Herb
In general use, herbs are plants with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use distinguishes herbs from spices. Herbs refers to the leafy green or flowering parts of a plant, while spices are dried and produced from other parts of the plant, including seeds, bark and fruits. Herbs have a variety of uses including culinary, in some cases, spiritual. General usage of the term "herb" differs between medicinal herbs; the word "herb" is pronounced in Commonwealth English, but is common among North American English speakers and those from other regions where h-dropping occurs. In botany, the word "herb" is used as a synonym for "herbaceous plant". In botany, the term herb refers to a herbaceous plant, defined as a small, seed-bearing plant without a woody stem in which all aerial parts die back to the ground at the end of each growing season; the term refers to perennials, although herbaceous plants can be annuals, or biennials.
This term is in contrast to trees which possess a woody stem. Shrubs and trees are defined in terms of size, where shrubs are less than 10 meters tall, trees may grow over 10 meters; the word herbaceous is derived from Latin herbāceus meaning "grassy", from herba "grass, herb". Another sense of the term herb can refer to a much larger range of plants, with culinary, therapeutic or other uses. For example, some of the most described herbs such as Sage and Lavender would be excluded from the botanical definition of a herb as they do not die down each year, they possess woody stems. In the wider sense, herbs may be herbaceous perennials but trees, shrubs, lianas, mosses, algae and fungi. Herbalism can utilize not just stems and leaves but fruit, roots and gums; therefore one suggested definition of a herb is a plant, of use to humans, although this definition is problematic since it could cover a great many plants that are not described as herbs. Ancient Greek philosopher Theophrastus divided the plant world into trees and herbs.
Herbs came to be considered in namely pot herbs, sweet herbs and salad herbs. During the seventeenth century as selective breeding changed the plants size and flavor away from the wild plant, pot herbs began to be referred to as vegetables as they were no longer considered only suitable for the pot. Culinary herbs are distinguished from vegetables in that, like spices, they are used in small amounts and provide flavor rather than substance to food. Herbs can be perennials such as thyme, sage or lavender, biennials such as parsley, or annuals like basil. Perennial herbs can be shrubs such as rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis, or trees such as bay laurel, Laurus nobilis – this contrasts with botanical herbs, which by definition cannot be woody plants; some plants are used as both herbs and spices, such as dill weed and dill seed or coriander leaves and seeds. There are some herbs, such as those in the mint family, that are used for both culinary and medicinal purposes. Emperor Charlemagne compiled a list of 74 different herbs.
The connection between herbs and health is important in the European Middle Ages--The Forme of Cury promotes extensive use of herbs, including in salads, claims in its preface "the assent and advisement of the masters of physic and philosophy in the King's Court". Some herbs can be infused in boiling water to make herbal teas; the dried leaves, flowers or seeds are used, or fresh herbs are used. Herbal teas tend to made from aromatic herbs, may not contain tannins or caffeine, are not mixed with milk. Common examples include mint tea. Herbal teas are used as a source of relaxation or can be associated with rituals. Herbs were used in prehistoric medicine; as far back as 5000 BCE, evidence that Sumerians used herbs in medicine was inscribed on cuneiform. In 162 CE, the physician Galen was known for concocting complicated herbal remedies that contained up to 100 ingredients; some plants contain phytochemicals. There may be some effects when consumed in the small levels that typify culinary "spicing", some herbs are toxic in larger quantities.
For instance, some types of herbal extract, such as the extract of St. John's-wort or of kava can be used for medical purposes to relieve depression and stress. However, large amounts of these herbs may lead to toxic overload that may involve complications, some of a serious nature, should be used with caution. Complications can arise when being taken with some prescription medicines. Herbs have long been used as the basis of traditional Chinese herbal medicine, with usage dating as far back as the first century CE and far before. In India, the Ayurveda medicinal system is based on herbs. Medicinal use of herbs in Western cultures has its roots in the Hippocratic elemental healing system, based on a quaternary elemental healing metaphor. Famous herbalist of the Western tradition include Avicenna, Paracelsus and the botanically inclined Eclectic physicians of 19th
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asian continent and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea in the south; the kanji that make up Japan's name mean "sun origin", it is called the "Land of the Rising Sun". Japan is a stratovolcanic archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands; the four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido and Shikoku, which make up about ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area and are referred to as home islands. The country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions, with Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one; the population of 127 million is the world's tenth largest. 90.7 % of people live in cities. About 13.8 million people live in the capital of Japan. The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world with over 38 million people. Archaeological research indicates; the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD.
Influence from other regions China, followed by periods of isolation from Western Europe, has characterized Japan's history. From the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shōguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a long period of isolation in the early 17th century, ended in 1853 when a United States fleet pressured Japan to open to the West. After nearly two decades of internal conflict and insurrection, the Imperial Court regained its political power in 1868 through the help of several clans from Chōshū and Satsuma – and the Empire of Japan was established. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, victories in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War and World War I allowed Japan to expand its empire during a period of increasing militarism; the Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the Japanese surrender. Since adopting its revised constitution on May 3, 1947, during the occupation led by SCAP, the sovereign state of Japan has maintained a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy with an Emperor and an elected legislature called the National Diet.
