Black pod disease

Black pod disease is a protozoal disease of Cocoa trees. This pathogen if left untreated can destroy all yields; annually the pathogen can cause a yield loss of up to 1/3 and up to 10% of total trees can be lost completely. With the value of the cocoa industry throughout the world being so large there are much research and control efforts that go into these "Phytophthora spp." pathogens.
This pathogen can be located anywhere on the cocoa trees but is most noted for the black mummified look it will give to the fruit of the cocoa tree. Staying ahead of the pathogen is the best means of control, the pathogen can be greatly reduced if leaf litter is not allowed to stay on the ground and if the pathogen gets out of hand chemical control can be used. This pathogen is mostly found in tropical areas where the cocoa trees are located and need rainfall in order to spread its spores.
Disease cycle, symptoms and signs.
The symptom of black pod disease is the necrotic lesion on the cocoa pod with brown or black color, which eventually enlarged to cover the whole pod. White mycelia growth on lesions that appeared several days after infection is the sign for the causal pathogen of black pod disease, which is "Phytophthora spp".
Black pod disease starts when the infected pod shows some little yellow spots, which eventually turn brown and enlarge to a dark brown or black lesion within five days. The lesion is fast growing and covers the entire pod after eight days of infection. The infection does not only occur on the pod surface, but also invades inside the pod affecting the beans. The growth of white mycelia on black pod is visible after 11 days and the sporulation is initiated. The dispersal of sporangia or zoospores through water, ants and other insects occurs at this stage and will infect other healthy pods nearby. Direct contact of a black pod with healthy pods also leads to the spread of disease. In addition, the infected flower cushion and mummified pods are the locations for "P. palmivora" survival during dry season, where the pathogen will grow and continue to infect other developing pods
The infection occurs on any stage of pod development, where it causes wilting and dying of young pods and destroyed the beans of mature pods. The fully infected pods (the mummified pod), which then become dehydrated, are capable of providing the inoculum of "P. palmivora" for at least 3 years. "P. megakarya" causes the same symptom as "P. palmivora", but the occurrence is faster and generally produces greater amount of spores. Both "P. palmivora" and "P. megakarya" also caused canker on bark, flower cushion and chupóns, and cankers on the base could extend to the main roots. Cankers were identified as one of inoculum sources for black pod disease. Furthermore, the pattern of infection caused by "P. megakarya" starts from the ground and moves up to the canopy, however there is no distinct pattern of disease infection caused by "P. palmivora" was reported. This pattern of infection could be due to "P. megakarya" and "P. palmivora" that were found to survive in soil and "P. megakarya" could be surviving in the roots of a few species of shade trees found in cocoa plantation.
Hosts.
Black pod disease while its name indicates that it is found in "Theobroma cacao" more commonly known as cocoa trees also has different hosts, for example; "P. megakarya" has been detected in the roots of shade trees of Western Africa while these trees can also be affected by the pathogen it is because of the market value of the cocoa trees that all emphasis and research on the disease is done on cocoa trees.
Cocoa trees.
In the cocoa trees, "P. megakarya" infects the bark, flower, and trees with cankers. These cankers will often exude a reddish gum reducing the life of the tree, in turn, reducing the yield of the plant. The most devastating place the pathogen attacks is in the flowers as from these flowers is where the cocoa fruit will set. An infected flower will have infected fruit, which will turn black and will be unable to be harvested and processed.
Pathogen.
Seven different pathogens have been named to cause black pod disease all over the world. All of the pathogens are found in the genus "Phytophthora" (a plant-damaging Oomycetes). The seven species responsible for black pod disease are; "P. capsici, P. citrophthora, P. megasperma, P. katsurae, P. palmivora, and P. megakarya." While all of these pathogens can cause black pod disease the two major pathogens are "P. palmivora" and "P. megakarya". The black pod disease pathogens affect all cocoa trees all over the world "P. capsici" and "P. citrophthora" are found in Central and South America while others such as "P. megakarya" is found in Central and Western Africa. All of these pathogens can present themselves in all parts of the cocoa trees but are most devastating in the fruit itself where it will turn the fruit to a black mummified casing. This fruit is then useless and can no longer be used.
Environment.
"P. megakarya" is found in Central and Western Africa. During the cooler wetter times of the year, there is a spike in the incidents of black pod disease as when compared to the hotter more dry times of the year. The disease has a spike shortly after a rainfall.
The humid weather that is associated with this pathogen and all other black pod disease pathogens is needed as the sporangia forms and starts distributing spores through rainfall, splashing water, and running water. With this pathogen spreading behavior needing water is why there is almost always a spike in the prevalence of the disease shortly after the rainy season.
Inoculum dispersal.
Soil and litter.
The spread of infection to pods above bare soil was shown to be greater relative to pods above litter. The reason for this is due to the splash of rain from bare soil spreads the inoculum to pods. However, litter under the tree prevented water droplets from splashing the soil particles as well as the inoculum beneath the litter to the above pods. Further, it was also reported that pods near the ground showed greater infections compared to higher pods due to greater soil was splashed and stick on the lower pods, therefore causes more infections.
Air and water dispersal from sporulating pods.
The spread of spores through air from infected pods was observed and some assumption regarding this mechanism of dispersion has been made in previous studies, however it is remained uncertain due to unconvincing results from an experiment that collected some spores in the air using the volumetric spore trap, where a small amount of spores were found in the trap. Conversely, the dispersal of inoculum via rain is considered an effective mechanism in spreading the inoculum. It was assumed that under close canopy, less water will reach the sporulating pods to spread the inoculum, however, rain drops from leaves and branches could also splash the inoculum to the surroundings. Infected pods laying on the ground or litter could also spread the inoculum, yet greater infection was observed on pods located under infected pods hanging on the tree compared to pods at the same level of infected pods. It was reported that splash of wind-blown droplets from the infected pods are also able to infect pods on different trees nearby
Invertebrate.
The dispersal of the disease is also associated with the invertebrate vectors. Tent building ants such as "Crematogaster striatula" and "Camponotus acvapimensis" were reported as the primary vector in disseminating the spores of "P. palmivora" from infected pods to healthy pods in Ghana. "C. striatula" was thought to be the most important vector that is responsible for black pod losses due to its building tent behavior as well as its dominancy within the area under particular condition. In Ghana, "C. striatula" removes the outer layer of cocoa pod and uses this material to construct the tent. Therefore, this ant effectively spread the disease by transporting the spores from the infected pods on the ground or on trees to healthy pods. Several other ant species namely "C. africana, C. clariventris" and "C. depressa" were also responsible for the spread of the disease besides "C. striatula"
In addition, "Camponotus acvapimensis", another type of tent-building ant that uses soil as building materials for tent construction was identified as the most important agent to spread the inoculum in Nigeria. Soil was identified as the source of inoculum for "P. megakarya" and therefore, it was implied that this ant species might use the infected soil to build tents, which infects healthy pods on trees.
Other invertebrates that were reported to be associated with spreading the disease are several species of beetle, snail, caterpillar and millipedes. Fecal samples from these organisms were found to contain viable spores of "P. palmivora". It was reported that beetle of family "Nitidulidae" is the most common vector for black pod as it was found 50 to 60% of black pod occurrences. These invertebrates consume the outer layer of the infected pods and incidentally ingest the mycelium and spores of the pathogen, thus spread the pathogen to other healthy pods.
Disease management.
There are several methods available in order to control black pod disease such as cultural, chemical and biological control. In addition, the cultivation of varieties that resistant to black pod is an alternative in order to reduce disease incidence.
Cultural control.
Several cultural practices to manage black pod disease could be implemented in cocoa plantation. A spacing of 3.1 x 3.1m and pruning of trees are recommended for cocoa planting in order to allow more light and air flow around the trees. This will reduce the level of humidity that is causing black pod disease. The removal of pods with black pod symptom should also be done in favor to eliminate the source of inoculum.
In another study, the utilization of litter mulch under cocoa plantation has been reported in Papua New Guinea, which has some negative effect on the population of "P. palmivora", and therefore could reduce the pod infection especially at the beginning of raining season. Leaf litter showed rapid decline in pathogen recovery of colonized cocoa tissue after 18 weeks, relative to grass ground cover. An explanation for this is due to higher moisture content and microbial activity of other microbes under leaf litter that reduces the survival of "Phytophthora cinnamomi" as documented by Aryantha et al. (2000).
More frequent ripe pod harvest (i.e. twice a week) and removal of infected pod on the ground was demonstrated to significantly reduced disease occurrence and improve pod yield compared to less frequent harvest and removal (i.e. once a month). In addition, scattered healthy pod on the ground should also be removed, as it will be infected and become the source of inoculum later.
Sanitation is one cultural method to control for black pod disease. Sanitation practices include weed removal, pruning, thinning and removal of infected and mummified pods every two weeks in order to eliminate the source for inoculum. Phytosanitary pod removal was observed to significantly reduce disease occurrences by 9–11% to 22–31%, where this practice removes the source for secondary inoculum. However, increase in disease incidence after raining season was observed to be most likely due to the spread of inoculum from survival site by the rain. The application of fungicide following sanitation is commonly performed for an effective control of disease, as sanitation practice alone would not completely eliminate the source of inoculum and still causes greater black pod incident compared to sanitation followed by at least one fungicide application
Chemical control.
The application of copper fungicide has been shown to significantly reduce a great number of black pod incidences in Nigeria. Metalaxyl (Ridomil) and cuprous oxide (Perenox) were identified to be successful in increasing the number of harvested healthy pod compared to the application of fosetyl aluminium (Aliete) and control treatment. On top of that, the timing of fungicide application has some positive effect on the final pod yield where this plot produced greater yield than the unsprayed plot. The application was done before August, which is before the main disease epidemic that usually occurs in September and October.
The recommended standard for fungicide application to control black pod disease caused by "P. megakarya" for a season is 6 to 8 times of application in every 3–4 weeks. However, the adoption of recommended application was very low among farmers in Ghana. Therefore, an experiment with a reduced number of fungicide applications demonstrated that there was 25 to 45% reduction in disease incidence. In terms of disease control and yields, sanitation and three applications of Ridomil 72 plus (12% metalaxyl + 60% copper-1-oxide) fungicide showed a better control compared to sanitation alone and sanitation with one or two fungicide applications. However, reduced in fungicide application was shown to be significantly less effective than the recommended standard fungicide application.
It was suggested that the understanding regarding the source of inoculum, the amount of infective inoculum production and how the disease is disseminated is important in order to identify the appropriate and economical method in fungicide application as well as for an effective control of the disease. For example, the application of fungicide on the trunk will help farmers to control the spread of the disease up in the canopy, as it is difficult to reach the canopy during fungicide application. This will eventually save more time, labor and cost for disease management.
Cultural and chemical control.
In Ghana, a study that combined the sanitation and fungicide application showed a significant reduction in the percentage of disease incidence, where greater black pod incident were observed from pods on the trunk than the canopy in control treatment (no fungicide application). This suggested that the application of fungicide on the trunk would protect pods from infection, therefore reduce primary and secondary infection rate, both on the trunk and in the canopy. In addition, the application of systemic (potassium phosphonate) with one and double injection (20 ml and 40 ml of fungicide for each injection frequency), and semi-systemic (metalaxyl) fungicide showed better control compared to contact fungicides (copper based fungicide) in both locations that were used in the experiment.
Biological control.
Heavy application of chemical fungicide would eventually leads to resistant of pathogen and causing soil and water pollutions. Hence, more sustainable and environmental friendly method should be established and implemented, such as biological control. Several species of fungi from the genera of "Trichoderma" was identified to be a beneficial endophyte, to control black pod caused by "Phytophthora spp". An isolate of "Trichoderma asperellum" from soil was observed as a potential mycoparasite for "P. megakarya" where this fungus has the potential to reduce black pod incident under field condition in Cameroon. It was reported that moderate black pod cases (47%) occurred in the "T. asperellum" treatment to control black pod disease compared to trees with untreated (71%) and chemical fungicide (1.73%). Another species, which is "T. virens" also has been documented to reduce some black pod incident in Peru. In Brazil, a new species known as "Trichoderma martiale" Samuels, sp. nov. was identified as an endophyte on cocoa, which has the ability to reduce black pod symptoms caused by "P. megakarya". This endophyte species survives on cocoa pods, and has the ability to establish a long endophytic association with the host (about 3.5 months). Nevertheless, the protection against black pod via biological control is not as effective as the control using chemical fungicides
Resistant variety.
There is no specific variety of cocoa that shows resistant to "Phytophthora" infections and the establishment and utilization of resistant variety will be most likely depends on the region. Numerous breeding programs have been established worldwide in order to screen and test for local hybrids for disease resistant of P"hytophthora spp". For example, a study in Cameroon assessed the performance of local cocoa cultivars (the southern and northern Cameroon cultivar) compared to the local and international gene bank cultivars. The local genebank cultivar consisted of F1 hybrid of Upper Amazon X Trinidad, and an international cultivar from Papua New Guinea, and Latin America were provided through International Cocoa Genebank, Trinidad. Based on the information provided by farmers and leaf disc test to assess resistant variety, the local cultivars selected from farmers field showed some resistant to "P. megakarya" compared to other varieties. Thus, it was concluded that there are some potential resistant varieties available in this area. In addition, some molecular work on developing resistant varieties to black pod is being done by CEPLAC (Executive Plan of Cocoa Farming) agency in Brazil and hopefully more breeding program focusing on black pod resistant will be established and produced commercialized resistant varieties.
Importance.
The United States chocolate industry consumes 1.4 billion dollars of cocoa and supplies 68,450 jobs throughout the United States. With this industry being so important not only in the US but also all over the world the black pod disease is of high importance. This pathogen if left untreated can destroy all yields; annually the pathogen causes 20-30% yield loss and kills about 10% of trees completely.


