is endemic to Panama. It is threatened by habitat loss.


Lithocarpus meijeri

Lithocarpus meijeri is a tree in the beech family Fagaceae. It is named for the Dutch botanist Willem Meijer.
Description.
"Lithocarpus meijeri" grows as a tree up to tall with a trunk diameter of up to . The reddish brown to greyish bark is smooth or fissured or scaly. Its coriaceous leaves measure up to long. The brown acorns are ovoid and measure up to long.
Distribution and habitat.
"Lithocarpus meijeri" grows naturally in Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo. Its habitat is mixed dipterocarp forest, including "kerangas" forest, to altitude.


Banyan tree in Lahaina

The banyan tree in Lahaina, in Maui, Hawaii, United States, was planted on April 24, 1873, in Lahaina to mark the 50th anniversary of the arrival of first American Protestant mission. The banyan tree ("Ficus benghalensis") known in Hawaiian as "paniana", located in the Courthouse Square, which was renamed Banyan Tree Park covering 1.94 acres, is not only the largest in the state but also in the United States. The tree was a gift from missionaries in India. A mere when planted, it has grown to a height of about and has rooted into 16 major trunks, apart from the main trunk, with the canopy spread over an area of about .
History.
The banyan tree is located close to the port in the historical Lahaina town, which was the former capital of Hawaii. It is the oldest banyan tree in Hawaii.
The banyan tree, received as a gift by the Smith family in the 1870s, was planted on April 24, 1873, at Lahaina by William Owen Smith, the then sheriff of Lahaina. The tree was planted to mark the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the first Protestant mission in Maui; the mission had been invited to Maui by Queen Keōpūolani, wife of late King Kamehameha. Its extensive trunk and aerial root system now covers , located in the Courthouse Square, which is renamed as the Banyan Tree Park covering 1.94 acres. It is not only the largest in Hawaii but also in the United States. The park is managed by the County of Maui and the Lahaina Restoration Foundation.
According to reports a royal ball was held under the tree in 1886 for King Kamehameha III on his birthday.
The Aloha Festivals Week has been held under this tree. The shade of the tree is used to shade vendors who hold events approximately 36 weekends per year.
At sunset there is a riot of noise as the birds fly back into the tree to find the best branch to sleep on.
There used to be a canal of water down one side of the tree and even though the canal is now a street it is thought to be a source of water for the tree roots.
Aerial roots help support the tree's huge limbs. To encourage the roots to reach the ground faster there were mayonnaise jars filled with water and tied to hang just below the roots. The roots wanted the water and it was thought that they did grow faster.
Many people look as this huge tree and think it is many trees joined together with limbs that have grown together.
Features.
The banyan tree or "Ficus benghalensis" is from India, and it is known for unusual growth of its roots. The roots descend or sprout from the branches into aerial roots towards the ground where they form new trunks. This results in growth of many trunks around the main trunk. The banyan, native to India, is one of 60 types (out of reported 1,000 species in the world) of fig trees found throughout Hawaii. The trees are tall and “grow into mazes of additional trunks” and in Lahiana the tree covers an area of over half an acre. The banyan tree in Lahaina, when planted, was a sapling of height. Over the years it has grown to a height of over and spread into 16 major trunks, apart from the main trunk forming a large canopy of providing shade to the people from the blazing sun of Lahaina; it was intended as a part of a park. The growth of the roots was facilitated by the local Japanese gardening community, by hanging lanterns filled with water at suitable aerial roots. It is one of the sixty fig tree species in Hawaii and is said to be the largest tree both in Hawaii and in the United States. It has a circumference of about one fourth of a mile, and about a thousand people could congregate under it. A sight to watch at dusk time is the congregation of birds such as common myna birds ("Acridotheres tristis") which roost in the branches of the tree for the night causing a cacophony of bird cries. The name "banyan" is derived from the Hindu word traders (banyans) who traded their products under the canopy of these trees.
Conservation.
The tree has been subject to severe stress due to drought conditions, soil compaction from foot and vehicle traffic in the park, and also due to developmental activities in the vicinity. As a result, restrictions have been imposed on plying vehicles under the tree. Its sustenance has been ensured by the Lahaina Restoration Foundation by installing an irrigation system in the park.


Viburnum maculatum

Viburnum maculatum (locally known as Orjenska hudika) is a species of plant in the family Adoxaceae. It is found in Montenegro on Lovćen and Orjen mountains, as well as in parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This plant is a xerophyte, and grows on karst mountain terrains.


Angelonia grandiflora

Angelonia grandiflora is an ornamental plant.


