1.
Ocotea foetens
–
Ocotea foetens, commonly called til, tilo, stinkwood, or rain tree of Hierro island, is a species of tree in the Lauraceae family. It is evergreen and grows up to 40 m tall and it is a common constituent of the laurisilva forests of Madeira and the Canary Islands. It is in danger of becoming threatened due to habitat loss, Ocotea foetens is endemic to Macaronesia. Like the other species of the Ocotea genus, it is rich in essential oils and it is rarely used as an ornamental. It is a tree generally up to 30 m in height. It commonly grows with multiple trunks branched from the base, the bark is rough and irregular, and dark in colour, the young branches are angular, with smooth bark, sometimes reddish in areas of recent growth. The wood is dark and hard, the leaves are about 9–12 cm long and 3–5 cm wide, oblong-lanceolate to almost elliptical, acuminate at the apex and slightly indented at the base. In adult plants, the leaves are leathery in texture, glossy on both sides, darker green on the surface, with 2 small gland-like depressions on the underside near the base. The flowers of both sexes are white, with splashes of green and pale yellow, releasing a slight odor, the perianth has six components, and there are nine stamens. The predominant flowering season is from June to August, the fruit is a berry, hard and fleshy and about 3 cm long, its lower half covered by a dome, giving it a look similar to an acorn. The fruit is green, gradually darkening with maturity. The fruit has a single seed wrapped in a hard coat, when the fruits fall they separate from the dome. Germination is favored by moisture and light, Ocotea foetens is endemic to Madeira and the Canary Islands, appearing in laurel forest habitat, generally between 400 and 1400 m altitude. In the Canary Islands it is not present on Lanzarote or Fuerteventura, in the archipelago of Madeira it is absent from Porto Santo. In Azores Islands it is an introduced species and it is the only Paleoendemic Ocotea species in the wetter relict forest areas of Macaronesia. Its berries are consumed mostly by the endemic Madeiran pigeon Columba trocaz, Ocotea foetens was sacred to the Bimbaches, the older inhabitants of El Hierro in the Canary Islands, and was one of their symbols. The legend states that the Garoé was a laurel tree that assured the life of the Bimbaches. The islands are located where tradewinds occur, and water from clouds condensed on the branches of the tree, one of many legends says that the water originating from the tree was led to a hole from which the Bimbaches could provide water
Ocotea foetens
–
Ocotea foetens
Ocotea foetens
–
Small branch of Ocotea foetens (Tilo, Stinkwood)
2.
Azores
–
Its main industries are agriculture, dairy farming, livestock, fishing, and tourism, which is becoming the major service activity in the region. In addition, the government of the Azores employs a large percentage of the population directly or indirectly in the service, the main settlement of the Azores is Ponta Delgada. There are nine major Azorean islands and a cluster, in three main groups. These are Flores and Corvo, to the west, Graciosa, Terceira, São Jorge, Pico, and Faial in the centre, and São Miguel, Santa Maria, and they extend for more than 600 km and lie in a northwest-southeast direction. All the islands have volcanic origins, although some, such as Santa Maria, have had no recorded activity since the islands were settled, mount Pico, on the island of Pico, is the highest point in Portugal, at 2,351 m. The Azores are actually some of the tallest mountains on the planet, measured from their base at the bottom of the ocean to their peaks, which thrust high above the surface of the Atlantic. The climate of the Azores is very mild for such a location, being influenced by its distance to continents. Due to the influence, temperatures remain mild year-round. Daytime temperatures normally fluctuate between 16 °C and 25 °C depending on season, temperatures above 30 °C or below 3 °C are unknown in the major population centres. It is also generally wet and cloudy, the culture, dialect, cuisine, and traditions of the Azorean islands vary considerably, because these once-uninhabited and remote islands were settled sporadically over a span of two centuries. However, these kinds of structures have always used in the Azores to store cereals. Detailed examination and dating to authenticate the validity of these speculations is lacking and it is unclear whether these structures are natural or man-made and whether they predate the 15th-century Portuguese colonization of the Azores. Solid confirmation of a human presence in the archipelago has not yet been published. The islands were known in the century and parts of them appear in the Atlas Catalan. In 1427, a captain sailing for Henry the Navigator, possibly Gonçalo Velho, rediscovered the Azores, but this is not certain. In Thomas Ashes 1813 work, A History of the Azores, the author identified a Fleming, Joshua Vander Berg of Bruges and he stated that the Portuguese explored the area and claimed it for Portugal. Other stories note the discovery of the first islands by sailors in the service of Henry the Navigator, although there are few documents to support the claims. Although it is said that the archipelago received its name from the goshawk
Azores
–
Mount Pico and the green landscape, emblematic of the archipelago of the Azores
Azores
–
1584 map of the Azores.
Azores
–
Angra do Heroísmo, the oldest continuously-settled town in the archipelago of the Azores and UNESCO World Heritage Site
Azores
–
This article is about the archipelago. For the area of high pressure, see
Azores High.
3.
Taxonomy (biology)
–
Taxonomy is the science of defining groups of biological organisms on the basis of shared characteristics and giving names to those groups. The exact definition of taxonomy varies from source to source, but the core of the remains, the conception, naming. There is some disagreement as to whether biological nomenclature is considered a part of taxonomy, the broadest meaning of taxonomy is used here. The word taxonomy was introduced in 1813 by Candolle, in his Théorie élémentaire de la botanique, the term alpha taxonomy is primarily used today to refer to the discipline of finding, describing, and naming taxa, particularly species. In earlier literature, the term had a different meaning, referring to morphological taxonomy, ideals can, it may be said, never be completely realized. They have, however, a value of acting as permanent stimulants. Some of us please ourselves by thinking we are now groping in a beta taxonomy, turrill thus explicitly excludes from alpha taxonomy various areas of study that he includes within taxonomy as a whole, such as ecology, physiology, genetics, and cytology. He further excludes phylogenetic reconstruction from alpha taxonomy, thus, Ernst Mayr in 1968 defined beta taxonomy as the classification of ranks higher than species. This activity is what the term denotes, it is also referred to as beta taxonomy. How species should be defined in a group of organisms gives rise to practical and theoretical problems that are referred to as the species problem. The scientific work of deciding how to define species has been called microtaxonomy, by extension, macrotaxonomy is the study of groups at higher taxonomic ranks, from subgenus and above only, than species. While some descriptions of taxonomic history attempt to date taxonomy to ancient civilizations, earlier works were primarily descriptive, and focused on plants that were useful in agriculture or medicine. There are a number of stages in scientific thinking. Early taxonomy was based on criteria, the so-called artificial systems. Later came systems based on a complete consideration of the characteristics of taxa, referred to as natural systems, such as those of de Jussieu, de Candolle and Bentham. The publication of Charles Darwins Origin of Species led to new ways of thinking about classification based on evolutionary relationships and this was the concept of phyletic systems, from 1883 onwards. This approach was typified by those of Eichler and Engler, the advent of molecular genetics and statistical methodology allowed the creation of the modern era of phylogenetic systems based on cladistics, rather than morphology alone. Taxonomy has been called the worlds oldest profession, and naming and classifying our surroundings has likely been taking place as long as mankind has been able to communicate
Taxonomy (biology)
–
Title page of
Systema Naturae, Leiden, 1735
Taxonomy (biology)
–
Evolution of the
vertebrates at class level, width of spindles indicating number of families. Spindle diagrams are typical for
Evolutionary taxonomy
Taxonomy (biology)
–
The same relationship, expressed as a
cladogram typical for
cladistics
Taxonomy (biology)
–
Type specimen for
Nepenthes smilesii, a tropical
pitcher plant.
4.
