1.
Olive
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Olea europeana sylvestris is a subspecies that corresponds to a smaller tree bearing noticeably smaller fruits. The olives fruit, also called the olive, is of agricultural importance in the Mediterranean region as the source of olive oil. The tree and its fruit give their name to the plant family, which includes species such as lilacs, jasmine, Forsythia. The word derives from Latin ŏlīva a borrowing from the Greek ἐλαία, the oldest attested forms of the Greek words are the Mycenaean
2.
Taxonomy (biology)
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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
3.
Plant
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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
4.
Flowering plant
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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
5.
Extinction
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In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms, normally a species. The moment of extinction is considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed. Because a species range may be very large, determining this moment is difficult. This difficulty leads to such as Lazarus taxa, where a species presumed extinct abruptly reappears after a period of apparent absence. More than 99 percent of all species, amounting to five billion species. Estimates on the number of Earths current species range from 10 million to 14 million, of which about 1.2 million have been documented and over 86 percent have not yet been described. More recently, in May 2016, scientists reported that 1 trillion species are estimated to be on Earth currently with only one-thousandth of one percent described, the relationship between animals and their ecological niches has been firmly established. Mass extinctions are relatively rare events, however, isolated extinctions are quite common, only recently have extinctions been recorded and scientists have become alarmed at the current high rate of extinctions. Most species that become extinct are never scientifically documented, some scientists estimate that up to half of presently existing plant and animal species may become extinct by 2100. A dagger symbol next to a name is often used to indicate its extinction. A species is extinct when the last existing member dies, Extinction therefore becomes a certainty when there are no surviving individuals that can reproduce and create a new generation. Pinpointing the extinction of a species requires a definition of that species. If it is to be declared extinct, the species in question must be distinguishable from any ancestor or daughter species. Extinction of a plays a key role in the punctuated equilibrium hypothesis of Stephen Jay Gould. In ecology, extinction is often used informally to refer to local extinction, in which a species ceases to exist in the area of study. This phenomenon is known as extirpation. Local extinctions may be followed by a replacement of the species taken from other locations, species which are not extinct are termed extant. Those that are extant but threatened by extinction are referred to as threatened or endangered species, currently an important aspect of extinction is human attempts to preserve critically endangered species
6.
Tree
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In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, supporting branches and leaves in most species. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are usable as lumber or plants above a specified height. Trees are not a group but include a variety of plant species that have independently evolved a woody trunk. In looser senses, the palms, the tree ferns, bananas. Trees tend to be long-lived, some reaching several thousand years old, the tallest known tree, a coast redwood named Hyperion, stands 115.6 m high. Trees have been in existence for 370 million years and it is estimated that there are just over 3 trillion mature trees in the world. A tree typically has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground by the trunk and this trunk typically contains woody tissue for strength, and vascular tissue to carry materials from one part of the tree to another. For most trees it is surrounded by a layer of bark which serves as a protective barrier, below the ground, the roots branch and spread out widely, they serve to anchor the tree and extract moisture and nutrients from the soil. Above ground, the divide into smaller branches and shoots. The shoots typically bear leaves, which light energy and convert it into sugars by photosynthesis, providing the food for the trees growth. Flowers and fruit may also be present, but some trees, such as conifers, instead have pollen cones and seed cones, others, such as tree ferns, trees play a significant role in reducing erosion and moderating the climate. They remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store large quantities of carbon in their tissues, trees and forests provide a habitat for many species of animals and plants. Tropical rainforests are one of the most biodiverse habitats in the world, trees provide shade and shelter, timber for construction, fuel for cooking and heating, and fruit for food as well as having many other uses. In parts of the world, forests are shrinking as trees are cleared to increase the amount of available for agriculture. Because of their longevity and usefulness, trees have always revered, with sacred groves in various cultures. Although tree is a term of common parlance, there is no universally recognised precise definition of what a tree is, either botanically or in common language. In its broadest sense, a tree is any plant with the form of an elongated stem, or trunk. Trees are also defined by height, with smaller plants from 0.5 to 10 m being called shrubs
7.
