Pouteria sapota
Pouteria sapota, the mamey sapote, is a species of tree native to Cuba and Central America ranging from southern Cuba to southern Costa Rica, plus Mexico. Today, the tree is cultivated not only in Cuba, but in Central America, the Caribbean, South Florida for its fruit, eaten in many Latin American countries. Mamey can be found in many Latin American communities throughout the USA, where it is made into milkshakes and ice cream among other things; some of its names in Latin American countries, such as mamey colorado, zapote colorado and zapote rojo, refer to the reddish colour of its flesh in order to distinguish it from the unrelated but similar looking Mammea americana, whose fruit is called "yellow mamey". The Australian and Queensland Government’s research and development programs have produced mamey sapote in Australia. Mamey sapote is a large and ornamental evergreen tree that can reach a height of 15 to 45 meters at maturity, it is propagated by grafting, which ensures the new plant has the same characteristics as the parent its fruit, as it does not grow true to seed.
It is considerably faster than growing trees by seed, producing fruit in three to five years. In Florida, the fruit is harvested from May to July with some cultivars available all year; the fruit, technically a berry, is about 10 to 25 cm long and 8 to 12 cm wide and has flesh ranging in color from pink to orange to red. The brown skin has the fuzz on a peach; the fruit's texture is creamy and soft, the flavor is a mix of sweet potato, honey, peach, cantaloupe and almond. A mamey sapote is ripe; the flesh should give as with a ripe kiwifruit. The leaves are pointed at both ends, 4 to 12 inches in length and grow in clusters at the ends of branches; the mamey sapote is related to other sapotes such as sapodilla and canistel, but unrelated to the black sapote and white sapote. The fruit is eaten raw or made into milkshakes, ice cream and fruit bars, it can be used to produce jelly. Some beauty products use oil pressed from the seed, otherwise known as sapayul oil; the fruit is an excellent source of vitamin B6 and vitamin C, is a good source of riboflavin, vitamin E, manganese and dietary fiber.
Research has identified several new carotenoids from the ripe fruit. Sapodilla Mammea americana Media related to Pouteria sapota at Wikimedia Commons New Crop Resource Online Program: Sapote
Liana
A liana is any of various long-stemmed, woody vines that are rooted in the soil at ground level and use trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy to get access to well-lit areas of the forest. Lianas are characteristic of tropical moist deciduous forests, but may be found in temperate rainforests. There are temperate lianas, for example the members of the Clematis or Vitis genera. Lianas can form bridges amidst the forest canopy, providing arboreal animals with paths across the forest; these bridges can protect weaker trees from strong winds. Lianas compete with forest trees for sunlight and nutrients from the soil. Forests without lianas grow 150% more fruit; the term "liana" is not a taxonomic grouping, but rather a description of the way the plant grows – much like "tree" or "shrub". Lianas may be found in many different plant families. One way of distinguishing lianas from trees and shrubs is based on the stiffness the Young's modulus of various parts of the stem.
Trees and shrubs have young twigs and smaller branches which are quite flexible and older growth such as trunks and large branches which are stiffer. A liana has stiff young growths and older, more flexible growth at the base of the stem. Described genera containing liana species include: Gnetophyta Gnetum spp. Acanthaceae Mendoncia spp. Thunbergia spp. e.g. T. grandiflora, T. mysorensisAncistrocladaceae Ancistrocladus spp. Annonaceae Artabotrys spp. Fissistigma spp. Uvaria spp. Apocynaceae Odontadenia spp. Strophanthus – several spp. including S. sarmentosusArecaceae Calamoideae – rattans: several genera including: Calamus spp. Daemonorops spp. Araceae Pothos spp. Aristolochiaceae Aristolochia spp. Bignoniaceae Anemopaegma spp. Capparaceae Capparis spp. Connaraceae Connarus spp. Dilleniaceae Doliocarpus spp. Dioscoreaceae Dioscorea spp.: the yam family Fabaceae: not leguminous vines are well represented: – Caesalpinioideae Acacia some spp.: e.g. A. concinna "cat's claw" lianas including: Hultholia mimosoides Mezoneuron spp.