Plant
–
Plants are mainly multicellular, predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. The term is generally limited to the green plants, which form an unranked clade Viridiplantae. This includes the plants, conifers and other gymnosperms, ferns, clubmosses, hornworts, liverworts, mosses and the green algae. Green plants have cell walls containing cellulose and obtain most of their energy from sunlight via photosynthesis by primary chloroplasts and their chloroplasts contain chlorophylls a and b, which gives them their green color. Some plants are parasitic and have lost the ability to produce amounts of chlorophyll or to photosynthesize. Plants are characterized by sexual reproduction and alternation of generations, although reproduction is also common. There are about 300–315 thousand species of plants, of which the great majority, green plants provide most of the worlds molecular oxygen and are the basis of most of Earths ecologies, especially on land. Plants that produce grains, fruits and vegetables form humankinds basic foodstuffs, Plants play many roles in culture. They are used as ornaments and, until recently and in variety, they have served as the source of most medicines. The scientific study of plants is known as botany, a branch of biology, Plants are one of the two groups into which all living things were traditionally divided, the other is animals. The division goes back at least as far as Aristotle, who distinguished between plants, which generally do not move, and animals, which often are mobile to catch their food. Much later, when Linnaeus created the basis of the system of scientific classification. Since then, it has become clear that the plant kingdom as originally defined included several unrelated groups, however, these organisms are still often considered plants, particularly in popular contexts. When the name Plantae or plant is applied to a group of organisms or taxon. The evolutionary history of plants is not yet settled. Those which have been called plants are in bold, the way in which the groups of green algae are combined and named varies considerably between authors. Algae comprise several different groups of organisms which produce energy through photosynthesis, most conspicuous among the algae are the seaweeds, multicellular algae that may roughly resemble land plants, but are classified among the brown, red and green algae. Each of these groups also includes various microscopic and single-celled organisms
Plant
–
Green algae from
Ernst Haeckel 's
Kunstformen der Natur, 1904.
Plant
–
Had'n
Plant
–
Dicksonia antarctica, a species of
tree fern
Plant
–
A petrified log in
Petrified Forest National Park.
5.
Flowering plant
–
The flowering plants, also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants, with 416 families, approx. 13,164 known genera and a total of c.295,383 known species, etymologically, angiosperm means a plant that produces seeds within an enclosure, in other words, a fruiting plant. The term angiosperm comes from the Greek composite word meaning enclosed seeds, the ancestors of flowering plants diverged from gymnosperms in the Triassic Period, during the range 245 to 202 million years ago, and the first flowering plants are known from 160 mya. They diversified extensively during the Lower Cretaceous, became widespread by 120 mya, angiosperms differ from other seed plants in several ways, described in the table. These distinguishing characteristics taken together have made the angiosperms the most diverse and numerous land plants, the amount and complexity of tissue-formation in flowering plants exceeds that of gymnosperms. The vascular bundles of the stem are arranged such that the xylem and phloem form concentric rings, in the dicotyledons, the bundles in the very young stem are arranged in an open ring, separating a central pith from an outer cortex. In each bundle, separating the xylem and phloem, is a layer of meristem or active formative tissue known as cambium, the soft phloem becomes crushed, but the hard wood persists and forms the bulk of the stem and branches of the woody perennial. Among the monocotyledons, the bundles are more numerous in the stem and are scattered through the ground tissue. They contain no cambium and once formed the stem increases in diameter only in exceptional cases, the characteristic feature of angiosperms is the flower. Flowers show remarkable variation in form and elaboration, and provide the most trustworthy external characteristics for establishing relationships among angiosperm species, the function of the flower is to ensure fertilization of the ovule and development of fruit containing seeds. The floral apparatus may arise terminally on a shoot or from the axil of a leaf, occasionally, as in violets, a flower arises singly in the axil of an ordinary foliage-leaf. There are two kinds of cells produced by flowers. Microspores, which divide to become pollen grains, are the male cells and are borne in the stamens. The female cells called megaspores, which divide to become the egg cell, are contained in the ovule. The flower may consist only of parts, as in willow. Usually, other structures are present and serve to protect the sporophylls, the individual members of these surrounding structures are known as sepals and petals. The outer series is usually green and leaf-like, and functions to protect the rest of the flower, the inner series is, in general, white or brightly colored, and is more delicate in structure. It functions to attract insect or bird pollinators, attraction is effected by color, scent, and nectar, which may be secreted in some part of the flower
Flowering plant
Flowering plant
–
Bud of a pink
rose
Flowering plant
–
Flowers of
Malus sylvestris (crab apple)
Flowering plant
–
Flowers and leaves of
Oxalis pes-caprae (Bermuda buttercup)
6.
Magnoliids
–
Magnoliids are a group of flowering plants. Until recently, the group included about 9,000 species, including magnolias, nutmeg, bay laurel, cinnamon, avocado, black pepper, tulip tree and that group is characterized by trimerous flowers, pollen with one pore, and usually branching-veined leaves. Magnoliidae is the name of a subclass, and magnoliids is an informal name that does not conform to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi. The circumscription of a subclass will vary with the system being used. The only requirement is that it must include the family Magnoliaceae, the informal name magnoliids is used by some researchers to avoid the confusion that recently surrounds the name Magnoliidae. More recently, the group has been redefined under the PhyloCode as a clade comprising the Canellales, Laurales, Magnoliales. Chase & Reveal have proposed, Magnoliidae as the used for the entire group of flowering plants. The APG III and its predecessor systems did not originally use formal botanical names above the rank of order, under those systems, larger clades were usually referred to by informal names, such as magnoliids or magnoliid complex. The formal name in Linnean nomenclature was specified in a separate APG publication as the existing name Magnolianae Takht, the APG III recognizes a clade within the angiosperms for the magnoliids. The circumscription is, The clade includes most of the groups of the angiosperms. This clade was formally named Magnoliidae in 2007 under provisions of the PhyloCode, the Cronquist system used the name Magnoliidae for one of six subclasses. In their systems, the name Magnoliidae is used for a larger group including all dicotyledons. This is also the case in some of the derived from the Cronquist system. Dahlgren divided his Magnolianae into ten orders, more than other systems of the time and this revised system diverges from the Cronquist system, but agrees more closely with the circumscription later published under APG II. Comparison of classification systems is often difficult, two authors may also describe the same group with nearly identical composition, but each may then apply a different name to that group or place the group at a different taxonomic rank. For example, the composition of Cronquists subclass Magnoliidae is nearly the same as Thornes superorder Magnolianae, because of these difficulties and others, the synoptic table below imprecisely compares the definition of magnoliid groups in the systems of four authors. For each system, only orders are named in the table, all orders included by a particular author are listed and linked in that column. When a taxon is not included by that author, but was included by an author in another column, the sequence of each system has been altered from its publication in order to pair corresponding taxa between columns
Magnoliids
–
Magnoliids
Magnoliids
–
Flower of
Magnolia obovata, showing multiple
petals,
stamens, and
pistils.
Magnoliids
–
The
avocado has been cultivated in the Americas for thousands of years.
Magnoliids
–
Nutmeg fruits are a source of the
hallucinogen myristicin.
7.
Laurales
–
The Laurales are an order of flowering plants. They are magnoliids, related to the Magnoliales, the order includes about 2500-2800 species from 85-90 genera, which comprise seven families of trees and shrubs. Most of the species are tropical and subtropical, though a few reach the temperate zone. The best known species in order are those of the Lauraceae. The earliest lauraceous fossils are from the early Cretaceous and it is possible that the ancient origin of this order is one of the reasons for its highly diverged morphology. Indeed, presently no single morphological property is known, which would all the members of Laurales. The presently accepted classification is based on molecular and genetic analysis, the first botanist to think of the Laurales as a natural group was H. Hallier in 1905. He viewed them as being derived from the Magnoliales, during some or all of the 20th century, the Laurales generally included Amborella and the plants now classified in Austrobaileyales and Chloranthaceae. J. Lehrbuch der Naturgeschichte des Pflanzenreichs p.174, in, Nature Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. Igersheim, A. Gynoecium diversity and systematics of the Laurales, botanical Journal of the Linnean Society
Laurales
–
Laurales
8.
