1.
Sorghum bicolor
–
Sorghum originated in northern Africa, and is now cultivated widely in tropical and subtropical regions. Sorghum is the fifth most important cereal crop after rice, wheat, maize. S. bicolor is typically an annual, but some cultivars are perennial and it grows in clumps that may reach over 4 m high. The grain is small, ranging from 2 to 4 mm in diameter, sweet sorghums are sorghum cultivars that are primarily grown for foliage, syrup production, and ethanol, they are taller than those grown for grain. Sorghum bicolor is the species of sorghum, its wild relatives make up the botanical genus Sorghum. The leading producers of sorghum bicolor in 2011 were Nigeria, India, Mexico, Sorghum grows in a wide range of temperature, high altitudes, toxic soils and can recover growth after some drought. It has four features that make it one of the most drought-resistant crops, in times of drought, it will roll its leaves to lessen water loss by transpiration. If drought continues, it will go into dormancy rather than dying and its leaves are protected by a waxy cuticle. Sorghum is cultivated in parts of the world today. In the past 50 years, the planted with sorghum worldwide had increased 66%. In many parts of Asia and Africa, its grain is used to make breads that form the staple food of many cultures. The grains can also be popped in a fashion to popcorn. The species can be used as a source for making ethanol fuel and it typically has protein levels of around 9%, enabling dependent human populations to subsist on it in times of famine, in contrast to regions where maize has become the staple crop. It is also used for making a traditional corn broom, the reclaimed stalks of the sorghum plant are used to make a decorative millwork material marketed as Kirei board. Sweet sorghum syrup is known as molasses in some parts of the U. S. although it is not true molasses. In China, sorghum is known as gaoliang, and is fermented and distilled to one form of clear spirits known as baijiu 白酒 of which the most famous is Moutai. Sorghum was ground and the flour was the alternative to wheat in northern China for a long time. In India, where it is commonly called jwaarie, jowar, jola, or jondhahlaa, an Indian bread called Bhakri, jowar roti or jolada rotti, is prepared from this grain
Sorghum bicolor
–
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
–
Seed head of sorghum in India
Sorghum bicolor
–
Sorghum with a recurved peduncle trait. Turpan basin, Xinjiang, China. In some varieties and in certain conditions, the heavy panicle will make the young soft peduncle bend, which then lignify in this position. Combined with awned inflorescence, this forms a two-fold defence against birds.
Sorghum bicolor
–
red on white sorghum grains
2.
Commercial sorghum
–
Commercial sorghum is the cultivation and commercial exploitation of species of grasses within the genus Sorghum. These plants are used for grain, fibre and fodder, the plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Commercial Sorghum species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Sorghum has been, for centuries, one of the most important staple foods for millions of poor rural people in the semiarid tropics of Asia and Africa. For some impoverished regions of the world, sorghum remains a source of energy, protein, vitamins. Sorghum grows in environments where other crops do not grow well, just like other staple foods, such as cassava. It is usually grown without application of any fertilizers or other inputs by a multitude of small-holder farmers in many countries, grain sorghum is the third most important cereal crop grown in the United States and the fifth most important cereal crop grown in the world. In 2010, Nigeria was the worlds largest producer of sorghum, followed by the United States. In developed countries, and increasingly in developing such as India. Leading exporters in 2010 were the United States, Australia and Argentina, an international effort is under way to improve sorghum farming. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics has improved sorghum using traditional genetic improvement and integrated genetic, New varieties of sorghum from ICRISAT has now resulted in India producing 7 tons per hectare. Some 194 improved cultivars are now planted worldwide, Sorghum is used primarily as poultry feed, and secondarily as cattle feed and in brewing applications. Although rich finds of S. bicolor have been recovered from Qasr Ibrim in Egyptian Nubia, the examples have been dated to circa 800–600 BCE. The earliest archeological evidence comes from sites dated to the second millennium BC in India and their wild progenitors are restricted to Africa. Most cultivated varieties of sorghum can be traced back to Africa, during the Muslim Agricultural Revolution, sorghum was planted extensively in parts of the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. The name sorghum comes from Italian sorgo, in turn from Latin Syricum meaning grain of Syria, despite the antiquity of sorghum, it arrived late to the Near East. It was unknown in the Mediterranean area into Roman times, tenth century records indicate it was widely grown in Iraq, and became the principal food of Kirman in Persia. In addition to the parts of the Muslim world, the crop was also grown in Egypt. From Islamic Spain, it was introduced to Christian Spain and then France, in the Muslim world, sorghum was grown usually in areas where the soil was poor or the weather too hot and dry to grow other crops
Commercial sorghum
–
A grain sorghum cultivar
Commercial sorghum
–
Making of sorghum
molasses in rural
Tennessee (1933).
Commercial sorghum
–
Bag of
Somali commercial sorghum (massaggo).
Commercial sorghum
–
Popcorn (for size comparison) left, and popped sorghum seeds, right
3.
Sorgo (family)
–
The Sorgo, known as Sorkočević in Serbo-Croatian) were a noble family of the Republic of Ragusa. Known as di/de Sorgo, Surgo, Sorco and Surco in Italian, according to the Annals, the Sorgo was a grain-trading and ship-owning family who immigrated from Albania via Kotor in 1272, and were ennobled in 1292 after bringing sorghum during a famine. They hailed from the Cape of Rodon, according to an entry in the Annals. However, Vita de Dobroslavo, the progenitor, is mentioned in 1253, Vita had seven sons and two daughters. He had a son, Dobrosclavus, who was mentioned between 1274 and 1283, when he died, in 1527, Vlaho Sorgo, a patrician in Venice, recruited Jacobus Rizo as a doctor against the plague. Niccolo Sorgo, born in April 1709 married with Maria Resti and his sons were, Nikola Marijan Šišmundo Alojz, which both ones 1 December 1817 have been recognized. Marija Dominka married Wenzel Ritter v. Ziegler born in Graz 11 October 1810 and she had two children, Matej v. Zigler-Pucić, date of born and death unknown. Lucijan v. Ziegler-Pucić, born in Kotor 19 March 1852 died 8 September 1930 Dubrovnik, married with Ana Marija Enriketa Countess Kabudžić, married in Dubrovnik on 10 April 1882. Marica v. Tereza Gaetana Alojzija, born 24 May 1797, Đivo Jeronim Alojzije Anđelo, born 3 October 1799 Lucijan, born 7 June 1802. Petar Marijan Sorkoćević, married Uršula Menzić, son of Đivo Vlahov, born 8 May 1746 and their sons were, Petar Ignac Nikola, born 25 June 1793 Vlaho Dominik, born 18 April 1797. Nikola Vladislav Sorkočević, married 31 August 1760 with Helena, daughter of Matej Martolica Zamanjić and their aristocratic status was recognized by the Austrian Empire on 1 November 1817. The sons of Nikola Vladislav and Helena were, Vladislav, born 15 December 1761, married with Nikola, Marin Paskal, born 17 May 1767, married with Helena, daughter of Melkior Gučetić. Marin had three children, Nikola Antun, born 3.5.1803, Melkior, born 1.4.1808, Antun, Luko Jure Sorkočević and Petar, sons of Frano. Aristocratic status recognized on 10 November 1817. V. Ana, daughter of Frano Jeronim Bunić, widow of Petar Sorkočević, son of Marin, in addition to the son of Marin Frano Jeronim, born 22.2.1802, as well Marin, aristocracy recognized on 1 November 1817. Also, the descent is known as well, Antun Sorkočević, born 5 July 1727, married with Lucija Bunić whose father Marius Medo was married to Marija. His son Luko Božidar Frano, born 12 November 1776, married with Nikolada Gučetić, Petar Ignjat died in Dubrovnik without descendants. On 10 November 1817 in Graz, his aristocracy was acknowledged, in 1904 the Natali-Sorkočević family became extinct which left the second daughter as the eldest living descendant in direct descent with the name
Sorgo (family)
–
Coats of arms of the House of Sorkočević
Sorgo (family)
–
Coat of arms of the House of Sorkočević-Crijević
Sorgo (family)
–
The palace of the Sorkočević family in
Dubrovnik
Sorgo (family)
–
Teo Ziegler-Pucić and Marica Kiepach-Haselburg
4.
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.
5.
Plantae
–
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
Plantae
–
Green algae from
Ernst Haeckel 's
Kunstformen der Natur, 1904.
Plantae
–
Had'n
Plantae
–
Dicksonia antarctica, a species of
tree fern
Plantae
–
A petrified log in
Petrified Forest National Park.
6.
Angiosperms
–
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
Angiosperms
Angiosperms
–
Bud of a pink
rose
Angiosperms
–
Flowers of
Malus sylvestris (crab apple)
Angiosperms
–
Flowers and leaves of
Oxalis pes-caprae (Bermuda buttercup)
7.
Monocots
–
Monocotyledons, commonly referred to as monocots, are flowering plants whose seeds typically contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. However, molecular research has shown that while the monocots form a monophyletic group or clade. Monocots have almost always recognized as a group, but with various taxonomic ranks. The APG III system of 2009 recognises a clade called monocots, the monocots include about 60,000 species. The largest family in this group by number of species are the orchids, about half as many species belong to the true grasses, which are economically the most important family of monocots. In agriculture the majority of the biomass produced comes from monocots and these include not only major grains, but also forage grasses, sugar cane, and the bamboos. Other economically important monocot crops include various palms, bananas, gingers and their relatives, turmeric and cardamom, asparagus and the onions and garlic family. Additionally most of the bulbs, plants cultivated for their blooms, such as lilies, daffodils, irises, amaryllis, cannas, bluebells. The monocots or monocotyledons have, as the name implies, a single cotyledon, or embryonic leaf, from a diagnostic point of view the number of cotyledons is neither a particularly useful characteristic, nor is it completely reliable. Nevertheless, monocots are sufficiently distinctive that there has rarely been disagreement as to membership of this group, however, morphological features that reliably characterise major clades are rare. Thus monocots are distinguishable from other angiosperms both in terms of their uniformity and diversity, although largely herbaceous, some arboraceous monocots reach great height, length and mass. The latter include agaves, palms, pandans, and bamboos and this creates challenges in water transport that monocots deal with in various ways. Some such as species of Yucca develop anomalous secondary growth, while palm trees, the axis undergoes primary thickening, that progresses from internode to internode, resulting in a typical inverted conical shape of the basal primary axis. The limited conductivity also contributes to limited branching of the stems, despite these limitations a wide variety of adaptive growth forms has resulted from epiphytic orchids and bromeliads to submarine Alismatales and mycotrophic Burmanniaceae and Triuridaceae. Other monocots, particularly Poales have adopted a life form. Leaves The cotyledon, the primordial Angiosperm leaf consists of a proximal leaf base or hypophyll, in moncots the hypophyll tends to be the dominant part in contrast to other angiosperms. Mature monocot leaves are narrow and linear, forming a sheathing around the stem at its base. There is usually only one leaf per node because the leaf base encompasses more than half the circumference, the evolution of this monocot characteristic has been attributed to developmental differences in early zonal differentiation rather than meristem activity
Monocots
Monocots
–
Comparison of a monocot and dicot sprouting. Note that the visible part of the monocot plant (left) is actually the first true leaf produced from the
meristem; the cotyledon itself remains within the seed.
Monocots
–
Allium crenulatum, an onion, with a typical monocot
perianth and parallel leaf venation
Monocots
–
Slice of onion, showing parallel veins in cross section
8.