Entada spp. Pterolobium spp.– Cercidoideae Lasiobema and Phanera spp.: "monkey ladders" or "snake climbers"– Faboideae Dalbergia armata: of subtropical Africa Derris spp. Machaerium spp. Mucuna spp. Strongylodon spp. Flagellariaceae Flagellaria indicaLoganiaceae Strychnos spp. e.g. S. axillarisNepenthaceae Nepenthes spp. Oleaceae Jasminum spp. Polygalaceae Moutabea: M. aculeataSapindaceae Paullinia spp. Rhamnaceae Ventilago spp. Ziziphus spp. Rubiaceae Uncaria spp. Rutaceae Toddalia asiaticaSchlegeliaceae Schlegelia spp. Smilacaceae Smilax spp. Vitaceae Ampelopsis spp. Cissus spp. "water vines" Parthenocissus spp. Tetrastigma spp. Vitis spp. Lianas compete intensely with trees reducing tree growth and tree reproduction increasing tree mortality, preventing tree seedlings from establishing, altering the course of regeneration in forests, affecting tree population growth rates. Lianas provide access routes in the forest canopy for many arboreal animals, including ants and many other invertebrates, rodents, sloths and lemurs.
For example, in the Eastern tropical forests of Madagascar, many lemurs achieve higher mobility from the web of lianas draped amongst the vertical tree species. Many lemurs prefer trees with lianas for their roost sites. Lianas provide support for trees when strong winds blow. However, they may be destructive in that when one tree falls, the connections made by the lianas may cause many other trees to fall; as noted by Charles Darwin, because lianas are supported by other plants, they may conserve resources that other plants must allocate to the development of structure and use them instead for growth and reproduction. In general, lianas are detrimental to the trees. Growth rates are lower for trees with lianas. Lianas make the canopy of trees more accessible to animals which eat leaves; because of these negative effects, trees which remain free of lianas are at an advantage. The New Student's Reference Work. 1914
Impatiens walleriana
Impatiens walleriana known as busy Lizzie, sultana, or impatiens, is a species of the genus Impatiens, native to eastern Africa from Kenya to Mozambique. The Latin specific epithet walleriana honours a British Horace Waller, it is a flowering herbaceous perennial plant growing to 15–60 cm tall, with broad lanceolate leaves 3–12 cm long and 2–5 cm broad. Leaves are alternate, although they may be opposite near the top of the plant; the changeable, simple leaves are stalked 1.5 to 6 cm long. The leaf blade is ovate to broadly elliptic, sometimes obovate, 2.5 to 13 inches long and 2 to 5.5 inches wide and sometimes spotted or pink or reddish on the underside. Leaflets are missing; the hermaphroditic, zygomorphic flowers are profusely borne, 2–5 cm diameter, with five petals and a 1 cm spur. The seedpod explodes when ripe in the same manner as other Impatiens species, an evolutionary adaptation for seed dispersal; the lower sepals are boat-shaped and narrow in the 2.8 to 4.5 inches long, thread-like curved, but not curved back spur.
The stems are semi-succulent, all parts of the plant are soft and damaged. Although perennial in frost-free growing conditions, it is treated as a half-hardy annual in temperate regions, it is one of the most popular of all bedding plants for parks and gardens worldwide grown in containers but in bedding schemes. Propagation is by stem cuttings. Numerous cultivars in a range of colours from white to purple, are available commercially, either as seeds or young plants, they include the following: Super Elfin series is the dominantly available commercial cultivar group. This group of impatiens was bred by Claude Hope in Costa Rica. Mr. Hope developed this species from its native wild form into one of the most popular bedding plants in the world; the following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit:- Divine SeriesDivine VioletMagnum SeriesMagnum Wild SalmonSunPatiens SeriesCompact Blush Pink = Sakimp013 Compact Electric Orange = Sakimp025 Compact Orange = ‘Sakimp011’ Spreading Variegated Salmon = ‘Sakimp005’ Spreading Variegated White = ‘Sakimp018’
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a chemical element with symbol Al and atomic number 13. It is a silvery-white, soft and ductile metal in the boron group. By mass, aluminium makes up about 8% of the Earth's crust; the chief ore of aluminium is bauxite. Aluminium metal is so chemically reactive that native specimens are rare and limited to extreme reducing environments. Instead, it is found combined in over 270 different minerals. Aluminium is remarkable for its low density and its ability to resist corrosion through the phenomenon of passivation. Aluminium and its alloys are vital to the aerospace industry and important in transportation and building industries, such as building facades and window frames; the oxides and sulfates are the most useful compounds of aluminium. Despite its prevalence in the environment, no known form of life uses aluminium salts metabolically, but aluminium is well tolerated by plants and animals; because of these salts' abundance, the potential for a biological role for them is of continuing interest, studies continue.