Lauraceae
–
Lauraceae are the laurel family, that includes the true laurel and its closest relatives. This family of flowering plants comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genera worldwide and they are dicotyledons, and occur mainly in warm temperate and tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia and South America. Many are aromatic evergreen trees or shrubs, but some, such as Sassafras, are deciduous, Cassytha is a genus unique to the Lauraceae family in that it is a genus of parasitic vines. The family has a distribution in tropical and warm climates. The Lauraceae are important components of tropical forests ranging from low-lying to montane, in several forested regions, Lauraceae are among the top five families in terms of the number of species present. Laurel forests of various types occur on most continents and on many major islands, although the taxonomy of the Lauraceae is still not settled, conservative estimates suggest some 52 genera worldwide, including 3,000 to 3,500 species. Compared to other plant families, the taxonomy of Lauraceae still is poorly understood and this is partly due to its great diversity, the difficulty of identifying the species, and partly because of inadequate investment in taxonomic work. Recent monographs on small and medium-sized genera of Lauraceae have revealed many new species, similar increases in the numbers of species recognised in other larger genera are to be expected. Most of the Lauraceae are evergreen trees in habit, exceptions include some two dozen species of Cassytha, all of which are obligately parasitic vines. The fruits of Lauraceae are drupes, one-seeded fleshy fruit with a hard layer, however, the endocarp is very thin, so the fruit resemble a one-seeded berry. In some Lindera species, the fruit have a hypocarpium at the base of the fruit, relict forests retain endemic fauna and flora in communities of great value in inferring the palaeontological succession and climate change that followed the breakups of the supercontinents. Many Lauraceae contain high concentrations of essential oils, some of which are valued for spices and perfumes, within the plants, most such substances are components of irritant or toxic sap or tissues that repel or poison many herbivorous or parasitic organisms. Some are valued in cooking, for example, bay leaves are an ingredient in European, American. Avocados are important oil-rich fruit that are cultivated in warm climates around the world, many species are exploited for timber. Some species are valued as sources of medicinal material, conversely, some species, though commercially valuable in some countries, are regarded as aggressive invaders in other regions. For example, Cinnamomum camphora, though a valued ornamental and medicinal plant, is so invasive as to have declared a weed in subtropical forested areas of South Africa. Lauraceae flowers are protogynous, often with a complex flowering system to prevent inbreeding, the fruits are an important food source for birds, on which some Palaeognathae are highly dependent. Other birds that rely heavily on the fruit for their diets include members of the families Cotingidae, Columbidae, Trogonidae, Turdidae, birds that are specialised frugivores tend to eat the whole fruit and regurgitate seeds intact, thereby releasing the seeds in favourable situations for germination
Lauraceae
–
Cassytha filiformis
Lauraceae
–
Lauraceae
Lauraceae
–
Leaves of
Cinnamomum tamala - (malabathrum or tejpat)
Lauraceae
–
Lindera triloba leaves
9.
Species
–
In biology, a species is the basic unit of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is defined as the largest group of organisms in which two individuals can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. While this definition is often adequate, looked at more closely it is problematic, for example, with hybridisation, in a species complex of hundreds of similar microspecies, or in a ring species, the boundaries between closely related species become unclear. Other ways of defining species include similarity of DNA, morphology, all species are given a two-part name, a binomial. The first part of a binomial is the genus to which the species belongs, the second part is called the specific name or the specific epithet. For example, Boa constrictor is one of four species of the Boa genus, Species were seen from the time of Aristotle until the 18th century as fixed kinds that could be arranged in a hierarchy, the great chain of being. In the 19th century, biologists grasped that species could evolve given sufficient time, Charles Darwins 1859 book The Origin of Species explained how species could arise by natural selection. Genes can sometimes be exchanged between species by horizontal transfer, and species may become extinct for a variety of reasons. In his biology, Aristotle used the term γένος to mean a kind, such as a bird or fish, a kind was distinguished by its attributes, for instance, a bird has feathers, a beak, wings, a hard-shelled egg, and warm blood. A form was distinguished by being shared by all its members, Aristotle believed all kinds and forms to be distinct and unchanging. His approach remained influential until the Renaissance, when observers in the Early Modern period began to develop systems of organization for living things, they placed each kind of animal or plant into a context. Many of these early delineation schemes would now be considered whimsical, animals likewise that differ specifically preserve their distinct species permanently, one species never springs from the seed of another nor vice versa. In the 18th century, the Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus classified organisms according to shared physical characteristics and he established the idea of a taxonomic hierarchy of classification based upon observable characteristics and intended to reflect natural relationships. At the time, however, it was widely believed that there was no organic connection between species, no matter how similar they appeared. However, whether or not it was supposed to be fixed, by the 19th century, naturalists understood that species could change form over time, and that the history of the planet provided enough time for major changes. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, in his 1809 Zoological Philosophy, described the transmutation of species, proposing that a species could change over time, in 1859, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace provided a compelling account of evolution and the formation of new species. Darwin argued that it was populations that evolved, not individuals and this required a new definition of species. Darwin concluded that species are what appear to be, ideas
Species
–
John Ray
Species
–
Carl Linnaeus believed in the fixity of species.
10.
Synonym (taxonomy)
–
For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies. This name is no longer in use, it is now a synonym of the current scientific name which is Picea abies, unlike synonyms in other contexts, in taxonomy a synonym is not interchangeable with the name of which it is a synonym. In taxonomy, synonyms are not equals, but have a different status, for any taxon with a particular circumscription, position, and rank, only one scientific name is considered to be the correct one at any given time. A synonym cannot exist in isolation, it is always an alternative to a different scientific name, given that the correct name of a taxon depends on the taxonomic viewpoint used a name that is one taxonomists synonym may be another taxonomists correct name. Synonyms may arise whenever the same taxon is described and named more than once, independently. They may also arise when existing taxa are changed, as when two taxa are joined to one, a species is moved to a different genus. To the general user of scientific names, in such as agriculture, horticulture, ecology, general science. A synonym is a name that was used as the correct scientific name but which has been displaced by another scientific name. Thus Oxford Dictionaries Online defines the term as a name which has the same application as another. In handbooks and general texts, it is useful to have mentioned as such after the current scientific name. Synonyms used in this way may not always meet the strict definitions of the synonym in the formal rules of nomenclature which govern scientific names. Changes of scientific name have two causes, they may be taxonomic or nomenclatural, a name change may be caused by changes in the circumscription, position or rank of a taxon, representing a change in taxonomic, scientific insight. A name change may be due to purely nomenclatural reasons, that is, based on the rules of nomenclature, the earliest such name is called the senior synonym, while the later name is the junior synonym. One basic principle of zoological nomenclature is that the earliest correctly published name, synonyms are important because if the earliest name cannot be used, then the next available junior synonym must be used for the taxon. Objective synonyms refer to taxa with the type and same rank. For example, John Edward Gray published the name Antilocapra anteflexa in 1855 for a species of pronghorn, however, it is now commonly accepted that his specimen was an unusual individual of the species Antilocapra americana published by George Ord in 1815. Ords name thus takes precedence, with Antilocapra anteflexa being a subjective synonym. Objective synonyms are common at the level of genera, because for various reasons two genera may contain the type species, these are objective synonyms
Synonym (taxonomy)
–
The
Latin Caudata and
Greek Urodela both mean "tailed" and have been used as a scientific name at the rank of order for the
salamanders (as opposed to the tail-less
frogs). Thus they are synonyms.
Synonym (taxonomy)
–
The common dandelion
Taraxacum officinale sensu lato is an extremely widespread group of
apomictic lineages, and some scientists apply the "biological species concept" to divide it into many distinct species; other scientists regard all the names for those independent species as synonyms.
11.