Commelinids
–
In plant taxonomy, commelinids is a name used by the APG III system for a clade within the monocots, which in its turn is a clade within the angiosperms. The commelinids are the clade that the APG has informally named within the monocots. The remaining monocots are a paraphyletic unit, also known as the commelinid monocots it forms one of three groupings within the monocots, and the final branch, the other two groups being the alismatid monocots and the lilioid monocots. Members of the clade have cell walls containing UV-fluorescent ferulic acid. The commelinids were first recognized as a group in 1967 by Armen Takhtajan. However, by the release of his 1980 system of classification, the commelinids constitute a well-supported clade within the monocots, and this clade has been recognized in all four APG classification systems. The commelinids of APG II and APG III contain essentially the same plants as the commelinoids of the earlier APG system, in APG IV the family Dasypogonaceae is no longer directly placed under commelinids but instead a family of order Arecales. Media related to Commelinids at Wikimedia Commons
Commelinids
–
commelinids
9.
Poales
–
The Poales are a large order of flowering plants in the monocotyledons, and includes families of plants such as the grasses, bromeliads, and sedges. Sixteen plant families are recognized by botanists to be part of Poales. The flowers are small, enclosed by bracts, and arranged in inflorescences. The flowers of species are wind pollinated, the seeds usually contain starch. It did not include the Bromeliaceae and Mayaceae, but had the additional families Prioniaceae, Sparganiaceae, the morphology-based Cronquist system did not include an order named Poales, assigning these families to the orders Bromeliales, Cyperales, Hydatellales, Juncales, Restionales and Typhales. The earliest known fossils include pollen and fruits, major lineages within the Poales have been referred to as bromeliad, cyperid, xyrid, graminid, and restiid clades. A phylogenetic analysis resolved most relationships within the order but found support for the monophyly of the cyperid clade. The relationship between Centrolepidaceae and Restoniaceae within the clade remains unclear, the first may actually be embedded in the latter. Within the order, by far the most important family economically is the family of grasses, which includes barley, maize, millet, rice, many Bromeliaceae are used as ornamental plants. Bremer, K. Gondwanan Evolution of the Grass Alliance of Families, judd, W. S. C. S. Campbell, E. A. Kellogg, P. F. Stevens, M. J. Donoghue. Plant Systematics, A Phylogenetic Approach, 2nd edition, linder, H. Peter, Rudall, Paula J. Evolutionary History of the Poales. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, flora of the Southeastern United States,48
Poales
Poales
–
Setaria verticillata from family
Poaceae
Poales
–
Billbergia pyramidalis of family
Bromeliaceae
10.
Poaceae
–
Poaceae or Gramineae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants known as grasses. Poaceae includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and cultivated lawns, Grasses have stems that are hollow except at the nodes and narrow alternate leaves borne in two ranks. The lower part of each leaf encloses the stem, forming a leaf-sheath, with ca 780 genera and around 12,000 species, Poaceae are the fifth-largest plant family, following the Asteraceae, Orchidaceae, Fabaceae and Rubiaceae. Grasslands such as savannah and prairie grasses are dominant are estimated to constitute 40. 5% of the land area of the Earth, excluding Greenland. Grasses are also an important part of the vegetation in many habitats, including wetlands, forests. Though commonly called grasses, seagrasses, rushes, and sedges fall outside this family, the rushes and sedges are related to the Poaceae, being members of the order Poales, but the seagrasses are members of order Alismatales. The name Poaceae was given by John Hendley Barnhart in 1895, based on the tribe Poeae described in 1814 by Robert Brown, the term is derived from the Ancient Greek πόα. Grasses include some of the most versatile plant life-forms, a cladogram shows subfamilies and approximate species numbers in brackets, Before 2005, fossil findings indicated that grasses evolved around 55 million years ago. Recent findings of grass-like phytoliths in Cretaceous dinosaur coprolites have pushed this back to 66 million years ago. In 2011, revised dating of the origins of the rice tribe Oryzeae suggested a date as early as 107 to 129 Mya, a multituberculate mammal with grass-eating adaptations seems to suggest that grasses were already around at 120 mya. This separation occurred within the short time span of about 4 million years. Grass leaves are always alternate and distichous, and have parallel veins. Each leaf is differentiated into a lower sheath hugging the stem, the leaf blades of many grasses are hardened with silica phytoliths, which discourage grazing animals, some, such as sword grass, are sharp enough to cut human skin. A membranous appendage or fringe of hairs called the ligule lies at the junction between sheath and blade, preventing water or insects from penetrating into the sheath, flowers of Poaceae are characteristically arranged in spikelets, each having one or more florets. The spikelets are further grouped into panicles or spikes, the part of the spikelet that bears the florets is called the rachilla. A spikelet consists of two bracts at the base, called glumes, followed by one or more florets, a floret consists of the flower surrounded by two bracts, one external—the lemma—and one internal—the palea. The flowers are usually hermaphroditic—maize being an important exception—and anemophilous or wind-pollinated, the perianth is reduced to two scales, called lodicules, that expand and contract to spread the lemma and palea, these are generally interpreted to be modified sepals. This complex structure can be seen in the image on the right, the fruit of grasses is a caryopsis, in which the seed coat is fused to the fruit wall
Poaceae
Poaceae
–
Grass flowers
Poaceae
–
Setaria verticillata from
Panicoideae
Poaceae
–
Tragus roxburghii from
Chloridoideae
11.
Panicoideae
–
Panicoideae is the second-largest subfamily of the grasses with over 3,500 species, mainly distributed in warm temperate and tropical regions. It comprises some important agricultural crops, including sugarcane, maize, sorghum, c4 photosynthesis evolved independently a number of times in the subfamily, which presumably had a C3 ancestor. Within the PACMAD clade of grasses, the Panicoideae are sister to a made of the four subfamilies Arundinoideae, Chloridoideae, Danthonioideae. The three largest tribes, Paniceae, Paspaleae, and Andropogoneae, together with the small Arundinelleae, the Gynerieae were formerly placed in Arundinoideae, and the basal lineage, the centothecoid clade with seven tribes, was formerly seen as separate subfamily, Centothecoideae. Phylogeny based on chloroplast DNA analyses, showing relationships of tribes within the subfamily, Diversity of Panicoideae
Panicoideae
–
Panicoideae
Panicoideae
–
Echinochloa colona (Jungle Rice) from Tribe
Paniceae
Panicoideae
–
early clades
12.
Andropogoneae
–
The Andropogoneae, sometimes called the sorghum tribe, are a large tribe of grasses with roughly 1,200 species in 90 genera, mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical areas. They include such important crops as maize, sugarcane, and sorghum, all species in this tribe use C4 carbon fixation, which makes them competitive under warm, high-light conditions. Andropogoneae is classified in supertribe Andropogonodae together with its sister group Arundinelleae, subdivisions include 12 subtribes, but the position of several genera within them is still unresolved. Hybridisation was probably important in the evolution of the Andropogoneae, and the tribes systematics is still not completely resolved
Andropogoneae
–
Andropogoneae
13.
Conrad Moench
–
Conrad Moench was a German botanist, professor of botany at Marburg University from 1786 until his death. He wrote Methodus Plantas horti botanici et agri Marburgensis in 1794, in 1802 he named the plant Gillenia trifoliata in a supplement to a local flora of the city of Marburg. He also named the plant genus Echinacea, the botanical genus Moenchia is named in his honor. The standard botanical author abbreviation Moench is applied to plants he described, enumeratio plantarum indigenarum Hassiae praesertim inferioris, secundum methodum sexualem dispositarum,1777. Methodus plantas horti botanici et agri marburgensis,1794, einleitung zur Pflanzen-Kunde,1798 – Introduction to botany. The Genus Clematis pp 89-90,2001, analysis of the rhizome of Aralia californica. American Journal of Pharmacy volume 70 number 10, October 1898
Conrad Moench
14.
Michel Adanson
–
Michel Adanson was an 18th-century French botanist and naturalist, of Scottish descent. His family moved to Paris on 1730, after leaving the Collège Sainte-Barbe he was employed in the cabinets of R. A. F. Réaumur and Bernard de Jussieu, as well as in the Jardin des Plantes, Paris. He attended lectures at the Jardin du Roi and the Collège Royal in Paris from 1741 to 1746, at the end of 1748, funded by a director of the Compagnie des Indes, he left France on an exploring expedition to Senegal. He remained there for five years, collecting and describing numerous animals, after his return to Paris in 1754 he made use of a small portion of the materials he had collected in his Histoire naturelle du Senegal. He founded his classification of all organized beings on the consideration of each individual organ, as each organ gave birth to new relations, so he established a corresponding number of arbitrary arrangements. Those beings possessing the greatest number of organs were referred to one great division. In 1763 he published his Familles naturelles des plantes, in 1774 Adanson submitted to the consideration of the French Academy of Sciences an immense work, extending to all known beings and substances. He obstinately rejected this advice, and the work, at which he continued to labour, was never published. Adanson was a proponent of the inheritance of acquired characters. Historian of science Conway Zirkle has noted that Adanson was Lamarcks predecessor at the Jardin Royal, in an article for the Histoire and Memoires de lAcademie Royale des Sciences of 1769, Adanson used the term mutations to refer to small changes that could bring about new variations in individuals. Despite being described as a precursor of evolutionism by historians, Adanson rejected the concept of species, preferring to focus on individuals and he had been elected a member of the Academy of Sciences in 1759, and he latterly subsisted on a small pension it had conferred on him. Afterwards he was granted a sufficient to relieve his simple wants. Besides the books already mentioned he published papers on the ship-worm, the tree, the origin of the varieties of cultivated plants. Subsequently, the Hunt Institute republished his Familles des plantes in two volumes, under the editorship of G. H. M. Lawrence, in The Commodore, the seventeenth novel of Patrick OBrians Aubrey-Maturin series, Stephen Maturin makes reference to Adanson. He elaborates on Adansons botanical work in Senegal, the volume of his written output. Stephen Maturin, He was a very great naturalist, as zealous, prolific, I knew him in Paris when I was young, and admired him extremely, so did Cuvier. At that time he was kind to us. All this he showed to the Academy and it was much praised but never published
Michel Adanson
–
Michel Adanson
15.
Type species
–
A similar concept is used for suprageneric groups called a type genus. In botanical nomenclature, these terms have no standing under the code of nomenclature. In botany, the type of a name is a specimen which is also the type of a species name. The species name that has that type can also be referred to as the type of the genus name, names of genus and family ranks, the various subdivisions of those ranks, and some higher-rank names based on genus names, have such types. In bacteriology, a species is assigned for each genus. Every named genus or subgenus in zoology, whether or not currently recognized as valid, is associated with a type species. In practice, however, there is a backlog of untypified names defined in older publications when it was not required to specify a type, a type species is both a concept and a practical system that is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals. The type species represents the species and thus definition for a particular genus name. In the Glossary, type species is defined as The nominal species that is the type of a nominal genus or subgenus. The type species permanently attaches a formal name to a genus by providing just one species within that genus to which the name is permanently linked. The species name in turn is fixed, in theory, to a type specimen, for example, the type species for the land snail genus Monacha is Monacha cartusiana. That genus is placed within the family Hygromiidae. The type genus for that family is the genus Hygromia, the concept of the type species in zoology was introduced by Pierre André Latreille. The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature states that the name of the type species should always be cited. It gives an example in Article 67.1, Astacus marinus Fabricius,1775 was later designated as the type species of the genus Homarus, thus giving it the name Homarus marinus. However, the species of Homarus should always be cited using its original name. 3, the type of the genus name Elodes is quoted as the type of the species name Hypericum aegypticum, Glossary of scientific naming Genetypes – genetic sequence data from type specimens. Holotype Paratype Principle of Typification Type Type genus
Type species
–
Type species is the reference for genus definition, even before the existence of a consensual genus name.