Of aluminium isotopes, only 27Al is stable. This is consistent with aluminium having an odd atomic number, it is the only aluminium isotope that has existed on Earth in its current form since the creation of the planet. Nearly all the element on Earth is present as this isotope, which makes aluminium a mononuclidic element and means that its standard atomic weight equates to that of the isotope; the standard atomic weight of aluminium is low in comparison with many other metals, which has consequences for the element's properties. All other isotopes of aluminium are radioactive; the most stable of these is 26Al and therefore could not have survived since the formation of the planet. However, 26Al is produced from argon in the atmosphere by spallation caused by cosmic ray protons; the ratio of 26Al to 10Be has been used for radiodating of geological processes over 105 to 106 year time scales, in particular transport, sediment storage, burial times, erosion. Most meteorite scientists believe that the energy released by the decay of 26Al was responsible for the melting and differentiation of some asteroids after their formation 4.55 billion years ago.
The remaining isotopes of aluminium, with mass numbers ranging from 21 to 43, all have half-lives well under an hour. Three metastable states are known, all with half-lives under a minute. An aluminium atom has 13 electrons, arranged in an electron configuration of 3s23p1, with three electrons beyond a stable noble gas configuration. Accordingly, the combined first three ionization energies of aluminium are far lower than the fourth ionization energy alone. Aluminium can easily surrender its three outermost electrons in many chemical reactions; the electronegativity of aluminium is 1.61. A free aluminium atom has a radius of 143 pm. With the three outermost electrons removed, the radius shrinks to 39 pm for a 4-coordinated atom or 53.5 pm for a 6-coordinated atom. At standard temperature and pressure, aluminium atoms form a face-centered cubic crystal system bound by metallic bonding provided by atoms' outermost electrons; this crystal system is shared by some other metals, such as copper. Aluminium metal, when in quantity, is shiny and resembles silver because it preferentially absorbs far ultraviolet radiation while reflecting all visible light so it does not impart any color to reflected light, unlike the reflectance spectra of copper and gold.
Another important characteristic of aluminium is its low density, 2.70 g/cm3. Aluminium is a soft, lightweight and malleable with appearance ranging from silvery to dull gray, depending on the surface roughness, it is nonmagnetic and does not ignite. A fresh film of aluminium serves as a good reflector of visible light and an excellent reflector of medium and far infrared radiation; the yield strength of pure aluminium is 7–11 MPa, while aluminium alloys have yield strengths ranging from 200 MPa to 600 MPa. Aluminium has stiffness of steel, it is machined, cast and extruded. Aluminium atoms are arranged in a face-centered cubic structure. Aluminium has a stacking-fault energy of 200 mJ/m2. Aluminium is a good thermal and electrical conductor, having 59% the conductivity of copper, both thermal and electrical, while having only 30% of copper's density. Aluminium is capable of superconductivity, with a superconducting critical temperature of 1.2 kelvin and a critical magnetic field of about 100 gauss.
