The common nightingale is an important symbol for poets from a variety of ages, and has taken on a number of symbolic connotations. Homer evokes the nightingale in the Odyssey, suggesting the myth of Philomela and Procne (one of whom, depending on the myth's version, is turned into a nightingale). This myth is the focus of Sophocles' tragedy, Tereus, of which only fragments remain. Ovid, too, in his Metamorphoses, includes the most popular version of this myth, imitated and altered by later poets, including Chrétien de Troyes, Geoffrey Chaucer, John Gower, and George Gascoigne. T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" also evokes the common nightingale's song (and the myth of Philomela and Procne). Because of the violence associated with the myth, the nightingale's song was long interpreted as a lament.
The common nightingale has also been used as a symbol of poets or their poetry. Poets chose the nightingale as a symbol because of its creative and seemingly spontaneous song. Aristophanes's Birds and Callimachus both evoke the bird's song as a form of poetry. Virgil compares the mourning of Orpheus to the “lament of the nightingale”.
In Sonnet 102 Shakespeare compares his love poetry to the song of the common nightingale (Philomel):
"Our love was new, and then but in the spring,
When I was wont to greet it with my lays;
As Philomel in summer's front doth sing,
And stops his pipe in growth of riper days:"
During the Romantic era the bird's symbolism changed once more: poets viewed the nightingale not only as a poet in his own right, but as “master of a superior art that could inspire the human poet”. For some romantic poets, the nightingale even began to take on qualities of the muse. The nightingale has a long history with symbolic associations ranging from "creativity, the muse, nature's purity, and, in Western spiritual tradition, virtue and goodness." Coleridge and Wordsworth saw the nightingale more as an instance of natural poetic creation: the nightingale became a voice of nature. John Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale" pictures the nightingale as an idealized poet who has achieved the poetry that Keats longs to write. Invoking a similar conception of the nightingale, Shelley wrote in his “A Defense of Poetry":
A poet is a nightingale who sits in darkness and sings to cheer its own solitude with sweet sounds; his auditors are as men entranced by the melody of an unseen musician, who feel that they are moved and softened, yet know not whence or why.
The nightingale is the national bird of Ukraine. One legend tells how nightingales once only lived in India, when one nightingale visited Ukraine. Hearing sad songs from the people, the nightingale sang its song to cheer them up. The people responded with happy songs, and since then, nightingales have visited Ukraine every spring to hear Ukrainian songs. National poet Taras Shevchenko observed that "even the memory of the nightingale's song makes man happy."
The nightingale is the official national bird of Iran. In medieval Persian literature, the nightingale's enjoyable song has made it a symbol of the lover who is eloquent, passionate, and doomed to love in vain. In Persian poetry, the object of the nightingale's affections is the rose which embodies both the perfection of earthly beauty and the arrogance of that perfection.


The bluethroat  (Luscinia svecica) is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae. It, and similar small European species, are often called  chats.
It is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in wet birch wood or bushy swamp in Europe and across the Palearctic with a foothold in western Alaska. It nests in tussocks or low in dense bushes. It winters in north Africa and the Indian subcontinent.
The bluethroat is similar in size to the European robin at 13–14 cm. It is plain brown above except for the distinctive black tail with red side patches. It has a strong white supercilium. Despite the distinctive appearance of the males, recent genetic studies show only limited variation between the forms, and confirm that this is a single species. Moults begins in July after breeding and is completed in 40–45 days, before the birds migrate.
The male has a varied and very imitative song. Its call is a typical chat chack noise.


The genus name Luscinia is  Latin for the common nightingale and svecica is New Latin. The colours of the male's breast were thought to evoke the Swedish flag, the yellow in the flag being more orange hued in the 17th and 18th centuries.


Luzula multiflora, the common woodrush or heath wood-rush, is a species of flowering plant in the rush family.
It is native to Europe, eastern Asia, northern Africa, northern North America, including Canada, and in northern regions of the United States. The native status of common woodrush is under some debate. While Flora of North America list it as introduced, the more common opinion is it is a circumpolar species native in North America and in parts of Europe and Asia.  The taxonomy of the wood rush complex involving several Luzula spp. has a history of instability. In the past, common woodrush was classified as a variety of a European species, or Luzula campestris multiflora. Both of these species of rush were then also lumped together with another similar species, Luzula echinata (hedgehog woodrush). As a result, Luzula multiflora and Luzula echinata are sometimes confused.  Most of the many woodrushes that grow in North America are rather difficult to tell apart. In spite of the resemblance of rushes and woodrushes to grasses or sedges, they have the same number and arrangement of flower parts as lilies.
Common woodrush grows 10 to 40 cm (4 to 16 in) tall with basal leaves 3.5 to 12 cm (1+3⁄8 to 4+3⁄4 in) long and 2 to 6 mm (0.08 to 0.24 in) wide. The flowers have six brown to black tepals 2 to 4 mm (0.08 to 0.16 in) long.
Common woodrush is fairly easy to identify with its leaves fringed with long, white hairs (common for Luzula species) and the terminal, spike clusters of 6-parted flowers on variable length stalks, replaced by round capsules starting in late spring.  Common woodrush leaves often turn reddish in response to stressful conditions
Luzula multiflora resembles a grass in its vegetative state, but its seeds and scaly tepals are similar to those of other species in the rush family (Juncaceae). It is also unusual in preferring upland woodland habitats, as most species in the rush family prefer habitats that are more wet and sunny.  The habitat for common woodrush is anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), forest edges, forests, meadows and fields.


The black-collared barbet (Lybius torquatus) is a species of bird in the family Lybiidae which is native to sub-Saharan Africa. Indigenous names include isiKhulukhulu and isiQonQotho in Zulu, and Isinagogo in Xhosa.


The black-collared barbet usually is about 20–25 cm long, plump-looking and has a large head. It also has the heavy bill fringed with bristles that is characteristic of the genus Lybius. This barbet has a very obvious black collar and head which gives reference to its name. It also has a fire-engine red coloring around the eyes and beak. It has morphologically variable coloring because there is a replacement of a red head with a black head. It also has a more intense color and is larger than other barbets. This bird is also sexually monomorphic, which means that there is generally no phenotypic difference between the males and females of this species. The morphology, size and behavior are basically the same.


The black-collared barbet is one of the many duetting species in the genus Lybius and it regularly uses duetting in its day-to-day life. There are no solitary song instances heard from this species. Also, the repertoire of the duets do not vary greatly. This species is readily recognized by its loud duet, commonly rendered as "too-puddly too-puddly too-puddly" or "too-doodle too-doodle".... accompanied by wing-flicking. In addition to the wing-flicking, the birds in the pair face each other while calling and lean forward while bowing ceremoniously to each other. This bird produces a variety of calls including its snarling warning call and loud buzzing. The snarling could be the initiating sound of the duet.
The "too-puddly" song is actually an antiphonal duet. That means that one bird out of the pair sings the first note, then the other bird in the pair sings the second note. To bystanders, this does not sound like it comes from two different birds. It has distinct sexual duet roles after a greeting ceremony and the partner's notes do differ. The birds do not sing simultaneously, but are synchronized in their duets. The time between when one bird stops singing to when the other bird in the pair picks the song up is called the auditory response time for the duet. The approximate auditory response time for this bird is 178 ms.
This species also incorporates more wing and flight displays into their greeting ceremonies, mating, and territorial displays. It is a gregarious species, often acting in concert when driving off intruders and roosting together (up to 15 recorded) in nest holes. Their flight is direct with a loud whirring of wings.


These barbets are mostly solitary birds that eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. They will often visit plantations and find food there. They eat fruits whole and the seed pits are regurgitated later. Black-collared barbets can also feed on insects, centipedes, lizards, frogs and geckos, though this does not occur as often.


The L. torquatus species has a breeding season from December to February.


Lycaena arota, the tailed copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America from New Mexico north and west to Oregon, south to southern California and Baja California, Mexico.
The average wingspan ranges from 30–35 mm. Each hindwing has a tail. The upper surface of the males is copper brown with an iridescent purple sheen. The upperside of the females has an orange and dark brown pattern. The underside of both males and females is gray, with black spots on the forewings and a band of white crescents on the hindwings. Adults are on wing from May to August in one generation per year. The migration of butterflies can be caused by various factors such as the distribution of food plants, evasion of natural enemies, and climate change.They feed on flower nectar.
The larvae feed on the leaves of Ribes species. The species overwinters as an egg.
It is commonly confused with two other species, The Lycaena gorgon  and L. xanthoides .


Lycaena arota arota
Lycaena arota virginiensis Edwards, 1870 (California, Nevada, Colorado)
Lycaena arota nubila (Comstock, 1926) (California) – clouded copper
Lycaena arota schellbachi (Tilden, 1955) (Arizona) – Schellbach's copper


Lycaena helloides, the purplish copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America from the Great Lakes area to British Columbia, south to Baja California.

The wingspan is 30–38 mm. The upper surface of the males is brown with a purple iridescence, while females are more orange. The hindwings of both males and females have a broad orange band at the margin. Adults are generally on wing from May to July and again from August to October in two generations per year, although up to four generations per year may occur at some locations. In the northern part of the range, there is one generation with adults on wing from July to August. Adults feed on flower nectar.
The larvae feed on the leaves of Polygonum, Rumex, and sometimes Potentilla species. The species overwinters as an egg.


The purple-edged copper (Lycaena hippothoe) is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae.


Subspecies include:
Lycaena hippothoe hippothoe (Linnaeus, 1761)
Lycaena hippothoe stiberi (Gerhard, 1853) – Scandinavia, Urals, Siberia.
Lycaena hippothoe eurydame (Hoffmannsegg, 1806) – Alps.
Lycaena hippothoe eurybia (Ochsenheimer, 1808) - (Altai Mountain, Sayan Mountains, Far East).
Lycaena hippothoe amurensis (Staudinger, 1892 - (Transbaikalia, Amur River, Ussuri).
Lycaena hippothoe cisalpina (Fruhstorfer, 1909)
Lycaena hippothoe italica (Calberla, 1887) - (Italy)
Lycaena hippothoe eurydame is considered by some authors a valid species with the name of Lycaena euryname.