Ballantinia

Ballantinia is a genus of plants in the family Brassicaceae.
Species:


Guaiacum coulteri

Guaiacum coulteri is a species of flowering plant in the family Zygophyllaceae, that is native to western Mexico and Guatemala.


Avalanche lily

Avalanche lily is a common name for several plants in the genus "Erythronium" and may refer to:


Cryptocarya foveolata

Cryptocarya foveolata, known as the mountain walnut is a rainforest tree growing at high altitude in eastern Australia. Despite the common name, it belongs to the laurel family.
Fallen leaves from this tree may be identified by the two glands at the base of the leaf, and by the compact leaf shape and venation.
The group of "Cryptocarya" trees are mostly from the tropics or warmer temperate areas. This tree is unusual as it grows in cooler regions, subject to frost and occasional snow. It's also an unusually tall tree for the genus "Cryptocarya".
"Cryptocarya foveolata" grows in rainforests on fertile soils. Mostly growing above 600 metres above sea level. Often seen in association with the Antarctic Beech. The natural range of distribution is from Mount Royal in the Barrington Tops to the McPherson Range on the border of Queensland and New South Wales.
Description.
"Cryptocarya foveolata" is a small to large tree, occasionally reaching 45 metres in height and with a trunk diameter of 120 cm. The bark is brown, mostly smooth with lines of vertical bumps running up the trunk. The base of the tree is not particularly buttressed.
Leaves alternate, ovate or elliptical with a prominent tip. Three veined with an easily seen mid vein, raised on the upper and lower side of the leaf. One or two pairs of hollow glands ("foveolae") forming at the base of the leaf. One on either side of the midrib. Leaves 4 to 7 cm long.
Small, cream, flowers form on panicles from December to February. Fruit ripens from October to January. Being a fleshy black drupe, 12 to 15 mm across, with a single seed inside, around 10 mm in diameter. Like most Australian Cryptocarya fruit, removal of the aril is advised to assist seed germination. Around a third of the seeds will germinate.


Plectorrhiza tridentata

Plectorrhiza tridentata, commonly known as the common tangle orchid, is an epiphytic or lithophytic orchid that has many coarse, tangled roots, up to twenty egg-shaped leaves and up to fifteen green or brown, star-shaped flowers with a white labellum. It grows on rainforest trees and in other humid places and occurs between the Daintree National Park in Queensland and the far north-eastern corner of Victoria.
Description.
"Plectorrhiza tridentata" is an epiphytic or lithophytic herb with a single main flattened stem, long suspended by one to a few of its many tangled aerial roots. There are between three and twenty green to purplish, leathery, narrow egg-shaped leaves long and wide. Between three and fifteen green or brown flowers, long and wide are borne on a pendulous flowering stem long. The sepals and petals are free from each other and spread widely apart. The dorsal sepal is long, about wide and the lateral sepals are slightly longer. The petals are long, about wide. The labellum is white with a green patch, long, about wide with three lobes. The side lobes are more or less triangular and curve outwards and the middle lobe is blunt with a curved spur about long. Flowering occurs from September to January.
Taxonomy and naming.
The common tangle orchid was first formally described in 1838 by John Lindley who gave it the name "Cleisostoma tridentatum" and published the description in "Edwards's Botanical Register". In 1967 Alick Dockrill changed the name to "Plectorrhiza tridentata". The specific epithet ("tridentata") is derived from the Latin word "tridens" meaning "a fork with three tines".
Distribution and habitat.
"Plectorrhiza tridentata" usually grows on trees in humid places such as deep gullies and swamps. It is found in from the Daintree area in Queensland south along the coast and nearby ranges of New South Wales to rainforest east of the Snowy River in north-eastern Victoria.


Phyllospadix torreyi

Phyllospadix torreyi, Torrey's surfgrass, is a plant species found along the Pacific Coasts of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California and Baja California (including Guadalupe Island). It grows in salt marshes in the intertidal zones.
"Phyllospadix torreyi" is a grass-like plant with toothless leaves up to 60 cm long.
"Phyllospadix torreyi" is the obligate host to the epiphytes, "Melobesia mediocris" and "Smithora naiadum".


Primulales

Primulales is an order of flowering plants. This order was recognized in several systems with little variation in circumscription (see Bentham & Hooker, Engler and Wettstein system). In the classification system of Dahlgren the Primulales were in the superorder Primuliflorae (also called Primulanae). In the 1981 version of the Cronquist system it was an order placed in subclass Dilleniidae with the following circumscription:
The APG III system includes all the plants involved in the (expanded) order Ericales.


Boswellia dioscoridis

Boswellia dioscorides is a species of plant in the family Burseraceae. It is endemic to island Socotra, Yemen. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and rocky areas.


Adenolisianthus

Adenolisianthus is a plant genus in the gentian family (Gentianaceae), tribe Helieae. The name of the genus is derived from Greek roots meaning "gland-bearing and smooth flower". Only one species, Adenolisianthus arboreus, has been classified as part of this genus.
Habitat.
"Adenolisianthus arboreus" is found in the river basins of the Rio Negro and the Rio Vaupes. Its area of distribution covers northwestern Brazil and the southern parts of Venezuela and Colombia. Adenolisianthus' primary habitat is lowland, white-sand savanna.


Picea


Bossiaea sericea

Bossiaea sericea is an erect shrub in the pea family (Fabaceae), which is native to Victoria, New South Wales and the ACT.
Description.
"Bossiaea sericea" is an erect shrub, growing to about 2 m high, and has terete stems. The leaflet is anything from circular to broadly quadrangular. It is slightly convex and the edges do not curl down and the lower surfaces have a dense covering of straight, silky hairs which lie flat to the surface. The pods are 6–10 mm long and covered rusty hairs or a mixture of pale and rusty hairs. It flowers from December to January.
Distribution.
It is found in north-eastern
and far eastern Victoria, far south-eastern New South
Wales, and in the Australian
Capital Territory.
Habitat.
It is found in alpine and subalpine areas above 800 m in altitude, growing in heath and woodland (often bordered by grassland).
Etymology.
The epithet, "sericea", is derived from the Latin, "sericeus" (silky) and refers to the silky undersurface of the leaflets.
Taxonomy.
The species was first described in 2012 as "Bossiaea sericea" by Ian Thompson. The type specimen was collected by Bob Makinson on December 3, 1991 near Omeo, with type specimens kept at CBG and MEL (holotype MEL 234474A, isotype CBG 9106346.1)


Bartramia pomiformis

Bartramia pomiformis, the common apple-moss, is a species of moss in the Bartramiaceae family. It is typically green or glaucous in hue, although sometimes it can appear yellowish. The stems extend from a half cm to 8 cm, with narrowly lanceolate to linear-lanceolate leaves 4 - 9 mm long. The leaves have a nerve and are toothed. They are curled when dry but stick out when moist.
The capsules are particularly distinctive, being spherical and asymmetric, initially green but becoming brownish and ridged with age. They are around 2 mm diameter carried on a stalk 2 cm long.
Reddish rhizoids can often be seen on the stem.
The species is found in acidic or neutral substrates, particularly rock ledges, but also walls and earth banks. These sites are typically humid and shaded, often near streams or rivers.