Aluminium is the most common material for the fabrication of superconducting qubits. Aluminium's corrosion resistance can be excellent due to a thin surface layer of aluminium oxide that forms when the bare metal is exposed to air preventing further oxidation, in a process termed passivation; the strongest aluminium alloys are less corrosion resistant due to galvanic reactions with alloyed copper. This corrosion resistance is reduced by aqueous salts in the presence of dissimilar metals. In acidic solutions, aluminium reacts with water to form hydrogen, in alkaline ones to form aluminates—protective passivation under these conditions is negligible; because it is corroded by dissolved chlorides, such as common sodium chloride, household plumbing is never made from aluminium. However, because
Myco-heterotrophy
Myco-heterotrophy is a symbiotic relationship between certain kinds of plants and fungi, in which the plant gets all or part of its food from parasitism upon fungi rather than from photosynthesis. A myco-heterotroph is the parasitic plant partner in this relationship. Myco-heterotrophy is considered a kind of cheating relationship and myco-heterotrophs are sometimes informally referred to as "mycorrhizal cheaters"; this relationship is sometimes referred to as mycotrophy, though this term is used for plants that engage in mutualistic mycorrhizal relationships. Full myco-heterotrophy exists when a non-photosynthetic plant gets all of its food from the fungi that it parasitizes. Partial myco-heterotrophy exists when a plant is capable of photosynthesis, but parasitizes fungi as a supplementary food supply. There are plants, such as some orchid species, that are non-photosynthetic and obligately myco-heterotrophic for part of their life cycle, photosynthetic and facultatively myco-heterotrophic or non-myco-heterotrophic for the rest of their life cycle.
Not all non-photosynthetic or "achlorophyllous" plants are myco-heterotrophic – some non-photosynthetic plants like dodder directly parasitize the vascular tissue of other plants. In the past, non-photosynthetic plants were mistakenly thought to get food by breaking down organic matter in a manner similar to saprotrophic fungi; such plants were therefore called "saprophytes". It is now known that these plants are not physiologically capable of directly breaking down organic matter and that in order to get food, non-photosynthetic plants must engage in parasitism, either through myco-heterotrophy or direct parasitism of other plants; the interface between the plant and fungal partners in this association is between the roots of the plant and the mycelium of the fungus. Myco-heterotrophy therefore resembles mycorrhiza, except that in myco-heterotrophy, the flow of carbon is from the fungus to the plant, rather than vice versa. Most myco-heterotrophs can therefore be seen as being epiparasites, since they take energy from fungi that in turn get their energy from vascular plants.
Indeed, much myco-heterotrophy takes place in the context of common mycorrhizal networks, in which plants use mycorrhizal fungi to exchange carbon and nutrients with other plants. In these systems, myco-heterotrophs play the role of "mycorrhizal cheaters", taking carbon from the common network, with no known reward. In congruence with older reports, it has been shown that some myco-heterotrophic orchids can be supported by saprotrophic fungi, exploiting litter- or wood-decaying fungi. In addition, several green plants have been shown to engage in partial myco-heterotrophy, that is, they are able to take carbon from mycorrhizal fungi, in addition to their photosynthetic intake. Myco-heterotrophs are found among a number of plant groups. All monotropes and non-photosynthetic orchids are full myco-heterotrophs, as is the non-photosynthetic liverwort Cryptothallus. Partial myco-heterotrophy is common in the Gentian family, with a few genera such as Voyria being myco-heterotrophic; some ferns and clubmosses have myco-heterotrophic gametophyte stages.
The fungi that are parasitized by myco-heterotrophs are fungi with large energy reserves to draw on mycorrhizal fungi, though there is some evidence that they may parasitize parasitic fungi that form extensive mycelial networks, such as Armillaria. Examples of fungi parasitized by myco-heterotrophic plants can be found among the ectomycorrhizal, arbuscular mycorrhizal, orchid mycorrhizal fungi; the great diversity in unrelated plant families with myco-heterotrophic members, as well as the diversity of fungi targeted by myco-heterotrophs, suggests multiple parallel evolution of myco-heterotrophs from mycorrhizal ancestors. The Strange and Wonderful Myco-heterotrophs The Parasitic Plant Connection, SIU Carbondale, College of Science. Wayne's Word Noteworthy Plant For June 1997: Fungus Flowers – Flowering Plants that Resemble Fungi by WP Armstrong. Fungus of the Month for October 2002: Monotropa uniflora by Tom Volk, TomVolkFungi.net Martín's Treasure Chest – images of myco-heterotrophs by mycologist Martín Bidartondo
Azalea
Azaleas are flowering shrubs in the genus Rhododendron the former sections Tsutsuji and Pentanthera. Azaleas bloom in the spring, their flowers lasting several weeks. Shade tolerant, they prefer living under trees, they are part of the family Ericaceae. Plant enthusiasts have selectively bred azaleas for hundreds of years; this human selection has produced over 10,000 different cultivars. Azalea seeds can be collected and germinated. Azaleas are slow-growing and do best in well-drained acidic soil. Fertilizer needs are low; some species need regular pruning. Azaleas are native to several continents including Asia and North America, they are planted abundantly as ornamentals in the southeastern US, southern Asia, parts of southwest Europe. According to azalea historian Fred Galle, in the United States, Azalea indica was first introduced to the outdoor landscape in the 1830s at the rice plantation Magnolia-on-the-Ashley in Charleston, South Carolina. From Philadelphia, where they were grown only in greenhouses, John Grimke Drayton imported the plants for use in his estate garden.