16.
Carl Linnaeus
–
Carl Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as Carl von Linné, was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who formalised the modern system of naming organisms called binomial nomenclature. He is known by the father of modern taxonomy. Many of his writings were in Latin, and his name is rendered in Latin as Carolus Linnæus, Linnaeus was born in the countryside of Småland, in southern Sweden. He received most of his education at Uppsala University. He lived abroad between 1735 and 1738, where he studied and also published a first edition of his Systema Naturae in the Netherlands and he then returned to Sweden, where he became professor of medicine and botany at Uppsala. In the 1740s, he was sent on journeys through Sweden to find and classify plants. In the 1750s and 1760s, he continued to collect and classify animals, plants, and minerals, at the time of his death, he was one of the most acclaimed scientists in Europe. The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau sent him the message, Tell him I know no man on earth. The German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote, With the exception of Shakespeare and Spinoza, Swedish author August Strindberg wrote, Linnaeus was in reality a poet who happened to become a naturalist. Among other compliments, Linnaeus has been called Princeps botanicorum, The Pliny of the North and he is also considered as one of the founders of modern ecology. In botany, the abbreviation used to indicate Linnaeus as the authority for species names is L. In older publications, sometimes the abbreviation Linn. is found, Linnæus was born in the village of Råshult in Småland, Sweden, on 23 May 1707. He was the first child of Nicolaus Ingemarsson and Christina Brodersonia and his siblings were Anna Maria Linnæa, Sofia Juliana Linnæa, Samuel Linnæus, and Emerentia Linnæa. One of a line of peasants and priests, Nils was an amateur botanist, a Lutheran minister. Christina was the daughter of the rector of Stenbrohult, Samuel Brodersonius, a year after Linnæus birth, his grandfather Samuel Brodersonius died, and his father Nils became the rector of Stenbrohult. The family moved into the rectory from the curates house, even in his early years, Linnæus seemed to have a liking for plants, flowers in particular. Whenever he was upset, he was given a flower, which calmed him. Nils spent much time in his garden and often showed flowers to Linnaeus, soon Linnæus was given his own patch of earth where he could grow plants
Carl Linnaeus
–
Carl von Linné,
Alexander Roslin, 1775. Oil painting in the portrait collection at
Gripsholm Castle
Carl Linnaeus
–
The
coat of arms of Carl von Linné.
Carl Linnaeus
–
Birthplace of Linnæus at
Råshult
Carl Linnaeus
–
Statue of Linnaeus as a University student in
Lund
17.
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.
18.
Loasaceae
–
Loasaceae is a family of 15–20 genera and about 200–260 species of flowering plants in the order Cornales, native to the Americas and Africa. Members of the family include annual, biennial and perennial plants. In the classification system of Dahlgren the Loasaceae were placed in the order Loasales in the superorder Loasiflorae, the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system places them in the related order Cornales in the asterid clade. Genera include, Aosa Weigend Blumenbachia Schrad, gronovia L. Huidobria Gay Kissenia R. Br. ex Endl
Loasaceae
–
Loasaceae
Loasaceae
–
Caiophora
19.
Sarga
–
Sorghum is a genus of flowering plants in the grass family Poaceae. Seventeen of the species are native to Australia, with the range of some extending to Africa, Asia, Mesoamerica. One species is grown for grain, while others are used as fodder plants, either intentionally cultivated or allowed to grow naturally. The plants are cultivated in warm climates worldwide and naturalized in many places, Sorghum is in the subfamily Panicoideae and the tribe Andropogoneae. One species, Sorghum bicolor, native to Africa with many cultivated forms now, is an important crop worldwide, used for food, animal fodder, the production of alcoholic beverages, and biofuels. Most varieties are drought- and heat-tolerant, and are important in arid regions. These varieties form important components of pastures in many tropical regions, S. bicolor is an important food crop in Africa, Central America, and South Asia, and is the fifth-most important cereal crop grown in the world. Some species of sorghum can contain levels of cyanide, hordenine. When stressed by drought or heat, plants can contain toxic levels of cyanide and/or nitrates at later stages in growth. Another Sorghum species, Johnson grass, is classified as a species in the US by the Department of Agriculture. Sorghum is efficient in converting solar energy to chemical energy, biofuel, using sweet sorghum as a high sugar content from its stalk for ethanol production, is being developed with biomass which can be turned into charcoal, syngas, and bio-oil. In a 100 gram amount, raw sorghum provides 329 calories, 72% carbohydrates, 4% fat and 11% protein. Sorghum supplies numerous essential nutrients in rich content, including protein, fiber, the B vitamins, niacin, thiamin and vitamin B6, Sorghum nutrient contents generally are similar to those of raw oats. Among other similarities to oats, sorghum contains no gluten, making it useful for gluten-free diets, Agricultural Innovation in the Early Islamic World, The Diffusion of Crops and Farming Techniques, 700–1100. Species Profile- Johnsongrass, National Invasive Species Information Center, United States National Agricultural Library, lists general information and resources for Johnsongrass
Sarga
–
Sorghum
20.
Vacoparis
–
Sorghum is a genus of flowering plants in the grass family Poaceae. Seventeen of the species are native to Australia, with the range of some extending to Africa, Asia, Mesoamerica. One species is grown for grain, while others are used as fodder plants, either intentionally cultivated or allowed to grow naturally. The plants are cultivated in warm climates worldwide and naturalized in many places, Sorghum is in the subfamily Panicoideae and the tribe Andropogoneae. One species, Sorghum bicolor, native to Africa with many cultivated forms now, is an important crop worldwide, used for food, animal fodder, the production of alcoholic beverages, and biofuels. Most varieties are drought- and heat-tolerant, and are important in arid regions. These varieties form important components of pastures in many tropical regions, S. bicolor is an important food crop in Africa, Central America, and South Asia, and is the fifth-most important cereal crop grown in the world. Some species of sorghum can contain levels of cyanide, hordenine. When stressed by drought or heat, plants can contain toxic levels of cyanide and/or nitrates at later stages in growth. Another Sorghum species, Johnson grass, is classified as a species in the US by the Department of Agriculture. Sorghum is efficient in converting solar energy to chemical energy, biofuel, using sweet sorghum as a high sugar content from its stalk for ethanol production, is being developed with biomass which can be turned into charcoal, syngas, and bio-oil. In a 100 gram amount, raw sorghum provides 329 calories, 72% carbohydrates, 4% fat and 11% protein. Sorghum supplies numerous essential nutrients in rich content, including protein, fiber, the B vitamins, niacin, thiamin and vitamin B6, Sorghum nutrient contents generally are similar to those of raw oats. Among other similarities to oats, sorghum contains no gluten, making it useful for gluten-free diets, Agricultural Innovation in the Early Islamic World, The Diffusion of Crops and Farming Techniques, 700–1100. Species Profile- Johnsongrass, National Invasive Species Information Center, United States National Agricultural Library, lists general information and resources for Johnsongrass
Vacoparis
–
Sorghum
21.
Flowering plants
–
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 plants
Flowering plants
–
Bud of a pink
rose
Flowering plants
–
Flowers of
Malus sylvestris (crab apple)
Flowering plants
–
Flowers and leaves of
Oxalis pes-caprae (Bermuda buttercup)
22.
Australia
–
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the worlds sixth-largest country by total area, the neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. Australias capital is Canberra, and its largest urban area is Sydney, for about 50,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages classifiable into roughly 250 groups. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored, on 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states. The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard, Australia has the worlds 13th-largest economy and ninth-highest per capita income. With the second-highest human development index globally, the country highly in quality of life, health, education, economic freedom. The name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis a name used for putative lands in the southern hemisphere since ancient times, the Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south. On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted, in 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia. The first official published use of the term Australia came with the 1830 publication of The Australia Directory and these first inhabitants may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally horticulturists, the northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically by fishermen from Maritime Southeast Asia. The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken captained by Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent New Holland during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688, in 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. The first settlement led to the foundation of Sydney, and the exploration, a British settlement was established in Van Diemens Land, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the part of Western Australia in 1828. Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales, South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, the Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia
Australia
–
Aboriginal rock art in the
Kimberley region of Western Australia
Australia
Australia
–
Portrait of Captain
James Cook, the first European to map the eastern coastline of Australia in 1770
Australia
–
Tasmania's
Port Arthur penal settlement is one of eleven UNESCO World Heritage-listed
Australian Convict Sites.
23.
Africa
–
Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most-populous continent. At about 30.3 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earths total surface area and 20.4 % of its land area. With 1.2 billion people as of 2016, it accounts for about 16% of the human population. The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos and it contains 54 fully recognized sovereign states, nine territories and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition. Africas population is the youngest amongst all the continents, the age in 2012 was 19.7. Algeria is Africas largest country by area, and Nigeria by population, afarensis, Homo erectus, H. habilis and H. ergaster – with the earliest Homo sapiens found in Ethiopia being dated to circa 200,000 years ago. Africa straddles the equator and encompasses numerous climate areas, it is the continent to stretch from the northern temperate to southern temperate zones. Africa hosts a diversity of ethnicities, cultures and languages. In the late 19th century European countries colonized most of Africa, Africa also varies greatly with regard to environments, economics, historical ties and government systems. However, most present states in Africa originate from a process of decolonization in the 20th century, afri was a Latin name used to refer to the inhabitants of Africa, which in its widest sense referred to all lands south of the Mediterranean. This name seems to have referred to a native Libyan tribe. The name is connected with Hebrew or Phoenician ʿafar dust. The same word may be found in the name of the Banu Ifran from Algeria and Tripolitania, under Roman rule, Carthage became the capital of the province of Africa Proconsularis, which also included the coastal part of modern Libya. The Latin suffix -ica can sometimes be used to denote a land, the later Muslim kingdom of Ifriqiya, modern-day Tunisia, also preserved a form of the name. According to the Romans, Africa lay to the west of Egypt, while Asia was used to refer to Anatolia, as Europeans came to understand the real extent of the continent, the idea of Africa expanded with their knowledge. 25,4, whose descendants, he claimed, had invaded Libya, isidore of Seville in Etymologiae XIV.5.2. Suggests Africa comes from the Latin aprica, meaning sunny, massey, in 1881, stated that Africa is derived from the Egyptian af-rui-ka, meaning to turn toward the opening of the Ka. The Ka is the double of every person and the opening of the Ka refers to a womb or birthplace
Africa
–
Map of Africa
Africa
–
Africa
Africa
–
Lucy, an
Australopithecus afarensis skeleton discovered on November 24, 1974, in the
Awash Valley of
Ethiopia 's
Afar Depression
Africa
–
Colossal statues of
Ramesses II at
Abu Simbel, Egypt, date from around 1400 BC.
24.