Perrottetia alpestris subsp. philippinensis

Perrottetia alpestris" subsp. "philippinensis is a subspecies of "Perrottetia alpestris". It is a plant in the family Dipentodontaceae, sometimes classified in the family Celastraceae.
Description.
"Perrottetia alpestris" subsp. "philippinensis" grows as a shrub or small tree measuring up to tall. The twigs are purplish when fresh, drying black. The flowers are white or light greenish. The roundish fruits are red and measure up to in diameter.
Distribution and habitat.
"Perrottetia alpestris" subsp. "philippinensis" grows naturally in Borneo, the Philippines and Sulawesi. Its habitat is hill and montane forests to altitude.


Hackelia nervosa

Hackelia nervosa is a species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common name Sierra stickseed. It is native to the mountains of California, especially the Sierra Nevada and its foothills, in areas with some moisture up to near treeline. Its range may extend into Nevada.
Sierra stickseed is a perennial herb starting from basal patches of oblong leaves each up to 12 centimeters long. Erect stems rise to heights between 40 and 70 centimeters, with gradually fewer and smaller leaves toward the tops. The stems hold cyme inflorescences of deep sky blue to violet flowers (see top left image); the buds are often pink. Each petite flower has five oblong rounded-end lobes, with a slightly raised appendage at the base of each forming a white ring around the yellow anthers. The flowerheads start off quite compact, but later the stems and petioles elongate to give a more open appearance (image center left). The fruit (the "stickseed") is a nutlet about half a centimeter long, covered with barb-tipped prickles that stick to almost anything (image at lower left), explaining the common name of this genus.


Eucalyptus odorata

Eucalyptus odorata, commonly known as peppermint box, is a species of mallee or a small tree that is endemic to South Australia. It has rough, hard bark on the trunk and larger branches, smooth greyish bark on the thinner branches, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of between seven and eleven, white flowers and cylindrical or barrel-shaped fruit.
Description.
"Eucalyptus odorata" is a mallee or small tree that typically grows to a height of and forms a lignotuber. It has rough, hard, fissured bar on the trank and branches thicker than , smooth, grey or brownish bark above. Young plants and coppice regrowth have lance-shaped leaves that are long and wide. Adult leaves are the same shade of glossy green on both sides when mature, lance-shaped, long and wide, tapering to a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of seven, nine or eleven on an unbranched peduncle, the individual buds sessile or on pedicels up to long. Mature buds are spindle-shaped to oval, long and wide with a conical to beaked operculum. Flowering occurs between March and October and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody cylindrical or barrel-shaped capsule long and wide with the valves near rim level.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Eucalyptus odorata" was first formally described in 1847 by Hans Hermann Behr in the journal "Linnaea". The specific epithet ("odorata") is from the Latin "odoratus" meaning "having a smell", referring to the scent of the leaves when crushed.
Distribution.
Peppermint box is widely distributed in South Australia, between the southern Flinders Ranges and Bordertown and Lake Alexandrina, and on the lower Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island. It also occurs in north-western Victoria and there are a few records from the Cobar region of New South Wales. It grows in a variety of habitats but most commonly on undulating country.
Gallery.
<gallery mode=packed heights=250px caption="Illustration/Historical Images">
File:Botanical Illustration of Eucalyptus odorata.jpg
File:Historical image - Eucalyptus odorata.jpg
File:The Forest Flora of New South Wales - Eucalyptus odorata.jpg
</gallery>
Images from the Forest Flora of New South Wales (1913) by J.H Maiden (Government botanist and director of the Botanical Gardens Sydney). Publication Details: Sydney: W. A. Gullick, 1902-1925. Copyright Status: Public domain.


Phyllocladus hypophyllus

Phyllocladus hypophyllus is a species of conifer in the family Podocarpaceae. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Papua New Guinea.


Globularia vulgaris

Globularia vulgaris is a plant belonging to the genus "Globularia", in the family Plantaginaceae.
It has a very disjunct distribution: One population in the mountains of southern France and north-central and eastern Spain; and another population on the islands Öland and Gotland in the Baltic Sea.
It differs from "Globularia trichosantha" of the Balkans and Crimea by lacking stolons and having the teeth of the calyx as long as (or slightly longer) than its tube (3–4 times longer in "G. trichosantha").


Distylium myricoides

Distylium myricoides is a species in the genus "Distylium" in the family "Hamamelidaceae". It is native to southern China.
Description.
"D. myricoides" is a woody evergreen perennial shrub or small tree. It flowers from April-June, and fruits from June-August.
Etymology.
"Distylium" is derived from Greek and means 'two styles'. The name is in reference to the plant's prominent, separate styles.
"Myricoides" means 'resembling "Myrica"'.