This species is present in the Western Europe and in Siberia up to the region of the river Amur.


It inhabits forest edges, swampy and damp meadows, clearings and river banks, at an elevation of 400–1,800 metres (1,300–5,900 ft) above sea level.


Lycaena hippothoe can reach a wingspan of 34–38 millimetres (1.3–1.5 in).
The upperface of the wings is deep orange-red in males, with a brown or purple edging (hence the common name). The spots in the forewing post discal row form an arc. The female's appearance varies between subspecies, they are usually very dark brown, with brown spots on the forewings. The underside is virtually the same in both sexes. It is light orange and light brown with brown-black spots surrounded by white. The larvae are green and grow up to 20 millimeters long. This species is rather similar to Lycaena alciphron and Lycaena virgaureae.


This species has one generation in June in northern and eastern Europe, two generations in May and then in July in southern Europe. Females lay eggs individually by June–July. Caterpillars feed on Rumex spp. (mainly on Rumex acetosella, Rumex acetosa, Rumex hydrolapathum, Rumex confertus) and Polygonum bistorta. Caterpillars hibernate after the first molt. They pupate on the ground. Adults fly from June–July to September.


C. hippothoe L. ( eurydice Rott., chryseis Bkh.) (76 h). Darker coppery golden with bluish sheen, both wings of the male broadly edged with black, inclusive of the costal margin of the forewing and
the anal one of the hindwing; the female shaded with very dark. Underside almost uniformly grey, with numerous ocelli, the disc of the forewing being slightly yellowish. In North, Central and South Europe, sporadic, but common in many localities. Appears to be nowadays absent from England. Albinotic specimens have a whitish upperside with a sky-blue instead of violet-blue sheen in the males; this is ab. argenteola Schultz. The ocelli of the underside are sometimes reduced, the central ones (ab. decurtata Schultz) or the marginal ones (ab. orba Schultz), or all, especially often in eurybia (ab. extincta Gillm.). The spots also may be prolonged and united with one another (ab. confluens Gerh.) in every conceivable degree. — In the alpine form, eurybia O. (= eurydice Hbn.) (76 h) the female is often entirely dark brown above with the markings hardly perceivable, being on the wing hardly recognizable as a Chrysophanus; only occasionally is the disc of the forewing above yellowish and glossy golden. The male has above a quite different, more red gloss. In the mountains of Switzerland and Scandinavia, also in the Altai and other Asiatic mountains. — The form italica Calb., from the central and northern Apennines, is a transition from the typical form towards eurybia. The female is not quite dark brown above, the disc of the forewing having a stronger golden brown gloss. The discocellular spot is visible in the male but small. — An exaggerated form of eurybia with the upperside of the female deep dark brown is ab. nigra Favre. — amurensis Stgr. (76 i) is a very large form from North China and Amurland ; the female  is very dark, bearing only in the anal area of the hindwing a narrow yellowish red half-band; the ocelli of the underside are strongly developed. — stieberi Gerh. (76 i) is the smaller form from North Europe with bright golden red ground-colour on the upperside of the female, the underside bearing usually a very distinct yellowish red submarginal band, which in the males is also very prominent on the upperside, whereas it is entirely absent from the males of hippothoe and eurybia. — candens H.-Schaff. is the form inhabiting the Balkan Peninsula and Anterior Asia. The males have no blue sheen and the forewing above is entirely golden brown in the females; the black margin of the upperside is narrower in both sexes. — Ter Haar describes some specimens obtained by him at Groningen in the Netherlands which he says have the blue sheen peculiarly modified, being condensed in violet-blue streaks and dots; he calls this form from its habitat ab. groningana. — Larva velvety dark green with brown head, dark dorsal line and yellow lateral one; until the middle of May on Rumex. Pupa yellowish brown like leather, spotted with black; it lies free on the ground (Fryer). The butterflies appear at the end of May, in the northern districts a little later (early in June) and are found until late in July in luxuriant meadows, where they settle on umbellifers or in the grass, the males always with the wings half open. The localities are often of very small extent, sometimes being only a certain part of a meadow, where the species, however, is nearly always very plentiful. The females appear about 2 – 3 weeks after the males have commenced to fly. The form eurybia of the high Alps does not begin to fly before the very end of July and is on the wing into September; the northern stieberi also does not appear before July.


Lycaena hyllus, the bronze copper, is a butterfly of the lycaenids family found in North America.


The upperside has a brown background with golden zig-zag borders along the margins of the hindwings. Females have lighter areas in the forewings with several dark spots within the lighter areas. The undersides are primarily white with dark spots and underlying orange areas. The wingspan is 23 to 38 mm.


It is widespread from Alberta to northern Nevada in the west through to the east coasts of Canada and the United States. This butterfly's range is similar to that of the Lycaena heteronea, especially in Alberta. It is listed as a species of special concern in the US state of Connecticut.


Their hosts are plants of the family Polygonaceae, especially Water dock and curled dock.


Adults have been observed feeding from blackberry and red clover.


Lycaena mariposa, the mariposa copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in western Canada and the United States.
The wingspan is 23–28 mm. Adults are on wing from mid-July to August.
The larvae feed on Vaccinium arbuscula and Polygonum douglasii.


Lycium ferocissimum, the African boxthorn or boxthorn, is a shrub in the nightshade family (Solanaceae). The species is native to the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and Free State provinces in South Africa and has become naturalised in Australia and New Zealand. It is listed in Australia's Weed of National Significance list and is a declared noxious weed in the United States.


African boxthorn is a large shrub which grows up to 5 metres (16 ft) high and is covered in spines.
The leaves are oval in shape and are 10–40 millimetres (0.39–1.57 in) long and 4–10 millimetres (0.16–0.39 in) in width.
The solitary flowers emerge from the leaf axils and are purplish.
The species was first formally described in 1854 by British botanist John Miers in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History. His description was based on plant material collected from Uitenhage in South Africa.


Lycomorpha pholus, the black-and-yellow lichen moth, is a moth in the family Erebidae. It is found in North America from Nova Scotia to North Carolina, west to South Dakota and Texas. The habitat consists of short-grass prairie.
The wingspan is 25–32 mm. Adults have bluish-black wings, with a yellow, orange or red basal area and black distal area. Adults are on wing from July to September. They fly during the day and are attracted to flowers, including goldenrod. The adults are thought to mimic poisonous Lycid beetles, such as Calopteron species.
The larvae feed on lichen and resemble their host. The species may take several years to develop, depending on the location. Pupation takes place in hairy cocoons attached to rocks or tree trunks near the host.


Austrolycopodium fastigiatum, synonym Lycopodium fastigiatum, commonly known as alpine club moss or mountain club moss, is a species of club moss native to New Zealand and Australia. The genus Austrolycopodium is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), but not in other classifications which submerge the genus in Lycopodium.
Austrolycopodium fastigiatum has an upright, much branched and conifer-like appearance, and can grow up to 10 cm (4 in) high. It is widespread across New Zealand including Stewart, Chatham, Adams, Auckland, and Campbell Islands. It has also been found in the Australian States of Tasmania, Victoria, and New South Wales. It grows in mountainous, alpine areas to scrubland. In cold conditions it can have a bright orange appearance.


Diphasium scariosum, synonym Lycopodium scariosum, commonly known as spreading clubmoss or creeping club moss, is a species in the club moss family Lycopodiaceae. The genus Diphasium is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), but not in other classifications which submerge the genus in Lycopodium. D. scariosum is native to Australia, New Zealand, and Borneo.
Diphasium scariosum has stems that lie on the ground, are multi branched and can grow to 2 m long. The leaves are flat and can be up to 4 mm long.


Lycopus uniflorus is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name northern bugleweed. It is native to much of North America (Canada, United States) and east Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Russian Far East)
Lycopus uniflorus can be found most often in moist areas, such as marshes. This is a perennial herb growing from a slender rhizome with thickened, tuberlike tips. The plant grows upright 10 to 50 centimeters tall. Its stem is lined with pairs of toothed leaves with heads of flowers in their axils. The flower is white and a few millimeters in length.
The root of the plant was used as a food by several Native American groups. The tubers can be peeled and eaten raw, or pickled.


Lycoris radiata, known as the red spider lily, red magic lily, or equinox flower, is a plant in the amaryllis family, Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. Originally from China, Korea, and Nepal, it was introduced into Japan and from there to the United States and elsewhere. It is considered naturalized in Seychelles and in the Ryukyu Islands. It flowers in the late summer or autumn, often in response to heavy rainfall. The common name hurricane lily refers to this characteristic, as do other common names, such as resurrection lily; these may be used for the genus as a whole.


Lycoris radiata is a bulbous perennial. It normally flowers before the leaves fully appear on stems 30–70 centimetres (12–28 in) tall. The leaves are parallel-sided, 0.5–1 cm (1⁄4–3⁄8 in) wide with a paler central stripe. The red flowers are arranged in umbels. Individual flowers are irregular, with narrow segments which curve backwards and long projecting stamens.


The presumed original form of Lycoris radiata, known as L. radiata var. pumila, occurs only in China. It is a diploid, with 11 pairs of chromosomes (2N = 22), and is able to reproduce by seed. Triploid forms, with 33 chromosomes, are known as L. radiata var. radiata. These are widespread in China and also in Japan, from where the species was introduced into cultivation in America and elsewhere. The triploid forms are sterile, and reproduce only vegetatively, via bulbs. The Japanese triploids are genetically uniform. It has been suggested that they were introduced into Japan from China along with rice cultivation.
In phylogenetic analyses based on chloroplast genes, Hori et al. found that all the other species of Lycoris they examined were nested within Lycoris radiata. They suggest that the "species" of Lycoris presently recognized may not be distinct.