Asia
–
Asia covers an area of 44,579,000 square kilometres, about 30% of Earths total land area and 8. 7% of the Earths total surface area. The continent, which has long been home to the majority of the population, was the site of many of the first civilizations. Asia is notable for not only its large size and population. In general terms, Asia is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Ocean, the western boundary with Europe is a historical and cultural construct, as there is no clear physical and geographical separation between them. The most commonly accepted boundaries place Asia to the east of the Suez Canal, the Ural River, and the Ural Mountains, and south of the Caucasus Mountains, China and India alternated in being the largest economies in the world from 1 to 1800 A. D. The accidental discovery of America by Columbus in search for India demonstrates this deep fascination, the Silk Road became the main East-West trading route in the Asian hitherland while the Straits of Malacca stood as a major sea route. Asia has exhibited economic dynamism as well as robust population growth during the 20th century, given its size and diversity, the concept of Asia—a name dating back to classical antiquity—may actually have more to do with human geography than physical geography. Asia varies greatly across and within its regions with regard to ethnic groups, cultures, environments, economics, historical ties, the boundary between Asia and Africa is the Red Sea, the Gulf of Suez, and the Suez Canal. This makes Egypt a transcontinental country, with the Sinai peninsula in Asia, the border between Asia and Europe was historically defined by European academics. In Sweden, five years after Peters death, in 1730 Philip Johan von Strahlenberg published a new atlas proposing the Urals as the border of Asia, the Russians were enthusiastic about the concept, which allowed them to keep their European identity in geography. Tatishchev announced that he had proposed the idea to von Strahlenberg, the latter had suggested the Emba River as the lower boundary. Over the next century various proposals were made until the Ural River prevailed in the mid-19th century, the border had been moved perforce from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea into which the Ural River projects. The border between the Black Sea and the Caspian is usually placed along the crest of the Caucasus Mountains, the border between Asia and the loosely defined region of Oceania is usually placed somewhere in the Malay Archipelago. The terms Southeast Asia and Oceania, devised in the 19th century, have had several different geographic meanings since their inception. The chief factor in determining which islands of the Malay Archipelago are Asian has been the location of the possessions of the various empires there. Lewis and Wigen assert, The narrowing of Southeast Asia to its present boundaries was thus a gradual process, Asia is larger and more culturally diverse than Europe. It does not exactly correspond to the borders of its various types of constituents. From the time of Herodotus a minority of geographers have rejected the three-continent system on the grounds there is no or is no substantial physical separation between them
Asia
–
Two-point equidistant projection of Asia and surrounding landmasses.
Asia
–
Asia
Asia
–
The racial diversity of Asia's peoples,
Nordisk familjebok (1904)
Asia
–
Ptolemy's Asia
25.
Indian Ocean
–
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the worlds oceanic divisions, covering 70,560,000 km2. It is bounded by Asia on the north, on the west by Africa, on the east by Australia, the Indian Ocean is known as Ratnākara, the mine of gems in ancient Sanskrit literature, and as Hind Mahāsāgar, in Hindi. The northernmost extent of the Indian Ocean is approximately 30° north in the Persian Gulf, the oceans continental shelves are narrow, averaging 200 kilometres in width. An exception is found off Australias western coast, where the width exceeds 1,000 kilometres. The average depth of the ocean is 3,890 m and its deepest point is Diamantina Deep in Diamantina Trench, at 8,047 m deep, Sunda Trench has a depth of 7, 258–7,725 m. North of 50° south latitude, 86% of the basin is covered by pelagic sediments. The remaining 14% is layered with terrigenous sediments, glacial outwash dominates the extreme southern latitudes. The major choke points include Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, the Lombok Strait, the Strait of Malacca, the Indian Ocean is artificially connected to the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal, which is accessible via the Red Sea. All of the Indian Ocean is in the Eastern Hemisphere and the centre of the Eastern Hemisphere is in this ocean, marginal seas, gulfs, bays and straits of the Indian Ocean include, The climate north of the equator is affected by a monsoon climate. Strong north-east winds blow from October until April, from May until October south, in the Arabian Sea the violent Monsoon brings rain to the Indian subcontinent. In the southern hemisphere, the winds are milder. When the monsoon winds change, cyclones sometimes strike the shores of the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean is the warmest ocean in the world. Long-term ocean temperature records show a rapid, continuous warming in the Indian Ocean, Indian Ocean warming is the largest among the tropical oceans, and about 3 times faster than the warming observed in the Pacific. Research indicates that human induced greenhouse warming, and changes in the frequency, among the few large rivers flowing into the Indian Ocean are the Zambezi, Shatt al-Arab, Indus, Godavari, Krishna, Narmada, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Jubba and Irrawaddy River. The oceans currents are controlled by the monsoon. Two large gyres, one in the northern hemisphere flowing clockwise and one south of the equator moving anticlockwise, during the winter monsoon, however, currents in the north are reversed. Deep water circulation is controlled primarily by inflows from the Atlantic Ocean, the Red Sea, north of 20° south latitude the minimum surface temperature is 22 °C, exceeding 28 °C to the east. Southward of 40° south latitude, temperatures drop quickly, surface water salinity ranges from 32 to 37 parts per 1000, the highest occurring in the Arabian Sea and in a belt between southern Africa and south-western Australia
Indian Ocean
–
The economically important
Silk Road (red) and spice
trade routes (blue) were blocked by the
Ottoman Empire in ca. 1453 with the fall of the
Byzantine Empire. This spurred exploration, and a new sea route around Africa was found, triggering the
Age of Discovery.
Indian Ocean
–
Extent of the Indian Ocean according to the
CIA World Factbook
Indian Ocean
–
British heavy cruisers
Dorsetshire and
Cornwall under Japanese air attack and heavily damaged on 5 April 1942
Indian Ocean
–
A
dhow off the coast of Kenya
26.
Pacific Islands
–
The Pacific Islands is a term broadly referring to the islands of the Pacific Ocean. Depending on the context, it may refer to countries and islands with common Austronesian origins, islands once or currently colonized, in English, the umbrella term Pacific Islands may take on several meanings. Sometimes it refers to only those islands covered by the continent of Oceania, there are many other islands located within the boundaries of the Pacific Ocean that are not considered part of Oceania. This list includes all islands found in the geographic Pacific Ocean, with an area larger than 10,000 square kilometers
Pacific Islands
–
Pacific Islands leaders, all members of the
Pacific Islands Forum, at a meeting in
Samoa with US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice (center), 26 July 2008
Pacific Islands
–
Three of the major groups of islands in the
Pacific Ocean.
27.
Grain
–
Grains are small, hard, dry seeds, with or without attached hulls or fruit layers, harvested for human or animal consumption. Agronomists also call the plants producing such seeds grain crops, the two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals such as wheat and rye, and legumes such as beans and soybeans. Because of the ubiquity of grain as a source, the term grain is often used to describe something small. After being harvested, dry grains are more durable than other foods, such as starchy fruits. Thus, major global commodity markets exist for canola, maize, rice, soybeans, wheat, in botany, grains and cereals are synonymous with caryopses, the fruits of the grass family. In agronomy and commerce, seeds or fruits from other plant families are called if they resemble caryopses. For example, amaranth is sold as grain amaranth, and amaranth products may be described as whole grains, the pre-Hispanic civilizations of the Andes had grain-based food systems but, at the higher elevations, none of the grains was a cereal. All three grains native to the Andes are broad-leafed plants rather than such as corn, rice. All cereal crops are members of the grass family, cereal grains contain a substantial amount of starch, a carbohydrate that provides dietary energy. As is the case all other whole plant foods, pulses also contain carbohydrate. Vegetable oils provide dietary energy and some essential fatty acids and they are also used as fuel or lubricants. Those who handle grain at grain facilities may encounter numerous occupational hazards, risks include grain entrapment, where workers are submerged in the grain and unable to remove themselves, explosions caused by fine particles of grain dust, and falls
Grain
–
Food grains at a weekly market
Grain
–
Cereal grain seeds from left to right:
wheat,
spelt,
barley,
oat.
Grain
–
Barley
Grain
–
Rye grains.
28.
Fodder
–
Fodder, a type of animal feed, is any agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, goats, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. Fodder refers particularly to food given to the animals, rather than that which they forage for themselves, Fodder is also called provender and includes hay, straw, silage, compressed and pelleted feeds, oils and mixed rations, and sprouted grains and legumes. Most animal feed is from plants, but some manufacturers add ingredients to processed feeds that are of animal origin, in many cases the production of grass for cattle fodder is a valuable intercrop between crops for human consumption, because it builds the organic matter in the soil. Some agricultural byproducts fed to animals may be considered unsavory by human consumers, alfalfa Barley Birdsfoot trefoil Brassica spp. This practice is now banned in most countries where it has occurred, the US Dept. of Health and Human Services regulates drugs of the Veterinary Feed Directive type that can be present within commercial livestock feed. Fodder in the form of sprouted grains and legumes can be grown in small, systems have been developed recently that allow for many tons of sprouts to be produced each day, year round. Sprouted grains can increase the nutritional value of the grain compared with feeding the ungerminated grain to stock. In addition, they use less water than traditional forage, making them ideal for drought conditions, sprouted barley and other cereal grains can be grown hydroponically in a carefully controlled environment. Under hydroponic conditions, sprouted fodder at 150 mm tall with a 50 mm root mat is at its peak for animal feed, although products such are barley are grain, when sprouted they are approved by the American Grassfed Association to be used as livestock feed. Cannon fodder Factory farming Feed manufacturing Forage Grain Pasture Karl Heinrich Ritthausen Die Eiweisskörper der Getreidearten, beiträge zur Physiologie der Samen der Kulturgewachese, der Nahrungs- und Futtermitel, Bonn,1872 from Google books. Compar Fresh or Ensiled Fodders on the Production of Greenhouse Gases Following Enteric Fermentation in Beef Cattle, université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue,2011. UK Food Standards Agency, Animal feed legislation and guidance FAO Feed Safety guidelines Fodder Plants at Agriculture Guide An article from Agriculture Guide
Fodder
–
A fodder factory set up by an individual farmer to produce customised cattle feed
Fodder
–
Round
hay bales
Fodder
–
Newton of Cawdor stack of bales, sweet-smelling fodder stored for winter
Fodder
–
Cut green fodder being transported to cattle in
Tanzania
29.
Pasture
–
Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, the vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs. Pasture is typically grazed throughout the summer, in contrast to meadow which is ungrazed or used for grazing only after being mown to make hay for animal fodder. Pasture in a wider sense additionally includes rangelands, other unenclosed pastoral systems, soil type, minimum annual temperature, and rainfall are important factors in pasture management. Sheepwalk is an area of grassland where sheep can roam freely, the productivity of sheepwalk is measured by the number of sheep per area. This is dependent, among other things, on the underlying rock, sheepwalk is also the name of townlands in County Roscommon, Ireland and County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. Unless factory farming, which entails in its most intensive form entirely trough-feeding, in more humid regions, pasture grazing is managed across a large global area for free range and organic farming. Grassland Heathland Machair Maquis Moorland Potrero Prairie Rangeland Rough pasture Savanna Steppe Wood pasture Veld Transhumance
Pasture
–
A pasture in the
East Riding of Yorkshire in
England
Pasture
–
Snowy pasture at
Bosco Chiesanuova in
Italy
Pasture
–
Grazing cattle on a pasture near
Hradec nad Moravicí in the
Czech Republic
30.