Claderia

Claderia is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Only two species are known, both epiphytes native to southeast Asia and New Guinea.


Narthecium

Narthecium is a Eurasian and North American genus of herbaceous flowering plants. This genus was traditionally treated as belonging to the family Liliaceae, but the APG II system of 2003 placed it in the family Nartheciaceae.
The global distribution of the genus is widely disjunct, with species in Europe, Southwest Asia, Japan, the East Coast of the United States, and the West Coast of the United States. "Narthecium americanum" is a candidate for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act in the United States.


Orchidoideae

The Orchidoideae, or the orchidoid orchids, are a subfamily of the orchid family (Orchidaceae).
They typically contain the orchids with a single (monandrous), fertile anther which is erect and basitonic.
The subfamily Orchidoideae and the previously recognized subfamily Spiranthoideae are considered the closest allies in the natural group of the monandrous orchids because of
The Orchidoideae contain two subclades with the following tribes :
The former subfamily Spiranthoideae is now embedded as tribe Cranichideae in the clade of the Orchidoideae. It is sister to the tribe Diurideae.
The tribe Orchideae comprises the following subtribes:
The tribe Diseae comprises the following subtribes:
The tribe Chloraeeae comprises the following subtribes:
The monophyletic tribe Cranichideae comprises the following monophyletic subtribes :
The tribe Diurideae comprises the following subtribes :


Lithocarpus jacobsii

Lithocarpus jacobsii is a tree in the beech family Fagaceae. It is named for the Dutch botanist Marius Jacobs. Trees in Lithocarpus are commonly known as the stone oaks and differ from "Quercus" primarily because they produce insect-pollinated flowers.
Description.
"Lithocarpus jacobsii" grows as a tree up to tall with a trunk diameter of up to . The brown bark is smooth or lenticellate. The coriaceous leaves are unusual and distinctive because of their cordate base that often seems to clasp the stem on a short petiole. The oblong leaves can be quite large, measuring up to long and are glabrous and the same color on both the upper and lower sides (concolorous), with prominent secondary veins below and a looping marginal vein.
The infructescence can be quite long with numerous clusters of fruit scattered along the rachis. The fruits are generally in clusters of 3 (and up to 10). The cupules only cover the lower part of the nut and have squamose scales arranging loosely in cyclical series. The brown nuts are also glabrous and ovoid to roundish and measure up to across.
Distribution and habitat.
"Lithocarpus jacobsii" is endemic to Borneo. Its habitat is mixed dipterocarp to lower montane forests up to altitude.


Achyranthes splendens

Achyranthes splendens (Ewa hinahina; also called Maui chaff flower, round chaff flower, round-leaf chaff flower, or round-leaved chaff flower) is a species of flowering plant in the pigweed family, Amaranthaceae, that is endemic to Hawaii. Its natural habitats are dry forests, low shrublands, and sandy shores. It is threatened by habitat loss. Native Hawaiians have, for centuries, considered its extract to be an effective natural cure for constipation.