With encouragement from Charles Sprague Sargent from Harvard's Arnold Arboretum, Magnolia Gardens was opened to the public in 1871, following the American Civil War. Magnolia is one of the oldest public gardens in America. Since the late 19th century, in late March and early April, thousands visit to see the azaleas bloom in their full glory. Azalea leafy gall can be destructive to azalea leaves during the early spring. Hand picking infected leaves is the recommended method of control, they can be subject to phytophthora root rot in moist, hot conditions. In Chinese culture, the azalea is known as "thinking of home bush", is immortalized in the poetry of Du Fu; the azalea is one of the symbols of the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Azaleas and rhododendrons were once so infamous for their toxicity that to receive a bouquet of their flowers in a black vase was a well-known death threat. In addition to being renowned for its beauty, the azalea is highly toxic—it contains andromedotoxins in both its leaves and nectar, including honey from the nectar.
Bees are deliberately fed on Azalea/Rhododendron nectar in some parts of Turkey, producing a mind-altering medicinal, lethal honey known as "mad honey". According to the ancient Roman historian Pliny the Elder in his Natural History, an army invading Pontus in Turkey was poisoned with such honey, resulting in their defeat. Motoyama, Kōchi has a flower festival in which the blooming of Tsutsuji is celebrated and Tatebayashi, Gunma is famous for its Azalea Hill Park, Tsutsuji-ga-oka. Nezu Shrine in Bunkyo, holds a Tsutsuji Matsuri from early April until early May. Higashi Village has hosted an azalea festival each year since 1976; the village's 50,000 azalea plants draw an estimated 60,000 to 80,000 visitors each year. Sobaeksan, one of the 12 well-known Sobaek Mountains, lying on the border between Chungbuk Province and Gyeongbuk has a royal azalea festival held on May every year. Sobaeksan has an azalea colony dotted around Biro mountaintop and Yonwha early in May; when royal azaleas have turned pink in the end of May, it looks.
The Ma On Shan Azalea Festival is held in Ma On Shan, where six native species are found in the area. The festival has been held since 2004. Many cities in the United States have festivals in the spring celebrating the blooms of the azalea, including Summerville, South Carolina; the Azalea Trail is a designated path, planted with azaleas in private gardens, through Mobile, Alabama. The Azalea Trail Run is an annual road running event held there in late March. Mobile, Alabama is home to the Azalea Trail Maids, fifty women chosen to serve as ambassadors of the city while wearing antebellum dresses, who participated in a three-day festival, but now operate throughout the year; the Azalea Society of America designated Houston, Texas, an "azalea city". The River Oaks Garden Club has conducted the Houston Azalea Trail every spring since 1935. List of Award of Garden Merit rhododendrons List of plants poisonous to equines "Azalea". Encyclopædia Britannica. 1911. Azalea Society of America American Rhododendron Society: What is an Azalea?