The plant was first introduced into the United States in 1854, when Japanese ports were opened for US trade. Captain William Roberts, who enjoyed botany, brought back only three bulbs of the red spider lily. The bulbs were then planted by his niece who found that they do not bloom until after the first good rain in the fall season. Plants have since become naturalized in North Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, and many other southern states of the US. Since the Japanese forms are sterile triploids, the introduced plants were also sterile and reproduce only by bulb division.
Lycoris radiata is not frost-hardy in countries like England, and so can only be grown under glass or in a very sheltered position. In warm-summer climates such as the U.S. east of the Rocky Mountains, where there is sufficient summer heat to harden off the bulbs, the plants are hardy to around −18 °C (0 °F). Bulbs can be stored in a dry environment between 7–13 °C (45–55 °F) and then planted in the spring in full sun in well-drained soil (e.g. sandy with some clay), 20 cm (8 in) deep, with 15–30 cm (6–12 in) between each bulb, and left undisturbed. Plants flower in late summer or early fall, with stems around 60–70 cm (24–28 in) tall. Leaves follow the flowers, remaining through the winter and disappearing in early summer. The flowers fade over the course of a week from brilliant fluorescent red to a deep pink.


The bulbs of Lycoris radiata are poisonous. These are mostly used in Japan, and they are used to surround rice paddies and houses to keep pests and mice away. This is the reason most of them now grow around rivers. The Japanese common name Higanbana (彼岸花, Higan bana) for Lycoris radiata literally means "flower of higan (the other shore of Sanzu River, or a Buddhist holiday around the autumnal equinox)".
In Japan, the red spider lily signals the arrival of fall. Another popular Japanese name for Lycoris radiata is Manjushage (曼珠沙華, Manjusha-ge or Manjusha-ke), taken from the name of a mythical flower described in Chinese translation of the Lotus Sutra. It is called by over 1000 other local names in Japan.
Many Buddhists will use it to celebrate the arrival of fall with a ceremony at the tomb of one of their ancestors. They plant them on graves because it shows a tribute to the dead. People believe that since the red spider lily is mostly associated with death, one should never give a bouquet of these flowers.
Joya relates their association with Japanese Christian martyrs in medieval times.
Their places of martyrdom were said to be marked by these flowers.
Since these scarlet flowers usually bloom near cemeteries around the autumnal equinox, they are described in Chinese and Japanese translations of the Lotus Sutra as ominous flowers that grow in Hell, (Chinese: 黃泉), and guide the dead into the next reincarnation.
Some legends have it that when you see someone that you may never meet again, these flowers, also called red spider lilies or corpse flowers, would bloom along the path. Perhaps because of these sorrowful legends, Japanese people often used these flowers in funerals. Higanbana can be literally taken as the higan (the other or that shore of Sanzu River) flower, decorative and enjoyable, flower of the afterlife in gokuraku jyōdo (極楽浄土, gokuraku jyōdo).


Lygaeus kalmii, known as the small milkweed bug, vaca Domnului or common milkweed bug, is a species of seed bug in the family Lygaeidae. It is found in Central America, North America, and Europe.


Lygaeus kalmii was first formally named in 1874 by Swedish entomologist Carl Stål in his Enumeratio Hemipterorum.
There are two recognized subspecies:
Lygaeus kalmii angustomarginatus Parshley, 1919 – eastern small milkweed bug
Lygaeus kalmii kalmii Stal, 1874 – western small milkweed bug


Young nymphs of Lygaeus kalmii are initially fully red, developing black diagonal markings on the pronotum. Adults are orange to red and gray/black, reaching 10 to 12 mm (0.39 to 0.47 in) in length. The head is black with a red spot in the center. The forewings are patterned with a black heart inside of an orange-red X which does not meet in the middle.
The membranous portion of the forewings in the eastern subspecies Lygaeus kalmii angustomarginatus has a narrow white margin, while that of the western L. k. kalmii has white spots and a broader margin.
The small milkweed bug is commonly confused with other black and red or orange insects, including Oncopeltus fasciatus, Lygaeus turcicus, and Lygaeus reclivatus.


Lygaeus kalmii angustomarginatus is found in north temperate regions of North America and is not a migratory insect. Only adults overwinter and they do not begin reproduction until the following April. Females are receptive to males in all seasons. The eggs are laid on milkweed (Asclepias spp.) in the spring.


Lygodium japonicum is a species of fern that is known by the common names vine-like fern and Japanese climbing fern. It is native to eastern Asia, including Taiwan, Japan, Korea, southeastern Asia, and India, and eastern Australia. The fern is present in the southeastern United States and Puerto Rico as an introduced species.


This fern produces a creeping stem from which grow very long leaves, the longest exceeding 30 metres (98 feet). The leaves have rachises, which are vine-like and may climb other vegetation. What appear to be individual leaves sprouting from the twining rachis are actually leaflets, which are smaller segments from the main leaf. There are two types of leaflets, sterile and fertile. The sterile frond has lance-shaped segments. The fertile frond has more intricately divided, fringed segments. It is lined with sporangia on the edges. The plant reproduces via spores and spreads vegetatively via underground rhizomes.


An introduced species in North America, Japanese climbing fern was first recorded as being established in Georgia in 1903. In the southeastern United States this plant is now considered an invasive weed of economic and ecological significance.
It grows in moist, swampy habitat, especially in disturbed areas. The presence of species such as the small-spike false nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica), royal fern (Osmunda spectabilis), resurrection fern (Pleopeltis polypodioides ssp. polypodioides), and toothed midsorus fern (Telmatoblechnum serrulatum) indicates the likely presence of this species. During controlled burns of wooded areas this fern may act as a "fuel ladder", which would allow the flames to climb into the canopy and destroy trees. After burns the fern can quickly grow back, so it cannot be controlled by fire.


The specific epithet japonicum, refers to the Latin term for 'being from Japan'.
It was first published and described as Ophioglossaceae Ophioglossum japonicum Thunb. by Carl Peter Thunberg in Syst. Veg. edition 14 on page 926 in 1784, before Olof Swartz reclassified it as Lygodium japonicum in J. Bot. (edited by Schrader) on page 106 in 1802.


In Europe, Lygodium japonicum is included since 2019 in the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (the Union list). This implies that this species cannot be imported, cultivated, transported, commercialized, planted, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union.


The tarnished plant bug (TPB), Lygus lineolaris, is a species of plant-feeding insect in the family Miridae. It has piercing-sucking mouthparts and has become a serious pest on small fruits and vegetables in North America.  It is considered a highly polyphagous species and feeds on over half of all commercially grown crop plants, but favors cotton, alfalfa, beans, stone fruits, and conifer seedlings. A study done in southwestern Quebec, Canada has investigated the presence of L. lineolaris in a commercial vineyard. This study also indicated that weeds that grow from cultivation of crops serve as an important food source for L. lineolaris. This insect can be found across North America, from northern Canada to southern Mexico. Adults grow up to 6.5 mm in length, and are brown with accents of yellow, orange or red, with a light-colored "V" on the back (dorsal).


L. lineolaris is most commonly found in the eastern half of North America. A study done to track the genetic diversity and overall distribution of L. lineolaris, specifically on host plants, in North America sampled three separate populations of L. lineolaris and marked their DNA with mitochondrial genes cytochrome oxidase 1 and cytochrome oxidase 2. The researchers wanted to examine whether the genetic differences found between L. lineolaris species were based on geographical factors. The results indicated significant differences in mtDNA among L. lineolaris species found across North America. Other evidence indicated that L. lineolaris species were found consistently on the same plant hosts but showed no specific preference for plant hosts.
The presence of L. lineolaris has been documented in vineyards in Quebec. The results of the Fleury et al. (2010) study indicated that L. lineolaris adults prefer to over-winter in apple orchards because more adults were found inside of the vineyard during winter months. In the summer months (mid-June), the adult L. lineolaris numbers decreased inside of the vineyard because of the decrease in apples and appearance of flowers. Another study observing whether geographical origin has an effect on fecundity, survivorship, hatch rate, and developmental time reported that geographical differences had no effect on the four factors.
Pollen analysis has been used as another method of measuring dispersal in L. lineolaris. Researchers used pollen grains as indicators of food sources being utilized by L. lineolaris as well as their movement between wild host plant habitats and cropping areas. The pollen grains found through analysis indicated that they were from host plants of L. lineolaris. The pollen grains further indicated that L. lineolaris spent time away from crops and instead were found on plants that were in wet or disturbed sites.


Although it is known to feed on almost all commercial crops,L. lineolaris specifically prefers to feed on young apples and weeds. The TPB has a special mode of feeding called the "lacerate and flush" feeding strategy where it uses sucking mouthparts to inject saliva into the host plant. The saliva of the TPB contains an enzyme called polygalacturonase which degrades plant tissue and pectin in the plant cell wall allowing for faster digestion. Researchers interested in examining other components of L. lineolaris saliva used illumina (Solexa) sequencing to discover the roles of proteins within saliva. They accomplish this via presenting a salivary gland transcriptome of the TPB. The researchers discovered TPB sialotranscriptome that played a role in extra-oral digestion.


L. lineolaris utilize cotton plants as one of their main reproductive hosts. Females lay eggs in the first row of cotton plants and later occupy more plants in the field. The females usually lay eggs in May after the overwintering period. The eggs hatch and nymphs begin to develop around June. The highest population level of L. lineolaris is typically marked in October and June, and it is seen to also trigger a rise in the population level of Pisaurina mira, a nursery web spider that preys on L. lineolaris.


Researchers have conducted experiments involving odourant-binding proteins (OBP) which allow for perception of odours in L. lineolaris and other insect groups. A study involved transcriptomics in order to investigate olfaction in L. lineolaris to reduce its harmful impacts on commercial crops. The transcriptomics approach indicated that there are 21 LylinOBP transcripts in the antennae, 12 in the legs and 15 in the proboscis. This further identified that these structures play an important role in insect olfaction and taste. Since the antennae are mainly responsible for direction, the presence of olfaction in the antennae can allow for recognition of different substrates. The proboscis is mainly associated with taste therefore the OBP expression in the proboscis and maxillary palp sensilla may be associated with taste in L. lineolaris.