Andropogon gerardi
–
This species is tolerant of a wide range of soil conditions. Depending on soil and moisture conditions, it grows to a height of 1–3 metres, big bluestem is a perennial bunchgrass. The stem base turns blue or purple as it matures, the seed heads have three spike-like projections. The roots are deep, and the plants send out strong, tough rhizomes and it blooms in the summer and seeds into the fall. Big bluestem is a grass in prairie ecosystems. It grows in tall, dense stands that shade out other plant species, the stands grow until disturbance interrupts their spread. It is shade intolerant, but typically regrows after wildfire, the grass and its variants are good forage for horses and cattle, and can also be cut and used for hay. The grass is high in protein, big Bluestem is cultivated by specialty plant nurseries for its drought tolerance and native status. It is often grown for wildlife gardens, natural landscaping, due to its high biomass, big bluestem is being considered as a potential feedstock for ethanol production. Andropogon gerardi is the grass of Illinois and Missouri and the official prairie grass of Manitoba. USDA GRIN rejects the spelling gerardii and provides reasoning for gerardi as being the correct spelling for the epithet of this taxon. Little, C. R. and Lonard, R. I.2011, Texas Tech University Press, Lubbock, Texas
Andropogon gerardi
–
Andropogon gerardi
Andropogon gerardi
–
Biofuels
31.
Sugarcane
–
It has stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in the sugar sucrose, which accumulates in the stalk internodes. The plant is two to six meters tall, all sugar cane species interbreed and the major commercial cultivars are complex hybrids. Sugarcane belongs to the grass family Poaceae, an important seed plant family that includes maize, wheat, rice, and sorghum. Sucrose, extracted and purified in specialized factories, is used as raw material in the food industry or is fermented to produce ethanol. Ethanol is produced on a large scale by the Brazilian sugarcane industry, sugarcane is the worlds largest crop by production quantity. In 2012, The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates it was cultivated on about 26×106 hectares, in more than 90 countries, Brazil was the largest producer of sugar cane in the world. The next five major producers, in decreasing amounts of production, were India, China, Thailand, Pakistan, the world demand for sugar is the primary driver of sugarcane agriculture. Cane accounts for 80% of sugar produced, most of the rest is made from sugar beets, sugarcane predominantly grows in the tropical and subtropical regions. Other than sugar, products derived from sugarcane include falernum, molasses, rum, cachaça, bagasse, in some regions, people use sugarcane reeds to make pens, mats, screens, and thatch. The young, unexpanded inflorescence of tebu telor is eaten raw, steamed, or toasted, the Persians, followed by the Greeks, discovered the famous reeds that produce honey without bees in India between the 6th and 4th centuries BC. They adopted and then spread sugarcane agriculture, merchants began to trade in sugar from India, which was considered a luxury and an expensive spice. Sugarcane is a tropical, perennial grass that forms lateral shoots at the base to produce multiple stems, the stems grow into cane stalk, which when mature constitutes around 75% of the entire plant. A mature stalk is composed of 11–16% fiber, 12–16% soluble sugars, 2–3% nonsugars. A sugarcane crop is sensitive to the climate, soil type, irrigation, fertilizers, insects, disease control, varieties, the average yield of cane stalk is 60–70 tonnes per hectare per year. However, this figure can vary between 30 and 180 tonnes per hectare depending on knowledge and crop management approach used in sugarcane cultivation, sugarcane is a cash crop, but it is also used as livestock fodder. Sugarcane is indigenous to tropical South and Southeast Asia, different species likely originated in different locations, with Saccharum barberi originating in India and S. edule and S. officinarum in New Guinea. It is theorized that sugarcane was first domesticated as a crop in New Guinea around 6000 BC, New Guinean farmers and other early cultivators of sugarcane chewed the plant for its sweet juice. The exact date of the first cane sugar production is unclear, the earliest evidence of sugar production comes from ancient Sanskrit and Pali texts
Sugarcane
–
Saccharum officinarum
Sugarcane
–
Cut sugarcane
Sugarcane
–
Sugarcane and bowl of refined sugar
Sugarcane
–
The westward diffusion of sugarcane in pre-Islamic times (shown in red), in the medieval
Arab world (green) and by Europeans in the 15th century (islands circled by violet lines)
32.
Food
–
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for an organism. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, the substance is ingested by an organism and assimilated by the organisms cells to provide energy, maintain life, or stimulate growth. Historically, humans secured food through two methods, hunting and gathering and agriculture, today, the majority of the food energy required by the ever increasing population of the world is supplied by the food industry. They address issues such as sustainability, biological diversity, climate change, nutritional economics, population growth, water supply, most food has its origin in plants. Some food is obtained directly from plants, but even animals that are used as sources are raised by feeding them food derived from plants. Cereal grain is a food that provides more food energy worldwide than any other type of crop. Corn, wheat, and rice – in all of their varieties – account for 87% of all grain production worldwide, most of the grain that is produced worldwide is fed to livestock. Some foods not from animal or plant sources include various edible fungi, fungi and ambient bacteria are used in the preparation of fermented and pickled foods like leavened bread, alcoholic drinks, cheese, pickles, kombucha, and yogurt. Another example is blue-green algae such as Spirulina, inorganic substances such as salt, baking soda and cream of tartar are used to preserve or chemically alter an ingredient. Many plants and plant parts are eaten as food and around 2,000 plant species are cultivated for food, many of these plant species have several distinct cultivars. Seeds of plants are a source of food for animals, including humans, because they contain the nutrients necessary for the plants initial growth, including many healthful fats. In fact, the majority of food consumed by human beings are seed-based foods, edible seeds include cereals, legumes, and nuts. Oilseeds are often pressed to produce rich oils - sunflower, flaxseed, rapeseed, sesame, seeds are typically high in unsaturated fats and, in moderation, are considered a health food, although not all seeds are edible. Large seeds, such as those from a lemon, pose a choking hazard, fruits are the ripened ovaries of plants, including the seeds within. Many plants and animals have coevolved such that the fruits of the former are a food source to the latter. Fruits, therefore, make up a significant part of the diets of most cultures, some botanical fruits, such as tomatoes, pumpkins, and eggplants, are eaten as vegetables. Vegetables are a type of plant matter that is commonly eaten as food. These include root vegetables, bulbs, leaf vegetables, stem vegetables, animals are used as food either directly or indirectly by the products they produce
Food
–
Various foods
Food
–
Foods from plant sources
Food
–
Various raw
meats
Food
–
Tractor and
Chaser bin
33.
Sweet sorghum
–
Sweet sorghum is any of the many varieties of the sorghum grass whose stalks have a high sugar content. Sweet sorghum thrives better under drier and warmer conditions than other crops and is grown primarily for forage, silage. Sweet sorghum has been cultivated in the U. S. since the 1850s for use in sweeteners. By the early 1900s, the U. S. produced 20 million US gallons of sweet sorghum syrup annually, making syrup from sorghum is heavily labor-intensive. Following World War II, with the availability of farm labor. Currently, less than 1 million US gallons are produced annually in the U. S, in India it was introduced in early 1970s by Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute. Presently it is grown on large area as a fodder crop, most sorghum grown for syrup production is grown in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Sorghum syrup and hot biscuits are a traditional breakfast in the Southern United States, sorghum syrup is also used on pancakes, cornmeal mush, grits and other hot cereals. It can be used as an ingredient with a similar sweetening effect as molasses. Grain sorghum has also used by the ethanol industry for quite some time because it yields about the same amount of ethanol per bushel as corn. As new-generation ethanol processes are studied and improved, sorghums role may continue to expand, texas A&M University ran trials to ascertain the best varieties for ethanol production from sorghum leaves and stalks in the USA. In India and other places, sweet sorghum stalks are used for producing biofuel by squeezing the juice, the crop is particularly suitable for growing in dryland conditions, as it only extracts one-seventh of the water used by sugarcane. With grain sorghum currently grown on over 11 million ha in Asia and on 23.4 million ha in Africa, a switch to sweet sorghum could have a considerable economic impact
Sweet sorghum
–
A jar of sweet sorghum syrup
Sweet sorghum
–
Horse-driven, antique sorghum-cane juicer being operated at an organic farm in central North Carolina, for syrup production
Sweet sorghum
–
Adding freshly squeezed juice to a simmering pan of syrup on an open fire, much as it was done in the 19th century
Sweet sorghum
–
Madhura sweet sorghum syrup sold in India
34.
Alcoholic beverage
–
Long-term use can lead to alcohol abuse, physical dependence, and alcoholism. Drinking alcohol plays an important social role in many cultures, most countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption, some countries ban such activities entirely. However, alcoholic drinks are legal in most parts of the world, the global alcoholic drink industry exceeded $1 trillion in 2014. Alcohol is one of the most widely used drugs in the world. For instance, in 2015, among Americans, 89% of adults had consumed alcohol at point, 70% had drunk it in the last year. Alcoholic drinks are divided into three classes—beers, wines, and spirits—and typically contain between 3% and 40% alcohol by volume. Discovery of late Stone Age jugs suggest that intentionally fermented drinks existed at least as early as the Neolithic period, wine is a fermented beverage produced from grapes. Wine involves a longer process than beer and also a long aging process. Sparkling wine can be made by means of a secondary fermentation, fruit wines are made from fruits other than grapes, such as plums, cherries, or apples. Sake is an example of rice wine. Beer is a beverage fermented from grain mash and it is made from barley or a blend of several grains. If the fermented mash is distilled, then the drink is a spirit, beer is the most consumed alcoholic beverage in the world. Cider or cyder is an alcoholic drink made from any fruit juice, apple juice, peaches. Cider alcohol content varies from 1. 2% ABV to 8. 5% or more in traditional English ciders, in some regions, cider may be called apple wine. Mead is a drink created by fermenting honey with water, sometimes with various fruits, spices, grains. The alcoholic content of mead may range from about 8% ABV to more than 20%, the defining characteristic of mead is that the majority of the drinks fermentable sugar is derived from honey. A distilled drink or liquor is a drink produced by distilling ethanol produced by means of fermenting grain, fruit. Unsweetened, distilled, alcoholic drinks that have a content of at least 20% ABV are called spirits
Alcoholic beverage
–
A selection of alcoholic beverages.
Alcoholic beverage
–
A
liquor store in the United States. The global alcoholic beverages industry has exceeded $1
trillion in 2014.
Alcoholic beverage
–
These
flaming cocktails illustrate that
high-proof alcohol will readily catch fire and burn.
Alcoholic beverage
–
Both alcoholic and non-alcoholic red
wine may boost heart health.
35.