Guard cell

Guard cells are specialized plant cells in the epidermis of leaves, stems and other organs that are used to control gas exchange. They are produced in pairs with a gap between them that forms a stomatal pore. The stomatal pores are largest when water is freely available and the guard cells turgid, and closed when water availability is critically low and the guard cells become flaccid. Photosynthesis depends on the diffusion of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air through the stomata into the mesophyll tissues. Oxygen (O2), produced as a byproduct of photosynthesis, exits the plant via the stomata. When the stomata are open, water is lost by evaporation and must be replaced via the transpiration stream, with water taken up by the roots. Plants must balance the amount of CO2 absorbed from the air with the water loss through the stomatal pores, and this is achieved by both active and passive control of guard cell turgor pressure and stomatal pore size.
Guard cell function.
Guard cells are cells surrounding each stoma. They help to regulate the rate of transpiration by opening and closing the stomata. Light is the main trigger for the opening or closing. Each guard cell has a relatively thick cuticle on the pore-side and a thin one opposite it. As water enters the cell, the thin side bulges outward like a balloon and draws the thick side along with it, forming a crescent; the combined crescents form the opening of the pore.
Guard cells contain phototropin proteins which are serine and threonine kinases with blue-light photoreceptor activity. Phototrophins contain two light, oxygen, and voltage sensor (LOV) domains, and are part of the PAS domain superfamily. The phototropins trigger many responses such as phototropism, chloroplast movement and leaf expansion as well as stomatal opening. Not much was known about how these photoreceptors worked prior to around 1998. The mechanism by which phototropins work was elucidated through experiments with broad bean ("Vicia faba"). Immunodetection and far-western blotting showed blue light excites phototropin 1 and phototropin 2, causing protein phosphatase 1 to begin a phosphorylation cascade, which activates H+-ATPase, a pump responsible for pumping H+ ions out of the cell. The phosphorylated H+-ATPase allows the binding of a 14-3-3 protein to an autoinhibitory domain of the H+-ATPase at the C terminus. Serine and threonine are then phosphorylated within the protein, which induces H+-ATPase activity. The same experiment also found that upon phosphorylation, a 14-3-3 protein was bound to the phototropins before the H+-ATPase had been phosphorylated. In a similar experiment they concluded that the binding of 14-3-3 protein to the phosphorylation site is essential for the activation of plasma membrane H+-ATPase activity. This was done by adding phosphopeptides such as P-950, which inhibits the binding of 14-3-3 protein, to phosphorylated H+-ATPase and observing the amino acid sequence. As protons are being pumped out, a negative electrical potential was formed across the plasma membrane. This hyperpolarization of the membrane allowed the accumulation of charged potassium (K+) ions and chloride (Cl−) ions, which in turn, increases the solute concentration causing the water potential to decrease. The negative water potential allows for osmosis to occur in the guard cell, so that water entered, allowing the cell to become turgid.
Opening and closure of the stomatal pore is mediated by changes in the turgor pressure of the two guard cells. The turgor pressure of guard cells is controlled by movements of large quantities of ions and sugars into and out of the guard cells. Guard cells have cell walls of varying thickness(its inner region, adjacent to the stomatal pore is thicker and highly cutinized) and differently oriented cellulose microfibers, causing them to bend outward when they are turgid, which in turn, causes stomata to open. Stomata close when there is an osmotic loss of water, occurring from the loss of K+ to neighboring cells, mainly potassium (K+) ions
Water loss and water use efficiency.
Water stress (drought and salt stress) is one of the major environmental problems causing severe losses in agriculture and in nature. Drought tolerance of plants is mediated by several mechanisms that work together, including stabilizing and protecting the plant from damage caused by desiccation and also controlling how much water plants lose through the stomatal pores during drought. A plant hormone, abscisic acid (ABA), is produced in response to drought. A major type of ABA receptor has been identified. The plant hormone ABA causes the stomatal pores to close in response to drought, which reduces plant water loss via transpiration to the atmosphere and allows plants to avoid or slow down water loss during droughts. The use of drought-tolerant crop plants would lead to a reduction in crop losses during droughts. Since guard cells control water loss of plants, the investigation on how stomatal opening and closure is regulated could lead to the development of plants with improved avoidance or slowing of desiccation and better water use efficiency. Research done Jean-Pierre Rona shows that ABA is the trigger for the closure of the stomatal opening. To trigger this it activates the release of anions and potassium ions. This influx in anions causes a depolarization of the plasma membrane. This depolarization triggers potassium plus ions in the cell to leave the cell due to the unbalance in the membrane potential. This sudden change in ion concentrations causes the guard cell to shrink which causes the stomata to close which in turn decreases the amount of water lost. All this is a chain reaction according to his research. The increase in ABA causes there to be an increase in calcium ion concentration. Although at first, they thought it was a coincidence they later discovered that this calcium increase is important. They found Ca2+ ions are involved in anion channel activation, which allows for anions to flow into the guard cell. They also are involved in prohibiting proton ATPase from correcting and stopping the membrane from being depolarized. To support their hypothesis that calcium was responsible for all these changes in the cell they did an experiment where they used proteins that inhibited the calcium ions for being produced. If their assumption that calcium is important in these processes they'd see that with the inhibitors they'd see less of the following things. Their assumption was correct and when the inhibitors were used they saw that the proton ATPase worked better to balance the depolarization. They also found that the flow of anions into the guard cells were not as strong. This is important for getting ions to flow into the guard cell. These two things are crucial in causing the stomatal opening to close preventing water loss for the plant.