Sequoia (genus)

Sequoia is a genus of redwood coniferous trees in the subfamily Sequoioideae of the family Cupressaceae. The only extant species of the genus is "Sequoia sempervirens" in the Northern California coastal forests ecoregion of Northern California and Southwestern Oregon in the United States. The two other genera, "Sequoiadendron" and "Metasequoia", in the subfamily Sequoioideae are closely related to "Sequoia". It includes the tallest trees, as well as the heaviest, in the world.
Several extinct species have been named from fossils, including "Sequoia affinis "(Western North America), "Sequoia chinensis" (no valid reference, identification uncertain) of China, "Sequoia langsdorfii" (reclassified as Metasequoia), "Sequoia dakotensis" (reclassified as Metasequoia) of South Dakota (Maastrichtian), and "Sequoia magnifica" (petrified wood from the Yellowstone National Park area).
Etymology.
The name "Sequoia" was first published as a genus name by the Austrian botanist Stephan Endlicher in 1847. However, he left no specific reasons for choosing that name, and there is no record of anyone else speaking to him about its origin.
The most common modern guess is that Endlicher, a published linguist, sinologist, philologist, as well as a systematic botanist, named the genus in honor of Sequoyah, the inventor of the Cherokee writing system, now known as Sequoyan. Beginning in the 1860s, it was suggested that the name is instead a derivation from the Latin word for "sequence", since the species was thought to be a follower or remnant of massive ancient, extinct species, and thus the next in a sequence.
However, in a 2012 article, author Gary Lowe argues that Endlicher would not have had the knowledge to conceive of "Sequoia sempervirens" as the successor to a fossil sequence, and that he more likely saw it, within the framework of his taxonomic arrangements, as completing a morphological sequence of species in regards to the number of seeds per cone scale.
In 2017, Dr. Nancy Muleady-Mecham of Northern Arizona University, after extensive research with original documents in Austria, claimed to find a positive link to the person Sequoyah and Endlicher as well as information that the use of the Latin sequor would not have been correct, however there are debilitating limitations to the arguments presented in the 2017 article. The alleged positive link is based on a similarity in pronunciation of the words “Sequoyah” and “Sequoia”; valid to persons that think in English, but not those that think in German or Latin. Endlicher could not have known how Sequoyah’s name was pronounced in Cherokee since he never had the opportunity to hear spoken Cherokee. The claimed use of Latin ignores Endlicher’s philological background and familiarity with the Latin of the ancient manuscripts in the royal library on which he extensively published. Endlicher’s Botanical Latin prefix in the genus name Sequoia was derived from the Latin verb “sequor”, and was not a conjugation of the verb.
Paleontology.
"Sequoia jeholensis" is the oldest recorded member of the genus Sequoia (Along with "Sequoia portlandica", but this last is a nomen dubium) , know from the Jiufotang Formation (Lower Cretaceous) and the Jiulongshan Formation (Middle Jurassic) of China. By the late Cretaceous the ancestral sequoias were established in Europe, parts of China, and western North America. Comparisons among fossils and modern organisms suggest that by this period "Sequoia" ancestors had already evolved a greater tracheid diameter that allowed it to reach the great heights characteristic of the modern "Sequoia sempervirens" (coast redwood) and "Sequoiadendron giganteum" (giant sequoia).
"Sequoia" ancestors were not dominant in the tropical high northern latitudes, like "Metasequoia", a redwood whose deciduous habit gave it a significant adaptive advantage in an environment with 3 months of continuous darkness. However, there still was possibly prolonged range overlap between "Sequoia" and "Metasequoia" which could have led to hybridization events that created the modern hexaploid "Sequoia sempervirens". See also the metastudy of the geologic history of the giant sequoia and the coast redwood.
A general cooling trend by the late Eocene and Oligocene reduced the northern ranges of ancestral "Sequoia". By the end of the Miocene and beginning of the Pliocene, "Sequoia" fossils were morphologically identical to the modern "Sequoia sempervirens". Continued cooling in the Pliocene meant that "Sequoia", which is extremely intolerant to frost due to the high water content of its tissues, also became locally extinct in response to the extreme cooling of Europe and Asia In western North America it continued to move south through coastal Oregon and California, surviving due to the abundant rainfall and mild seasons. The Sierra Nevada orogeny further isolated "Sequoia" because the snowy mountain peaks prevented eastward expansion. The Pleistocene and Holocene distributions are likely nearly identical to the modern "S. sempervirens" distributions.
References.
Muleady-Mecham, Nancy E. Ph.D. (2017) "Endlicher and Sequoia: Determination of the Entymological Origin of the Taxon
Sequoia," Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences: Vol. 116: Iss. 2.
Available at: http://scholar.oxy.edu/scas/vol116/iss2/6


Arthrocereus spinosissimus

Arthrocereus spinosissimus is a species of "Arthrocereus" from Brazil.


Plagiomnium

Plagiomnium is a genus of mosses in the family Mniaceae. It was formerly a part of a more encompassing genus "Mnium" and in 1968 Finish bryologist Timo Juhani Koponen justified splitting the genus into a number of smaller genera.
Description.
This genus is characterized by singly placed marginal teeth.
"Plagiomnium" are commonly found along shaded stream banks, seeps and springs, generally on soil with a high humus content.
Species.
The genus "Plagiomnium" contains the following species:


Velloziaceae

Velloziaceae is a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants. The APG II system, of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system, 1998), also recognizes this family, and assigns it to the order Pandanales.
Relationships and evolution.
By contrast to other members of Pandanales the family demonstrates stricter flower morphology. Despite that, the flower structure is still quite variable and with a lot of specifics. Thus morphological analyses are not able to uncover realistic phylogenetical relationships neither appropriate taxonomy. Embryological development places the family among the amaryllids while the composition of the ovary puts it near the distinct Hypoxidaceae. However, a study regarding the pollen structure in two genera from Velloziaceae was found to be an important character and suggests some correlation but this is still a variable trait.
Molecular analyses recognize five distinct genera (by including "Talbotia" in "Xerophyta" and "Nanuza" in "Vellozia" thus forming two sister groups) and show that the monotypic genus "Acanthochlamys" is sister to the rest of the members. The family originated in Gondwana. The crown group is dated to be very young - 14 Mya (Mid Neogene) but the stem group was found to be much older - 108 Mya (Mid Cretaceous). Velloziaceae has a total of 306 known species.
Distribution and ecology.
Members of Velloziaceae are distributed both in the Old and the New world. Genera as "Vellozia", "Nanuza" and "Barbacenia" are found in South America (Brazil, Cerrado). "Xerophyta" and "Talbotia" are growing across Africa. Plants from the family are also found in Madagascar and the southern part of the Arabian peninsula. One distinct species ("Acanthochlamys bracteata") is restricted to China as the only member found in Asia.
Velloziaceae includes different xerophytes inhabiting open and dry habitats. These plants exhibit various adaptations against desiccation as for example less-densely distributed stomata, decreased surface area by the use of developed furrows (as in many cacti) and expansive leaf sheets that cover the stem or the aerial roots until they grow long enough to reach the ground level. In some members these sheaths are able to create a microclimate that sustains the roots by keeping a constant level of moisture.
Flowers.
In the majority of Velloziaceae flowers are single or sometimes collected in bracts. There is no definite flowering period. They are hypanthium-forming, sometimes papillate at their base or smooth, mostly white, creme or colored in different shades of purple although species with yellow, orange or red flowers also exist. Despite stricter, their structure is quite variable in some aspects (the number and structure of stamens varies at very high rate) as in other members of Pandanales. Tepals are six. The ovary is divided into three chambers with many ovules developed in them. Pistil and Stigma are also divided into three parts.
Pollen and pollination.
Examination with scanning electron microscope uncovers that one of the distinctive characteristics of the family is the structure of the pollen. Its shape and composition are distinctive. For example, in "Barbacenia" pollen grains are singular and represent simple monads with ellipsoidal shape and one aperture. In "Vellozia" the grains are tetragonal (organized in tetrads) and non-apperturate. The size of pollen in "Barbacenia" is around half the size of that of "Vellozia". However, the structure of the exine (pollen's envelopment) is a trait shared by the members of Velloziaceae. It is composed of many reticulations which in many cases may be described as vermiform. In some species, such as "Vellozia abietina", the pollen wall does not fit this description, lacking any surface reticulations.
Both cross and self pollination are observed inside the family, and the process is accomplished in various manners. Pollinators of "Vellozia" include the common honeybee ("Apis melifera") and different species of solitary bees as "Megachile curvipes", "Psaenythia sp." and "Augochlora metallica". The reward is pollen which is much more abundant than nectar. Nectar in the genus contains very low concentration of sugars. Bees use the three lobed stigma as a landing platform, and visually orient towards it. When the tepals are removed, bees will visit the flowers, but when the stigma is removed, no pollinators are recorded. It was found that hummingbirds visit these plants despite the diluted composition of nectar. "Barbacenia" differs in that its nectar is more abundant than its pollen. The pollen is probably taken by carpenter ants but whether ants are successful pollinators is not known. Pollen grains in "Barbacenia" are smaller, and these insects may be able to carry them and leave some on the stigma while they are searching for nectar.
Fruits and seeds.
Fruits and seeds of these plants appear in large variety of shapes and sizes which demonstrate adaptations enhancing dispersal. Such adaptations include the development of bristles or hooks ("Talbotia elegans") that cover the seed capsule. This allows attachment to animals, making the seeds able to travel long distances. Another characteristic is that the capsule is sticky, which also helps it to attach.


Lanaria

Lanaria is a monotypic genus of flowering plants containing a single species, Lanaria lanata, endemic to the southern coast of South Africa where it is associated with the fynbos belt. "Lanaria lanata" is commonly known as Cape edelweiss or lambtails. The genus is placed in the monotypic family Lanariaceae, a family only recently recognized by taxonomists. The APG IV system of 2016 (unchanged from the 1998, the 2003 and 2009 versions) does recognize this family.
This species occurs on clay and sandstone soils throughout its distribution range. The stiff, ribbed leaves arise from a woody rootstock and are evergreen, channelled, and finely serrate along the margins. The densely woolly, white heads enclose mauve flowers and are peculiar to the species. Flowering is profuse following fires.
Etymology.
Both 'lanaria' and 'lanata' are derived from 'lana', Latin for 'wool'.


Centropogon hartwegii

Centropogon hartwegii is a species of plant in the family Campanulaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.


Anacolosa frutescens

Anacolosa frutescens, also known as galo or galonut, is a plant in the family Olacaceae. The specific epithet "" is from the Latin "frutex" meaning "shrub". It produces edible fruits and nuts eaten in the Philippines.
Description.
"Anacolosa frutescens" grows as a shrub or small tree up to tall with a diameter of up to . The greenish grey bark is smooth to mottled. The obovoid to oblong fruits are green, ripening to yellow or orange, and measure up to long. The wood is sometimes locally used for house posts.
Distribution and habitat.
"Anacolosa frutescens" is native to Southeast Asia, from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Myanmar through Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Its habitat is mixed dipterocarp forests, sometimes heath and peat swamp forests, occasionally submontane forests, from sea-level to altitude.
Uses.
The fruit and seeds of galo (also known as "aluloy") is eaten in the Philippines. The fruit is usually boiled before consumption and has a taste similar to avocado. The seeds have a flavor descibed as being similar to a mixture of sweet corn and chestnuts.