MHNT
–
The Muséum de Toulouse, sometimes known as MHNT or Muséum dHistoire Naturelle de la ville de Toulouse, is a museum of natural history in Toulouse, France. It is located in the Busca-Montplaisir, and houses a collection of more than 2.5 million items, the museum was founded in 1796 by the naturalist Philippe-Isidore Picot de Lapeyrouse. It was at that time housed in the old buildings of the monastery of the carmelite friars and it was opened to the public in 1865 in its present location and under the directorship of Édouard Filhol. Toulouse museum was the first museum in the world to open a gallery of prehistory, thanks to the collaboration of Émile Cartailhac, Jean-Baptiste Noulet, today the museum is housed in a 2007 building designed by the architect Jean-Paul Viguier. The permanent exhibition has five linked themes, Sequence 1, Feeling the Earths power, nature of the solar system and its formation. Nature of the Earth – plate tectonics, seismic and volcanic activity and erosion, Sequence 2, Doing away with our notions of hierarchy The nature of life – biodiversity, classification, and organization. Sequence 3, Getting to grips with the huge scale, Earth history from 3.8 billion years ago. The prehistoric collection includes mostly artefacts excavated in France and they also contain comparative material from other parts of Europe and other continents. The herbarium contains historic specimens collected by Benjamin Balansa, the bird collection of MHNT contains more than 30,000 specimens of which 20,000 are eggs. There are approximately 8,500 bird mounts and 1,500 scientific bird skins, other bird items are circa 2,000 skeletons and skulls and 5,300 eggs. The collection focuses on Europe, but there are also exotic species, most are documented on card or computer system. The bird mount collection of Victor Besaucèle with 5,000 specimens is one of the most important historic collections in Europe. Other collectors represented are R. Bourret, G. Cossaune, M. Gourdon, Hammonville, A. Lacroix and it contains his personal collections, supplemented by those of other ornithologists notably Georges Guichard, Henri Heim de Balsac and Rene de Naurois. It includes all the species, that is to say approximately 1,000 species and nearly 15,000 eggs and is one of the most complete. The specimens of the collection of paleontology amount to tens of thousands and they date from the Paleoarchean to the Eocene. Henri Gaussen was a Toulouse-based phytogeographer and botanist, the botanic garden which honours his name is attached to the Museum and is part of the Earth and Life Science Research and Training Paul Sabatier University. A second botanical area The Museum Gardens extends over 3 hectares and it is notable for potagers du monde and a shade house which recreates the conditions required by shade plants. Part of this article is a translation of the French Wikipedias article François Bon, Sébastien Dubois, le Muséum de Toulouse et linvention de la préhistoire Toulouse Editions Muséum de Toulouse ISBN 978-2-906702-18-9 Official website
MHNT
–
Entry hall of the Muséum de Toulouse 43°35′37.89″N 1°26′57.42″E / 43.5938583°N 1.4492833°E / 43.5938583; 1.4492833
MHNT
–
Multiple view of bone
Azilian harpoon head, from about 10,000 years ago
MHNT
12.
Lauroid
–
This glossary is incomplete, you can help by expanding it, you can also help by adding illustrations that assist an understanding of the terms. Ab- A prefix meaning from, away from, or outside of, abaxial The surface of an organ facing away from the axis, e. g. the lower surface of a lateral organ such as a leaf or petal. Abort To abandon development of a structure or organ, abscission shedding of an organ that is mature or aged, e. g. a ripe fruit or an old leaf. Abscission zone a specialised layer of tissue formed, for example, acaulescent An adjective descriptive of a plant that has no apparent stem, or at least none visible above ground. Examples include some species of Agave, Oxalis and Attalea, accrescent Increasing in size with age, such as a calyx that continues to grow after the corolla has fallen, for example in Physalis peruviana. -aceae The suffix added to the stem of a name to form the name of a family. Achene A dry 1-seeded indehiscent fruit, e. g. in the genus Ranunculus, acropetal Moving from roots to leaves, e. g. of molecular signals in plants. Acrophyll The regular leaves of a plant, produced above the base. Acrostichoid covering the entire surface of the frond, usually densely so. Actino- A prefix that indicates a radial form, actinodromous palmate or radially arranged venation with three or more primary veins arising from at or near the base of the leaf, the primary veins reaching the margin or not. Actinomorphic regular, radially symmetrical, may be bisected into similar halves in at least two planes. Applies e. g. to steles and flowers in which the segments within each whorl are alike in size and shape, compare regular, contrast with asymmetrical, irregular. Aculeate Armed with prickles, e. g. the stem of a rose, acuminate Tapering gradually to a point. Acute Sharply pointed, converging edges making an angle of less than 90°, ad- A prefix meaning near or towards. Adaxial The surface of an organ facing towards the axis, e. g. the upper surface of an organ such as a leaf or petal. Adnate grown or fused to an organ of a different kind, especially along a margin, e. g. a stamen fused to a petal, cf. connate. Adventitious A structure produced in a position, e. g. an adventitious bud produced from a stem rather than from the axil of a leaf. Aerial Of the air, growing or borne above the surface of the ground, aestivation The arrangement of sepals and petals or their lobes in an unexpanded flower bud, cf. vernation, the arrangement of leaves in a bud. aff
Lauroid
–
Acaulescent
Welwitschia
Lauroid
–
The
diatom Actinoptychus senarius is actinomorphic.
Lauroid
–
Dianthus chinensis has a caespitose growth habit.
Lauroid
–
Callus tissue of tobacco,
Nicotiana tabacum growing on a nutrient medium in
plant tissue culture
13.
Madagascar
–
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, and previously known as the Malagasy Republic, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Southeast Africa. The nation comprises the island of Madagascar, and numerous smaller peripheral islands, consequently, Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot, over 90% of its wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth. The islands diverse ecosystems and unique wildlife are threatened by the encroachment of the growing human population. The first archaeological evidence for human foraging on Madagascar dates to 2000 BC, human settlement of Madagascar occurred between 350 BC and AD550 by Austronesian peoples arriving on outrigger canoes from Borneo. These were joined around AD1000 by Bantu migrants crossing the Mozambique Channel from East Africa, other groups continued to settle on Madagascar over time, each one making lasting contributions to Malagasy cultural life. The Malagasy ethnic group is divided into 18 or more sub-groups of which the largest are the Merina of the central highlands. Until the late 18th century, the island of Madagascar was ruled by an assortment of shifting sociopolitical alliances. Beginning in the early 19th century, most of the island was united and ruled as the Kingdom of Madagascar by a series of Merina nobles, the monarchy collapsed in 1897 when the island was absorbed into the French colonial empire, from which the island gained independence in 1960. The autonomous state of Madagascar has since undergone four major constitutional periods, since 1992, the nation has officially been governed as a constitutional democracy from its capital at Antananarivo. However, in an uprising in 2009, president Marc Ravalomanana was made to resign. Constitutional governance was restored in January 2014, when Hery Rajaonarimampianina was named president following a 2013 election deemed fair, Madagascar is a member of the United Nations, the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie and the Southern African Development Community. Madagascar belongs to the group of least developed countries, according to the United Nations, Malagasy and French are both official languages of the state. The majority of the population adheres to traditional beliefs, Christianity, ecotourism and agriculture, paired with greater investments in education, health, and private enterprise, are key elements of Madagascars development strategy. As of 2017, the economy has been weakened by the 2009-2013 political crisis, in the Malagasy language, the island of Madagascar is called Madagasikara and its people are referred to as Malagasy. The islands appellation Madagascar is not of origin, but rather was popularized in the Middle Ages by Europeans. On St. Laurences Day in 1500, Portuguese explorer Diogo Dias landed on the island, polos name was preferred and popularized on Renaissance maps. At 592,800 square kilometres, Madagascar is the worlds 47th largest country, the country lies mostly between latitudes 12°S and 26°S, and longitudes 43°E and 51°E. Neighboring islands include the French territory of Réunion and the country of Mauritius to the east, as well as the state of Comoros, the nearest mainland state is Mozambique, located to the west
Madagascar
–
The terraced paddy fields of the
central highlands of Madagascar (left) give way to tropical rainforest along the eastern coast (center) bordered by the shores of the
Indian Ocean (right).
Madagascar
–
Flag
Madagascar
Madagascar
–
The grassy plains that dominate the western landscape are dotted with stony massifs (left), patches of deciduous forest, and
baobab trees (center), while the south is characterized by desert and
spiny forests (right).
14.