Ion uptake and release.
Ion uptake into guard cells causes stomatal opening: The opening of gas exchange pores requires the uptake of potassium ions into guard cells. Potassium channels and pumps have been identified and shown to function in the uptake of ions and opening of stomatal apertures. Ion release from guard cells causes stomatal pore closing: Other ion channels have been identified that mediate release of ions from guard cells, which results in osmotic water efflux from guard cells due to osmosis, shrinking of the guard cells, and closing of stomatal pores (Figures 1 and 2). Specialized potassium efflux channels participate in mediating release of potassium from guard cells. Anion channels were identified as important controllers of stomatal closing. Anion channels have several major functions in controlling stomatal closing: (a) They allow release of anions, such as chloride and malate from guard cells, which is needed for stomatal closing. (b) Anion channels are activated by signals that cause stomatal closing, for example by intracellular calcium and ABA. The resulting release of negatively charged anions from guard cells results in an electrical shift of the membrane to more positive voltages (depolarization) at the intracellular surface of the guard cell plasma membrane. This electrical depolarization of guard cells leads to activation of the outward potassium channels and the release of potassium through these channels. At least two major types of anion channels have been characterized in the plasma membrane: S-type anion channels and R-type anion channels.
Vacuolar ion transport.
Vacuoles are large intracellular storage organelles in plants cells. In addition to the ion channels in the plasma membrane, vacuolar ion channels have important functions in regulation of stomatal opening and closure because vacuoles can occupy up to 90% of guard cell’s volume. Therefore, a majority of ions are released from vacuoles when stomata are closed. Vascuolar K+ (VK) channels and fast vacuolar channels can mediate K+ release from vacuoles. Vacuolar K+ (VK) channels are activated by elevation in the intracellular calcium concentration. Another type of calcium-activated channel, is the slow vacuolar (SV) channel. SV channels have been shown to function as cation channels that are permeable to Ca2+ ions, but their exact functions are not yet known in plants.
Guard cells control gas exchange and ion exchange through opening and closing. K+ is one ion that flows both into and out of the cell, causing a positive charge to develop. Malate is one of the main anions used to counteract this positive charge, and it is moved through the AtALMT6 ion channel. AtALMT6 is an aluminum-activated malate transporter that is found in guard cells, specifically in the vacuoles. This transport channel was found to cause either an influx or efflux of malate depending on the concentrations of calcium. In a study by Meyer et al, patch-clamp experiments were conducted on mesophyll vacuoles from arabidopsis rdr6-11 (WT) and arabidopsis that were overexpressing AtALMT6-GFP. It was found from these experiments that in the WT there were only small currents when calcium ions were introduced, while in the AtALMT6-GFP mutant a huge inward rectifying current was observed. When the transporter is knocked out from guard cell vacuoles there is a significant reduction in malate flow current. The current goes from a huge inward current to not much different than the WT, and Meyer et al hypothesized that this is due to residual malate concentrations in the vacuole. There is also a similar response in the knockout mutants to drought as in the WT. There was no phenotypic difference observed between the knockout mutants, the wild type, or the AtALMT6-GFP mutants, and the exact cause for this is not fully known.
Signal transduction.
Guard cells perceive and process environmental and endogenous stimuli such as light, humidity, CO2 concentration, temperature, drought, and plant hormones to trigger cellular responses resulting in stomatal opening or closure. These signal transduction pathways determine for example how quickly a plant will lose water during a drought period. Guard cells have become a model for single cell signaling. Using "Arabidopsis thaliana", the investigation of signal processing in single guard cells has become open to the power of genetics. Cytosolic and nuclear proteins and chemical messengers that function in stomatal movements have been identified that mediate the transduction of environmental signals thus controlling CO2 intake into plants and plant water loss. Research on guard cell signal transduction mechanisms is producing an understanding of how plants can improve their response to drought stress by reducing plant water loss.
Guard cells also provide an excellent model for basic studies on how a cell integrates numerous kinds of input signals to produce a response (stomatal opening or closing). These responses require coordination of numerous cell biological processes in guard cells, including signal reception, ion channel and pump regulation, membrane trafficking, transcription, cytoskeletal rearrangements and more. A challenge for future research is to assign the functions of some of the identified proteins to these diverse cell biological processes.
Development.
During the development of plant leaves, the specialized guard cells differentiate from “guard mother cells”. The density of the stomatal pores in leaves is regulated by environmental signals, including increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration, which reduces the density of stomatal pores in the surface of leaves in many plant species by presently unknown mechanisms. The genetics of stomatal development can be directly studied by imaging of the leaf epidermis using a microscope. Several major control proteins that function in a pathway mediating the development of guard cells and the stomatal pores have been identified.