Mentzelia pumila

Mentzelia pumila, (dwarf mentzelia, desert blazing star, blazing star, bullet stickleaf, golden blazing star, yellow mentzelia, evening star, moonflower, Wyoming stickleaf, etc.) is a biennial wildflower found in the western United States and northwestern Mexico from Montana and North Dakota, south to Sonora and Chihuahua. It is a blazingstar and a member of the genus "Mentzelia", the stickleafs; member species are also called "evening stars", but some stickleafs close at sunset, as does "M. pumila."
Leaves of "Mentzelia pumila" are long, very narrow, and serrated-pinnate-like; also medium to light grayish green; an individual plant in an opportune site can be 1.5– in height. The flowers are a bright, glossy medium yellow, and the major petals are variable, sometimes 5 major, 5 minor; also 4 and 4.
"Mentzelia pumila" is covered in minute elaborations known as trichomes, which pierce and trap insects that land on it. A species of aphid, "Macrosyphum mentzeliae" colonises the plant and is afforded protection, since its main predator, the ladybird beetle, is unable to avoid the trichomes.
Uses.
The root is a laxative. The Zuni people insert this plant into the rectum as a suppository for constipation. The plant is also used to whip children to make them strong so they could hold on to a horse without falling.


Begonia geminiflora

Begonia geminiflora is a species of plant in the family Begoniaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador as well as known from a population in Pichincha province recorded in 1980. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.


Bindii

Bindii, bindi, bindyi or bindi-eye may refer to the following plant species:
Plants called bindii


Allenia (plant)

Allenia is a taxonomic plant genus synonym that may refer to:


Banewort

Banewort is a common name for several poisonous plants. Banewort may refer to:


Aframomum flavum

Aframomum flavum is a species in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It was first described by John Michael Lock.


Euonymus atropurpureus

Euonymus atropurpureus is a species of shrub in the bittersweet family. It has the common names American wahoo, eastern wahoo, burningbush, and hearts bursting with love. It is native to eastern North America.
Distribution and habitat.
This species is primarily found in the Midwestern United States, but its range extends from southern Ontario south to northern Florida and Texas. It grows in low meadows, open slopes, open woodland, stream banks and prairies, in moist soils, especially thickets, valleys, and forest edges.
Description.
It is a deciduous shrub growing to 8 m tall, with stems up to 10 cm diameter. The bark is gray, smooth, and lightly fissured. The twigs are dark purplish-brown, slender, sometimes four-angled or slightly winged. The leaves are opposite, elliptical, 8.5–11.3 cm long and 3.2–5.5 cm broad, abruptly long pointed at the tip, and with a finely serrated margin; they are green above, paler and often with fine hairs beneath, and turn bright red in the fall. The flowers are bisexual, 10–12 mm diameter, with four greenish sepals, four brown-purple petals and four stamens; they are produced in small axillary cymes. The fruit is a smooth reddish to pink four-lobed (sometimes one or more of the lobes abort) capsule, up to 17 mm diameter, each lobe containing a single seed, orange with a fleshy red aril.
Uses.
The fruit is poisonous to humans, but is eaten by several species of birds, which disperse the seeds in their droppings. It is used medicinally in both the United States and southeastern Canada. The powdered bark was used by American Indians and pioneers as a purgative. "Wahoo" was the indigenous peoples' name for the plant.


Oxalis dehradunensis

Oxalis dehradunensis is an "Oxalis" species found in India. It has a chromosome count of 2n=14.


Kalanchoe orgyalis

Kalanchoe orgyalis a species of flowering plant in the Crassulaceae family. It is a succulent commonly known as copper spoons.


Cassipourea acuminata

Cassipourea acuminata is a species of plant in the Rhizophoraceae family. It is found in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Gabon. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.


Anisophyllea disticha

Anisophyllea disticha is a plant of tropical Asia in the family Anisophylleaceae. The specific epithet "" is from the Latin meaning "2-ranked", referring to the leaf arrangement.
Description.
"Anisophyllea disticha" grows as a shrub or small tree up to tall with a stem diameter of up to . Its bark is smooth. The ellipsoid fruits ripen red and measure up to long.
Distribution and habitat.
"Anisophyllea disticha" grows naturally in Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo. Its habitat is forests from sea-level to altitude.


Calystegia purpurata

Calystegia purpurata is a species of morning glory known by the common name Pacific false bindweed.
It is endemic to California, where it grows in the seaside scrub of the coastline and the chaparral of the coastal and inland valleys.
Description.
"Calystegia purpurata" is a robust perennial herb growing from a woody caudex and extending spreading or climbing stems up to 70 centimeters. The lobed leaves are up to 5 centimeters long and generally triangular in shape.
The inflorescence produces 1 to 5 flowers atop peduncles. The flower is a morning glory up to 5 centimeters wide, in color white, pink, purple, or white or cream with purple stripes.


Euglossa solangeae

Euglossa solangeae is a Euglossine bee species found in coastal southeastern Brazil. It is believed to be part of the "Euglossa stellfeldi" group.


Caryocaraceae

Caryocaraceae (syn. Rhizobolaceae DC.) is a small family of flowering plants consisting of two genera with 26 species. The family is native to tropical regions of Central and South America, as well as the West Indies.


Muellerina (plant)

Muellerina is a genus of parasitic arial shrubs in the family Loranthaceae.
This Loranthaceae genus is distinguished from others by having
Species include:
Ecology.
The larvae of the Australian butterflies "Delias harpalyce" and "Ogyris genoveva" feed on "Muellerina".
An inventory of host plants for "Muellerina" spp. is given by Downey
Taxonomy.
"Muellerina" is a member of Santalales, the mistletoe order, and is placed within the family Loranthaceae. The name "Muellerina" was first published by Philippe Édouard Léon Van Tieghem in 1895, where one New Zealand species, "Muellerina raoullii", and two Australian species ("Muellerina celastroides" and "M. eucalyptifolia" - now "M. eucalyptoides") are given. Further Australian "Muellerina" species are listed in van Tieghem.
A further article by van Tieghem further discussing the relationships of Loranthaceae genera is van Tieghem.


Salicornioideae

The Salicornioideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Amaranthaceae ("sensu lato", including the Chenopodiaceae). Important characters are succulent, often articulated stems, strongly reduced leaves, and flowers aggregated in thick, dense spike-shaped thyrses. These halophytic plants are distributed worldwide.
Description.
The Salicornioideae are annual or perennial herbs, subshrubs, or low shrubs. Their stems are glabrous and often apparently jointed. The alternate or opposite leaves are fleshy, glabrous, often basally connate and stem-clasping (thus forming the joints), with missing or short free leaf blades.
The spike-shaped inflorescences consist of alternate or opposite bracts, these are often connate and stem-clasping, sometimes free. In the axil of each bract, there are one to five (rarely to twelve) flowers, free or sometimes fused to each other, to the bract, and to the inflorescence axis. The flowers are usually bisexual (the lateral flowers may be unisexual). The 2-5-lobed perianth consists of two to five connate tepals. There are one or two stamens and an ovary with mostly two stigmas.
In fruiting phase, the perianth remains membranous or becomes spongy, crustaceous, or horny. The fruit wall (pericarp) may be membranous, fleshy, chartaceous, crustaceous, woody, or horny. The seed is disc-shaped, lenticular, ovoid or wedge-shaped. Its surface may be smooth, papillose, reticulate, tuberculate or longitudinally ribbed. The embryo is curved, half-annular or horseshoe-shaped, rarely only slightly curved. In most genera, the seed contains copious perisperm, but a feeding tissue is missing in "Salicornia" and "Sarcocornia".
Photosynthesis pathway.
The majority of the Salicornieae species are C3-plants. There is only one species that has developed C4-photosynthesis, "Tecticornia indica" (syn. "Halosarcia indica").
Distribution and Evolution.
Plants from the Salicornioideae are found around the world. All are halophytes, growing in coastal or inland saline habitats.
The Salicornioideae originated in Eurasia about 38-28 million years ago, during the Late Eocene/Early Oligocene, and radiated rapidly into its major lineages. "Kalidium", the "Halocnemum/Halostachys"-lineage, "Halopeplis", and the "Allenrolfea/Heterostachys"-lineage were branching off early. Later developed the "Arthrocnemum/Microcnemum"-lineage, the "Halosarcia"-lineage (with "Halosarcia", "Pachycornia", "Tecticornia", "Sclerostegia", "Tegicornia"), and the "Salicornia/Sarcocornia"-lineage. Already in the Middle Miocene, about 19-14 million years ago, all major lineages were present.
Systematics.
The taxon was first published in 1849 by Alfred Moquin-Tandon as a tribe Salicornieae within the family Chenopodiaceae. In 1934, Oskar Eberhard Ulbrich raised the taxon to subfamily level and named it Salicornioideae (in: A. Engler & K. Prantl (eds.): "Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien", ed. 2, Vol. 16c).
The family Chenopodiaceae is now included in Amaranthaceae s.l.
Phylogenetic research supports the monophyly of the subfamily. According to Kadereit "et al." (2006), it comprises just one tribe, the Salicornieae. Traditionally two tribes had been distinguished, Halopeplideae and Salicornieae, but these are not monophyletic.


Lycianthes rimbachii

Lycianthes rimbachii is a species of plant in the family Solanaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador.


Lepidosperma concavum

Lepidosperma concavum, commonly known as the sandhill sword-sedge, is a plant found in coastal regions of south-eastern and eastern Australia. It grows on sandy soils in woodland, forest and heathland.
Description.
The sandhill sword-sedge is a tufted perennial with a short vertical rhizome and rigid, erect, sharp-edged culms. It grows to 20–60 cm in height and 3–7 mm in width. The inflorescence is ovate to oblong, 3–15 cm long and 2–4 cm in diameter, with a shorter involucral bract. The numerous spikelets are 5–8 mm long. The smooth, pale to dark brown, ovoid nut is 2.7–4.0 mm long and 1.3–1.8 mm in diameter. It flowers in spring and summer.


Passiflora biflora

Passiflora biflora, the twoflowered passionflower, is a vine with paired peduncles and flowers up to wide. It is native to the New World from Mexico to Colombia and Venezuela. In Florida, "P. biflora" has been classified by the Exotic Pest Plant Council as a non-native species that has the "potential to disrupt native plant communities."