Mascarene Islands
–
The Mascarene Islands is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of Mauritius, Réunion and Rodrigues. The collective title is derived from the Portuguese navigator Pedro Mascarenhas, the islands share a common geologic origin in the volcanism of the Réunion hotspot beneath the Mascarene Plateau and form a distinct ecoregion with a unique flora and fauna. The terrain includes a variety of reefs, atolls, and small islands and they present various topographical and edaphic regions. On the largest islands these gave rise to unusual biodiversity, the climate is oceanic and tropical. The youngest islands to form were Mauritius, the oldest of the existing islands, the islands of Rodrigues and Réunion were created in the last two million years. Réunion is the largest of the islands, followed by Mauritius, eventually Saya de Malha, Nazareth and Soudan were completely submerged, Cargados Carajos remaining as a coral atoll. The Réunion hotspot was beginning to cool and Rodrigues came out as a tiny island, Réunion is home to the highest peaks in the Mascarenes, the shield volcanoes Piton des Neiges and Piton de la Fournaise. Piton de la Fournaise, on the corner of Réunion, is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. Piton de la Petite Rivière Noire is the highest peak on Mauritius, the Mascarene Plateau is an undersea plateau that extends approximately 2000 km, from the Seychelles to Réunion. The plateau covers an area of over 115,000 km2 of shallow water, with depths ranging from 8 to 150 meters, plunging to 4000 m to the abyssal plain at its edges. The southern part of the plateau, including the Saya de Malha Bank, Nazareth Bank, Soudan Banks and Cargados Carajos Shoals, was formed by the Réunion hotspot. These were once islands, much like Mauritius and Réunion. The Saya de Malha Bank formed 35 million years ago, and the Nazareth Bank, limestone banks found on the plateau are the remnants of coral reefs, indicating that the plateau was a succession of islands. Some of the banks may have been islands as recently as 18, 000–6,000 years ago, the habitats of the islands differ in size, topography, age, and in proximity to the nearest major land mass, namely. As is common among remote islands, the Mascarene fauna and flora display a degree of endemism. In prehistoric times the islands were covered in a range of tropical moist broadleaf forest. The freshwater biota includes coastal wetlands and swamp forests, grading into rainforest to windward, dryland areas include palm savannas, montane deciduous forests and heathlands on the highest peaks of Réunion. The dry lowland forests range from sea level to elevations of some 200 metres and they occur in regions with less than 1000 mm average annual rainfall
Mascarene Islands
–
Piton de la Fournaise
Mascarene Islands
–
Topographic map of Mascarene Islands
Mascarene Islands
–
The
dodo was a frugivore giant columbiforme of
Mauritius Island where there are several
Ocotea species. Painted by
Jacob Hoefnagel, c. 1602
Mascarene Islands
–
Foetidia mauritiana
15.
Macaronesia
–
Macaronesia is a collection of four archipelagos in the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the continents of Europe and Africa. Apart from the Azores, which are considered mainly as part of Europe, Macaronesian islands belong to three countries, Portugal, Spain, and Cape Verde. The name is derived from the Greek words for islands of the fortunate μακάρων νῆσοι makárōn nêsoi, the Portuguese archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira have a generally cooler climate and higher rainfall than the Canaries and Cape Verde. The islands have a unique biogeography, and are home to several distinct plant, the jumping spider genus Macaroeris is named after Macaronesia. None of the Macaronesian islands were part of a continent, so the native plants, laurel-leaved forests, called laurisilva, once covered most of the Azores, Madeira, and parts of the Canaries between 400–1200 m altitude. These forests resemble the ancient forests that covered the Mediterranean basin, the laurisilva has been reduced to small pockets. As a result, many of the biota of the islands are seriously endangered or extinct. Alien predators – domestic and feral cats – are one of the most serious threat to the endemic fauna, category, Flora of Macaronesia Fortunate Isles European Union, Report on biodiversity in Macaronesia Review on cats diet on Macaronesian islands
Macaronesia
–
Macaronesia
16.
Canary Islands
–
The Canary Islands, also known as the Canaries, are an archipelago and autonomous community of Spain located on the Atlantic Ocean,100 kilometres west of Morocco. The Canaries are among the outermost regions of the European Union proper and it is also one of the eight regions with special consideration of historical nationality recognized as such by the Spanish Government. The main islands are Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera, the archipelago also includes a number of islands and islets, La Graciosa, Alegranza, Isla de Lobos, Montaña Clara, Roque del Oeste and Roque del Este. In ancient times, the chain was often referred to as the Fortunate Isles. The Canary Islands is the most southerly region of Spain and the largest and most populated archipelago of the Macaronesia region, the islands have a subtropical climate, with long hot summers and moderately warm winters. The precipitation levels and the level of maritime moderation varies depending on location and elevation, green areas as well as desert exist on the archipelago. Due to their location above the inversion layer, the high mountains of these islands are ideal for astronomical observation. For this reason, two professional observatories, Teide Observatory on the island of Tenerife and Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma, have built on the islands. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has been the largest city in the Canaries since 1768, between the 1833 territorial division of Spain and 1927 Santa Cruz de Tenerife was the sole capital of the Canary Islands. In 1927 a decree ordered that the capital of the Canary Islands be shared, the third largest city of the Canary Islands is San Cristóbal de La Laguna on Tenerife. This city is home to the Consejo Consultivo de Canarias. During the time of the Spanish Empire, the Canaries were the main stopover for Spanish galleons on their way to the Americas, who came south to catch the prevailing northeasterly trade winds. The name Islas Canarias is likely derived from the Latin name Canariae Insulae, meaning Islands of the Dogs, according to the historian Pliny the Elder, the Mauretanian king Juba II named the island Canaria because it contained vast multitudes of dogs of very large size. Another speculation is that the dogs were actually a species of monk seal, critically endangered. The dense population of seals may have been the characteristic that most struck the few ancient Romans who established contact with these islands by sea. Alternatively, it is said that the inhabitants of the island, Guanches, used to worship dogs, mummified them. The ancient Greeks also knew about a people, living far to the west, who are the dog-headed ones, who worshipped dogs on an island. Some hypothesize that the Canary Islands dog-worship and the ancient Egyptian cult of the god, Anubis are closely connected
Canary Islands
–
Mount
Teide on
Tenerife, the highest mountain in Spain, is also one of the most visited
National Parks in the world.
Canary Islands
–
Flag
Canary Islands
–
Hacha Grande, a mountain in the south of Lanzarote, viewed from the road to the Playa de Papagayo.
Canary Islands
–
Panoramic view of Gran Canaria, with
Roque Nublo at the left and Roque Bentayga at the center
17.
Madeira
–
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago situated in the north Atlantic Ocean, southwest of Portugal. Its total population was estimated in 2011 at 267,785, the capital of Madeira is Funchal, located on the main islands south coast. The archipelago is just under 400 kilometres north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, since 1976, the archipelago has been one of the two Autonomous regions of Portugal. It includes the islands of Madeira, Porto Santo, and the Desertas, the region has political and administrative autonomy through the Administrative Political Statue of the Autonomous Region of Madeira provided for in the Portuguese Constitution. Madeira was claimed by Portuguese sailors in the service of Prince Henry the Navigator in 1419, the archipelago is considered to be the first territorial discovery of the exploratory period of the Portuguese Age of Discovery, which extended from 1415 to 1542. Today, it is a popular resort, being visited every year by about one million tourists. The region is noted for its Madeira wine, gastronomy, historical and cultural value, its flora and fauna, landscapes which are classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and embroidery artisans. Its annual New Year celebrations feature the largest fireworks show in the world, Madeira is the second richest region of Portugal by GDP per capita, only surpassed by Lisbon. They are called the Isles of the Blessed, archeological evidence suggests that the islands may have been visited by the Vikings sometime between 900-1030. During the reign of King Edward III of England, lovers Robert Machim and they were driven off their course by a violent storm and their ship went aground along the coast of an island, that may have been Madeira. Later this legend was the basis of the naming of the city of Machico, knowledge of some Atlantic islands, such as Madeira, existed before their formal discovery and settlement, as the islands were shown on maps as early as 1339. The following year, an expedition, under the captaincy of Zarco, Vaz Teixeira. Subsequently, the new settlers observed a black cloud suspended to the southwest. Their investigation revealed it to be the island they called Madeira. The first Portuguese settlers began colonizing the islands around 1420 or 1425, grain production began to fall and the ensuing crisis forced Henry the Navigator to order other commercial crops to be planted so that the islands could be profitable. The planting of sugarcane, and later Sicilian sugar beet, allowed the introduction of the salt into Europe. These specialised plants, and their associated industrial technology, created one of the major revolutions on the islands, the expansion of sugar plantations in Madeira began in 1455, using advisers from Sicily and financed by Genoese capital. The accessibility of Madeira attracted Genoese and Flemish traders, who were keen to bypass Venetian monopolies, by 1480 Antwerp had some seventy ships engaged in the Madeira sugar trade, with the refining and distribution concentrated in Antwerp
Madeira
–
A view of
Funchal, the capital city of the autonomous region.
Madeira
–
The Santa Maria de Colombo, a replica of the types of ship typical during the Portuguese discovery, built by craftsmen from
Câmara de Lobos, Madeira
Madeira
–
Statue of
João Gonçalves Zarco
Madeira
–
Cathedral of Funchal with its
tower of 15th-century
Gothic style in the background
18.