The visual system in L. lineolaris is not heavily investigated although it could provide insight into the different stimuli that allow these insects to discriminate food sources. A study investigated whether L. lineolaris adults showed distinctive visual responses to two different colours of sticky traps. The researchers decided to use pink and white sticky traps due to previous evidence indicating that pink sticky traps are the most stimulating for L. lineolaris specifically in peach orchards. L. lineolaris were attracted to pink traps as compared with white traps. L. lineolaris have the ability to discriminate colour to an extent and could even detect colour contrast. The pink colour could have provided a better contrast against the peach-coloured background thereby attracting more L. lineolaris adults.


There are numerous methods used to capture L. lineolaris in order to utilize these insects in scientific studies. Some studies involve capturing the TPB using traps. Researchers used white sticky traps in order to capture TPB in and around a Canadian vineyard. Compared to other methods, sticky traps have been shown to be the most effective in collecting L. lineolaris. Other traps involve using a bed sheet tied with a nylon rope around two metal poles to capture adult TPB. This method requires the use of an eppendorf tube to collect individual TPB for euthanizing purposes. Since adult L. lineolaris have been recorded to fly at about 40 to 100 cm above the ground in vineyards as well as other cultivated fruit crops, traps must be laid out at a height between 40 and 100 cm in order to capture the maximum amount of insects. Sticky traps have been proven to capture L. lineolaris most effectively.
Although traps are widely used to collect TPB, sweep nets are also effective in capturing these insects due their small size and tendency to rest on plant leaves. The sweep net method was specifically used for nymphal L. lineolaris. Another study used sweep nets to capture L. lineolaris individuals off wild host plants while also using aspirators to place them into collection containers.


Growers routinely make 3–5 applications of insecticides each year to control this insect. Considering the narrow profit margin for today's farmers, the cost of such applications are significant. In the United States, there has been a total of 38% loss of cotton crops due to TPB population. There are approximately 4.1 insecticide applications per hectare annually in the U.S with an estimated cost of $110 per hectare. The increasing cost for insecticides for control of TPB is due to insecticide resistance that occurs in this population due to improper time management when spraying insecticide. L. lineolaris rely on weeds growing among cultivated crops in order to overwinter therefore application of herbicides on these weeds would serve as an effective control for these insects. To control L. lineolaris population on strawberry plants, methods including insecticides have been used but recently biological controls are being implemented.
Because numerous applications of insecticides are used for annual control of L. lineolaris population, there are studies done to examine the proper time period for these applications. One such study by Wood et al. (2016) examined different planting dates in order to determine the optimal time for TPB control on cotton plants. The results obtained from the study indicated that the first four weeks of flowering were the most effective in controlling for L. lineolaris because this is when most cotton yield loss was observed. The researchers discovered through their results that it is more effective to terminate the insecticide earlier than to delay the administration of the insecticide at the beginning of the four-week period.
Neonicotinoids are a family of insecticides which cause interference and blockage of the nicotinergic pathway in the central nervous system of insects. Imidacloprid is part of the neonictinoid family and has been used to control population of L. lineolaris. Previously, a study has been conducted to examine the resistance developed by the TPB to imidacloprid. The results of the study indicated that there were changes in gene expression which was related to resistance of imidacloprid. There was an over-expression of P450 and esterase genes which the researchers connected to imidacloprid resistance by L. lineolaris.
A similar study investigating L. lineolaris from two geographical regions in terms of differing developmental time, fecundity, hatch rate, and survivorship was conducted. The researchers were interested in examining the reasons for L. lineolaris being a more influential pest in the Delta region as compared with the Hills region of the Mississippi. Although there were no differences found in the development time, fecundity, hatch rate, and survivorship of the L. lineolaris captured from the Delta and Hills regions, the researchers suggest that the larger area of the Delta region might have caused the L. lineolaris population to be subjected to more insecticides thereby having more resistance and causing more pest-related issues.


Lymantria dispar, known as the gypsy moth, or the spongy moth, is a species of moth in the family Erebidae. Lymantria dispar is subdivided into several subspecies, with subspecies such as L. d. dispar and L. d. japonica being clearly identifiable without ambiguity. Lymantria dispar has been introduced to several continents and is now found in Europe, Africa, Asia, North America and South America. The polyphagous larvae live on a variety of deciduous and coniferous trees and can cause severe damage in years of mass reproduction. Due to these features, Lymantria dispar is listed among the world's 100 worst invasive alien species.


Moths of the subfamily Lymantriinae are commonly called tussock moths due to the tussock-like tufts of hair on the caterpillars.
The name Lymantria dispar is composed of two Latin-derived words. The generic name Lymantria means 'destroyer'. The species epithet dispar means 'to separate' in Latin; it refers to the sexual dimorphism observed in the male and female imagines.
In July 2021 the Entomological Society of America decided to remove the name "gypsy moth" from its Common Names of Insects and Related Organisms List as "hurtful to the Romani people". In January 2022, the new common name "spongy moth" was proposed, as a translation from the French name "spongieuse" for the species, referring to the sponge-like egg masses laid by L. dispar.


The North American and European Lymantria dispar moths are considered to be the same subspecies, usually referred to as Lymantria dispar dispar. Confusion over the classification of species and subspecies still remains. The U. S. Department of Agriculture defines the Asian subspecies as "any biotype of L. dispar possessing female flight capability", despite L. d. asiatica not being the only accepted subspecies that is capable of flight. Traditionally, L. dispar has been referred to as "gypsy moth" even when referring to Japanese, Indian and Asiatic gypsy moth populations.


The European subspecies (Lymantria dispar dispar) is native to temperate forests in western Europe. It had been introduced to the United States in 1869, and to Canada in 1912.
The Asian subspecies (Lymantria dispar asiatica) is native to temperate Asia east of the Ural mountains. Since the early 1990s it has also been detected along the West Coast of temperate North America. From Southern Europe it is spreading northwards into Germany and other countries, where it hybridizes with the European spongy moth, L. d. dispar. A colony had been reported from Great Britain in 1995.


In North America, several species of parasitoids and predators have been introduced as biological control agents in attempts to help control this moth. Beginning in the late 1800's, at least 10 species have become established in this way, but for nearly a century there was little regulation or research on the effectiveness or non-target effects of these introduced natural enemies. Several were generalists that offered little control of L. dispar and attacked other native insects. One such species is the tachinid fly Compsilura concinnata, which attacked many other host species (over 180 known hosts documented), decimating many of the large moth species previously abundant in the Northeast. Another is the encyrtid wasp Ooencyrtus kuvanae which attacks L. dispar eggs but is not strictly host specific, and also parasitizes the eggs of other Lepidoptera species. The most effective control agents are microbial pathogens; a virus (LdmNPV), and a fungus (Entomophaga maimaiga).


The black arches or nun moth (Lymantria monacha) is a small Palaearctic moth. It is considered a forest pest.


The moths of Lymantria monacha have a wingspan of 40 to 50 mm. They have white forewings with black connected wavy arches which gives the moth its name. The light brown hindwings have white fringes having black spots. They also have a characteristic biscuit-coloured abdomen with a black band. Females are larger and have elongated wings.
The eggs are oval, light brown or light red. Larvae are whitish grey to blackish, with grey hairs, red and blue warts, and a dark longitudinal dorsal line which is interrupted or broadened into spots in places. Pupa is golden glossy red-brown or dark brown, with reddish hairs dorsally and rather long anal point.


Lysichiton americanus, also called western skunk cabbage (US), yellow skunk cabbage (UK), American skunk-cabbage (Britain and Ireland) or swamp lantern, is a plant found in swamps and wet woods, along streams and in other wet areas of the Pacific Northwest, where it is one of the few native species in the arum family. The plant is called skunk cabbage because of the distinctive "skunky" odor that it emits when it blooms. This odor will permeate the area where the plant grows, and can be detected even in old, dried specimens. The distinctive odor attracts its pollinators, scavenging flies and beetles. Although similarly named and with a similar smell, the plant is easy to distinguish from the eastern skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), another species in the arum family found in eastern North America.


The plant grows from rhizomes that measure 30 centimetres (12 inches) or longer, and 2.5 to 5 cm (1 to 2 in) in diameter. The short-stalked leaves are the largest of any native plant in the region, 30–150 cm (12–59 in) long and 10–70 cm (4–27+1⁄2 in) wide when mature. Its flowers are  produced in a spadix contained within a 7–12 cm (3–4+1⁄2 in) large, bright yellow or yellowish green spathe atop a 30–50 cm (12–20 in) stalk. The flowers are numerous and densely packed. It is among the first flowers to bloom in late winter or early spring (typically March–July). Unlike the genus Symplocarpus (which includes S. foetidus, the eastern skunk cabbage), the flowers of Lysichiton species do not produce heat, although this is widely and incorrectly said to be the case.


Lysichiton americanus is found from Kodiak Island and Cook Inlet, Alaska south through British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and Northern California as far south as Santa Cruz County.  Isolated populations are also found in northeastern Washington, northern Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.
The plant was introduced into cultivation in the United Kingdom in 1901 and has escaped to become naturalized in marshy areas in Britain and Ireland, for example in Hampshire and Surrey, including Wisley Gardens, and in the north and west of the UK. In 2016, it was classified by the European Union as an invasive species. This implies that this species cannot be imported, cultivated, transported, commercialized, planted, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union.


It was used as an ornamental garden plant in Britain and Ireland, where it grows well in marshy conditions. As of 2018, the Royal Horticultural Society recommends that it should not be cultivated.
Hybrids with Lysichiton camtschatcensis, called Lysichiton × hortensis, are also cultivated. These have larger spathes than either of the parents.


Flies are drawn by the odour to pollinate the flowers.
While some consider the plant to be a weed, its roots are food for bears, who eat it after hibernating as a laxative or cathartic. Deer may browse the leaves.


The plant contains calcium oxalate crystals, which result in a prickling sensation on the tongue and throat and can result in intestinal irritation and even death if consumed in large quantities.