Japan is a member of the ASEAN Plus mechanism, UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the G20, is considered a great power. Its economy is the world's third-largest by nominal GDP and the fourth-largest by purchasing power parity, it is the world's fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer. Japan benefits from a skilled and educated workforce. Although it has renounced its right to declare war, Japan maintains a modern military with the world's eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a developed country with a high standard of living and Human Development Index, its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, but is experiencing issues due to an aging population and low birthrate. Japan is renowned for its historical and extensive cinema, influential music industry, video gaming, rich cuisine and its major contributions to science and modern technology; the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, pronounced Nihon or Nippon and means "the origin of the sun".
The character nichi means "sun" or "day". The compound therefore means "origin of the sun" and is the source of the popular Western epithet "Land of the Rising Sun"; the earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, the Old Book of Tang. At the end of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan requested that Nihon be used as the name of their country; this name may have its origin in a letter sent in 607 and recorded in the official history of the Sui dynasty. Prince Shōtoku, the Regent of Japan, sent a mission to China with a letter in which he called himself "the Emperor of the Land where the Sun rises"; the message said: "Here, I, the emperor of the country where the sun rises, send a letter to the emperor of the country where the sun sets. How are you". Prior to the adoption of Nihon, other terms such as Yamato and Wakoku were used; the term Wa is a homophone of Wo 倭, used by the Chinese as a designation for the Japanese as early as the third century Three Kingdoms period.
Another form of Wa, Wei in Chinese) was used for an early state in Japan called Nakoku during the Han dynasty. However, the Japanese disliked some connotation of Wa 倭, it was therefore replaced with the substitute character Wa, meaning "togetherness, harmony"; the English word Japan derives from the historical Chinese pronunciation of 日本. The Old Mandarin or early Wu Chinese pronunciation of Japan was recorded by Marco Polo as Cipangu. In modern Shanghainese, a Wu dialect, the pronunciation of characters 日本; the old Malay word for Japan, Japun or Japang, was borrowed from a southern coastal Chinese dialect Fukienese or Ningpo – and this Malay word was encountered by Portuguese traders in Southeast Asia in the 16th century. These Early Portuguese traders brought the word
Spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea, a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the Earth. Spruces are large trees, from about 20–60 m tall when mature, have whorled branches and conical form, they can be distinguished from other members of the pine family by their needles, which are four-sided and attached singly to small persistent peg-like structures on the branches, by their cones, which hang downwards after they are pollinated. The needles are shed. In other similar genera, the branches are smooth. Spruce are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, such as the eastern spruce budworm, they are used by the larvae of gall adelgids. In the mountains of western Sweden, scientists have found a Norway spruce, nicknamed Old Tjikko, which by reproducing through layering, has reached an age of 9,550 years and is claimed to be the world's oldest known living tree; the word spruce comes from a Middle English adjective spruse which meant from Prussia.
The adjective comes from an unknown alteration of an Old French form of Prussia - Pruce, which itself comes from New Latin, which adapted it from Old Prussian. Spruce and Sprws seem to have been generic terms for commodities brought to England by Hanseatic merchants, the tree thus was believed to be particular to Prussia, which for a time was figurative in England as a land of luxuries. DNA analyses have shown that traditional classifications based on the morphology of needle and cone are artificial. A recent study found that P. breweriana had a basal position, followed by P. sitchensis, the other species were further divided into three clades, suggesting that Picea originated in North America. Spruce has been found in the fossil record from the early Cretaceous, 136 million years ago. Thirty-five named species of spruce exist in the world; the Plant List has 59 accepted spruce names. Basal species: Picea breweriana – Brewer's spruce, Klamath Mountains, North America. Beyond that, determination can become more difficult.
Intensive sampling in the Smithers/Hazelton/Houston area of British Columbia showed Douglas, according to Coates et al. that cone scale morphology was the feature most useful in differentiating species of spruce. Daubenmire, after range-wide sampling, had recognized the importance of the 2 latter characters. Taylor had noted that the most obvious morphological difference
Vasily Golovnin
Vasily Mikhailovich Golovnin 19 April 1776, Ryazan Oblast, Russia 11 July 1831, Saint Petersburg, was a Russian navigator, Vice Admiral, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Vasily Mikhailovich Golovnin was born in April 1776, in the village of Gulyniki in Ryazan Oblast, on his father's country estate. Both his father and grandfather had served in the Russian military as officers in the elite Preobrazhensky Lifeguard regiment. Golovnin appeared set to continue the family tradition, but his father died while he was still a child, at the age of twelve he was enrolled in the Russian Naval College as a cadet, he graduated four years in 1792. Golovnin entered active service as a midshipman in May and June 1790, participating in several naval battles against the Swedes, he served in several foreign campaigns between 1793 and 1798. From 1798 to 1800 he served as adjutant and interpreter to Vice Admiral M. K. Makarov, commander of a Russian squadron operating jointly with the British fleet in the North Sea.