Adventitious root
–
Adventitious has various meanings in various disciplines and in general usage. People sometimes speak of an event or occurrence as being random, in botany, adventitious refers to structures that develop in an unusual place. This part of the article discusses adventitious roots, buds and shoots, which are very common in vascular plants. Adventitious buds develop from places other than a shoot apical meristem, which occurs at the tip of a stem, or on a node, at the leaf axil. They may develop on roots or leaves, or on shoots as a new growth, shoot apical meristems produce one or more axillary or lateral buds at each node. When stems produce considerable secondary growth, the buds may be destroyed. Adventitious buds may develop on stems with secondary growth. Adventitious buds are formed after the stem is wounded or pruned. The adventitious buds help to replace lost branches, adventitious buds and shoots also may develop on mature tree trunks when a shaded trunk is exposed to bright sunlight because surrounding trees are cut down. Redwood trees often develop many adventitious buds on their lower trunks, if the main trunk dies, a new one often sprouts from one of the adventitious buds. Small pieces of trunk are sold as souvenirs termed redwood burls. They are placed in a pan of water, and the adventitious buds sprout to form shoots, some plants normally develop adventitious buds on their roots, which can extend quite a distance from the plant. Shoots that develop from adventitious buds on roots are termed suckers and they are a type of natural vegetative reproduction in many species, e. g. many grasses, quaking aspen and Canada thistle. The Pando quaking aspen grew from one trunk to 47,000 trunks via adventitious bud formation on a root system. Some leaves develop adventitious buds, which then form adventitious roots, as part of reproduction, e. g. piggyback plant. The adventitious plantlets then drop off the parent plant and develop as separate clones of the parent, coppicing is the practice of cutting tree stems to the ground to promote rapid growth of adventitious shoots. It is traditionally used to produce poles, fence material or firewood and it is also practiced for biomass crops grown for fuel, such as poplar or willow. Adventitious rooting may be a stress-avoidance acclimation for some species, driven by such inputs as hypoxia/anoxia or nutrient deficiency, another ecologically important function of adventitious rooting is the vegetative propagation of tree species such as Salix and Sequoia in riparian settings
Adventitious root
–
Roots forming above ground on a cutting of Odontonema aka Firespike
19.
Perfect flower
–
Plant reproductive morphology is the study of the physical form and structure of those parts of plants directly or indirectly concerned with sexual reproduction. Among all living organisms, flowers, which are the structures of angiosperms, are the most varied physically. Plants that are not flowering plants also have complex interplays between morphological adaptation and environmental factors in their sexual reproduction, christian Konrad Sprengel studied the reproduction of flowering plants and for the first time it was understood that the pollination process involved both biotic and abiotic interactions. Charles Darwins theories of natural selection utilized this work to build his theory of evolution, Plants have complex lifecycles involving alternation of generations. One generation, the sporophyte, gives rise to the next generation asexually via spores, spores may be identical isospores or come in different sizes, but strictly speaking, spores and sporophytes are neither male nor female because they do not produce gametes. The alternate generation, the gametophyte, produces gametes, eggs and/or sperm, a gametophyte can be be monoicous, producing both eggs and sperm or dioicous, either female or male. In the bryophytes, the gametophyte is the dominant generation. In ferns and seed plants the sporophyte is the dominant generation, the obvious visible plant, whether a small herb or a large tree, is the sporophyte, and the gametophyte is very small. In seed plants, each female gametophyte, and the spore that gives rise to it, is hidden within the sporophyte and is dependent on it for nutrition. Each male gametophyte consists of from two to four cells enclosed within the protective wall of a pollen grain. The sporophyte of a plant is often described using sexual terms based on the sexuality of the gametophyte it gives rise to. For example, a sporophyte that produces spores that give rise only to male gametophytes may be described as male, even though the sporophyte itself is asexual, producing only spores. Similarly, flowers produced by the sporophyte may be described as unisexual or bisexual, the flower is the characteristic structure concerned with sexual reproduction in flowering plants. Flowers vary enormously in their construction, a complete flower, like that of Ranunculus glaberrimus shown in the figure, has a calyx of outer sepals and a corolla of inner petals. The sepals and petals form the perianth. Next inwards there are numerous stamens, which produce pollen grains, stamens may be called the male parts of a flower and collectively form the androecium. Finally in the middle there are carpels, which at maturity one or more ovules. Carpels may be called the parts of a flower and collectively form the gynoecium
Perfect flower
–
Close-up of a flower of
Schlumbergera (Christmas or Holiday Cactus), showing part of the
gynoecium (the stigma and part of the style is visible) and the
stamens that surround it
Perfect flower
–
Dioicous gametophytes of the liverwort
Marchantia polymorpha. In this species, gametes are produced on different plants on umbrella-shaped
gametophores with different morphologies. The radiating arms of female gameteophores (left) protect
archegonia that produce eggs. Male gametophores (right) are topped with
antheridia that produce sperm.
Perfect flower
–
Flower of Ranunculus glaberrimus
Perfect flower
–
Alnus serrulata has unisexual flowers and is monoecious. Shown here: maturing male flower catkins on the right, last year's female catkins on the left.
20.
Calybium
–
The calybium and the cupule make up the accessory fruit of flowering plants in the family Fagaceae. These two parts derive from different flower components, the cupule holds and protects the fruit during its growth and maturation. In some genera, it only partly encloses the nut, while in others. It is derived from the part of the flower. The cupule is covered by numerous scales, in some, the scales are developed into sharp spines, giving the nut protection from squirrels and other seed predators, while in others, they are not. In Lithocarpus, the cupule is hard and bone-like in texture. The calybium is the fruit proper and it develops from an inferior ovary, meaning it is initially encased in the future cupule. Technically the calybium is a nut, as its ovary wall becomes dry with the embryo loosely enclosed inside, gee, Carole T. Sander, P. Martin & Petzelberger, Bianka E. M. A Miocene rodent nut cache in coastal dunes of the Lower Rhine Embayment, Germany
Calybium
–
A
Sweet Chestnut Castanea sativa cupule, split open to reveal the calybia.
21.
Camphorwood
–
Cinnamomum camphora is a large evergreen tree that grows up to 20–30 m tall. The leaves have a glossy, waxy appearance and smell of camphor when crushed, in spring, it produces bright green foliage with masses of small white flowers. It produces clusters of black, berry-like fruit around 1 cm in diameter and its pale bark is very rough and fissured vertically. Cinnamomum camphora is native to China south of the Yangtze River, Taiwan, southern Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, and has been introduced to many other countries. In Japan, where the tree is called kusunoki, five camphor trees are known with a circumference above 20 m, with the largest individual, Kamō no Ōkusu. Camphor laurel contains volatile compounds in all plant parts. Camphor laurel has six different chemical variants called chemotypes, which are camphor, linalool,1, 8-cineole, nerolidol, safrole, in China, field workers avoid mixing chemotypes when harvesting by their odour. The cineole fraction of camphor laurel is used in China to manufacture fake Eucalyptus oil, the chemical variants seem dependent upon the country of origin of the tree. The tree is native to China, Japan, and Taiwan and it has been introduced to the other countries where it has been found, and the chemical variants are identifiable by country. E. g. C. camphora grown in Taiwan and Japan is normally high in linalool. In India and Sri Lanka, the high camphor variety/chemotype remains dominant, C. camphora grown in Madagascar, though, is high in 1,8 cineole. The essential oil from the Madagascar trees is known as ravintsara. Camphor is a crystalline substance, obtained from the tree C. camphora. Camphor has been used for centuries as a culinary spice, a component of incense. It is also an insect repellent and a flea-killing substance, C. camphora is native to Jeju off the coast of Korea, Taiwan, southern Japan, southeast China, and Indochina, where it is also cultivated for camphor and timber production. The production and shipment of camphor, in a solid, waxy form, was an industry in Taiwan prior to. It was used medicinally and was also an important ingredient in the production of smokeless gunpowder, primitive stills were set up in the mountainous areas in which the tree is usually found. The wood was chipped, these chips were steamed in a retort, allowing the camphor to crystallize on the inside of a crystallization box and it was then scraped off and packed out to government-run factories for processing and sale
Camphorwood
–
Cinnamomum camphora
Camphorwood
–
Camphor grove in
Hong Kong
Camphorwood
–
C. camphora in the public Botanic Gardens in
Adelaide, South Australia
Camphorwood
–
Camphor laurel in fruit at
Turramurra railway station,
Australia
22.