The plant was used by indigenous people as medicine for burns and injuries, and for food in times of famine, when the leaves were heated and eaten. The leaves have a somewhat spicy or peppery taste. Although the plant was not typically part of the diet under normal conditions, its large, waxy leaves were important to food preparation and storage. They were commonly used to line berry baskets and to wrap around whole salmon and other foods when baked under a fire. It is also used to cure sores and swelling. The sap was used as a treatment for ringworm.


Lysimachia borealis (synonym Trientalis borealis), the starflower, is a North American woodland perennial that blooms between May and June.


Starflowers have creeping rhizomes with 5-20 cm (8 in) vertical stalks. Each stalk has a whorl of 5–10 lanceolate leaves (up to 8 cm long) at its tip, with 1-4 (most often one or two) white flowers on smaller stalks extending from the center of the whorl. The flowers are about 15 mm (1⁄2 in) across and consist of five to nine petals that form a star-like shape. Its fruit is tiny, globe-shaped, pale blue and matte


Starflower is listed as endangered by Georgia and Kentucky and is listed as threatened by Illinois and Tennessee.


Lysimachia ciliata, the fringed loosestrife, is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae. It is an erect herbaceous perennial growing to 120 cm (47 in) tall and 60 cm (24 in) broad, with opposite, simple leaves, and smooth green stems. The star-shaped yellow flowers are borne in midsummer. It is native to North America, including most of southern Canada and most of the United States except for the southwest. This plant is notable in that it is one of the few species of Lysimachia to bear elaiophores, that is, to offer oil instead of nectar as a reward to pollinators. It is pollinated in the northern part of its range by the specialist oil bee Macropis nuda, a native bee species whose survival depends upon this host plant.
It is also cultivated as an ornamental plant. It can be aggressive, but new suckers can be removed easily to keep plant size under control. The most common cultivars of L. ciliata include:
L. ciliata 'Firecracker'
L. ciliata 'Purpurea'
'Firecracker' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Lysimachia latifolia, sometimes called Trientalis latifolia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae. It is known as starflower, chickweed-wintergreen, or Pacific starflower.


It is a low-growing, creeping perennial reaching (5 to 30 cm (2.0 to 11.8 in)).
The roots are tuberous, creeping rhizomes. The stems are erect, 10–20 cm (4–8 in) high. It has 5 to 7 whorled, lanceolate, entire leaves distributed levelly in a single group.
The flowers are white or pink flowers are borne in April or May. Calyx (the collective term for sepals) is 5- to 9-parted and persistent. Corolla (the collective term for petals) is also 5- to 9-parted, rotate, with a very short tube and elliptic-lanceolate segments. Stamens occur in the same number as the corolla lobes (5-9) and are positioned opposite them. 1-3 Peduncles, 1-flowered, filiform, and ebracteate.
The ovary is one-celled. The style (gynoecium) is filiform.


Canada: Occurs in British Columbia, Alberta, and Yukon.
United States of America: Occurs throughout Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and northern California.


Lysimachia maritima is a plant species belonging to the family Primulaceae. It was previously called Glaux maritima, the only species in the monotypic genus Glaux. The species has a number of common names, including sea milkwort, sea milkweed, and black saltwort.


Lysimachia maritima has a circumpolar distribution in the northern hemisphere and is native to Europe, central Asia and North America. The species grows mainly in coastal habitats in Europe but also occurs in mesic interior habitats in Asia and North America, in both wet ground and water. It is known from alkaline meadows in desert regions in Utah, at elevations of up to 2600 m (8500 ft).


This plant differs from all other genera of the Primulaceae in having apetalous flowers with a pink, petaloid calyx. It is generally pentamerous both in the calyx and the seed capsule. The leaves are fleshy, simple and opposite.


Lysimachia nummularia is a species of flowering plant in the primrose family Primulaceae. Its common names include moneywort, creeping jenny, herb twopence and twopenny grass.


It is a vigorous, prostrate, evergreen perennial growing to 5 cm (2 in) in height and spreading rapidly and indefinitely by stem-rooting. It has rounded leaves arranged in opposite pairs, and cup-shaped yellow flowers 2 cm in diameter, in summer. It is particularly associated with damp or even wet areas, though in cultivation it will tolerate drier conditions. It is hardy, surviving lows of −15 °C (5 °F) (RHS H5).


It is native to Europe, but has been introduced to North America, where it is considered an invasive species in some areas. It aggressively spreads in favorable conditions, such as low wet ground or near ponds. It is moderately difficult to remove by hand pulling. Any tiny piece left behind will regrow.


The Latin specific epithet nummularia means "like a coin", referring to the shape of the leaves; hence the common names, such as "moneywort", which also references coins.


The cultivar 'Aurea' (golden creeping Jenny) It is cultivated as an ornamental plant, for groundcover where the range of its growth can be limited. It is also suitable as a bog garden or aquatic marginal plant. has yellow leaves, and is somewhat less aggressive than the species. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Lysimachia quadriflora, the fourflower yellow loosestrife, is a species of herbaceous plant in the family Primulaceae. It native to the eastern United States and Canada.


Lysimachia quadriflora is an erect branched forb growing to a maximum height of about 2 feet (0.61 m). It grows in moist to wet conditions in calcareous soils. The leaves are linear, firm, with mostly smooth edges. The flowers grow from an inflorescence cluster at the ends of the stems and branches. The five-parted flower is yellow with a reddish center and blooms from July to August. Its habitats include wet meadows, prairies, fields, swamps, and marshes.


Lysimachia quadrifolia, the whorled loosestrife, whorled yellow loosestrife, or crosswort, is a species of herbaceous plant in the family Primulaceae. It native to the eastern United States and Canada.


Lysimachia quadrifolia grows to a maximum height of about 1 metre (3.3 ft). The long roots are shallow, sometimes spreading along the surface of the ground. It usually has simple, unbranched stems. The leaves are spotted and hairy on the undersides. They are borne in whorls of 3 to 7 around the stem. The flowers grow on long stalks from the leaf whorls. The five-parted flower is yellow with a reddish center and sometimes reddish margins, and streaked with dark resin canals. It is a perennial herb that grows in fens and moist prairies.


Lysimachia thyrsiflora, the tufted loosestrife, is a plant in the genus Lysimachia. It is native to large sections of the northern Northern Hemisphere, including Eurasia and North America. It often grows in marshes, shorelines of lakes and ponds and occasionally along streams. It is an erect perennial herb growing up to 80 centimeters tall and bearing yellow flowers, sometimes dotted with purple. It may be confused with purple loosestrife when not blooming but can be easily distinguished because purple loosestrife has a square stem. Tufted loosestrife has been used medicinally in Asia to combat high blood pressure.
It is a rare species in Britain, where it is found in Salix cinerea - Galium palustre wet woodland (community W1 of the British National Vegetation Classification system), Salix pentandra - Carex rostrata wet woodland (NVC community W3) and Carex rostrata - Sphagnum recurvum mire (community M4).


Lythrum salicaria or purple loosestrife is a flowering plant belonging to the family Lythraceae. It should not be confused with other plants sharing the name loosestrife that are members of the family Primulaceae. Other names include spiked loosestrife and purple Lythrum. This herbaceous perennial is native to Europe and Asia, and possibly Australia.


Lythrum salicaria can grow 1–2 m (3 ft 3 in – 6 ft 7 in) tall, forming clonal colonies 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) or more in width, with numerous erect stems growing from a single woody root mass. The stems are reddish-purple and square in cross-section. The leaves are lanceolate, 3–10 centimetres (1–4 in) long and 5–15 millimetres (3⁄16–9⁄16 in) broad, downy and sessile, and arranged opposite or in whorls of three.
The flowers are reddish purple, 10–20 millimetres (1⁄2–3⁄4 in) in diameter, with six petals (occasionally five) and 12 stamens, and are clustered tightly in the axils of bracts or leaves; there are three different flower types, with the stamens and style of different lengths, short, medium or long; each flower type can only be pollinated by one of the other types, not the same type, thus ensuring cross-pollination between different plants. The flowers are visited by many types of insects, and can be characterized by a generalized pollination syndrome.
The fruit is a small 3–4 millimetres (1⁄8–5⁄32 in) capsule containing numerous minute seeds. Flowering lasts throughout the summer. When the seeds are mature, the leaves often turn bright red through dehydration in early autumn; the red colour may last for almost two weeks. The dead stalks from previous growing seasons are brown.
L. salicaria is very variable in leaf shape and degree of hairiness, and a number of subspecies and varieties have been described, but it is now generally regarded as monotypic with none of these variants being considered of botanical significance. The species Lythrum intermedium Ledeb. ex Colla is also now considered synonymous.


Lythrum salicaria is native to Europe, temperate Asia and northwest Africa. It is also naturalised in many temperate parts of the world, including parts of southern Africa, North America, and South America. The species was thought to be a recent introduction to Australia, but pre-colonial pollen samples have been found in New South Wales, indicating another route of introduction; the question is considered unresolved by Australian authorities.


Found in ditches, wet meadows and marshes and along sides of lakes.


The flowers are pollinated by long-tongued insects, including bees and butterflies.
A number of insects use Lythrum salicaria as a food resource.
The black-margined loosestrife beetle Galerucella calmariensis is a brown beetle with a black line on its thorax. The adult feeds on the leaves of the plant, producing characteristic round holes. Its larvae destroy tender leaf buds and strip the tissue from the leaves. The golden loosestrife beetle Galerucella pusilla is nearly identical to G. calmariensis, but usually lacks the black thoracic line. Its feeding habits are also quite similar to the other leaf beetle.
The loosestrife root weevil Hylobius transversovittatus is a large red nocturnal weevil, which spends its nights feeding on leaves and leaf buds. The larvae emerge from their eggs and immediately burrow into the root of the plant, which they feed on continuously for over a year. This root damage stunts the plant's growth and ability to create seeds. If several larvae inhabit the same root, the plant can be killed.
The loosestrife flower weevil Nanophyes marmoratus is a tiny weevil which lays a single egg in each flower. When the larvae emerge they eat the flowers' ovaries, and the plant is unable to create seeds. The larvae usually proceed to hollow out the flower buds and use them as safe places to pupate.
Caterpillars of the engrailed moth (Ectropis crepuscularia), a polyphagous geometer moth, also feed on purple loosestrife.