Boyington Oak

The Boyington Oak is a historic Southern live oak in Mobile, Alabama. In a city with many live oaks that are famous for their age and size, the Boyington Oak stands out as a singular example of one famous for the folklore surrounding its origin.
History.
The story of the Boyington Oak begins with Charles R.S. Boyington, a young printer who arrived in Mobile from Connecticut in 1833. The 1830s were Mobile's years of rapid growth and expansion. Boyington was known to be a frequent gambler, and lived in one of the many boarding houses that dotted the city. On May 11, 1834, Boyington was seen accompanying his friend and roommate Nathaniel Frost, to whom Boyington supposedly owed money, on a walk to Church Street Graveyard on the outskirts of the city. Frost was later found stabbed to death and robbed near the cemetery.
Boyington was the obvious suspect in the murder, but steadfastly professed his innocence even after he was found guilty of the crime. He was executed on February 20, 1835 for the murder of Frost and buried in the northwestern corner of Church Street Graveyard, in the potter's field section. Prior to being hanged, Boyington reportedly stated that a mighty oak tree would spring from his heart as proof of his innocence. An oak tree did eventually grow from the grave. Although the grave and tree were originally inside the brick wall surrounding the cemetery, the wall was moved back from this section shortly after the turn of the 20th century. Today the Boyington Oak stands just outside the cemetery wall, on the edge of Bayou Street.
Folklore.
The story of the Boyington Oak has been published numerous times. The story is featured in Kathryn Tucker Windham's "Jeffrey's Latest 13: More Alabama Ghosts", John S. Sledge's "Cities of Silence", Nelson and Nelson's "A History of Church Street Graveyard", and Pruitt and Higgin's "Crime and Punishment in Antebellum Mobile: The Long Story of Charles R. S. Boyington" in the "Gulf Coast Historical Review". Ghost stories about the tree claim that visitors have reported hearing crying and whispering sounds emanating from the vicinity of the tree.
In November 2019, Boyington Oak: A Grave Injustice was released. Thoroughly researched and written by Mary S. Palmer, this creative nonfiction book recounts the story of Charles R. S. Boyington, his murder conviction, and execution by hanging. Boyington's prediction that a tree would grow from his grave, proving his innocence in the crime. The tree stands today!


Sisyrinchium montanum

Sisyrinchium montanum, the blue-eyed-grass, American blue-eyed-grass, or strict blue-eyed grass, is a grass-like species of plant from the genus "Sisyrinchium", native to northern North America from Newfoundland west to easternmost Alaska, and south to Pennsylvania in the east, and to New Mexico in the Rocky Mountains. It has also been introduced to parts of France, likely during the First World War.
It is very similar to "S. angustifolium", with which it is sometimes combined.
Description.
"Sisyrinchium montanum" is a herbaceous perennial plant that grows in clumps between tall. Its stems have wings with entire to finely toothed margins. The leaves and stem are slender, broad, green or brownish, with sharp edges and a fine point.
The flowers are produced in a small cyme of two to five together emerging from a spathe, each flower about diameter, with six purplish tepals with a yellowish base and yellow stamens. The fruit is a capsule long, containing numerous small black seeds.


Petrophyton (alga)

Petrophyton is a genus of alga that falls in the coralline stem group.


Harrisia divaricata

Harrisia divaricata is a species of cactus endemic to Hispaniola.


Frankenia portulacifolia

Frankenia portulacifolia, also called Saint Helena tea or tea plant, is a species of salt-tolerant plant in the Frankeniaceae family. It is endemic to the islands of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. Its natural habitats are inhospitable, dry and rocky areas and rocky shores, often on weathered volcanic ash. As its total population has been estimated at only around 3,500 individuals, it is currently classified as Critically Endangered by the IUCN.


Lepismium cruciforme

Lepismium cruciforme is a species of plant in the family Cactaceae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.


Clematis occidentalis

Clematis occidentalis is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common name western blue virginsbower. It is native to much of southern Canada and the northern United States. There are three varieties: var. "occidentalis" is limited to the eastern half of the species' range, var. "grosseserrata" to the western half, and var. "dissecta" is endemic to Washington. The plant varies somewhat in appearance. Generally they produce vines and climb on surfaces. The leaves are divided into three thick, green leaflets, which may have lobes or teeth. The flower has no petals, but petallike sepals which are usually either deep purple-blue in western populations or reddish purple in eastern plants. White flowers are rare.


Colletotrichum trichellum

Colletotrichum trichellum is a fungal plant pathogen. It is known for causing leaf and stem spot in English Ivy.