On the orders of Tsar Alexander I, Golovnin was sent, along with several other Russian officers, to obtain further training aboard British ships. He served three years with the British fleet under Admirals Nelson and Cornwallis. During this period, war was once again declared between the British and French, Golovnin saw action while serving under Admiral Nelson, he returned to Russia in 1806, began compiling a code of naval signals on the English pattern, which remained in use by the Russian fleet for more than twenty years. Golovnin was given command of the sloop Diana in 1806, made his first voyage around the world, with the object of conducting a survey of the northern Pacific, transporting supplies to Okhotsk. Diana set sail from Kronstadt on 7 July 1807. A severe storm in April 1808 prevented Diana from sailing around Cape Horn, Golovnin decided to set sail for the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, to restock the ship's supplies, he anchored in the nearby port of Simon's Town on 3 May 1808.
Golovnin, having been at sea for ten months, was unaware that Russian relations with Britain had deteriorated, Russia had allied herself with the French. Diana was detained as an enemy vessel by a British naval squadron, pending receipt of appropriate instructions from London. Golovnin and his crew spent more than a year detained aboard Diana at Simon's Town awaiting a decision from British authorities; when it became clear that a decision might never come, Golovnin began to plot their escape. On 28 May 1809, perfect conditions presented themselves - poor visibility; the crew severed the anchor cables, managed to sail out of the bay, passing directly in front of several British warships. Once the British discovered that they had escaped, they set off in pursuit, but failed to overtake Diana, which sailed safely to Kamchatka in 1810, news of Diana's "audacious escape" spread throughout the world. Golovnin left Kamchatka in 1810, sailing to Baranof Island, a settled outpost of the Russian-American Company.
In 1819, he published an account of their voyage and escape, titled Journey of the Russian Emperor’s sloop Diana from Kronstadt to Kamchatka. In 1811, Golovnin described and mapped the Kuril Islands from the Strait of Hope to the eastern shores of Iturup Island. While exploring Kunashir Island, he was lured ashore, taken prisoner, charged with violating Sakoku, held captive for two years by the Japanese on the island of Hokkaido. Golovnin was said to possess a "superior education and fascination with foreign cultures." After making one failed attempt to escape his captures, Golovnin decided to utilize his time in detainment to master the Japanese language, familiarize himself with Japanese culture and traditions. Golovnin was released in 1813, returned to Russia, published an account of his years in captivity, his book, Captivity in Japan During the Years 1812, 1813, became an instant classic. It was hailed in Russia as an authoritative volume on Japanese culture, helped shape an entire generation's view of Japan.
Golovnin respected the Japanese, portraying them "as intelligent, as patriotic, as worthy rivals" of the Russians in the Pacific. His representation of Japanese religious practices became influential in Europe; the captivity of Golovnin led to war between Russia and Japan in what became known as the Golovnin Incident. On 7 September 1817, Golovnin set out on a second voyage around the world aboard the frigate Kamchatka. Serving under him were three future Russian explorers of prominence - Fyodor Litke, Fyodor Matyushkin, Ferdinand von Wrangel. After sailing around Cape Horn, the objective was to deliver supplies to Kamchatka, survey unexplored islands along what is now the northwestern coast of Alaska. Golovnin was tasked with compiling a report detailing relations between the Kodiak Islanders and employees of the Russian-American Company, he arrived in Kamchatka the following May returned to Europe via the Cape of Good Hope, completing his circumnavigation by landing at St Petersburg on 17 September 1819.
After the journey, Golovnin published Around the World on the Kamchatka, describing his voyage, his encounters with the native Kodiak and Sandwich Islanders. Though the journey had "achieved little in the
Golovnin
Golovnin is a caldera located in the southern part of Kunashir Island, Kuril Islands, Russia. It is the southernmost volcano of the Kuril Islands, it is named after Russian explorer Vasily Golovnin. List of volcanoes in Russia "Golovnin". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution
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
Tyatya
Tyatya is a volcano located in the northeastern part of Kunashir Island, Kuril Islands, Russia. It is the highest peak on the island with an elevation of 1,819 metres. Tyatya is one of the finest examples anywhere in the world of a somma volcano, a stratovolcano whose summit has collapsed to form a caldera, refilled by a new, younger volcanic cone which rises above the caldera rim. List of volcanoes in Russia List of ultras of Northeast Asia Chachadake: Global Volcanism Program - Smithsonian Institution Chachadake - Japan Meteorological Agency "Chachadake: National catalogue of the active volcanoes in Japan". - Japan Meteorological Agency Chacha Dake - Geological Survey of Japan
_Relief_Map,_SRTM-1.jpg)