Liana
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Lianas are characteristic of tropical moist deciduous forests, but may be found in temperate rainforests. There are also 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, water and nutrients from the soil. The term liana is not a grouping, but rather a description of the way the plant grows – much like tree or shrub. Lianas may be found in different plant families. One way of distinguishing lianas from trees and shrubs is based on the stiffness, specifically, 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 often has stiff young growths and older, more flexible growth at the base of the stem, described genera containing liana species include, Gnetophyta Gnetum spp. Thunbergia spp. e. g. T. grandiflora, T. mysorensis Ancistrocladaceae Ancistrocladus spp, strophanthus - several spp. including S. sarmentosus Arecaceae Calamoideae - rattans, several genera including, Calamus spp. - Faboideae Dalbergia armata, of subtropical Africa Derris spp, - Mimosoideae Acacia some spp. e. g. A. concinna Entada spp. Flagellariaceae Flagellaria indica Loganiaceae Strychnos spp. e. g. S. axillaris Oleaceae Jasminum spp, polygalaceae Moutabea, especially M. aculeata Sapindaceae Paullinia spp. Rutaceae Toddalia asiatica Schlegeliaceae Schlegelia spp, cissus spp. water vines Parthenocissus spp. Lianas also provide access routes in the forest canopy for many animals, including ants and many other invertebrates, lizards, rodents, sloths, monkeys. For example, in the Eastern tropical forests of Madagascar, many lemurs achieve higher mobility from the web of lianas draped amongst the tree species. Many lemurs prefer trees with lianas for their roost sites, Lianas also provide support for trees when strong winds blow. However, they may be destructive in that one tree falls. Lianas also 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, some species have evolved characteristics which help them avoid or shed lianas. Vines and Lianas by Rhett Butler, at http, //rainforests. mongabay. com/0406. htm Lianas
8.
Fraxinus
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Fraxinus /ˈfræksᵻnəs/, English name ash, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of medium to large trees, mostly deciduous though a few subtropical species are evergreen. The genus is widespread across much of Europe, Asia and North America, the trees common English name, ash, traces back to the Old English æsc, while the generic name originated in Latin. Both words also mean spear in their respective languages, the leaves are opposite, and mostly pinnately compound, simple in a few species. The seeds, popularly known as keys or helicopter seeds, are a type of known as a samara. Rowans or mountain ashes have leaves and buds superficially similar to those of true ashes, species are organized according to phylogenetic analysis. – California ash or two-petal ash Fraxinus anomala Torr, ex S. Watson – singleleaf ash Fraxinus quadrangulata Michx. – blue ash Fraxinus lowellii – Lowell ash Fraxinus trifoliata Section Melioides sensu lato Fraxinus chiisanensis Fraxinus cuspidata Torr. – fragrant ash Fraxinus platypoda Fraxinus spaethiana Lingelsh, – Späths ash Section Melioides sensu stricto Fraxinus uhdei Lingelsh. – Shamel ash or tropical ash Fraxinus latifolia Benth, – Oregon ash Fraxinus papillosa Lingelsh. – Chihuahua ash Fraxinus americana L. – white ash or American ash Fraxinus profunda Bush – pumpkin ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marshall – green ash Fraxinus velutina Torr, – velvet ash or Arizona ash Fraxinus berlandieriana DC. – Mexican ash Fraxinus caroliniana Mill, – Carolina ash Fraxinus texensis Sarg. – Texas ash Section Pauciflorae Fraxinus greggii A. ex DC, – Afghan ash Fraxinus dimorpha Section Fraxinus Fraxinus nigra Marshall – black ash Fraxinus mandschurica Rupr. – Manchurian ash Fraxinus holotricha Koehne Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl – narrow-leafed ash Fraxinus angustifolia subsp, oxycarpa – Caucasian ash Claret ash or raywood ash Fraxinus angustifolia subsp. – European ash Fraxinus pallisiae Wilmott – Pallis ash Fraxinus sogdiana Bge Section Ornus Fraxinus griffithii C. B. Clarke – Griffiths ash Fraxinus micrantha Lingelsh, – Chinese ash or Korean ash Fraxinus japonica – Japanese ash Fraxinus longicuspis Fraxinus floribunda Wall. – Himalayan manna ash Fraxinus ornus L. – manna ash or flowering ash Fraxinus bungeana DC, – Bunges ash Fraxinus paxiana Lingelsh. The emerald ash borer is a wood-boring beetle accidentally introduced to North America from eastern Asia via solid wood packing material in the late 1980s to early 1990s and it has killed tens of millions of trees in 15 states in the United States and adjacent Ontario in Canada. It threatens some seven billion ash trees in North America, the public is being cautioned not to transport unfinished wood products, such as firewood, to slow the spread of this insect pest. The disease has infected about 90% of Denmarks ash trees, in 2016, the ash tree was reported as in danger of extinction in Europe
9.