Melanthiales

Melanthiales (melanthoid lilies) was an order of monocotyledons, whose name and botanical authority is derived by typification from the description of the type family, Melanthiaceae by Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link in 1829.
In Rolf Dahlgren's 1982 classification, he placed the Melanthiaceae in the Liliales order. In his 1985 revision he elevated the family to the order Melanthiales by taking two closely related genera, Campynemanthe and Campynemanthe from the Colchicaceae and creating the family Campynemaceae, (most other authors have preferred Campynemataceae), and then placing Melanthiaceae and Campynemaceae together to form Melanthiales" sensu" Dahlgren. In this circumscription Melanthiales was one of five orders belonging to the superorder Liliiflorae. Later, Melanthiales was included by Takhtajan in the 2009 revision of his system as an order of superorder Lilianae (as the Liliiflorae were renamed). Overall, the taxonomic history has been complex, and has included positioning this group as a subfamily (Melanthioideae) within the family Liliaceae "sensu lato".
With the major reorganisation of the angiosperms that resulted from molecular phylogenetics, a "Melanthiaceae" and a "Campynemataceae" clade emerged as one of four major groups within Liliales, together with "Liliaceae" and "Colchicaceae". Consequently, these two families were then included in the order Liliales (lilioids) as separate families, and the order Melanthiales was discontinued. These transfers represent one of the few departures of the modern system from Dahlgren's radical reorganisation of the Lilianae superorder.


Descurainia bourgaeana

Descurainia bourgaeana (hierba pajonera or flixweed) is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae endemic to Las Cañadas del Teide on Tenerife and La Palma in the Canary Islands.
"Descurainia bourgaeana" grows as shrubby clumps about 1 metre in height with yellow flowers.


Clermontia lindseyana

Clermontia lindseyana is a rare species of flowering plant in the bellflower family known by the common name hillside clermontia. It is one of several Hawaiian lobelioids in genus "Clermontia" that are known as `oha wai. This plant is known only from Haleakalā, a volcano on the island of Maui, and Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, volcanoes on the island of Hawaii. This is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
There are ten known total occurrences of the plant and probably fewer than 1000 individuals remaining. Threats to the species include disturbance by domesticated and feral ungulates and rats, deforestation, and invasive plant species.


Draconopteris

Draconopteris is a genus of ferns in the family Tectariaceae, with a single species Draconopteris draconoptera, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I).
Taxonomy.
The genus "Draconopteris" was erected in 2016 by Li Bing Zhang and Liang Zhang for the species "Aspidium draconopterum". A 2016 molecular phylogenetic analysis of Tectariaceae had separated two new genera, "Draconopteris" and "Malaifilix", from "Tectaria" "sensu stricto". The analysis arranged the genera as in the following cladogram, where an alternative broader circumscription has been added.
Other sources do not recognize the genus "Malaifilix", and place its sole species, "Malaifilix grandidentata", in a more widely circumscribed "Draconopteris" as "Draconopteris grandidentata".


Rhaponticum heleniifolium

Rhaponticum heleniifolium is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the genus "'Rhaponticum" of the family Asteraceae.
Description.
The biological form of "Rhaponticum heleniifolium" is "hemicryptophyte" "scapose", as its overwintering buds are situated just below the soil surface and the floral axis is more or less erect with a few leaves.
 "Rhaponticum heleniifolium" reaches on average in height. The strong, thick, upright stem is quite leafy and hairy and usually has only one inflorescence. The leaves are green, while its underside is white-tomentose. Regarding the morphology of leaf blades, this species (as the similar "Rhaponticum scariosum" Lam.) is quite polymorphic. The basal leaves are usually lanceolate or elliptical and petiolated. The flower heads are pink to purple, spherical and very large (about in diameter). The bracts are brownish and membranous. The flowering period extends from June to August.The flowers are hermaphroditic and are pollinated by insects. The fruits are brown achenes. "Rhaponticum heleniifolium" subsp. "heleniifolium" has scales with acute apex and the leaves are much more elongated.
Distribution.
This quite rare plant occurs in Italy, France, Switzerland and Austria.
Habitat.
It grows in western Alps in sub-alpine and alpine meadows and stony slopes. This plant prefers calcareous soils, at altitudes from 750 to 2500 meters.