Nepenthes burbidgeae

Nepenthes burbidgeae , also known as the painted pitcher plant or Burbidge's Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant with a patchy distribution around Mount Kinabalu and neighbouring Mount Tambuyukon in Sabah, Borneo.
Botanical history.
"Nepenthes burbidgeae" was discovered on Mount Kinabalu in 1858 by Hugh Low and Spenser St. John. St. John wrote the following account of finding the species near the Marai Parai plateau:
Crossing the Hobang, a steep climb led us to the western spur, along which our path lay; here, at about 4000 ft [1200 m], Mr. Low found a beautiful white and spotted pitcher-plant which he considered the prettiest of the twenty-two species of "Nepenthes" with which he was then acquainted; the pitchers are white and covered in a most beautiful manner with spots of an irregular form, of a rosy pink colour.
Frederick William Burbidge was one of the first to collect the plant in 1878, although he did not succeed in introducing it into cultivation. The type specimen of "N. burbidgeae", "Burbidge s.n.", was collected on the Marai Parai plateau of Mount Kinabalu and is deposited at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. A duplicate specimen is held at the New York Botanical Garden.
"Nepenthes burbidgeae" appeared as an unnamed species in Burbidge's 1880 book "The Gardens of the Sun". Joseph Dalton Hooker named "N. burbidgeae" after Burbidge's wife, though the name only appeared in an unpublished manuscript. The specific epithet is attributed to Burbidge as he used it in a letter to "The Gardeners' Chronicle" in 1882. It reads:
Nepenthes Burbidgeae, Hook. f. "MSS.", is a lovely thing, as yet unintroduced : pitchers pure white, semi-translucent like egg-shell, porcelain-white, with crimson or blood-tinted blotches. Lid blotched and dotted with crimson-purple. It is a very distinct plant, with triangular stems, 50 feet long, and the margins of the leaves decurrent.
In 1894, Otto Stapf identified specimens belonging to "N. burbidgeae" as "N. phyllamphora", a taxon that is now considered synonymous with "N. mirabilis".
In two articles authored by Burbidge in 1894 and 1896, the name of this species was written as "N. burbidgei". This name is considered a "sphalma typographicum" (misprint) of "N. burbidgeae", although it appeared in a number of other works by authors such as Odoardo Beccari (1886), John Muirhead Macfarlane (1908), and Elmer Drew Merrill (1921). Herbarium material also bears this spelling of the name.
Seventy years after its discovery, "N. burbidgeae" remained a poorly known species. This is reflected in the writing of B. H. Danser in his seminal 1928 monograph, "The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies", where he suggests a close relative in "N. pilosa":
This species has only been found twice on Mt. Kinabalu and is very insufficiently known. I have not ventured to unite it with any other. "N. pilosa", though doubtless the most nearly related species, is certainly different.
In 1981, Australian botanist Allen Lowrie reported that the fluid in unopened pitchers of "N. burbidgeae" is effective in stopping external bleeding. Lowrie cited two examples of researchers in the field successfully using this fluid on cuts and wounds.
Description.
"Nepenthes burbidgeae" is a strong climber that quickly enters the vining stage. The stem reaches 15 m in length and is up to 18 mm in diameter. Internodes are cylindrical to triangular in cross section and up to 12 cm long.
The leaves of this species are coriaceous and petiolate. The lamina or leaf blade is oblong in shape and up to 40 cm long by 10 cm wide. It has an acute apex and its base is typically abruptly attenuate. The petiole is winged, up to 15 cm long, and clasps the stem. It is often decurrent into two narrow wings that extend down the stem. Three to four longitudinal veins are present on either side of the midrib. Pinnate veins are inconspicuous. Tendrils are up to 30 cm long.
Rosette and lower pitchers are rounded-infundibular or conical in shape. Unlike the pitchers of many other "Nepenthes" species, those of "N. burbidgeae" have no obvious constriction in the middle. The lower pitchers are relatively large, being up to 25 cm high by 10 cm wide. A pair of fringed wings, measuring up to 10 mm in width, runs down the front of each pitcher. The glandular region, which bears minute overarched glands, covers the basal half of the pitcher's inner surface. The pitcher mouth is round and elongated into a short neck at the rear. The peristome is flattened and expanded, measuring up to 30 mm in width. Its inner margin is lined with a series of small but distinct teeth. The inner portion of the peristome accounts for around 49% of its total cross-sectional surface length. The pitcher lid or operculum is ovate and up to 8 cm wide. It bears a distinct keel as well as a characteristic hooked appendage on its lower surface. An unbranched spur (≤12 mm long) is inserted near the base of the lid.
Upper pitchers are similar to their terrestrial counterparts in most respects, even retaining the same colouration. However, they are smaller, reaching only 13 cm in height and 7 cm in width. They are infundibular in the basal third and globose above. In aerial pitchers, a pair of ribs is present in place of wings.
"Nepenthes burbidgeae" has a racemose inflorescence. The peduncle is up to 25 cm long, while the rachis reaches 30 cm in length. Partial peduncles may be one- or two-flowered and are up to 15 mm long. Sepals are ovate and up to 5 mm long.
Most parts of the plant are covered in a sparse indumentum of short hairs. The margins of the lamina are lined with brown hairs up to 3 mm long.
"Nepenthes burbidgeae" has a very restricted range and exhibits relatively little variability. As such, no infraspecific taxa have been described.
Ecology.
Habitat and distribution.
"Nepenthes burbidgeae" is endemic to Kinabalu National Park, where it has a patchy distribution around Mount Kinabalu and neighbouring Mount Tambuyukon. Specifically, it has been recorded from the Marai Parai plateau, Mamut copper mine, and Pig Hill. On Pig Hill, it grows at 1900–1950 m and is sympatric with "N. rajah", "N. tentaculata", and the natural hybrid "N. × alisaputrana". The altitudinal range of this species is often quoted as 1200–1800 m above sea level, but some sources give a lower limit of 1100 m and upper limit of 2250 m or even 2300 m.
Mount Kinabalu was only formed around 1 million years ago and, during the last ice age (approximately 20,000 to 10,000 years ago), it had an ice cap on its summit. As such, it appears that "N. burbidgeae" is a relatively recent species in evolutionary terms.
"Nepenthes burbidgeae" is probably the rarest of the "Nepenthes" species native to Mount Kinabalu. Its typical habitat consists of mossy forest or montane forest, where it often grows in low scrub and exposed areas on the tops of steep ridges. The species is restricted to ultramafic soils. In more exposed areas, "N. burbidgeae" is often found climbing amongst bushes of "Leptospermum javanicum". At some localities it has also been recorded from bamboo forest.
"Nepenthes burbidgeae" can often be found growing amongst populations of "N. edwardsiana", "N. rajah", and "N. tentaculata", and hybrids with all of these species have been recorded.
Threats and conservation status.
The El Niño climatic phenomenon of 1997 to 1998 had a catastrophic effect on the "Nepenthes" species of Mount Kinabalu. The dry period that followed severely depleted some natural populations. Forest fires broke out in 9 locations in Kinabalu Park, covering a total area of 25 square kilometres and generating large amounts of smog. Hugo Steiner recalls being struck by the scarcity of "N. burbidgeae" pitchers observed on Mount Kinabalu during a trip in 1999. At the time of the El Niño, many plants were temporarily transferred to the park nursery. These were later replanted in the ""Nepenthes" Garden" in Mesilau. Since then, Ansow Gunsalam has established a nursery close to the Mesilau Lodge at the base of Kinabalu Park to protect the endangered species of that area, including "N. burbidgeae".
The conservation status of "N. burbidgeae" is listed as Endangered on the 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species based on an assessment carried out in 2000. This does not agree with an informal assessment made by Charles Clarke in 1997, who classified the species as Vulnerable based on the IUCN criteria. However, Clarke noted that since all known populations of "N. burbidgeae" lie within the boundaries of Kinabalu National Park and are inaccessible to collectors, they "are unlikely to become threatened in the foreseeable future". Taking this into account, he suggested a revised assessment of Conservation Dependent.
Related species.
"Nepenthes burbidgeae" is easily distinguished from other species in the genus on the basis of its pitcher shape and colouration, as well as the hook-shaped appendage on the underside of the lid. The only other Bornean "Nepenthes" species with a similarly developed appendage are "N. chaniana" and "N. pilosa".
B. H. Danser suggested that "N. burbidgeae" is most closely related to "N. pilosa". The latter species is poorly known and was for a long time confused with "N. chaniana".
The glandular crest of "N. chaniana" is very similar to that of "N. burbidgeae", particularly in upper pitchers. However, it is difficult to confuse these species as the pitchers are otherwise markedly different in structure; the upper pitchers of "N. burbidgeae" are short and funnel-shaped, whereas those of "N. chaniana" are elongated and have a dense indumentum of white hair.
Natural hybrids.
Natural hybrids involving "N. burbidgeae" appear to be relatively rare and only four have been recorded to date. Three of these (crosses with "N. edwardsiana", "N. fusca", and "N. tentaculata") have received little attention in the scientific literature, but "N. burbidgeae" × "N. rajah" has been described as "N. × alisaputrana" and is famous for producing huge pitchers rivalling those of "N. rajah" in size.
"N. burbidgeae" × "N. rajah".
"Nepenthes × alisaputrana" was described in 1992 by J. H. Adam and C. C. Wilcock and is named in honour of Datuk Lamri Ali, Director of Sabah Parks. It is only known from a few remote localities within Kinabalu National Park, where it grows in stunted, open vegetation over serpentine soils at around 2000 m above sea level, often amongst populations of "N. burbidgeae".
This plant is notable for combining the best characters of both parent species, not least the size of its pitchers, which rival those of "N. rajah" in volume (≤35 cm high, ≤20 cm wide). The other hybrids involving "N. rajah" do not exhibit such impressive proportions. The pitchers of "N. × alisaputrana" can be distinguished from those of "N. burbidgeae" by a broader peristome, larger lid and simply by their sheer size. The hybrid differs from its other parent, "N. rajah", by its lid structure, indumentum of short, brown hairs, narrower and more cylindrical peristome, and pitcher colour, which is usually yellow-green with red or brown flecking. For this reason, Anthea Phillipps and Anthony Lamb gave it the common name "Leopard Pitcher-Plant". The peristome is green to dark red and striped with purple bands. Leaves are often slightly peltate. The hybrid is a strong climber and frequently produces upper pitchers.
"Nepenthes × alisaputrana" more closely resembles "N. rajah" than "N. burbidgeae", but it is difficult to confuse this plant with either. However, this mistake has previously been made on at least one occasion; a pitcher illustrated in Adrian Slack's "Insect-Eating Plants and How to Grow Them" as being "N. rajah" is in fact "N. burbidgeae × N. rajah".
In 2002, phytochemical screening and analytical chromatography were used to study the presence of phenolic compounds and leucoanthocyanins in "N. × alisaputrana" and its putative parent species. The research was based on leaf material from nine dry herbarium specimens. Eight spots containing phenolic acids, flavonols, flavones, leucoanthocyanins and 'unknown flavonoid' 1 and 3 were identified from chromatographic profiles. The distributions of these in the hybrid "N. × alisaputrana" and its putative parental species "N. burbidgeae" and "N. rajah" are shown in the adjacent table. A specimen of "N. × alisaputrana" grown from tissue culture ("in vitro") was also tested.
Luteolin, cyanidin and 'Unknown Flavonoid 3' were undetected in "N. burbidgeae", while concentrations of 'Unknown Flavonoid 1' were found to be weak. Chromatographic patterns of the "N. × alisaputrana" samples studied showed complementation of its putative parental species.
Myricetin was found to be absent from all studied taxa. This agrees with the findings of previous authors and suggests that the absence of a widely distributed compound like myricetin among the "Nepenthes" examined might provide additional diagnostic information for these taxa.
Cultivation.
Little information has been published on the growing requirements of "N. burbidgeae". In "Insect-Eating Plants and How to Grow Them", Adrian Slack wrote that cuttings of "N. burbidgeae" were more difficult to root than those of other "Nepenthes" species.
In 2004, professional horticulturist Robert Sacilotto published a summary of measured tolerances of highland "Nepenthes" species, based on experiments conducted between 1996 and 2001. "Nepenthes burbidgeae" was found to be tolerant of a fairly wide range of conditions, particularly in terms of temperature and soil composition; it grew in every substrate used in the experiment. However, plants showed stunted growth when grown in a mixture consisting of 50% silica gel, 20% "Sphagnum" moss, 20% fir bark, and 10% peat moss chunks. The highest growth rates were exhibited by specimens in 50% leached perlite, 30% long fiber "Sphagnum" moss, 10% peat moss chunks, and 10% fir bark, as well as media without fir bark and with a higher percentage of "Sphagnum". "Nepenthes burbidgeae" was found to tolerate temperatures in the range of 9 to 41 °C (48° to 105 °F). A nighttime drop in temperature below 18 °C (65 °F) was necessary for good growth; plants that were not exposed to such a drop grew around 50% slower and produced fewer pitchers. Optimal growth rates were observed with daytime temperatures of 20 to 29 °C (68° to 85 °F) and nighttime temperatures of 12 to 16 °C (54° to 60 °F). Soil with a pH of 4.8 to 5.5 produced the best results; values below 3.5 corresponded with slower growth. Optimal soil conductivity was between 10 and 24 microsiemens, and prolonged exposure of one week or more to levels of more than 60 microsiemens resulted in foliar burn. The experiments suggested that "N. burbidgeae" grows best when relative humidity is in the range of 68 to 95%. However, constant exposure to high humidity in excess of 90% resulted in disease outbreaks and increased plant death rates. Seedlings of less than one year proved to be particularly vulnerable to this. Optimal light levels varied depending on the light source used: 8100–11000 lx (750–1000 fc) in sunlight, 7000–9700 lx (650–900 fc) under high pressure sodium lamps, 6500–9100 lx (600–850 fc) under metal halide lamps, and 5400–7300 lx (500–680 fc) under fluorescent lamps. "Nepenthes burbidgeae" could be grown in lower light conditions, but such plants exhibited etiolated growth and reduced colouration. The species was found to respond well to a fertilizer that was applied to the pitchers on a monthly basis, but a foliar feed using the same solution produced no visible change in growth rate.
Notes.
"Folia mediocria" petiolata, lamina elliptica, nervis longitudinalibus utrinque 3-4, vagina in alas 2 decurrente: "ascidia rosularum" et "inferiora" ignota ; "ascidia superiora" infundibuliformia, parte inferiore costis 2 prominentibus, os versus alis 2 fimbriatis ; peristomio operculum versus in collum ; 1-2 cm altum elevato, cylindrico, crebre costato, operculo late cordato, facie inferiore prope basin carina valida ; "inflorescentia" ignota ; "indumentum" in omnibus partibus iuventute pubescens, statu adulto parcum v. deciduum, in margine foliorum persistens.


Viburnum stellato-tomentosum

Viburnum stellato-tomentosum is a species of plant in the Adoxaceae family. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. It is threatened by habitat loss.


Oxalis luteola

Oxalis luteola is an "Oxalis" species found in South Africa. It was first described in 1794.


Magellanic moorland

The Magellanic moorland or Magellanic tundra () is an ecoregion on the Patagonian archipelagos south of latitude 48° S. It is characterized by high rainfall with a vegetation of scrubs, bogs and patches of forest in more protected areas. Cushion plants, grass-like plants and bryophytes are common.
At present there are outliers of Magellanic moorland as far north as in the highlands of Cordillera del Piuchén (latitude 42° 22' S) in Chiloé Island. During the Llanquihue glaciation Magellanic moorland extended to the non-glaciated lowlands of Chiloé Island and further north to the lowlands of Chilean lake district (latitude 41° S).
The classification of Magellanic moorland has proven problematic as substrate, low temperatures and exposure to the ocean influences the development of the Magallanic moorland. It thus may qualify either as polar tundra or heathland.
Flora and plant communities.
Edmundo Pisano identifies the following plant communities for the Magellanic moorland:
Where forests occur they are made up of the following trees "Nothofagus betuloides" (coigüe de Magallanes), "Drimys winteri" (canelo), "Pseudopanax laetevirens" (sauco del diablo), "Embothrium coccineum" (notro), "Maytenus magellanica" (maitén), "Pilgerodendron uviferum" (ciprés de las Guaitecas) and "Tepualia stipularis" (tepú).
Soils and climate.
Soils are usually rich in turf and organic matter and poor in bases. Often they are also water-saturated. Granitoids, schists and ancient volcanic rocks make up the basement on which soils develop. Any previously existing regolith has been eroded by the Quaternary glaciations. It is not rare for bare rock surfaces to be exposed in the interior of islands.
The climate where Magellanic moorland grows can be defined as oceanic, snowy and isothermal with cool and windy summers. In the Köppen climate classification it has a tundra climate "ET".


Philesiaceae

Philesiaceae is a family of flowering plants, including two genera, each with a single species. The members of the family are woody shrubs or vines endemic to southern Chile.
The APG III system, of 2009 (unchanged from the APG II system of 2003 and the APG system, of 1998) places the family in the order Liliales, in the clade monocots. They are a sister to the family Ripogonaceae which is endemic to Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea.