The purple loosestrife has been introduced into temperate New Zealand and North America where it is now widely naturalised (spreading on its own) and officially listed in some controlling agents. Infestations result in dramatic disruption in water flow in rivers and canals, and a sharp decline in biological diversity as native food and cover plant species, notably cattails, are completely crowded out, and the life cycles of organisms from waterfowl to amphibians to algae are affected.
A single plant may produce up to 2.7 million tiny seeds annually. Easily carried by wind and water, the seeds germinate in moist soils after overwintering. The plant can also sprout anew from pieces of root left in the soil or water. Once established, loosestrife stands are difficult and costly to remove by mechanical and chemical means.
Plants marketed under the name "European wand loosestrife" (L. virgatum) are the same species despite the different name. In some cases the plants sold are sterile, which is preferable.
In North America, purple loosestrife may be distinguished from similar native plants (e.g., fireweed Chamerion angustifolium, blue vervain Verbena hastata, Liatris Liatris spp., and spiraea (Spiraea douglasii) by its angular stalks which are square in outline, as well as by its leaves, which are in pairs that alternate at right angle and are not serrated.


Purple loosestrife provides a model of successful biological pest control. Research began in 1985 and today the plant is managed well with a number of insects that feed on it. Five species of beetle use purple loosestrife as their natural food source, and they can do significant damage to the plant. The beetles used as biological control agents include two species of leaf beetle: Galerucella calmariensis and Galerucella pusilla; and three species of weevil: Hylobius transversovittatus, Nanophyes breves, and Nanophyes marmoratus. Infestations of either of the Galerucella species is extremely effective in wiping out a stand of purple loosestrife, defoliating up to 100% of the plants in an area. The moth Ectropis crepuscularia is polyphagous and a pest species itself, and unsuitable for biological control.


Lytrosis unitaria, the common lytrosis moth, is a species of moth of the family Geometridae. It is found in North America, including Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
The wingspan is about 50 mm.
The larvae feed on Rosa, Crataegus, Amelanchier, Acer, Quercus and Viburnum species.


Lytta magister, the desert blister beetle or master blister beetle, is a species of blister beetle found in southwestern North America.
Typically 16 to 33 mm (0.6 to 1.3 in) in length, L. magister has a striking red head, legs and prothorax, with black elytra. They can be found in great numbers in the Mojave and Colorado Deserts in spring, and are often seen in swarms.
Females lay eggs in holes in the desert soil. The larvae are insectivorous, mainly attacking bee nests. They consume the immature host along with its provisions, and can often survive on the provisions alone, thus they are not obligatory parasitoids but rather food parasites that are facultatively parasitoid, or simply predatory. Adults feed on flowers and leaves of brittlebush. Though they are not poisonous, they can in fact bite.


It is a shrub or bushy tree, sometimes reaching 12 metres tall and with a stem diameter of 40 cm. The trunk is short and crooked, bark being grey-brown, with bumps and irregularities. The branchlets are smooth, bluish grey with prominent leaf scars.
Leaves are alternate, and round with a tip, 8 to 23 cm long, greyish or white on the underside. It has prominent leaf stalks 8 to 20 cm long which connect within the leaf itself. Nine main veins radiate from the leaf stalk, easily noticed on the upper and lower leaf side.
Yellow-green flowers form on panicles in the months of October to January (in New South Wales). Female and male flowers grow on different trees. The fruit is a prickly three-celled yellow capsule, 9 mm in diameter, maturing in January to February (in New South Wales). There is one black seed in each of the cells. Germination from fresh seed occurs without difficulty. Cuttings strike well.


An attractive ornamental tree with interesting leaves. Also well regarded by bush regenerators to provide shade for juvenile trees.


Macaria aemulataria, the common angle moth, is a moth in the  family Geometridae. The species was first described by Francis Walker in 1861. It is found from Nova Scotia to Florida, west to Texas, north to Oregon and Alberta.
The wingspan is 20–22 mm (0.79–0.87 in). The forewings are cream-grey with three transverse lines and a bold brown patch in the middle outer third. The hindwings have a discal spot and antemedian and postmedian lines. Adults are on wing from mid-June to mid-July in Alberta and from May to September in Ohio.
The larvae feed on Acer species.


Macaria alternata, the sharp-angled peacock, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found in Europe, Turkey, the Caucasus, Georgia and South Siberia.


The wingspan is 22–27 mm (0.87–1.06 in). The moth closely resembles the peacock moth (Macaria notata) but can usually be recognized by the deeper cut on the forewing edge (hence the name) as well as the distinctly darker grey band through both wings. However, some specimens may require examination of the genitalia for certain identification.
The moth flies from May to June.
The larva feed on sallow, alder, blackthorn and sea-buckthorn.


Macaria bisignata, the redheaded inchworm, is a moth of the  family Geometridae. It is found from Newfoundland to Georgia, west to Arizona, north to Ontario.
The wingspan is about 25 mm (0.98 in). The moths are on wing from May to August depending on the location.
The head is reddish brown in color.
A particular characteristic of markings are the 3 or 4 dark brown marks where the antemedial, medial, and postmedial lines meet costa (forewing leading edge) and by a larger, subrectangular spot where subterminal band meets costa. Another segment of subterminal band usually persists as a smaller dark spot between M₃ and CuA₁.
It is very similar looking to Psamatodes abydata which lacks the dark brown costa marks.
The ground color (overall) of the wings ranges from light milky tan to darker gray-brown.
The larva feed on almost exclusively on pine such as Pinus strobus.


Machaeranthera tanacetifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names tansyleaf tansyaster and Tahoka daisy. It is native to northern Mexico and the southwestern and central United States, where it grows in several types of habitat. It is an annual or biennial herb growing one or more branching stems up to about 70 centimetres (28 inches) in maximum height. The multilobed leaves are up to 12 cm (4+3⁄4 in) long. The inflorescence bears one or more flower heads lined with spreading or curling, pointed phyllaries. The head has a center of many yellow disc florets and a fringe of many lavender to purple ray florets each 1 to 2 cm (1⁄3 to 2⁄3 in) long. The fruit is a flat achene about 1 cm long including the pappus.
It is similar to M. parviflora, the flower heads of which are smaller.


The Zuni people use an infusion of the flowers taken with other flowers for unspecified illnesses.


The cattle tyrant (Machetornis rixosa) is a species of bird in the tyrant-flycatcher family Tyrannidae. In Brazil, it is called suiriri-cavaleiro. It is the only member of the genus Machetornis. The relationships of this species and genus to other genera in the tyrant flycatchers are uncertain. It resembles Tyrannus flycatchers, but this may be the result of convergence. Three subspecies are recognised, the nominate race, M. r. flavigularis and M. r. obscurodorsalis, although the latter two may not be distinct from M. r. flavigularis. The genus name was given to the species by George Robert Gray and is derived from the Ancient Greek makhētēs for fighter and ornis for bird, a reference to its pugnacious behaviour and habit of dispossessing other species of their nests. The specific name comes from the Latin rixosus meaning quarrelsome, again referring to the behaviour and temperament of the species.


The species has a disjunct distribution, with the nominate race breeding from northern Argentina and Bolivia to the north-eastern tip of Brazil, and the two other subspecies ranging from Panama to Venezuela and eastern Ecuador. The species inhabits drier open and semi-open habitats, and avoided forested and wooded areas. It can be found in savannah, pastureland, parkland, agricultural land and even gardens. Due to deforestation, the species has recently colonized areas where it was previously absent, such as northeast Ecuador.


The cattle tyrant is a highly terrestrial tyrant-flycatcher, 20 cm (7.9 in) long and weighing 29–40 g (1.0–1.4 oz). The plumage of the nominate subspecies is mostly olive-brown above and yellow below. The head is grey with a thin eyestripe and a white throat. The thin bill and legs are black. The two other subspecies vary from the nominate in having a yellow throat.


Cattle tyrants feed on insects, mostly from the ground. It may follow cattle or other large animals for some distance, catching flushed prey, or even hitch rides on these animals, and then snatching flushed prey with a quick sally-flight. It may sometimes hawk for insects from a high perch. The species is sometimes reported to have a cleaning symbiosis with the large mammals it lives with. It takes ticks off mammals only occasionally, but it will sometimes hunt horseflies attempting to land on capybaras.
Cattle tyrants build bulky nests or steal the nests of rufous-fronted thornbirds. 3 to 4 eggs are laid and incubated for 14 days. The chicks fledge after 15 days.


The gold-striped leaftier moth (Machimia tentoriferella) is a moth of the family Depressariidae. It is found in North America from Nova Scotia to North Carolina and Tennessee, west to Mississippi and Iowa, north to Ontario.
The binomial name tentoriferella refers to Latin tentorium (meaning "a tent"), this probably is a reference to the rolled or tied leaf enclosure made by the larva.
The wingspan is 20–26 mm. Adults fly from September to October depending on the location.
The larvae feed on Fraxinus americana and Fraxinus nigra. Other recorded food plants include birch, elm, maple, oak, basswood, butternut, cherry, beech, hickory, balsam poplar, chestnut, hazel, apple, lilac and dogwood.


Macrodiplax balteata, the Marl Pennant, is a species of dragonfly in the genus Macrodiplax. It occurs in the southern United States, the Caribbean and South America.


Macromia taeniolata, the royal river cruiser is a species of dragonfly in the family Macromiidae. It is a long, slender insect with bright green eyes and a dark brown body with yellow stripes. The sexes are alike. It is found along large streams and rivers.