Xerophyte
–
A xerophyte is a species of plant that has adapted to survive in an environment with little liquid water, such as a desert or an ice- or snow-covered region in the Alps or the Arctic. The morphology and physiology of xerophytes are variously adapted to conserve water, other species may be adapted to survive long periods of desiccation of their tissues, during which their metabolic activity may effectively shut down. Plants with such morphological and physiological adaptations are xeromorphic, Plants absorb water from the soil, which then evaporates from their outer surfaces, this process is known as transpiration. In dry environments, a plant would evaporate water faster than the rate at which water was replaced in the soil. To reduce this effect, xerophytic plants exhibit a variety of specialized adaptations to survive in such conditions, cacti and other succulents are commonly found in deserts, where there is little rainfall. Likewise, chaparral plants are adapted to Mediterranean climates, which have wet winters, Plants that live under arctic conditions also have a need for xerophytic adaptations, since water is unavailable for uptake when the ground is frozen. Succulent plants store water in their stems or leaves and they include the Cactaceae family, which has round stems and can store a lot of water. The leaves are vestigial, as in the case of cacti, wherein the leaves are reduced to spines. Xerophytes are commonly found in environments, where plants such as pineapples. Water is stored in the bulbs of plants, at or below ground level. They may be dormant during drought conditions and are, therefore, if the water potential inside a leaf is higher than outside, the water vapour will diffuse out of the leaf down this gradient. This loss of water vapour from the leaves is called transpiration, transpiration is natural and inevitable for plants, and much water is lost through this process. However, it is vital that plants living in dry conditions are adapted so as to reduce water loss and decrease the size of the open stomata. It is important for a plant living in conditions to conserve water because, without enough water. If the plant loses too much water, it will pass its permanent wilting point and it is important to note, that whilst it is vital to keep stomata closed, they have to be opened for gaseous exchange in photosynthesis. Xerophytic plants may have similar shapes, forms, and structures and look similar, even if the plants are not very closely related. For example, some species of cacti, which evolved only in the Americas, may similar to Euphorbias. An unrelated species of caudiciforms, plants with swollen bases that are used to store water, xerophytic plants can have less overall surface area than other plants, so reducing the area that is exposed to the air and reducing water loss by evaporation
Xerophyte
–
The
Joshua tree is an example of a xerophyte.
Xerophyte
–
Cereus peruvianus
Xerophyte
–
Euphorbia virosa
36.
Staple food
–
The staple food of a specific society may be eaten as often as every day or every meal, and most people live on a diet based on just a small number of staples. Typical examples of staples include tubers and roots, and grains, legumes, such nonperishable foods are the only possible staples during seasons of shortage, such as dry seasons or cold temperate winters, against which times harvests have been stored. During seasons of plenty, wider choices of foods may be available. Most staple plant foods are derived either from cereals such as wheat, barley, rye, maize, or rice, or starchy tubers or root vegetables such as potatoes, yams, taro, arrowroot, other staple foods include pulses, sago, and fruits. Staple foods may contain, sorghum, olive oil, coconut oil. Most staples are plant materials, but in some fishing is the primary source of nutrition. Of the more than 50,000 edible plant species in the world, although there are over 10,000 species in the cereal family, just a few have been widely cultivated over the past 2,000 years. The staple food in different parts of the world is a function of weather patterns, local terrain, farming constraints, acquired tastes, for example, the main energy source staples in the average African diet are cereals, roots and tubers and animal products. In Western Europe the main staples in the diet are animal products, cereals and roots. Regional staples include rye, soybeans, barley, oats and teff, just 15 crop plants provide 90 percent of the worlds food energy intake, with rice, maize and wheat comprising two-thirds of human food consumption. The three are the staples of about 80% of the population, and rice feeds almost half of humanity. Roots and tubers, meanwhile, are important staples for over 1 billion people in the developing world, roots and tubers are high in carbohydrates, calcium and vitamin C but low in protein. Cassava root is a staple food in the developing world. With economic development and free trade, many countries have shifted away from low-nutrient-density staple foods to higher-nutrient-density staples, despite this trend, there is growing recognition of the importance of traditional staple crops in nutrition. Efforts are underway to identify better strains with superior nutrition, disease resistance, some foods like quinoa—a pseudocereal grain that originally came from the Andes—were also staple foods centuries ago. Oca, ulluco and amaranth seed are other foods claimed to be staples in Andean history, pemmican was a staple of the Plains Indians of North America. In 2010, the consumption of speciality grains such as quinoa was very small compared to other staples such as rice, wheat. These grains, once popular but then forgotten, are being reevaluated and reintroduced, most staple food is produced using modern and conventional farming practices
Staple food
–
Grains
Staple food
–
Various types of
potatoes
Staple food
–
Maize, the most produced food staple in the world.
Staple food
–
Boiled white
rice
37.
Food crop
–
A crop is any cultivated plant, fungus, or alga that is harvested for food, clothing, livestock, fodder, biofuel, medicine, or other uses. In contrast, animals that are raised by humans are called livestock, microbes, such as bacteria or viruses, are referred to as cultures. Microbes are not typically grown for food, but are used to alter food. For example, bacteria are used to ferment milk to produce yogurt, major crops include sugarcane, pumpkin, maize, wheat, rice, cassava, soybeans, hay, potatoes, and cotton. Sleper, David A. Poehlman, John M. Breeding Field Crops
Food crop
–
Domesticated plants
Food crop
–
Crops drying in a home in
Punjab,
India.
Food crop
–
Gardening
38.
Central America
–
Central America is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. Central America is bordered by Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the east, Central America consists of seven countries, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. The combined population of Central America is between 41,739,000 and 42,688,190, Central America is a part of the Mesoamerican biodiversity hotspot, which extends from northern Guatemala through to central Panama. Due to the presence of several active faults and the Central America Volcanic Arc. Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur frequently, these disasters have resulted in the loss of many lives. In the Pre-Columbian era, Central America was inhabited by the peoples of Mesoamerica to the north and west. Soon after Christopher Columbuss voyages to the Americas, the Spanish began to colonize the Americas, the seven states finally became independent autonomous states, beginning with Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Guatemala, followed by El Salvador, then Panama, and finally Belize. Middle America is usually thought to comprise Mexico to the north of the 7 states of Central America as well as Colombia, usually the whole of the Caribbean to the north-east and sometimes the Guyanas are also included. According to one source, the term Central America was used as a synonym for Middle America as recently as 1962, in Brazil, Central America comprises all countries between Mexico and Colombia, including those in the Caribbean. Mexico, in whole or in part, is included by British people. For the people living in the 5 countries formerly part of the Federal Republic of Central America there is a distinction between the Spanish language terms América Central and Centroamérica, in the Pre-Columbian era, the northern areas of Central America were inhabited by the indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. Most notable among these were the Mayans, who had built numerous cities throughout the region, and the Aztecs, following Christopher Columbuss voyages to the Americas, the Spanish sent many expeditions to the region, and they began their conquest of Maya territory in 1523. Soon after the conquest of the Aztec Empire, Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado commenced the conquest of northern Central America for the Spanish Empire. Beginning with his arrival in Soconusco in 1523, Alvarados forces systematically conquered and subjugated most of the major Maya kingdoms, including the Kiche, Tzutujil, Pipil, and the Kaqchikel. By 1528, the conquest of Guatemala was nearly complete, with only the Petén Basin remaining outside the Spanish sphere of influence, the last independent Maya kingdoms – the Kowoj and the Itza people – were finally defeated in 1697, as part of the Spanish conquest of Petén. In 1538, Spain established the Real Audiencia of Panama, which had jurisdiction over all land from the Strait of Magellan to the Gulf of Fonseca. This entity was dissolved in 1543, and most of the territory within Central America then fell under the jurisdiction of the Audiencia Real de Guatemala. This area included the current territories of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Mexican state of Chiapas, the president of the Audiencia, which had its seat in Antigua Guatemala, was the governor of the entire area
Central America
–
Central America, 1798
Central America
–
Central America
Central America
–
El Chorreron in El Salvador
Central America
–
One of the hanging bridges of the skywalk at the
Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve in
Monteverde, Costa Rica disappearing into the clouds
39.
South Asia
–
Topographically, it is dominated by the Indian Plate, which rises above sea level as Nepal and northern parts of India situated south of the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush. South Asia is bounded on the south by the Indian Ocean and on land by West Asia, Central Asia, East Asia, the current territories of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka form the countries of South Asia. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is an economic cooperation organisation in the region which was established in 1985, South Asia covers about 5.1 million km², which is 11. 51% of the Asian continent or 3. 4% of the worlds land surface area. The population of South Asia is about 1.749 billion or about one fourth of the worlds population, overall, it accounts for about 39. 49% of Asias population and is home to a vast array of peoples. The area of South Asia and its extent is not clear cut as systemic. Aside from the region of South Asia, formerly part of the British Empire, there is a high degree of variation as to which other countries are included in South Asia. Modern definitions of South Asia are consistent in including Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar is included by some scholars in South Asia, but in Southeast Asia by others. Some do not include Afghanistan, others question whether Afghanistan should be considered a part of South Asia or the Middle East, the mountain countries of Nepal and Bhutan, and the island countries of Sri Lanka and Maldives are generally included as well. Myanmar is often added, and by various deviating definitions based on often substantially different reasons, the British Indian Ocean Territory, the common concept of South Asia is largely inherited from the administrative boundaries of the British Raj, with several exceptions. The Aden Colony, British Somaliland and Singapore, though administered at various times under the Raj, have not been proposed as any part of South Asia. Additionally Burma was administered as part of the Raj until 1937, the 562 princely states that were protected by but not directly ruled by the Raj became administrative parts of South Asia upon joining Union of India or Dominion of Pakistan. China and Myanmar have also applied for the status of members of SAARC. This bloc of countries include two independent countries that were not part of the British Raj – Nepal, and Bhutan, Afghanistan was a British protectorate from 1878 until 1919, after the Afghans lost to the British in the Second Anglo-Afghan war. The United Nations Statistics Divisions scheme of sub-regions include all eight members of the SAARC as part of Southern Asia, population Information Network includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as part of South Asia. Maldives, in view of its characteristics, was admitted as a member Pacific POPIN subregional network only in principle, the Hirschman–Herfindahl index of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific for the region includes only the original seven signatories of SAARC. The British Indian Ocean Territory is connected to the region by a publication of Janes for security considerations, the inclusion of Myanmar in South Asia is without consensus, with many considering it a part of southeast Asia and others including it within South Asia. Afghanistan was of importance to the British colonial empire, especially after the Second Anglo-Afghan War over 1878–1880, Afghanistan remained a British protectorate until 1919, when a treaty with Vladimir Lenin included the granting of independence to Afghanistan. Following Indias partition, Afghanistan has generally included in South Asia
South Asia
–
While South Asia had never been a coherent
geopolitical region, it has a distinct geographical identity
South Asia
–
South Asia
South Asia
–
Ethno-linguistic families of South Asia.
40.
Cereal
–
A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain, composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grains are grown in quantities and provide more food energy worldwide than any other type of crop and are therefore staple crops. Edible grains from plant families, such as buckwheat, quinoa. In their natural form, cereals are a source of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats, oils. When refined by the removal of the bran and germ, the endosperm is mostly carbohydrate. In some developing nations, grain in the form of rice, wheat, millet, in developed nations, cereal consumption is moderate and varied but still substantial. The word cereal is derived from Ceres, the Roman goddess of harvest, agriculture allowed for the support of an increased population, leading to larger societies and eventually the development of cities. It also created the need for organization of political power, as decisions had to be made regarding labor and harvest allocation and access rights to water. Agriculture bred immobility, as populations settled down for long periods of time, early Neolithic villages show evidence of the development of processing grain. The Levant is the ancient home of the ancestors of wheat, barley and peas, there is evidence of the cultivation of figs in the Jordan Valley as long as 11,300 years ago, and cereal production in Syria approximately 9,000 years ago. During the same period, farmers in China began to farm rice and millet, using man-made floods, fiber crops were domesticated as early as food crops, with China domesticating hemp, cotton being developed independently in Africa and South America, and Western Asia domesticating flax. The first cereal grains were domesticated by early primitive humans, about 8,000 years ago, they were domesticated by ancient farming communities in the Fertile Crescent region. Emmer wheat, einkorn wheat, and barley were three of the so-called Neolithic founder crops in the development of agriculture, around the same time, millets and rices were starting to become domesticated in East Asia. Sorghum and millets were also being domesticated in sub-Saharan West Africa, while each individual species has its own peculiarities, the cultivation of all cereal crops is similar. Most are annual plants, consequently one planting yields one harvest, wheat, rye, triticale, oats, barley, and spelt are the cool-season cereals. These are hardy plants grow well in moderate weather and cease to grow in hot weather. The warm-season cereals are tender and prefer hot weather, barley and rye are the hardiest cereals, able to overwinter in the subarctic and Siberia. Many cool-season cereals are grown in the tropics, however, some are only grown in cooler highlands, where it may be possible to grow multiple crops per year
Cereal
–
Cereal
Cereal
–
A wheat field in
Dorset, England
Cereal
–
Cereal
grain seeds from left to right:
wheat,
spelt,
barley,
oat.