Cinnamomum camphora
–
Cinnamomum camphora is a large evergreen tree that grows up to 20–30 m tall. The leaves have a glossy, waxy appearance and smell of camphor when crushed, in spring, it produces bright green foliage with masses of small white flowers. It produces clusters of black, berry-like fruit around 1 cm in diameter and its pale bark is very rough and fissured vertically. Cinnamomum camphora is native to China south of the Yangtze River, Taiwan, southern Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, and has been introduced to many other countries. In Japan, where the tree is called kusunoki, five camphor trees are known with a circumference above 20 m, with the largest individual, Kamō no Ōkusu. Camphor laurel contains volatile compounds in all plant parts. Camphor laurel has six different chemical variants called chemotypes, which are camphor, linalool,1, 8-cineole, nerolidol, safrole, in China, field workers avoid mixing chemotypes when harvesting by their odour. The cineole fraction of camphor laurel is used in China to manufacture fake Eucalyptus oil, the chemical variants seem dependent upon the country of origin of the tree. The tree is native to China, Japan, and Taiwan and it has been introduced to the other countries where it has been found, and the chemical variants are identifiable by country. E. g. C. camphora grown in Taiwan and Japan is normally high in linalool. In India and Sri Lanka, the high camphor variety/chemotype remains dominant, C. camphora grown in Madagascar, though, is high in 1,8 cineole. The essential oil from the Madagascar trees is known as ravintsara. Camphor is a crystalline substance, obtained from the tree C. camphora. Camphor has been used for centuries as a culinary spice, a component of incense. It is also an insect repellent and a flea-killing substance, C. camphora is native to Jeju off the coast of Korea, Taiwan, southern Japan, southeast China, and Indochina, where it is also cultivated for camphor and timber production. The production and shipment of camphor, in a solid, waxy form, was an industry in Taiwan prior to. It was used medicinally and was also an important ingredient in the production of smokeless gunpowder, primitive stills were set up in the mountainous areas in which the tree is usually found. The wood was chipped, these chips were steamed in a retort, allowing the camphor to crystallize on the inside of a crystallization box and it was then scraped off and packed out to government-run factories for processing and sale
Cinnamomum camphora
–
Cinnamomum camphora
Cinnamomum camphora
–
Camphor grove in
Hong Kong
Cinnamomum camphora
–
C. camphora in the public Botanic Gardens in
Adelaide, South Australia
Cinnamomum camphora
–
Camphor laurel in fruit at
Turramurra railway station,
Australia
23.
Rosewood
–
Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining but found in many different hues. All genuine rosewoods belong to the genus Dalbergia and it is best known as Brazilian Rosewood, but also as Bahia rosewood. This wood has a sweet smell, which persists for many years. Another classic rosewood comes from Dalbergia latifolia known as Indian rosewood or sonokeling and it is native to India and is also grown in plantations elsewhere in Pakistan. Madagascar rosewood, known as bois de rose, is prized for its red color. It is overexploited in the wild, despite a 2010 moratorium on trade and illegal logging, throughout southeast Asia Dalbergia oliveri is harvested for use in woodworking. It has a fragrant and dense grain near the core, however the outer sapwood is soft. Dalbergia cultrata that has variegated burgundy to light color, a blackwood timber is sold as Burmese Rosewood. Products built with rosewood based engineered woods are sold as Malaysian Rosewood or as Dalbergia oliveri, some rosewood comes from Dalbergia retusa, also known as the Nicaraguan rosewood or as palisander is controlled by CITES under Appendix 2 which allows some commercial activity. Several species are known as Guatemalan rosewood or Panama rosewood, D. tucerencis, D. tucarensis, stevensonii, also on CITES Appendix 2, is used for marimba keys, guitar parts, clarinets and other musical and ornamental applications. Not all species in the large genus Dalbergia yield rosewoods, only about a species do. The woods of some species in the genus Dalbergia are notable—even famous—woods in their own right, African blackwood, cocobolo, kingwood. The woods of some species are usable for tool handles at best. The timber trade will sell many timbers under the name due to some similarities. A fair number of these come from other legume genera. Another that may be found in market from Southeast Asia is Pterocarpus indicus, Dalbergia sissoo is timber from rosewood species from India and Bangladesh, usually known as Sheesham or North-Indian Rosewood. It is extremely dense and has mild rot resistance, but it is porous and its exterior is soft and it is used for making cabinets, flooring and carving. It is exported as quality veneers, due to its after work quality when sealed and dyed, it is often sold as genuine rosewood or as teak
Rosewood
–
A classic rosewood surface
Rosewood
–
Chess pieces in
Dalbergia latifolia rosewood
Rosewood
–
Back of guitar made with East Indian rosewood
Rosewood
–
A
Chinese Ming Dynasty compound
wardrobe made of 'huanghuali' rosewood, latter half of the 16th century.
24.
Dalbergia
–
Dalbergia is a large genus of small to medium-size trees, shrubs and lianas in the pea family, Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. It was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic Dalbergia clade of the Dalbergieae, the genus has a wide distribution, native to the tropical regions of Central and South America, Africa, Madagascar and southern Asia. A fossil Dalbergia phleboptera pod has been recovered from the stage Chattian of the Oligocene epoch in the municipality of Aix-en-Provence in France, fossils of Dalbergia nostratum have been recovered from rhyodacite tuff of Lower Miocene age in Southern Slovakia near the town of Lučenec. Many species of Dalbergia are important timber trees, valued for their decorative and often fragrant wood, the most famous of these are the rosewoods, so-named because of the smell of the timber when cut, but several other valuable woods are yielded by the genus. The second most desired rosewood in the world is D. latifolia known as Indian Rosewood or Sonokeling. Most rosewoods are a brown with a good figure. Note that only a number of Dalbergia species yield rosewood. Several East Asian species are important materials in traditional Chinese furniture, the Tulipwood is cream coloured with red or salmon stripes. It is most often used in crossbanding and other veneers, it should not be confused with the tulipwood of the American Tulip Tree Liriodendron tulipifera, the similarly used, and also Brazilian, Kingwood is yielded by D. cearensis. Both are smallish trees, to 10 m, Dalbergia sissoo is primarily used for furniture in northern India. Its export is highly regulated due to recent high rates of death due to unknown causes, Dalbergia sissoo, which has historically been the primary rosewood species of northern India. This wood is strong and tough. It is extreme durable and handsome and it maintains its shape well and it is difficult to work but it takes a fine polish. It is used for high quality furniture, plywoods, bridge piles, sport goods, railway sleepers and it is a very good material for decorative works and carvings. Its density is 770 kg/m³ and with golden to dark brown. African blackwood is a black wood in demand for making woodwind musical instruments. Dalbergia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Bucculatrix mendax which feeds exclusively on Dalbergia sissoo, the Dalbergia species are notorious for causing allergic reactions due the presence of sensitizing quinones in the wood
Dalbergia
–
Chess pieces in Dalbergia latifolia rosewood
Dalbergia
–
Dalbergia
Dalbergia
–
Wood from a Dalbergia sp. -
MHNT
Dalbergia
–
Leafless tree in
Kolkata,
West Bengal,
India.
25.