Azalea Collection of the U. S. National Arboretum Azalea Collection of Botany garten Pruhonice CZ
Brazil nut
The Brazil nut is a South American tree in the family Lecythidaceae, the name of the tree's commercially harvested edible seeds. The Brazil nut family is in the order Ericales, as are other well-known plants such as blueberries, sapote, gutta-percha, tea and persimmons; the Brazil nut tree is the only species in the monotypic genus Bertholletia. It is native to the Guianas, Brazil, eastern Colombia, eastern Peru, eastern Bolivia, it occurs as scattered trees in large forests on the banks of the Amazon River, Rio Negro, Tapajós, the Orinoco. The genus is named after the French chemist Claude Louis Berthollet; the Brazil nut is a large tree, reaching 50 m tall and with a trunk 1 to 2 m in diameter, making it among the largest of trees in the Amazon rainforests. It may live for 500 years or more, according to some authorities reaches an age of 1,000 years; the stem is straight and without branches for well over half the tree's height, with a large emergent crown of long branches above the surrounding canopy of other trees.
The bark is smooth. The leaves are dry-season deciduous, simple, entire or crenate, oblong, 20–35 cm long and 10–15 cm broad; the flowers are small, greenish-white, in panicles 5–10 cm long. In Brazil, it is illegal to cut down a Brazil nut tree; as a result, they can be found outside production areas, in the backyards of homes and near roads and streets. The fruits are heavy and rigid. Brazil nut fruits sink in fresh water. Brazil nut trees produce fruit exclusively in pristine forests, as disturbed forests lack the large-bodied bees of the genera Bombus, Epicharis and Xylocopa which are the only ones capable of pollinating the tree's flowers, with different bee genera being the primary pollinators in different areas, different times of year. Brazil nuts have been harvested from plantations, but production is low and is not economically viable; the fruit takes 14 months to mature after pollination of the flowers. The fruit itself is a large capsule 10–15 cm in diameter, resembling a coconut endocarp in size and weighing up to 2 kg.
It has a hard, woody shell 8–12 mm thick, which contains eight to 24 triangular seeds 4–5 cm long packed like the segments of an orange. The capsule contains a small hole at one end, which enables large rodents like the agouti to gnaw it open, they eat some of the seeds inside while burying others for use. Most of the seeds are "planted" by the agoutis in shady places, the young saplings may have to wait years, in a state of dormancy, for a tree to fall and sunlight to reach it, when it starts growing again. Capuchin monkeys have been reported to open Brazil nuts using a stone as an anvil. Despite their name, the most significant exporter of Brazil nuts is not Brazil but Bolivia, where they are called castañas de Brasil, nuez de Brasil or castañas de Pando. In Brazil, these nuts are called castanhas-do-pará. Indigenous names include juvia in the Orinoco area. In Cuba, the nut is alternatively called coquito de Santiago St. James coconut. In the past in North America, Brazil nuts were sometimes known by the epithet "nigger toes", a term that became unacceptable as a racial slur.
In 2014, global production of Brazil nuts was 95,000 tonnes, remaining a consistent annual total since 2009. The largest producers were Bolivia and Brazil, the United States was the largest importer, with 9% of the world production volume. Brazil nuts for international trade can come from wild collection rather than from plantations; this has been advanced as a model for generating income from a tropical forest without destroying it. The nuts are gathered by migrant workers known as castanheiros. Analysis of tree ages in areas that are harvested show that moderate and intense gathering takes so many seeds that not enough are left to replace older trees as they die. Sites with light gathering activities had many young trees, while sites with intense gathering practices had hardly any young trees. Statistical tests were done to determine what environmental factors could be contributing to the lack of younger trees; the most consistent effect was found to be the level of gathering activity at a particular site.
A computer model predicting the size of trees where people picked all the nuts matched the tree size data gathered from physical sites that had heavy harvesting. Brazil nuts are 14% protein, 12% carbohydrate, 66% fat by weight; the fat components are 23% saturated, 38% monounsaturated, 32% polyunsaturated. Due to their high polyunsaturated fat content omega-6 fatty acids, shelled Brazil nuts may become rancid. Nutritionally, Brazil nuts are an excellent source of dietary fiber and various vitamins and dietary minerals. A 100 gram amount of Brazil nuts contains rich content of thiamin, vitamin E, phosphorus and zinc. Brazil nuts are the richest dietary source of selenium, with a one-ounce (2