Elater

An elater is a cell (or structure attached to a cell) that is hygroscopic, and therefore will change shape in response to changes in moisture in the environment. Elaters come in a variety of forms, but are always associated with plant spores. In many plants that do not have seeds, they function in dispersing the spores to a new location. Mosses do not have elaters, but peristomes which change shape with changes in humidity or moisture to allow for a gradual release of spores.
Horsetail elaters.
In the horsetails, elaters are four ribbon-like appendages attached to the spores. These appendages develop from an outer spiral layer of the spore wall. At maturity, the four strips peel away from the inner wall, except at a single point on the spore where all four strips are attached.
Under moist conditions, the elaters curl tightly around the spore. The wet spores tend to stick to each other and to nearby surfaces because of surface tension. When conditions are dry, the spores no longer stick to each other and are more easily dispersed. At that time, the elaters uncoil to extend out from the spore and will catch air currents. The fact that they are extended only when conditions are dry means that successful spore dispersal is more likely.
Liverwort elaters.
In the liverworts also known as hepaticopsida [example "Riccia","Marchantia"], elaters are cells that develop in the sporophyte alongside the spores. They are complete cells, usually with helical thickenings at maturity that respond to moisture content.
In most liverworts, the elaters are unattached, but in some leafy species (such as "Frullania") a few elaters will remain attached to the inside of the sporangium (spore capsule).
Hornwort pseudo-elaters.
In the hornworts, elaters are branched clusters of cells that develop in the sporophyte alongside the spores. They are complete cells, usually without helical thickenings (except in the Dendrocerotaceae).


Elaeocarpus subvillosus

Elaeocarpus subvillosus is a species of flowering plant in the Elaeocarpaceae family. It is found only in Sri Lanka.


Packera werneriifolia

Packera werneriifolia, known by the common names alpine rock butterweed and hoary groundsel, is a species of flowering plant in the aster family. It is native to the western United States in the Sierra Nevada mountain habitat in subalpine and alpine climates, including forests and barren talus.
Description.
It is a perennial herb which is usually small but is otherwise variable in appearance. It grows up to about 15 centimeters tall from a basal rosette of thick, linear or oval leaves a few centimeters long; leaf morphology varies from the western to the eastern regions of the plant's range. The basal leaves are woolly, white to greenish and tufted with smooth and nearly entire (smooth edged) leaf margins and multiple , nearly leafless stems bearing 1-6 flower heads.
The inflorescence bears a single flower head or a cluster of a few heads and may be nearly hairless to quite woolly. The flower head contains up to 40 yellow disc florets, and usually either 8 or 13 yellow ray florets, though these are sometimes absent. It blooms in July to August.
Habitat and range.
It is a low growing perennial plant that can be found growing in the severe conditions of the high northern and central Sierra Nevada range, from in elevation.


Buchenavia

Buchenavia is a genus of plant in family Combretaceae. It contains the following species (but this list may be incomplete):


Ptisana howeana

Ptisana howeana is a rare fern endemic to Lord Howe Island, occasionally found in cultivation. The local names are horse shoe fern or king fern. A large plant, though not particularly tall. The fronds grow to four metres long.
The habitat is near streams in dense forest at the southern part of Lord Howe Island, near Mount Lidgbird and Mount Gower.


Lithocarpus clementianus

Lithocarpus clementianus is a tree in the beech family Fagaceae. It is named for Governor Cecil Clementi Smith of the Straits Settlements (former British territories in Malaya).
Description.
"Lithocarpus clementianus" grows as a tree up to tall with a trunk diameter of up to . The brownish bark is fissured or cracked. The coriaceous leaves measure up to long. Its purplish acorns are roundish and measure up to across.
Distribution and habitat.
"Lithocarpus clementianus" grows naturally in southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo. Its habitat is hill dipterocarp to lower montane forests up to altitude.


Glyceria borealis

Glyceria borealis is a species of "Glyceria" known by the common names northern mannagrass, boreal mannagrass, and small floating mannagrass. It is native to much of the northern half of North America, where it has a widespread distribution. This semiaquatic plant grows in wet areas in mountain forests, often in the water.
It grows a tall and very thin stem often exceeding a meter in height when erect. It may bend, lie flat on the ground, or float in the water of ponds and streams. The leaves bear ligules up to a centimeter long. The narrow, long inflorescence has cylindrical spikelets one to two centimeters long, each made up of 6 to 11 florets with membranous margins.


Leptostomum

Leptostomum is a genus of mosses belonging to the family Bryaceae.
The species of this genus are found in Europe, Australasia and Northern America.
Species:


Oocystis

Oocystis is a planktonic genus of mostly freshwater green algae of the family Oocystaceae. The type species is "Oocystis naegelii" A.Braun.


Cyanea humboldtiana

Cyanea humboldtiana (formerly "Rollandia humboldtiana") is a rare species of flowering plant in the bellflower family known by the common name Oʻahu rollandia. It is native to Oʻahu, where it is known only from the Koʻolau Mountains. It is a federally listed endangered species. Like other "Cyanea" it is known as haha in Hawaiian.
This Hawaiian lobelioid is a shrub reaching 1 to 2 meters in height. It bears magenta or white flowers. There are no more than 300 individuals remaining. They grow along the southern peaks of the Koʻolau Range in the cloud zone. The species is threatened by exotic plants and feral pigs in its habitat.


Andreaea regularis

Andreaea regularis is a species of moss that grows in Antarctica and on the South Shetland Islands.


Dialyceras

Dialyceras is a genus of trees in the family Sphaerosepalaceae. The species are all endemic to Madagascar.
Species.
"The Plant List" and "Tropicos" recognise 3 accepted species:


Echeveria minima

Echeveria minima, called the miniature echeveria, is a species of flowering plant in the genus "Echeveria", native to northeast Mexico. A succulent, it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Gunnera hamiltonii

Gunnera hamiltonii is a creeping herbaceous plant in the family Gunneraceae, with clusters of small (2 to 7 cm) grey-brown leaves forming a dense mat. Small green flowers are followed by red berries in the autumn.
It is one of the rarest plants in its native New Zealand, with Southland and Stewart Island/Rakiura representing two of the suspected 5 remaining natural habitats. Natural fertilisation of these plants is now difficult as the male and female plants are separate.


Sabatia

Sabatia, the rose gentians, is a genus of about 20 species of flowering plants in the family Gentianaceae, native to eastern and central North America (Nova Scotia west to Wisconsin and New Mexico, and south to Florida and Texas), Central America, and the Caribbean.
They are annual or perennial herbaceous plants growing to 10–130 cm tall, with opposite leaves. The flowers are produced in large cymes at the top of the stems; the flower corolla has 5–12 lobes, colored pink or white, with a contrasting central yellow 'eye'. The fruit is a capsule containing numerous small seeds.
Selected species.
Source: USDA, Arkansas Native Plant Society
Cultivation and uses.
Several species are cultivated as ornamental plants in gardens.


Epipactis

Epipactis, or helleborine, is a genus of terrestrial orchids consisting of approximately 70 species. This genus is abbreviated as Epcts in horticultural trade.
Description.
Their creeping, fleshy rhizomes grow offshoots, from which then emerge the 20–70 cm long stems during the next spring.
There are four to eight alternate, lanceolate leaves, that grow progressively shorter near the top. The margins are entire, the top is acute. Species with less chlorophyll have blue-purple leaves.
Their bilaterally symmetrical colorful flowers grow from a terminal raceme. The three sepals and the two lateral petals are ovate and acuminate. Their color can vary from greenish-white to violet and purple.
The lip is divided in a bowl-shaped hypochile, with the outer surface greenish-white and threaded with dark veins. The wavy, snow-white epichile is fan-shaped.
The ovary is inferior. It produces a dry capsule with countless minute seeds.
Chemistry.
As is characteristic of all orchids, "Epipactis" spp. are dependent on a mycorrhizal symbiosis (see also Orchid mycorrhiza). This allows some species to have reduced leaves and need little chlorophyll. Violet helleborine ("Epipactis viridiflora") can even do without chlorophyll. These forms can be recognized by their purple instead of violet flowers.
Habitat.
The species occur in temperate and subtropical climates of America, Asia, and Europe. These orchids grow in open spaces in forests, in undergrowth, on calcareous soils and are often found in wet dune-slacks near the sea. The only original American species is giant helleborine ("Epipactis gigantea"). One species from Europe, broad-leaved helleborine ("Epipactis helleborine"), is invasive in North America. Most species are protected.
Most of these hardy orchids grow in a wet environment, but there are exceptions. The marsh helleborine ("Epipactis palustris") is the only European orchid able to survive in a flooded habitat. "Epipactis gigantea" is a species found in the American west, and into southern Canada, in wet areas and even streams. It can grow to a height of 1 m. However, "Epipactis helleborine" grows in more diverse habitats, from sheltered sandy beaches to open spaces in deciduous or coniferous forests, on roadsides, in meadows, and on moist soils. It is sometimes called the weed orchid.


Nassella trichotoma

Nassella trichotoma, the serrated tussock, is a type of bunchgrass plant, native in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Peru.
It is on the list of Weeds of National Significance in Australia, reducing the productivity of pasture and creating a fire hazard. In many states, landowners are required by law to keep their land free of this plant.
In New Zealand is classed as an unwanted organism by Biosecurity New Zealand and is under strict control regimes by some of the regional councils.


Gentiana calycosa

The herbaceous perennial plant Gentiana calycosa is a species of gentian known by the common names Rainier pleated gentian and mountain bog gentian.
Distribution.
It is native to the mid-elevation mountains of the western United States and Canada from the Sierra Nevada of California to the Canadian Cascades.
Description.
The flower of "Gentiana calycosa" is a funnel-shaped cup opening into a five-petaled face wide, in shades of deep blue to purple. The plant has hardy, thick green leaves on the thin red stems from which the flowers are borne.
Like other gentians, "G. calycosa" is an attractive mountain wildflower good for use in alpine gardens.