Fabaceae
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The Fabaceae, Leguminosae or Papilionaceae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, are a large and economically important family of flowering plants. It includes trees, shrubs, and perennial or annual herbaceous plants, the five largest of the genera are Astragalus, Acacia, Indigofera, Crotalaria and Mimosa, which constitute about a quarter of all legume species. The ca.19,000 known legume species amount to about 7% of flowering plant species, Fabaceae is the most common family found in tropical rainforests and in dry forests in the Americas and Africa. Recent molecular and morphological evidence supports the fact that the Fabaceae is a monophyletic family. These studies confirm that the Fabaceae are a group that is closely related to the Polygalaceae, Surianaceae and Quillajaceae families. Along with the cereals, some fruits and tropical roots a number of Leguminosae have been a human food for millennia. A number of species are also weedy pests in different parts of the world, including, Cytisus scoparius, Robinia pseudoacacia, Ulex europaeus, Pueraria lobata, the name Fabaceae comes from the defunct genus Faba, now included in Vicia. The term faba comes from Latin, and appears to simply mean bean, Leguminosae is an older name still considered valid, and refers to the fruit of these plants, which are called legumes. Fabaceae range in habit from giant trees to small annual herbs, plants have indeterminate inflorescences, which are sometimes reduced to a single flower. The flowers have a short hypanthium and a single carpel with a short gynophore, the Leguminosae have a wide variety of growth forms including trees, shrubs or herbaceous plants or even vines or lianas. The herbaceous plants can be annuals, biennials or perennials, without basal or terminal leaf aggregations and they are upright plants, epiphytes or vines. The latter support themselves by means of shoots that twist around a support or through cauline or foliar tendrils, plants can be heliophytes, mesophytes or xerophytes. The leaves are alternate and compound. Most often they are even- or odd-pinnately compound, often trifoliate and rarely palmately compound, in the Mimosoideae and they always have stipules, which can be leaf-like, thorn-like or be rather inconspicuous. Leaf margins are entire or, occasionally, serrate, both the leaves and the leaflets often have wrinkled pulvini to permit nastic movements. In some species, leaflets have evolved into tendrils, many species have leaves with structures that attract ants that protect the plant from herbivore insects. Extrafloral nectaries are common among the Mimosoideae and the Caesalpinioideae, and are found in some Faboideae. In some Acacia, the modified hollow stipules are inhabited by ants and are known as domatia, many Fabaceae host bacteria in their roots within structures called root nodules
Fabaceae
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Fabaceae Temporal range:
Palaeocene –
Recent
Fabaceae
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The fruit of
Gymnocladus dioicus
Fabaceae
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A flower of
Wisteria sinensis, Faboideae. Two petals have been removed to show stamens and pistil
Fabaceae
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Legume of
Vicia angustifolia
26.
Sassafras
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Sassafras is a genus of three extant and one extinct species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia. The genus is distinguished by its properties, which have made the tree useful to humans. The name sassafras, applied by the botanist Nicolas Monardes in 1569, some sources claim it originates from the Latin saxifraga or saxifragus, stone-breaking, saxum rock + frangere to break). Early European colonists reported that the plant was called winauk by Native Americans in Delaware and Virginia, Native Americans distinguished between white sassafras and red sassafras, which terms referred to the same plant but to different parts of the plant with distinct colors and uses. Sassafras was known as fennel wood due to its distinctive aroma, Sassafras trees grow from 9–35 m tall with many slender sympodial branches, and smooth, orange-brown bark or yellow bark. All parts of the plants are fragrant, the species are unusual in having three distinct leaf patterns on the same plant, unlobed oval, bilobed, and trilobed, the leaves are hardly ever five-lobed. Three-lobed leaves are common in sassafras tzumu and sassafras randaiense than in their North American counterparts. The young leaves and twigs are quite mucilaginous, and produce a scent when crushed. The fruit is a drupe, blue-black when ripe, the largest known sassafras tree in the world is located in Owensboro, Kentucky, and measures over 100 feet high and 21 feet in circumference. Many Lauraceae are aromatic, evergreen trees or shrubs adapted to high rainfall and humidity, deciduous sassafras trees lose all of their leaves for part of the year, depending on variations in rainfall. In deciduous tropical Lauraceae, leaf loss coincides with the dry season in tropical, subtropical, in temperate climates, the dry season is due to the inability of the plant to absorb water available to it only in the form of ice. Sassafras is commonly found in woods, along fences, or in fields. It grows well in moist, well-drained, or sandy soils and tolerates a variety of soil types, attaining a maximum in southern. Sassafras albidum ranges from southern Maine and southern Ontario west to Iowa, Sassafras tzumu may be found in Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Zhejiang, China. Sassafras randaiense is native to Taiwan, the leaves, bark, twigs, stems, and fruits are eaten by birds and mammals in small quantities. For most animals, Sassafras is not consumed in large quantities to be important. Carey and Gill rate its value to wildlife as fair, their lowest rating, Sassafras leaves and twigs are consumed by white-tailed deer and porcupines. Other sassafras leaf browsers include groundhogs, marsh rabbits, and American black bears, rabbits eat sassafras bark in winter
Sassafras
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Sassafras
Sassafras
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Male and female Sassafras albidum flowers. The male flower is on the left; the female is on the right. The male flower has nine stamens (one partially obscured), while the female has a central pistil.
Sassafras
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Fossil
Sassafras hesperia leaf from Early
Ypresian, Klondike Mountain Formation, Washington state, USA.
Sassafras
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S. albidum is a host plant for the
spicebush swallowtail.
27.
Ocotea odorifera
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Ocotea odorifera is a species of plant in the Lauraceae family. It is a tree in the Ocotea genus. It is found in possibly Argentina, Brazil, and possibly Paraguay and it is threatened by habitat loss. It is commonly known as Brazilian sassafras or American cinnamon, though it is not a true sassafras nor a true cinnamon, in trade, the junior synonym Ocotea pretiosa is often used, and there is considerable confusion between the present taxon and Ocotea cymbarum. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Ocotea odorifera
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Brazilian Sassafras
28.
Laurus
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Laurus is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus includes three or more species, the number of species in the genus has not yet been fully resolved. The following may or may not be included, Laurus azorica, Azores Laurel is native to the Azores, and also locally introduced in Cortegada Island, Spain. A recent study found considerable genetic diversity within L. nobilis, Laurus nobilis, bay Laurel, true laurel, is used as a culinary spice. It was also the source of the laurel wreath of ancient Greece. It is native to the Mediterranean region, Laurus novocanariensis, formerly included in L. azorica. With the end of the last glacial period, L. nobilis recovered some of its range around the Mediterranean. Arroyo-García, R. Martínez-Zapater, J. M. Fernández Prieto, & Álvarez-Arbesú R. AFLP evaluation of genetic similarity among laurel populations. Barbero, M. Benabid, A. Peyre, C, & Quezel, P. Sur la presence au Maroc de Laurus azorica Franco. Capelo, J. Jardim, R. Sequeira, M. Catálogo Florístico do Arquipélago da Madeira, the Plant Book, a Portable Dictionary of the Vascular Plants
Laurus
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Laurus
29.
Ocotea bullata
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Ocotea bullata, is a species of flowering tree native to South Africa. It produces very fine and valuable timber which was much sought after to make furniture. Due to over-exploitation it is now a protected species, other names for it are Cape Walnut, Cape laurel, and laurel wood. The name stinkwood comes from a strong smell that is released when it is fresh felled and it is a large, evergreen tree, that grows up to 30 m tall. The leaves are green and glossy, with bubbles produced on the upper surface of the leaves. This tree is indigenous to the forests of South Africa, from Table Mountain in the south. It has been effectively exterminated on the slopes of Table Mountain where it has been felled for timber and it is also frequently and fatally stripped of its bark, which is taken for use in traditional medicine. Consequently, it is now a Protected Tree in South Africa, the tree yields a beautiful timber much prized by cabinet-makers. The wood is dark walnut or reddish brown to black with a yellow sap-wood, and it is said to be as durable as teak. The tree is badly overexploited and the wood is no longer available commercially and it is one of the most popular plants traded for traditional medicine in South Africa, mainly for its perceived effectiveness in treating urinary diseases. Ocotea bullata can be an impressive tree for a larger garden or park. Care must be taken with their planting and they prefer a position but, once established. Stinkwood trees can be propagated with some difficulty from cuttings and it can also be grown from seed, which must be freshly picked, cleaned and planted immediately. Ocotea bullata can be attacked by the fungus-like pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi, Trees are more prone to attack in areas of indigenous forest that have been disturbed for commercial purposes. List of Southern African indigenous trees article from Veld & Flora Ocotea bullata, Protected Trees in South Africa van Wyk, B. and van Wyk, P.1997. Field Guide to trees of South Africa
Ocotea bullata
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Ocotea bullata
Ocotea bullata
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Giant stinkwood tree in indigenous afrotemperate forest, South Africa.
. PMID 16901834. doi:10.1098/rspb.2006.3560.
Media related to Ocotea at Wikimedia Commons