The southern giant petrel (Macronectes giganteus), also known as the Antarctic giant petrel, giant fulmar, stinker, and stinkpot, is a large seabird of the southern oceans. Its distribution overlaps broadly with the similar northern giant petrel, though it overall is centered slightly further south. Adults of the two species can be distinguished by the colour of their bill-tip: greenish in the southern and reddish in the northern.


The southern giant petrel was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin. He placed it with all the other petrels in the genus Procellaria and coined the binomial name Procellaria gigantea. Gmelin cited the "Giant Petrel" that had been described and illustrated in the same year by the English ornithologist John Latham in his A General Synopsis of Birds. The southern giant petrel is now placed with the northern giant petrel in the genus Macronectes that was introduced in 1905 by the American ornithologist Charles Wallace Richmond. The genus name Macronectes combines the Ancient Greek makros meaning "great" and nēktēs meaning "swimmer". The specific epithet giganteus is Latin and means "gigantic". The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.


This and its sister species are the largest members of the Procellariidae. The southern giant petrel measures 86 to 99 cm (34–39 in) with a wingspan of 185 to 205 cm (6 ft 1 in – 6 ft 9 in). Both this and the northern giant petrel vary considerably in size, with southern colonies averaging larger than northern colonies, in line with Bergmann's rule. Due to the large amount of size variability, it is difficult to determine which is the larger species, but the largest-bodied colonies of the southern species are slightly larger on average, in both mass and linear dimensions, than the largest in the northern giant petrel. Body mass can vary widely, from 2.3 to 5.6 kg (5.1–12.3 lb), with males averaging larger than females. The largest average weights come from Macquarie Island, where 20 males averaged 5.14 kg (11.3 lb) and 21 females averaged 4.2 kg (9.3 lb). On the South Orkney Islands, 37 males averaged 4.94 kg (10.9 lb) and 37 females averaged 3.85 kg (8.5 lb). In contrast, in Patagonia, 15 males averaged 3.5 kg (7.7 lb) and 21 females averaged 2.5 kg (5.5 lb). However another study from Patagonia, found that 26 males averaged 4.2 kg (9.3 lb) and 27 females averaged 3.7 kg (8.2 lb). They have a very large yellow bill, with a green tip and greyish-brown legs. There are two different morphs, the dark which resembles the northern giant petrel, and the more distinct light morph. On the dark morph the upper breast, head and neck are light with the remainder of its plumage being mottled brown.  The leading edge of its wing is lighter as is the base of the inner primaries, on the underside. The light morph is rarer and very distinct with only slight black speckles on an otherwise all white look. As juveniles, the dark morph starts off more sooty brown and pales as it ages. Both giant petrels have strong legs and can move around on land effectively. Finally, when in flight this species has a somewhat hunchbacked appearance.
It, like all members of the Procellariiformes, have features that set them apart from other birds. First, they have nasal passages called naricorns, that attach to the upper bill. The nose holes on the petrels are on the top of the bill. The bills of all Procellariiformes are also unique in that they are split into between seven and nine horny plates. They produce a stomach oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This can be sprayed out of their mouths as a defence against predators and used as an energy rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights. They have above the nasal passage a salt gland, which helps to remove salt from their blood; this salt, primarily sodium chloride, is in their marine invertebrate food and in the large amount of ocean water that they imbibe; it excretes a concentrated salt solution from the nostrils.


The southern giant petrel achieves sexual maturity at six or seven years of age; however the average age of first breeding is ten years. Its breeding season begins in October. Its nest is a mound of moss, grass, and stones with a depression in the centre and is located on bare or grassy ground. They form loose colonies except in the Falkland Islands where the colonies are much larger.
One immaculate white egg that is 103 by 70 millimetres (4.1 by 2.8 in) is laid. It is incubated for 55–66 days, where it is always guarded by at least one of the parents. When the white chick is born it is brooded for two to three weeks and it fledges at 104–132 days. The chicks are vulnerable to introduced mammalian predators like small rodents. These are generally not recognized as threats by the members of a colony, and thus can kill many chicks.


This petrel will feed on fish, krill, squid, offal and waste from vessels in coastal and pelagic waters, where they often follow fishing boats and cruise ships. Unlike most other Procellariiformes, this bird will eat carrion. The Southern Giant petrel is an extremely aggressive predator and will kill other seabirds (usually penguin chicks, sick or injured adult penguins and the chicks of other seabirds). It has been seen preying on the adult Australasian gannet by holding it underwater and drowning it. These birds have also been observed drowning yellow-nosed and black-browed albatrosses.
The males exclude females from the carcasses that they are feeding on.


2009 was a good year for this species as it was upgraded to a status of least concern from near threatened, by the IUCN. This downgrade was due to a clearer picture and more accurate censuses. Overall population trends show that in the 1980s there were 38,000 pairs which dropped to 31,000 in the late 1990s followed by 46,800 presently. The Falkland Islands and most of the South Georgia Archipelago have shown increases from the 1980s to the present. Terre Adélie has shown a drastic reduction as the count fell to 10—15 pairs from 80 pairs in the 1980s. The official generation trend is listed by BirdLife International at a 1%—9% decline, but it is stated that this is a conservative number. They elaborate that a best case scenario puts it at a 17% increase and a worst-case scenario of a 7.2% reduction.
Major threats to the well-being of this species start with the typical accidental deaths caused by longline fishing as well as trawl fishing near the Falkland Islands. Between 2,000 and 4,000 were killed in 1997—1998 due to illegal longline fishing. Also the number of southern elephant seals, which is an important source of food as carrion, has been shrinking. Human disturbances have also adversely affected this bird.
To assist in this bird's continued survival it was placed in CMS Appendix II and ACAP Annex I. Many of the islands that it breeds on are nature reserves, and Gough Island and Macquarie Island are World Heritage Sites. Monitoring is done on South Georgia, Marion Island, the Crozet Islands, Terre Adélie, and Macquarie Island. Gough Island has had two censuses in the last decade.
Continued monitoring and surveys at major breeding sites have been proposed, as well as researching movement and migration. Finally, continued promotion of "best-practice mitigation measures" via existing methods outlined in CCAMLR, CMS, and FAO.


BirdLife International (2009). "Southern Giant Petrel - BirdLife Species Factsheet". Data Zone. Retrieved 15 Jul 2009.
Brooke, M. (2004). "Procellariidae". Albatrosses And Petrels Across The World. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-850125-0.
Double, M. C. (2003). "Procellariiformes (Tubenosed Seabirds)".  In Hutchins, Michael; Jackson, Jerome A.; Bock, Walter J.; Olendorf, Donna (eds.). Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Vol. 8 Birds I Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins. Joseph E. Trumpey, Chief Scientific Illustrator (2nd ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. pp. 107–111. ISBN 0-7876-5784-0.
Ehrlich, Paul R.; Dobkin, David, S.; Wheye, Darryl (1988). The Birders Handbook (First ed.). New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. pp. 29–31. ISBN 0-671-65989-8.
Gotch, A. F. (1995) [1979]. "Albatrosses, Fulmars, Shearwaters, and Petrels". Latin Names Explained A Guide to the Scientific Classifications of Reptiles, Birds & Mammals. New York, NY: Facts on File. pp. 191–192. ISBN 0-8160-3377-3.
Harrison, Colin; Greensmith, Alan (1993). "Non-Passerines".  In Bunting, Edward (ed.). Birds of the World (First ed.). New York, NY: Dorling Kindersley. p. 42. ISBN 1-56458-295-7.
IUCN (2009). "2009 Red List category changes" (Excel). Red List. Retrieved 16 Jul 2009.
Maynard, B. J. (2003). "Shearwaters, petrels, and fulmars (Procellariidae)".  In Hutchins, Michael; Jackson, Jerome A.; Bock, Walter J.; Olendorf, Donna (eds.). Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Vol. 8 Birds I Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins. Joseph E. Trumpey, Chief Scientific Illustrator (2nd ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. pp. 123–133. ISBN 0-7876-5784-0.


Macroptilium atropurpureum, commonly referred to as purple bush-bean, or siratro is a perennial legume recognized by its climbing, dense, green vines and deep purple flowers.   The plant is indigenous to the tropical and subtropical regions of North, Central, and South America, as far north as Texas in the USA and as far south as Peru and Brazil. It has been introduced for use as a food for stock to many tropical regions around the world. It has become an invasive pest plant in a number of areas, including the north-eastern coast of Australia. Rich in protein, M. atropurpureum is commonly used for cattle pastures intercropped with grass, used in hay, or as a ground cover to prevent soil erosion and to improve soil quality.


M. atropurpureum is a tropical herbaceous dicot belonging to the family Fabaceae. It rapidly develops dense, hairy, dark green vines about 5 mm in diameter, until it reaches its mature size around 120 cm. The vines have bright green trifoliolate leaves, which are roughly 2–7 cm long with smooth hairs on the underside. Flowers are dark reddish purple. The seeds are small brown peas with a white spot, found in the plant's pods which hang on the vines in bunches of about 5-10. In weather and soil conditions favourable to the plant, stem nodes close to the soil may root, enabling vegetative propagation of the plant. M. atropurpureum forms a deep swollen taproot up to 2 cm in diameter.


M. atropurpureum is also commonly referred to as 'Siratro' or 'Aztec' (modified races to improve nematode resistance and reduce rust sensitivity, respectively) atro, purple bush-bean (a common English term for the species), Purpurbohne (a common German term for the species), or conchito (a common Spanish name for the species). It has a short lifespan, but a high density, with a minimum of 1200  and a maximum of 1700 plants per acre when it is in season and free to grow.M. atropurpureum is native to Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean Islands, and has been known to grow in some regions of southern North America, including Mexico and the USA in states such as Arizona, Texas, Florida, and Hawaii, as well as coastal regions in Queensland and New South Wales, Australia, and scattered regions across Africa. Its historical use has been to serve as pasture for domesticated livestock, and was the first tropical pasture improved by breeding. Performed in Australia in 1960s, native M. atropurpureum was bred to resist nematodes in its roots, which created a modified species known as 'Siratro', which developed a rust sensitivity, so 'Aztec' was developed to counter the arisen problem in 1995. On indigenous North and South American farms where M. atropurpureum was available, it would often be used as a ground cover during dry seasons to take advantage of the nitrogen-fixation abilities the legume has; this prevented soil erosion and acted as an organic fertilizer.
The species is invasive in New Caledonia, where it was first introduced in 1963.