Griselinia littoralis

Griselinia littoralis, commonly known as kapuka, New Zealand broadleaf or pāpāuma, is a fast-growing small to medium-sized evergreen tree that is native to New Zealand.
Description.
"Griselinia littoralis" is a hardy evergreen shrub that grows up to about 10 metres tall. "Griselinia littoralis" is round in shape and has dense foliage. The leaves are alternate, leathery, glossy yellow-green above, paler and matte below, long, oval with a smooth margin. This tree also has flowers and berries that grow in particular seasons annually.
In general, this tree can grow up to 10 m or longer to 15 m tall. It has rough and short branches which can stretch to 150 cm in diameter. The shape of apical leaf is broad-ovate to ovate-oblong or rounded with smooth margin. The yellow-green leaf is thick and its width can be 5–12 cm long by 4–5 cm wide, the leaf often be glossy and grow as alternative type, one side can be a little longer than the other side at base sometimes, this is one of the typical characters. The greenish flowers are borne on the slim twigs and they are quite small, they always grow up from late spring to mid-summer. The panicles of flower is small, too. Five petals are owned by the pistillate flowers. The dark purple or black berries can be 6-7 mm long and appearing in mid-summer and ripening from autumn to winter and the berries are small, too.
Natural global range.
"Griselinia littoralis" is native to New Zealand, but has also become located in other areas of the world. It is widely cultivated both in New Zealand and in other areas with mild oceanic climates such as the south coast of Great Britain and the Faroe Islands, where it is valued for its tolerance of salt carried on sea gales.
The Latin specific epithet "littoralis" means "growing by the sea", and in its native New Zealand it is to be found in large numbers in coastal areas. It is frequently grown as a screen to resist wind or other extreme situations.
New Zealand range.
"Griselinia littoralis" is found throughout New Zealand from sea level up to 900 m altitude and ranges from far north to Stewart Island geographically. It is most commonly found in coastal areas as it is a hardy plant. This plant is a native plant in New Zealand. It can be found everywhere in New Zealand from lowland to high hills or forest or shrub land. It can be found in larger quantities in the South Island than the North Island. In the North Island, it always grows at higher altitude than the South Island.
Habitat.
"Griselinia littoralis" is native to New Zealand and is found throughout the country particularly in coastal exposed areas, as it is a hardy plant that tolerates sea breeze and wind exposure. "Griselinia littoralis" can survive a range of habitats and external conditions but prefers the following particular conditions and habitat.
"Griselinia littoralis" prefers free draining soil as in light loamy type. This species tolerates temperatures down to about and warm temperatures up to . "Griselinia littoralis" requires full sun or semi-shaded areas to thrive and will survive on very little nutrient like most native New Zealand plants, but will thrive in areas with the availability of higher nutrient levels. It favors high rainfall areas for good growth.
This plant can grow at a lot of growing environments. In moist climates this plant might be an epiphyte with roots deep to the ground to absorb the water and nutrients.
Life cycle.
The flowering time of "Griselinia littoralis" is in spring when small greenish yellow flowers appear. The flowers are borne on long panicles, each panicle with 50-100 individual flowers, each flower 3–4 mm across, with five sepals and stamens but no petals. Following flowering, small blackish berries are formed, as long as male and female "Griselinia littoralis" are located in the same area so pollination can occur. Birds are a vector in spreading the seeds around the area, minimizing competition within the same species for water, sunlight and nutrients. Also allowing the "Griselinia littoralis" to establish in new areas. Germination of the seeds occur when the seeds drop to the ground and reproduction occurs. This plant has a long life span generally over fifty years.
There are three phases of the forest growth cycle: the gap phase, the building phase, and the mature phase. It is easier to tell from these three phases. The diameter grow faster during the gap and building phase (0.31cm per year) that the leaves become bigger and bigger to absorb the sunlight to do photosynthesis than mature phase (just 0.19cm per year). Broadleaf grow very quickly in building phase than other phases.
The gap phase is the period when the colonization forming by the canopy opening. The building phase is the period when the seeding attain canopy status. The mature phase is the period when the canopy keep intact. The average height of this plant is 15 cm per year (range 10-18 cm).
The flowers are borne on the slim twigs and they are very small, the color is green, they always appear from late spring to mid-summer. Greenish flowers have two type: male flowers and female flowers. They grow up at different trees. The wind and insects are good media to transfer the pollen from one flower to another flower.
Fruits keep green until they get ready to become mature and fall down from the tree to the ground. The dark purple or black berries can be 6-7 mm long and appearing in mid-summer and ripening from autumn to winter.
Predation.
"Griselinia littoralis" is susceptible to grazing herbivores and predators such as goat, deer, possums and insects. These predators graze on the leaves of this species however "Griselinia littoralis" is generally a healthy and dense shrub that withstands foraging adequately.
Other information.
"Griselina littoralis" bark was traditionally used by Maori as medicine to treat skin infections before modern medicine became available. The name "littoralis" of this broadleaf species means "growing by the sea". "Griselinia littoralis" is commonly used as a hedge or screen as it is a hardy shrub that can be clipped back easily and looks good all year round with minimal maintenance. This plant is a good coastal hedge resisting winds, especially in harsh coastal environment.
In cultivation in the UK, "Griselinia littoralis" and the cultivar 'Variegata' have won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Meliosma sirensis

Meliosma sirensis is a species of plant in the Sabiaceae family. It is endemic to Peru.