Stonebergia

Stonebergia is an extinct genus in the rose family, Rosaceae, which contains the single species Stonebergia columbiana. The genus was described from a series of isolated fossil leaves in shale from an early Eocene location in southern British Columbia.
History and classification.
"Stonebergia" has been identified from a location, the type locality, at the "One mile Creek" exposure of the Allenby Formation near Princeton, British Columbia. The Allenby Formation is currently considered to be Early Eocene in age, based on potassium–argon radiometric dating of plagioclase and biotite crystals. The Allenby formation sediments are interpreted as preserved river lake and wetlands systems, with a surrounding mountain environment.
The species was described from a type specimen, the holotype specimen UWBM 54110 A,B and group of eight paratypes, five of which are currently preserved in the paleobotanical collections housed at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, in Seattle, Washington. Another one of the paratypes is placed in the princetone Museum and District Archives and the remaining two paratypes are in the University of Alberta collections. The specimens were studied by the paleobotanists Jack A. Wolfe of the United States Geological Survey, Denver office and Wesley C. Wehr of the Burke Museum. They published their 1988 type description for "S. columbiana" in the Journal "Aliso". In their type description they note the etymology for the generic name "Stonebergia" is in honor of Margaret Stoneberg from the Princeton District Museum for her support and encouragement of Wolfe and Wehr. The specific epithet "columbiana", is a reference to the type locality in British Columbia.
Description.
The leaves of "Stonebergia" are simple and pinnately veined ranging between long and wide. The leaf lamina is notably pinnatifid with some areas almost being a compound leaf structure. The leaves have between four and nine pairs of secondary veins branching from the main vein at angles up to 90° near the base and decreasing to around 45° near the leaf tip. Each side of the secondary veins host up to seven lobes of the lamina and each lobe has up to eight total teeth. The petiole ranges between long and is notably very hairy. It bears a stipule up to half the petiole length which hosts many simple straight hairs in addition to some glandular hairs.


Cyanea heluensis

Cyanea heluensis is a rare plant that was found near West Maui, The flower was first encountered in 2010 and formally named in 2020. There is only a single known wild individual of the species and it is prone to extinction by global warming or by rats. The plant needs extra protection from parasites and other kind of plant illnesses. The plant is similar to Hāhā. "Cyanea heluensis" has unique leaves. Its flowers are long, white, and gently curved. "Cyanea heluensis" attracts bird pollinators with orange fruit.


Chorispora tenella

Chorispora tenella is a species of plant in the mustard family known by several common names, including purple mustard, blue mustard, musk mustard, and crossflower. This mustard is native to Eurasia but is well known in other parts of the world, particularly in temperate regions, as an introduced species and a noxious weed. This is an annual herb reaching a maximum of half a meter in height and covered abundantly in sticky foliage. The four tiny flower petals emerge from a loose tube of sepals and spread into a corolla about a centimeter wide. The flowers are lavender in color and a field heavily infested with purple mustard can take on a distinct lavender wash. The plant has a strong scent which is generally considered unpleasant. The fruits are long upturned cylindrical capsules about 4 centimeters long containing round, reddish-brown seeds. This is a tenacious weed which can be troublesome in agriculture. It reduces yields in grain fields and when it is consumed by dairy cattle it gives their milk a bad taste and odor. This plant reproduces by seed, so any control method preventing the plants from setting seed is effective.


Lophopyxidaceae


Cazneaux Tree

The Cazneaux Tree, also known as Cazneaux's Tree, is a "Eucalyptus camaldulensis" or river red gum that was made famous by the photographer Harold Cazneaux. It is located in the Australian state of South Australia in the locality of Flinders Ranges near Wilpena Pound. The tree is located within the boundaries of the Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park on the west side of the Flinders Ranges Way about north-east of the Wilpena Pound Resort.
The tree was listed by the National Trust of South Australia as significant tree #239 on the trust's Register of Significant Trees because of "its outstanding aesthetic beauty".
The tree was photographed in 1937 by Cazneaux in a picture entitled "The Spirit of Endurance" which brought him international recognition. The tree is now an important landmark and a tourist drawcard for the area, attracting photographers and artists.
With a height of and a circumference at the base of the tree dominates the otherwise flat arid plateau composed primarily of grasslands.
A plaque funded by Cazneaux's grandson, Dick Smith, was placed at the site in 1991.


Diplotaxis (plant)

Diplotaxis (wall-rocket) is a genus of 32–34 species of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae (Cruciferae), native to Europe, the Mediterranean region and Macaronesia; the species diversity is highest in the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa and the Cape Verde archipelago. They are annual or perennial plants, either herbaceous or sub-shrubby with a woody base. The flowers are yellow in most species, but are white in "Diplotaxis erucoides" and violet in "Diplotaxis acris". Some species, such as "Diplotaxis tenuifolia" and "Diplotaxis muralis", have been historically used as leaf vegetables, are similar to "Eruca sativa" in their peppery flavour, and are used interchangeably with it.
Species.
"Diplotaxis" contains the following species:


Anogeissus

Anogeissus is a genus of trees in the family Combretaceae. The 10 to 12 species are distributed in Asia and tropical Africa. Plants of the World Online now refers to this genus as a synonym of "Terminalia"
These are trees and shrubs with tubular flowers that lack petals and dry fruits with ridges or wings.
Axlewood ("A. latifolia") is used for its wood and tannins and as a fodder. African birch ("A. leiocarpa") is used for its wood and to make yellow dye and medicinal compounds.
Species include:


Fusicoccin

Fusicoccins are organic compounds produced by a fungus. It has detrimental effect on plants and causes their death.
Fusicoccins are diterpenoid glycosides produced by the fungus "Fusicoccum amygdali", which is a parasite of mainly almond and peach trees. It stimulates a quick acidification of the plant cell wall; this causes the stomata to irreversibly open, which brings about the death of the plant.
Fusicoccins contains three fused carbon rings and another ring which contains an oxygen atom and five carbons.
Fusicoccin was and is extensively used in research regarding the plant hormone auxin and its mechanisms.
Biosynthesis.
Fusicoccin is a member of a diterpenoid class which shares a 5-8-5 ring structure and is called fusicoccane. In fungi, fusicoccin is biosynthesized via "Phomopsis amygdali" fusicoccadiene synthase (PaFS) from universal C5 isoprene units dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP) and isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP). PaFS has two domains, a C-terminal prenyltransferase domain which converts isoprene units into geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGDP) and an N-terminal terpene cyclase domain where GGDP gets cyclized and turns into fusicocca-2,10(14)-diene. It is also reported in this study that a 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase-like gene, a cytochrome P450 monooxygenase-like gene, a short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase-like gene, and an α-mannosidase-like gene at the 3’ location downstream of PaFS which are responsible for converting fusicocca-2,10(14)-diene into fusicoccin. Two enzymes, one dioxygenase and PAPT, are in charge of catalyzing a hydroxylation at the 3-position of fusicocca-2,10(14)-diene-8β,16-diol and prenylation of the hydroxyl group of glucose in fusicoccin P, respectively.


Pythium camurandrum

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


Triosteum

Triosteum, commonly known in American English as horse-gentian or, less commonly, feverwort, and, in Standard Chinese as (, is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Caprifoliaceae. A genus of six species in total, it has three species native to North America, and three more in eastern Asia.
Derivation of Genus Name.
The name "Triosteum" is a compound of the Greek "tria" 'three' and "osteon" 'bone', in reference to the three hard pyrenes ( pips / pits ) in each drupe ( berry ) - giving the meaning 'having three pits ( as hard as ) bone'.
Description.
Triosteum spp. are perennial, herbaceous plants of rich woods. Each plant typically consists of at least one erect, round, hairy, fistular stem, 1 to 4 feet (0.3 to 1.2m) high, with opposite ovate-lanceolate entire leaves, and whitish to purplish flowers presented either in axillary whorls or terminal racemes. The fruit is a drupe. It may be white, yellow, orange, or red, depending on the species.
Species.
Five species and one variety are currently accepted by The Plant List and a sixth species by the Online Flora of China:
N.B. A problem exists in relation to the name "Triosteum himalayanum" Wallich., which has been applied to a specimen of the ( unrelated ) "Lasianthus hirsutus" belonging to the genus Lasianthus of the family Rubiaceae : see link below to species pages in Online Flora of China 'Triosteum himalayanum ' and 'Lasianthus hirsutus'.
Ornamental Value.
Certain species in the genus are sometimes cultivated for their colorful fruits, although the plants have been characterised as 'somewhat weedy perennials' and their flowers are, in general smaller and less showy than those of the related genus Lonicera, the Honeysuckles.
Uses.
American species : the dried and roasted fruits have been occasionally used as a substitute for coffee; but they are chiefly valued for their medicinal properties, the roots having been used as an emetic and mild cathartic. The drug is sometimes called Tinker's root, after Dr. Tinker, who first brought it to notice.
Asiatic species : The ripe fruits of "Triosteum himalayanum" Wallich. have been used for 'blood purification' in the Himalayas. The concept of a medicinal plant that 'purifies the blood' is not one recognised by modern medicine, although the effects of plants believed in folk medicine and more recently in alternative medicine to possess such a property are often cholagogue, laxative and / or diuretic.
Chemistry.
Five monoterpene indole alkaloids (vincosamide-6′-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (1), vincosamide (2), strictosamide (3), strictosidine (4), and 5(S)-5-carboxystrictosidine (5)), two monoterpene diglycosides ( see Glycoside ) (urceolide (6) and 4(S)-4-hydroxyurceolide (7)) and 10 iridoids, ( triohimas A–C, naucledal, secologanin dimethyl acetal, grandifloroside, sweroside, loganin, vogeloside and (E)-aldosecologanin ) have recently been isolated from the roots of "Triosteum pinnatifidum" Maxim. Most of the iridoids in question were derived from loganin or secologanin with a glucose moiety at C-1 position and these findings indicate a close relationship between the genera Triosteum and Lonicera, and support the viewpoint that the iridoids derived from loganin or secologanin could be considered chemotaxonomic markers for the family Caprifoliaceae.


Espostoa guentheri

Espostoa guentheri is a species of cactus.


Petrosedum

Petrosedum is a genus of the succulent family Crassulaceae (stonecrop family).
Taxonomy.
"Petrosedum" is a genus in the family Crassulaceae, subfamily Sempervivoideae, tribe Semperviveae, together with two other genera. It was segregated from the very large cosmopolitan and polyphyletic genus, "Sedum", where it was variously considered a series (Rupestria). It was originally described with eleven species.


Chondrus

Chondrus is a genus of red algae containing 11 accepted species:


Blue bugleweed

Blue bugleweed is a common name for several plants and may refer to:


Cyphocarpus

Cyphocarpus is a genus of flowering plants in the Campanulaceae. It contains three known species, all endemic to Chile.


Nepenthes epiphytica

Nepenthes epiphytica is a tropical pitcher plant known only from the Berau and East Kutai Regencies of East Kalimantan, Borneo, where it grows at an elevation of around 1000 m above sea level. Prior to its formal description as a species, "N. epiphytica" was considered to be a variant of the closely related "N. fusca". "Nepenthes epiphytica" belongs to the loosely defined ""N. maxima" complex", which also includes, among other species, "N. boschiana", "N. chaniana", "N. eymae", "N. faizaliana", "N. fusca", "N. klossii", "N. maxima", "N. platychila", "N. stenophylla", and "N. vogelii".
The specific epithet "epiphytica" refers to the epiphytic habit of this species.