Jasmine
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Jasmine is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family. It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm regions of Eurasia, Australasia and Oceania. Jasmines are widely cultivated for the fragrance of their flowers. A number of unrelated plants contain the word Jasmine in their common names, Jasmine can be either deciduous or evergreen, and can be erect, spreading, or climbing shrubs and vines. Their leaves are borne, opposite or alternate and they can be simple, trifoliate, or pinnate. The flowers are typically around 2.5 cm in diameter and they are white or yellow in color, although in rare instances they can be slightly reddish. The flowers are borne in clusters with a minimum of three flowers, though they can also be solitary on the ends of branchlets. Each flower has four to nine petals, two locules, and one to four ovules. They have two stamens with very short filaments, the bracts are linear or ovate. The fruits of jasmines are berries that turn black when ripe, the basic chromosome number of the genus is 13, and most species are diploid. However, natural polyploidy exists, particularly in Jasminum sambac, Jasminum flexile, Jasminum mesnyi, jasmines are native to tropical and subtropical regions of Eurasia, Australasia and Oceania, although only one of the 200 species is native to Europe. Their center of diversity is in South Asia and Southeast Asia, a number of jasmine species have become naturalized in Mediterranean Europe. For example, the so-called Spanish jasmine was originally from Iran and western South Asia, Jasminum fluminense and Jasminum dichotomum are invasive species in Hawaii and Florida. Jasminum polyanthum, also known as White Jasmine, is a weed in Australia. Species belonging to genus Jasminum are classified under the tribe Jasmineae of the olive family, Jasminum is divided into five sections—Alternifolia, Jasminum, Primulina, Trifoliolata, and Unifoliolata. The genus name is derived from the Persian Yasameen through Arabic, species include, Widely cultivated for its flowers, jasmine is enjoyed in the garden, as a house plant, and as cut flowers. The flowers are worn by women in their hair in southern, Jasmine tea is often consumed in China, where it is called jasmine-flower tea. Jasminum sambac flowers are used to make jasmine tea, which often has a base of green tea or white tea
10.
Forsythia
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Forsythia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae. There are about 11 species, mostly native to eastern Asia, the common name is also forsythia, the genus is named after William Forsyth. Forsythia are deciduous shrubs growing to a height of 1–3 m and, rarely. The flowers are produced in the spring before the leaves, bright yellow with a deeply four-lobed flower. These become pendent in rainy weather thus shielding the reproductive parts and it is widely stated that forsythia flowers are able to produce lactose. Lactose is very established in other natural sources except milk. However, the presence of lactose could not be confirmed, the actual fruit is a dry capsule, containing several winged seeds. The genus is named after William Forsyth, a Scottish botanist who was head gardener. Garden hybrid between F. suspensa and F. viridissima, Forsythia likiangensis Ching & Feng ex P. Y. Bai. Sources, A genetic study does not fully match the accepted species listed above. Forsythias are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Brown-tail, two species of forsythia are at the heart of the selected forms, for both species are variable, and garden hybrids, Forsythia suspensa and F. viridissima. Forsythia suspensa, the first to be noticed by a Westerner, was seen in a Japanese garden by the botanist-surgeon Carl Peter Thunberg, thunbergs professional connections lay with the Dutch East India Company, and F. suspensa reached Holland first, by 1833. In England, when it was being offered by Veitch Nurseries in Exeter at mid-century, Forsythia viridissma, meanwhile, had overtaken it in European gardens. The Scottish plant-hunter Robert Fortune discovered it— in a garden of the coastal city of Chusan — before he ever saw it growing wild in the mountains in Chusans province. Forsythia × intermedia, as its name suggests, is a hybrid of F. suspensa and F. viridissima, repeated crosses of the same two parents have made reiterations of F. × intermedia quite variable. A bud sport of a particularly showy form is marketed as F. × intermedia Lynwood Variety. This cultivar has gained the Royal Horticultural Societys Award of Garden Merit, as have F. × intermedia Week End Courtalyn, the hybrids Forsythia × intermedia and Forsythia × ×variabilis have been produced in cultivation. Forsythia intermedia is a hybrid between F. suspensa and F. viridissima, many cultivars have been selected from this cross including dwarf and compact forms
11.