Primula deorum

Primula deorum, also known as Rila primrose, Rila cowslip or God's cowslip, is a flowering dicot plant of the genus "Primula" in the family Primulaceae. This alpine plant is endemic to roughly 63 km2 above the tree-line (especially around 2200 metres) in the Rila mountains in Bulgaria, where it grows in small groups in acid, boggy soil near streams and pools and in boggy soil. Its elongate green leaves form rosettes. The blooms are red-purple, borne in asymmetrical umbels high above the leaves. This plant has survived the last glacial period as a relict organism.
It is sometimes offered as an ornamental, but is difficult to cause to flower. The best success comes from a well-aerated, wet medium consisting partly or entirely of sphagnum; flowing water is advisable.
The name "God's cowslip" and the species epithet "deorum" refer to the presence of this species on Musala, "God's Mountain", though it is much more common above Malyovitsa, where it is the dominant plant in suitable spots.


Griselinia lucida

Griselinia lucida, commonly known as puka, akapuka or shining broadleaf, is an epiphytic plant native to New Zealand. "G. lucida" naturally occurs in wet lowland-forests and open or rocky coastal environments mostly in the North Island of New Zealand, and restricted areas of the South Island.
"Griselinia lucida" has large, asymmetrical, shiny, dark-green leaves. It has distinctive fluted roots that descend down from the host trees the plant is growing in.
Description.
In general, this tree can grow up to 10–15 metres tall. It has rough and short branches which can stretch to 15 decimetres in diameter. The shape of apical leaf is broad-ovate to ovate-oblong or rounded with smooth margin. The yellow-green leaves are thick and glossy and their width can be 5-12 cm long by 4-5cm wide; one edge is usually a little longer than the other edge at the base - one of the typical characteristics. They are arranged on the stem in the alternate pattern. The greenish flowers are quite small and are borne on slim twigs from late spring to mid-summer. The panicles of flowers are small, too. Five petals are owned by the pistillate flowers. The dark purple or black berries can be 6-7 mm long and appear in mid-summer, ripening from autumn to winter.
Distribution.
Throughout the North Island, and in the South Island to North Canterbury in the east and South Westland. It can be found everywhere from lowland to high hills or forest or shrub land. It is more common in the South Island than the North Island. In the North Island, it grows at higher altitudes than in the South Island.
Habitat preferences.
This plant can grow in a range of environments. In moist climates this plant can be an epiphyte with roots extending to the ground to absorb water and nutrients. The plant is often grown as a screen or hedging to resist wind or other extreme situations.
Life cycle/phenology.
There are three phases in the forest growth cycle: the gap phase, the building phase and the mature phase. The gap phase is the period when canopy openings are receptive to colonisation; the building phase is the period when the seedling attains canopy status; and the mature phase is the period when the canopy remains intact. Broadleaf grow faster in the building phase than the other phases. Diameter growth rates are generally faster during the gap and building phases (0.31cm per year) – when the leaves become bigger and bigger to absorb the sunlight for photosynthesis – than during the mature phase (just 0.19cm per year).
The average height increment of Broadleaf and other major canopy species is 15 cm per year (range 10-18 cm).
The flowers are borne on slim twigs and are very small (4–6 mm in diameter). The female flowers lack petals, but the male flowers have small greenish petals and are 5 mm in diameter. They appear from late spring to mid-summer. The flowers are unisexual, with male and female flowers growing on separate trees. Pollen is transferred from one flower to another flower by wind and insects.
Fruits stay green until near maturity, when they darken to purple or black before falling to the ground. The berries are 6-7 mm long, appearing in mid-summer and ripening from autumn to winter.


Dulichium arundinaceum

Dulichium is a monotypic genus of sedge containing the single species Dulichium arundinaceum, which is known by the common name threeway sedge. This is an aquatic or semi-aquatic plant of the lakes, streams, and ponds of the United States and Canada It has a wide distribution across the two countries, though noticeably absent from the Dakotas and from the Southwestern Deserts.
"Dulichium arundinaceum" has a thick rhizome system and grows to heights approaching a meter. It is reminiscent of bamboo in appearance when new, growing bright green erect stalks in large, grassy stands. Stems are round to slightly triangular in cross-section (though not nearly as angularly triangular as in Cyperus or Carex), and hollow. The leaves are in three ranks along the stem when seen from above (thus the common name "threeway sedge"), with sheaths along the stems, and the inflorescence grows from the leaf axilla. The spikelets are generally lance-shaped and one to three centimeters long when ripe.
Two varieties are recognized:
Fossil record.
One fossil fruit of †"Dulichium marginatum" has been described from a middle Miocene stratum of the Fasterholt area near Silkeborg in Central Jutland, Denmark.