Cereal
–
Threshing; Tacuinum Sanitatis, 14th century
41.
Hordenine
–
Hordenine is an alkaloid of the phenethylamine class that occurs naturally in a variety of plants, taking its name from one of the most common, barley. These effects are not reproduced by oral administration of the drug in test animals. More detailed discussions of hordenine pharmacology and toxicology are given below this section, twelve years later, E. Léger independently isolated an alkaloid which he named hordenine from germinated barley seeds. Ernst Späth subsequently showed that these alkaloids were identical and proposed the correct structure for this substance. Hordenine is present in a wide range of plants, notably amongst the cacti. It occurs in grasses, and is found at high concentrations in the seedlings of cereals such as barley, proso millet. Reti, in his 1953 review of naturally occurring phenethylamines, notes that the richest source of hordenine is the cactus Trichocereus candicans, which was found to contain 0. 5-5% of the alkaloid. Since barley, via its conversion to malt, is used extensively in the production of beer, beer, citing a 1965 study by McFarlane, Poocharoen reported that beer contained ~ 12–24 mg/L, wort contained ~11–13 mg/L, and malt contained ~67 μg/g of hordenine. The hordenine content of various malts and malt fractions was extensively studied by Poocharoen himself, who also provided a good coverage of related literature up to 1983. This researcher found a concentration of hordenine in raw barley of ~0.7 μg/g, in green malts, the mean concentration was ~21 μg/g. When only green malt roots were examined, their content of hordenine was ~3363 μg/g. It has been established that, in barley, hordenine levels reach a maximum within 5–11 days of germination, furthermore, hordenine is localized primarily in the roots. These workers concluded that hordenine production was not under significant genetic control and it has been shown that hordenine is biosynthesized by the step-wise N-methylation of tyramine, which is first converted to N-methyltyramine, and which, in turn is methylated to hordenine. Since the hordenine molecule contains both a basic and acidic functional group, it is amphoteric, the apparent pKas for protonated hordenine are 9.78 and 10.02. Common salts are hordenine hydrochloride, R-NH3+Cl−, m. p.178 °C, a more efficient synthetic route was described by Chang and co-workers, who also provided references to earlier syntheses. Radio-labelled hordenine has been prepared by the hydrogenation of a mixture of 2--tyramine, the first pharmacological study of hordenine to be recorded is that of Heffter, who was also the first to isolate it. Using the sulfate salt, Heffter gave a subcutaneous dose of 0.3 g to a 2.8 kg cat, and observed no effects besides violent vomiting and he also took a dose of 100 mg orally himself, without experiencing any observable effect. However, the alkaloid was observed to produce a paralysis of the system in frogs
Hordenine
–
Hordenine
42.
Johnson grass
–
Johnson grass or Johnsongrass, Sorghum halepense, is a plant in the grass family, Poaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, but grows throughout Europe and the Middle East. The plant has been introduced to all continents except Antarctica, and most larger islands and it reproduces by rhizomes and seeds. The foliage can cause bloat in such herbivores from the accumulation of excessive nitrates, otherwise and it grows and spreads so quickly, it can choke out other cash crops planted by farmers. This species occurs in fields, pastures, abandoned fields, rights-of-way, forest edges. It thrives in open, disturbed, rich, bottom ground, Johnson grass resistant to the common herbicide glyphosate has been found in Argentina and the United States. It is considered to be one of the ten worst weeds in the world and it is named after an Alabama plantation owner, Colonel William Johnson, who sowed its seeds on river-bottom farm land circa 1840. The plant was established in several US states a decade earlier. Johnsongrass - US Department of Agriculture Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - JOHNSON GRASS page, Species Profile- Johnsongrass, National Invasive Species Information Center, United States National Agricultural Library. Lists general information and resources for Johnsongrass
Johnson grass
–
Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense)
43.
Invasive Species
–
One study pointed out widely divergent perceptions of the criteria for invasive species among researchers and concerns with the subjectivity of the term invasive. Such invasive species may be either plants or animals and may disrupt by dominating a region, wilderness areas, particular habitats and this includes non-native invasive plant species labeled as exotic pest plants and invasive exotics growing in native plant communities. It has been used in this sense by government organizations as well as groups such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The European Union defines Invasive Alien Species as those that are, firstly, outside their natural distribution area and it is also used by land managers, botanists, researchers, horticulturalists, conservationists, and the public for noxious weeds. The kudzu vine, Andean Pampas grass, and yellow starthistle are examples, an alternate usage broadens the term to include indigenous or native species along with non-native species, that have colonized natural areas. Deer are an example, considered to be overpopulating their native zones and adjacent suburban gardens, by some in the Northeastern, sometimes the term is used to describe a non-native or introduced species that has become widespread. However, not every introduced species has adverse effects on the environment, a nonadverse example is the common goldfish, which is found throughout the United States, but rarely achieves high densities. Scientists include species and ecosystem factors among the mechanisms that when combined, while all species compete to survive, invasive species appear to have specific traits or specific combinations of traits that allow them to outcompete native species. In some cases, the competition is about rates of growth, in other cases, species interact with each other more directly. Researchers disagree about the usefulness of traits as invasiveness markers, one study found that of a list of invasive and noninvasive species, 86% of the invasive species could be identified from the traits alone. Another study found invasive species tended to have only a subset of the presumed traits. Repeated patterns of movement, such as ships sailing to and from ports or cars driving up. An introduced species might become if it can outcompete native species for resources such as nutrients, light, physical space, water. If these species evolved under great competition or predation, then the new environment may host fewer able competitors, allowing the invader to proliferate quickly. Ecosystems in which are being used to their fullest capacity by native species can be modeled as zero-sum systems in which any gain for the invader is a loss for the native, however, such unilateral competitive superiority is not the rule. For example, barbed goatgrass was introduced to California on serpentine soils, which have low water-retention, low nutrient levels, a high magnesium/calcium ratio, and possible heavy metal toxicity. Plant populations on these soils tend to low density, but goatgrass can form dense stands on these soils. Some species, like Kalanchoe daigremontana, produce allelopathic compounds, that might have an effect on competing species
Invasive Species
–
Beavers from North America constitute an invasive species in
Tierra del Fuego, where they have a substantial impact on landscape and local ecology through
their dams.
Invasive Species
–
Kudzu, a Japanese vine species invasive in the southeast United States, growing in
Atlanta,
Georgia
Invasive Species
–
Lantana growing in abandoned
citrus plantation;
Moshav Sdei Hemed,
Israel
Invasive Species
–
The
brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis)
44.
United States Department of Agriculture
–
Approximately 80% of USDAs $140 billion budget goes to the Food and Nutrition Service program. The largest component of the FNS budget is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, after the resignation of Thomas Vilsack on January 13,2017 and the departure of President Barack Obama from office on January 20,2017, the acting Secretary of Agriculture is Michael Young. Activities in this include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides healthy food to over 40 million low-income. The USDA also is concerned with assisting farmers and food producers with the sale of crops and it plays a role in overseas aid programs by providing surplus foods to developing countries. This aid can go through USAID, foreign governments, international bodies such as World Food Program, the Agricultural Act of 1949, section 416 and Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, also known as Food for Peace, provides the legal basis of such actions. The USDA is a partner of the World Cocoa Foundation, early in its history, the economy of the United States was largely agrarian. Officials in the government had long sought new and improved varieties of seeds, plants. In 1837 Henry Leavitt Ellsworth, a Yale-educated attorney interested in improving agriculture, became Commissioner of Patents and he began collecting and distributing new varieties of seeds and plants through members of the Congress and agricultural societies. In 1839, Congress established the Agricultural Division within the Patent Office and allotted $1,000 for the collection of agricultural statistics, Ellsworth was called the Father of the Department of Agriculture. In 1849, the Patent Office was transferred to the newly created Department of the Interior, in the ensuing years, agitation for a separate bureau of agriculture within the department or a separate department devoted to agriculture kept recurring. Lincoln called it the peoples department, in the 1880s, varied advocacy groups were lobbying for Cabinet representation. Business interests sought a Department of Commerce and Industry, and farmers tried to raise the Department of Agriculture to Cabinet rank, finally, on February 9,1889, President Grover Cleveland signed a bill into law elevating the Department of Agriculture to Cabinet level. In 1887, the Hatch Act provided for the funding of agricultural experiment stations in each state. The Smith-Lever Act of 1914 then funded cooperative extension services in each state to teach agriculture, home economics, with these and similar provisions, the USDA reached out to every county of every state. During the Great Depression, farming remained a way of life for millions of Americans. The Department of Agricultures Bureau of Home Economics, established in 1923, published shopping advice and recipes to stretch family budgets and make food go farther. USDA helped ensure that continued to be produced and distributed to those who needed it, assisted with loans for small landowners. The Department of Agriculture was authorized a budget for Fiscal Year 2015 of $139.7 billion, the Washington Post reports that he said There are days when I have literally nothing to do, he recalled thinking as he weighed his decision to quit
United States Department of Agriculture
–
The
Jamie L. Whitten Building in
Washington D.C., the USDA headquarters.
United States Department of Agriculture
–
Seal of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
United States Department of Agriculture
–
Harvey Washington Wiley, Chief Chemist of the Department of Agriculture's Division of Chemistry (third from the right) with his staff, not long after he joined the division in 1883
United States Department of Agriculture
–
The
Beagle Brigade are part of the USDAs
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. This piece of luggage at
Washington Dulles International Airport may contain contraband.
45.