Chionanthus
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Chionanthus /ˌkaɪoʊˈnænθəs/, common name, fringetrees, is a genus of about 150 species of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae. The genus has a distribution primarily in the tropics and subtropics. Most of the species are evergreen, while the three temperate species are deciduous. They are shrubs and small to medium-sized trees growing to 3–25 m tall, the flowers are produced in feathery panicles, with a corolla subdivided into four slender lobes, they are white, pale yellow, or tinged pink. The fruit is a drupe containing a single seed. S. Green - Thailand Chionanthus avilensis P. S. Green - Venezuela Chionanthus axillaris R. Br. Chionanthus guianensis Pers - Venezuela + French Guiana Chionanthus hahlii Kiew - Bismarck, Solomons, – Southern China Chionanthus havilandii Kiew – Borneo Chionanthus henryae H. L. Li - USA Chionanthus henryanus P. S. Green. – Southwestern China, Burma Chionanthus holdridgei Stearn – Caribbean Chionanthus implicatus P. S. Green - South America Chionanthus intermedius F. Muell, – Ecuador, Peru, Malaysia Chionanthus pubicalyx Kiew – Borneo Chionanthus purpureus Lam. – Eastern United States Chionanthus vitiensis A. C. Sm, - Niue, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga Chionanthus wurdackii B. Ståhl - Peru Chionanthus zeylanicus L. - Sri Lanka, southern India Chionanthus zollingerianus Koord. & Valeton - Java Chang, Mei-chen, Chiu, Lien-ching, Wei, Zhi, Green, Peter S. Wu, beijing and St. Louis, MO, Science Press and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. In Wilson, A. J. G. Flora of Australia, Volume 49, Oceanic Islands 1, Lord Howe Island, CSIRO Publishing / Australian Biological Resources Study. Hyland, B. P. M. Whiffin, T. Zich, germplasm Resources Information Network, Chionanthus USDA Plants Profile, Chionanthus University of Pretoria, Chionanthus foveolatus
12.
Syringa vulgaris
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Syringa vulgaris is a species of flowering plant in the olive family Oleaceae, native to the Balkan Peninsula, where it grows on rocky hills. This species is cultivated as an ornamental and has been naturalized in other parts of Europe. It is not regarded as a species, found in the wild in widely scattered sites. The bark is grey to grey-brown, smooth on young stems, longitudinally furrowed, the leaves are simple, 4–12 cm and 3–8 cm broad, light green to glaucous, oval to cordate, with pinnate leaf venation, a mucronate apex, and an entire margin. They are arranged in pairs or occasionally in whorls of three. The flowers have a base to the corolla 6–10 mm long with an open four-lobed apex 5–8 mm across, usually lilac to mauve. They are arranged in dense, terminal panicles 8–18 cm long, the fruit is a dry, smooth, brown capsule, 1–2 cm long, splitting in two to release the two-winged seeds. Syringa vulgaris was first formally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, the specific epithet is a Latin word meaning common or usual. Lilacs—both S. vulgaris and S. vulgaris, the Holy Roman Emperors ambassador, Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, is generally credited with supplying lilac slips to Carolus Clusius, about 1562. That Tradescants lilac of Mattiolis was a one is shown by Elias Ashmoles manuscript list, Trees found in Mrs Tredescants Ground when it came into my possession. In the American colonies, lilacs were introduced in the 18th century, in late summer, lilacs can be attacked by powdery mildew, specifically Erysiphe syringae, one of the Erysiphaceae. No fall color is seen and the clusters have no aesthetic appeal. Common lilac tends to flower profusely in alternate years, a habit that can be improved by deadheading the flower clusters after the color has faded and before seeds, few of which are fertile, form. At the same time, twiggy growth on shoots that have flowered more than once or twice can be cut to a strong, outward-growing side shoot and it is widely naturalised in western and northern Europe. Additional hardiness, for Canadian gardens, was bred for in a series of S, most garden plants of S. vulgaris are cultivars, the majority of which do not exceed 4–5 m tall. Between 1876 and 1927, the nurseryman Victor Lemoine of Nancy introduced over 153 named cultivars, many of which are considered classics and still in commerce today. Lemoines French lilacs extended the limited range to include deeper, more saturated hues. These cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Societys Award of Garden Merit, Lilac
Media related to Oleaceae at Wikimedia Commons