Solar energy
–
Active solar techniques include the use of photovoltaic systems, concentrated solar power and solar water heating to harness the energy. Passive solar techniques include orienting a building to the Sun, selecting materials with favorable thermal mass or light-dispersing properties, the large magnitude of solar energy available makes it a highly appealing source of electricity. The United Nations Development Programme in its 2000 World Energy Assessment found that the potential of solar energy was 1. This is several times larger than the world energy consumption. In 2011, the International Energy Agency said that the development of affordable, inexhaustible, hence the additional costs of the incentives for early deployment should be considered learning investments, they must be wisely spent and need to be widely shared. The Earth receives 174,000 terawatts of incoming solar radiation at the upper atmosphere, approximately 30% is reflected back to space while the rest is absorbed by clouds, oceans and land masses. The spectrum of light at the Earths surface is mostly spread across the visible. Most of the population live in areas with insolation levels of 150-300 watts/m². Solar radiation is absorbed by the Earths land surface, oceans – which cover about 71% of the globe –, warm air containing evaporated water from the oceans rises, causing atmospheric circulation or convection. When the air reaches an altitude, where the temperature is low, water vapor condenses into clouds. The latent heat of water condensation amplifies convection, producing atmospheric phenomena such as wind, sunlight absorbed by the oceans and land masses keeps the surface at an average temperature of 14 °C. By photosynthesis, green plants convert solar energy into stored energy, which produces food, wood. The total solar energy absorbed by Earths atmosphere, oceans and land masses is approximately 3,850,000 exajoules per year, in 2002, this was more energy in one hour than the world used in one year. Photosynthesis captures approximately 3,000 EJ per year in biomass, geography affects solar energy potential because areas that are closer to the equator have a greater amount of solar radiation. However, the use of photovoltaics that can follow the position of the sun can significantly increase the energy potential in areas that are farther from the equator. Time variation effects the potential of energy because during the nighttime there is little solar radiation on the surface of the Earth for solar panels to absorb. This limits the amount of energy that solar panels can absorb in one day, cloud cover can affect the potential of solar panels because clouds block incoming light from the sun and reduce the light available for solar cells. In addition, land availability has an effect on the available solar energy because solar panels can only be set up on land that is otherwise unused
Solar energy
–
Outstanding
solar potential compared to all other
energy sources
Solar energy
–
Patent drawing of Shuman's solar collector in 1917
Solar energy
–
Solar water heaters facing the
Sun to maximize gain.
46.
Biofuel
–
Biofuels can be derived directly from plants, or indirectly from agricultural, commercial, domestic, and/or industrial wastes. Renewable biofuels generally involve contemporary carbon fixation, such as those that occur in plants or microalgae through the process of photosynthesis, other renewable biofuels are made through the use or conversion of biomass. This biomass can be converted to convenient energy-containing substances in three different ways, thermal conversion, chemical conversion, and biochemical conversion and this biomass conversion can result in fuel in solid, liquid, or gas form. This new biomass can also be used directly for biofuels, bioethanol is an alcohol made by fermentation, mostly from carbohydrates produced in sugar or starch crops such as corn, sugarcane, or sweet sorghum. Cellulosic biomass, derived from sources, such as trees and grasses, is also being developed as a feedstock for ethanol production. Ethanol can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, bioethanol is widely used in the USA and in Brazil. Current plant design does not provide for converting the portion of plant raw materials to fuel components by fermentation. Biodiesel is produced from oils or fats using transesterification and is the most common biofuel in Europe, in 2010, worldwide biofuel production reached 105 billion liters, up 17% from 2009, and biofuels provided 2. 7% of the worlds fuels for road transport. Global ethanol fuel production reached 86 billion liters in 2010, with the United States and Brazil as the top producers. The worlds largest biodiesel producer is the European Union, accounting for 53% of all production in 2010. As of 2011, mandates for blending biofuels exist in 31 countries at the national level, the International Energy Agency has a goal for biofuels to meet more than a quarter of world demand for transportation fuels by 2050 to reduce dependence on petroleum and coal. The production of biofuels also led into an automotive industry. There are various social, economic, environmental and technical issues relating to production and use. Most transportation fuels are liquids, because vehicles usually require high energy density and this occurs naturally in liquids and solids. High energy density can also be provided by a combustion engine. The fuels that are easiest to burn cleanly are typically liquids, thus, liquids meet the requirements of being both energy-dense and clean-burning. In addition, liquids can be pumped, which means handling is easily mechanized, first-generation or conventional biofuels are made from sugar, starch, or vegetable oil. Biobutanol is often claimed to provide a replacement for gasoline
Biofuel
–
A bus fueled by
biodiesel
Biofuel
–
Information on pump regarding
ethanol fuel blend up to 10%,
California
Biofuel
–
Neat ethanol on the left (A),
gasoline on the right (G) at a
filling station in
Brazil
Biofuel
–
Walmart 's truck fleet logs millions of miles each year, and the company planned to double the fleet's efficiency between 2005 and 2015. This truck is one of 15 based at Walmart's
Buckeye, Arizona distribution center that was converted to run on a biofuel made from reclaimed cooking grease produced during food preparation at Walmart stores.
47.
Charcoal
–
Charcoal is a lightweight, black residue, consisting of carbon and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis- the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen, the whole pile is covered with turf or moistened clay. The firing is begun at the bottom of the flue, the success of the operation depends upon the rate of the combustion. The operation is so delicate that it was left to colliers. They often lived alone in small huts in order to tend their wood piles, for example, in the Harz Mountains of Germany, charcoal burners lived in conical huts called Köten which are still much in evidence today. The massive production of charcoal was a cause of deforestation. The increasing scarcity of easily harvested wood was a factor behind the switch to fossil fuel equivalents, mainly coal. Charcoal made at 300 °C is brown, soft and friable, and readily inflames at 380 °C, made at higher temperatures it is hard and brittle, in Finland and Scandinavia, the charcoal was considered the by-product of wood tar production. The best tar came from pine, thus pinewoods were cut down for tar pyrolysis, the residual charcoal was widely used as substitute for metallurgical coke in blast furnaces for smelting. Tar production led to deforestation, it has been estimated all Finnish forests are younger than 300 years. The end of tar production at the end of the 19th century resulted in rapid re-forestation, the charcoal briquette was first invented and patented by Ellsworth B. A. Zwoyer of Pennsylvania in 1897 and was produced by the Zwoyer Fuel Company. The process was popularized by Henry Ford, who used wood. Ford Charcoal went on to become the Kingsford Company, Charcoal has been made by various methods. The traditional method in Britain used a clamp and this is essentially a pile of wooden logs leaning against a chimney. The chimney consists of 4 wooden stakes held up by some rope, the logs are completely covered with soil and straw allowing no air to enter. It must be lit by introducing some burning fuel into the chimney, if the soil covering gets torn by the fire, additional soil is placed on the cracks. Once the burn is complete, the chimney is plugged to prevent air from entering, the true art of this production method is in managing the sufficient generation of heat, and its transfer to wood parts in the process of being carbonised. A strong disadvantage of this method is the huge amount of emissions that are harmful to human health
Charcoal
–
Dry charcoal
Charcoal
–
Charcoal burning
Charcoal
–
Wood pile before covering it with
turf or soil, and firing it (around 1890)
Charcoal
–
An abandoned charcoal kiln near Walker, Arizona, USA.
48.
Syngas
–
Syngas, or synthesis gas, is a fuel gas mixture consisting primarily of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and very often some carbon dioxide. The name comes from its use as intermediates in creating synthetic natural gas, syngas is usually a product of gasification and the main application is electricity generation. Syngas is combustible and often used as a fuel of internal combustion engines and it has less than half the energy density of natural gas. Syngas can be produced from many sources, including gas, coal, biomass, or virtually any hydrocarbon feedstock, by reaction with steam. Syngas is a crucial resource for production of hydrogen, ammonia, methanol. Syngas is also used as an intermediate in producing synthetic petroleum for use as a fuel or lubricant via the Fischer–Tropsch process and previously the Mobil methanol to gasoline process. Production methods include steam reforming of natural gas or liquid hydrocarbons to produce hydrogen, the gasification of coal, biomass, the chemical composition of syngas varies based on the raw materials and the processes. Syngas produced by coal gasification generally is a mixture of 30 to 60% carbon monoxide,25 to 30% hydrogen,5 to 15% carbon dioxide and it also contains lesser amount of other gases. The main reaction that produces syngas, steam reforming, is a reaction with 206 kJ/mol methane needed for conversion. The first reaction, between incandescent coke and steam, is endothermic, producing carbon monoxide, and hydrogen H2. When the coke bed has cooled to a temperature at which the reaction can no longer proceed. The overall reaction is exothermic, forming producer gas, steam can then be re-injected, then air etc. to give an endless series of cycles until the coke is finally consumed. Producer gas has a lower energy value, relative to water gas. Pure oxygen can be substituted for air to avoid the dilution effect and this is primarily done by pressure swing adsorption, amine scrubbing, and membrane reactors. Conversion of biomass to syngas is typically low-yield, the University of Minnesota developed a metal catalyst that reduces the biomass reaction time by up to a factor of 100. The catalyst can be operated at atmospheric pressure and reduces char, the entire process is autothermic and therefore heating is not required. CO2 can be split into CO and then combined with hydrogen to form syngas and this technique was alleged to have been used during the Cold war in Russian nuclear submarines to allow them to get rid of CO2 gas without leaving a bubble trail. Publicly available journals published during the Cold War indicate that American submarines used conventional chemical scrubbers to remove CO2, documents released after the sinking of the Kursk, a Cold War era Oscar-class submarine, indicate that potassium superoxide scrubbers were used to remove carbon dioxide on that vessel
Syngas
–
Types
49.
Carbohydrates
–
A carbohydrate is a biological molecule consisting of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2,1, in other words, with the empirical formula Cmn. This formula holds true for monosaccharides, some exceptions exist, for example, deoxyribose, a sugar component of DNA, has the empirical formula C5H10O4. Carbohydrates are technically hydrates of carbon, structurally it is accurate to view them as polyhydroxy aldehydes and ketones. The term is most common in biochemistry, where it is a synonym of saccharide, a group that includes sugars, starch, the saccharides are divided into four chemical groups, monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides. Monosaccharides and disaccharides, the smallest carbohydrates, are referred to as sugars. The word saccharide comes from the Greek word σάκχαρον, meaning sugar, while the scientific nomenclature of carbohydrates is complex, the names of the monosaccharides and disaccharides very often end in the suffix -ose. For example, grape sugar is the glucose, cane sugar is the disaccharide sucrose. Carbohydrates perform numerous roles in living organisms, polysaccharides serve for the storage of energy and as structural components. The 5-carbon monosaccharide ribose is an important component of coenzymes and the backbone of the genetic molecule known as RNA, the related deoxyribose is a component of DNA. Saccharides and their derivatives include many other important biomolecules that play key roles in the system, fertilization, preventing pathogenesis, blood clotting. In food science and in informal contexts, the term carbohydrate often means any food that is particularly rich in the complex carbohydrate starch or simple carbohydrates. Often in lists of information, such as the USDA National Nutrient Database, the term carbohydrate is used for everything other than water, protein, fat, ash. This will include chemical compounds such as acetic or lactic acid, carbohydrates are found in wide variety of foods. The important sources are cereals, potatoes, sugarcane, fruits, table sugar, bread, milk, starch and sugar are the important carbohydrates in our diet. Starch is abundant in potatoes, maize, rice and other cereals, sugar appears in our diet mainly as sucrose which is added to drinks and many prepared foods such as jam, biscuits and cakes. Glucose and fructose are found naturally in fruits and some vegetables. Glycogen is carbohydrate found in the liver and muscles, cellulose in the cell wall of all plant tissue is a carbohydrate. It is important in our diet as fibre which helps to maintain a healthy digestive system, formerly the name carbohydrate was used in chemistry for any compound with the formula Cm n
Carbohydrates
–
Grain products: rich sources of carbohydrates
Carbohydrates
–
Lactose is a
disaccharide found in milk. It consists of a molecule of
D-galactose and a molecule of
D-glucose bonded by beta-1-4
glycosidic linkage. It has a formula of C 12 H 22 O 11.
"Sorghum". Encyclopædia Britannica. 25 (11th ed.). 1911.
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