One of the most strategic advantages to M. atropurpureum is its ability to grow and prosper in varied soil types. It is propagated naturally by legumes bursting and sending seeds forcefully into the ground. Growing season varies geographically, but typically will be in the spring and summer. It can be grown in soils that are coarse and fine, as well as all variations between. Primarily, it is grown on pasture fields interseeded with a grass to retain the soil and prevent erosion. M. atropurpureum is often found by roadsides, in vegetation around waterways and coastal regions, and on disturbed ground.  M. atropurpureum can grow in soils with a pH level as low as 5.0 and as high as 8.0. It can also survive in most temperatures, requiring a minimum temperature of 23 °F, and has an average salinity and shade tolerance. It requires an average precipitation  between 15 and 111 cm.M. atropurpureum has been tested on several occasions to find additional benefits. When used on a cow pasture intercropped with traditional grass in Australia, it improved milk yield by 2 kg per day. It also improved yields from domestic animals such as goats in Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, and other African countries. Because of its nitrogen-fixing abilities as a legume, M. atropurpureum acts as an efficient source of protein for animals when intercropped with grass on the pastures of subsistence and low-income farms, especially in Central and South America. In addition to improving yield, it  acts as a ground cover for farmers who need a nutrient-rich ground cover to counter soil erosion and improve soil quality.


M. atropurpureum is considered a pest plant under some local government law, including some small local governments in Australia. It has negative effects on native shrubs, grasses, and young trees by smothering them under its dense vines and not allowing them enough sunlight or soil nutrients to grow. 'It' also has a few limitations which include its intolerance to poor water drainage, its declining nutritional value after continued grazing, and its susceptibility to leaf disease. In periods of heavy rainfall, M. atropurpureum is susceptible to foliar blight (infection from a pathogenic organism).


M. atropurpureum is primarily grown for its high protein content, with protein accounting for about 16% of the plants' dry matter (25% of a M. atropurpureum vine). Primary amino acids include aspartic acid and proline. It also is a good source of calcium, potassium, and manganese.


In growth, M. atropurpureum sprawls outward to cover the ground. By doing so, it acts as an efficient weed suppressor, as it competes with weeds for soil nutrients, and smothers them under its vines. Planting it on a weed-infested field will reduce and kill weed populations, and improve the soil at the same time. It fixes nitrogen from 55 to 175 kg N/ha/year. When M. atropurpureum was used as living mulch in banana plantations, fruit yields improved. Primarily, it should be used for a simple ground covering to control erosion and for revegetation of low-fertility land.


Macrothylacia rubi, the fox moth, is a lepidopteran belonging to the family Lasiocampidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.


This species can be found from Western Europe to Central Asia and Siberia. These moths live in open woodlands, moors and prairies.


The wingspan of the male is 40–65 mm. The wings are reddish brown in males while females are usually paler, more greyish in colour and slightly larger than males. Both sexes show two narrow, straight, light-yellow, transverse bands, running across the forewings. The abdomen is thick, grey brown and hairy. The caterpillars can reach a length of about 80 millimetres (3.1 in). They are initially black with bright yellow or orange segments, later they become darker, always covered with blackish and tawny-coloured hairs and with light grey hair on the sides.


It is a univoltine species. Between September and March the caterpillars hibernate in leaf litter. These moths take flight from May to July. The males usually fly in the afternoon and night, while the females fly only at night. Caterpillars feed on heather (Calluna) bramble (Rubus fruticosus), Gramineae, Betula verrucosa, Salix, Populus tremula, Vicia cracca, Trifolium medium, Trifolium pratense, Vaccinium myrtillus, Fragaria, Potentilla and Geranium sylvaticum.


Madia sativa, known by the common names coast tarweed and Chilean tarweed, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae found in parts of western North and South America.


Madia sativa is native to the Americas, where it is distributed in two main areas:
The west coast of North America from Alaska and British Columbia, through all the western mountain ranges of California, to Baja California.
South America in Chile and Argentina.
The plant grows in many types of habitats, including disturbed areas. In western North America it is most common on coastal grasslands and nearby areas.


Madia sativa is an annual herb varying in size from 20 centimeters tall to well over two meters, the leafy stem branching or not. It is coated densely in sticky resin glands and it has a strong scent. The hairy leaves are linear or lance-shaped, the lowest up to 18 centimeters long.
The inflorescence is generally a cluster of flower heads lined with bristly, glandular phyllaries. Each head bears approximately 8 yellowish ray florets a few millimeters long around a center of several disc florets tipped with dark anthers.
The fruit is a flat, hairless achene with no pappus. This plant has been grown for its seed oil.


Magnolia fraseri, commonly known as Fraser magnolia, mountain magnolia, earleaf cucumbertree, or mountain-oread, is a species of magnolia native to the south-eastern United States in the southern Appalachian Mountains and adjacent Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain from West Virginia south to northern Florida and west to eastern Texas.  The Appalachian plants are classified as Magnolia fraseri var. fraseri, and the more coastal plants as M. fraseri var. pyramidata.  These two kinds of magnolia are often recognized as distinct species, M. fraseri and M. pyramidata, respectively.
Fraser magnolia is a small, deciduous tree growing to 14 m (40 ft) tall, as a basal-branching, fragrant plant, with brown bark with a "warty" or "scaly" texture. The leaves are quite large, 15–25 cm (rarely up to 53 cm) long and 8–18 cm (rarely up to 29 cm) broad, with a pair of auricles (or "ear-lobes") at the base and an entire margin; they are green above and glaucous blue-green below. The showy white flowers are 16–25 cm in diameter with nine tepals; they open in late spring or early summer, after the foliage. The fruit is a woody, oblong, cone-like structure (like all Magnolias) 6.5–12 cm long, covered in small, pod-like follicles each containing one or two red seeds that hang out from the cone by a slender thread when ripe. A good seed crop occurs only about every 4–5 years. Reproduction is accomplished by both seed and vegetative sprouts. The fruit is eaten by wildlife, helping disperse the seeds.
This tree grows best on rich, moist, well-drained soil. The very large showy white flowers and large-leaved, coarse-textured foliage make this an attractive ornamental tree, but otherwise it has little commercial value. It is sometimes cultivated in North America as a native alternative to exotic magnolias, and can be grown a considerable distance north of its natural range if given conditions favorable to its growth.
There are two varieties:
Magnolia fraseri var. fraseri, native to the Appalachian Mountains.
Magnolia fraseri var. pyramidata (Bartram) Pampanini, from the Coastal Plain. The vernacular name for this variety is Pyramid magnolia.
The bigleaf magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla) also has auriculate-lobed leaves.
Fraser Magnolia is named for the Scottish botanist John Fraser (1750–1811), who collected extensively in the Appalachian Mountains.


Magnolia grandiflora, commonly known as the southern magnolia or bull bay, is a tree of the family Magnoliaceae native to the southeastern United States, from Virginia to central Florida, and west to East Texas. Reaching 27.5 m (90 ft) in height, it is a large, striking evergreen tree, with large dark green leaves up to 20 cm (7+3⁄4 in) long and 12 cm (4+3⁄4 in) wide, and large, white, fragrant flowers up to 30 cm (12 in) in diameter.
Although endemic to the evergreen lowland subtropical forests on the Gulf and south Atlantic coastal plain, Magnolia grandiflora is widely cultivated in warmer areas around the world. The timber is hard and heavy, and has been used commercially to make furniture, pallets, and veneer.


Magnolia grandiflora is a medium to large evergreen tree which may grow 120 ft (37 m) tall. It typically has a single stem (or trunk) and a pyramidal shape. The leaves are simple and broadly ovate, 12–20 cm (4+3⁄4–7+3⁄4 in) long and 6–12 cm (2+1⁄4–4+3⁄4 in) broad, with smooth margins. They are dark green, stiff and leathery, and often scurfy underneath with yellow-brown pubescence.
The large, showy, lemon citronella-scented flowers are white, up to 30 cm (11+3⁄4 in) across and fragrant, with six to 12 petals with a waxy texture, emerging from the tips of twigs on mature trees in late spring.
Flowering is followed by the rose-coloured fruit, ovoid polyfollicle, 7.5–10 cm (3–3+7⁄8 in) long, and 3–5 cm (1+1⁄4–2 in) wide.
Exceptionally large trees have been reported in the far southern United States. The national champion is a specimen in Smith County, Mississippi, that stands 37 m (121 ft). Another record includes a 35-m-high specimen from the Chickasawhay District, De Soto National Forest, in Mississippi, which measured 17.75 ft in circumference at breast height, from 1961, and a 30-m-tall tree from Baton Rouge, which reached 18 ft in circumference at breast height.


Magnolia grandiflora was one of the many species first described by Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae in 1759, basing his description on the earlier notes of Miller. He did not select a type specimen. Its specific epithet is derived from the Latin words grandis "big", and flor- "flower". The genus name Magnolia honors Pierre Magnol, a French botanist.
Magnolia grandiflora is most commonly known as southern magnolia, a name derived from its range in the Southern United States. Many broadleaved evergreen trees are known as bays for their resemblance to the leaves of the red bay (Persea borbonia), with this species known as the bull bay for its huge size or alternatively because cattle have been reported eating its leaves. Laurel magnolia, evergreen magnolia, large-flower magnolia or big laurel are alternative names. The timber is known simply as magnolia.


Southern magnolias are native to the Southeastern United States, from Virginia south to central Florida, and then west to East Texas. It is found on the edges of bodies of water and swamps, in association with sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), water oak (Quercus nigra), and black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica). In more sheltered habitats, it grows as a large tree, but can be a low shrub when found on coastal dunes. It is killed by summer fires, and is missing from habitats that undergo regular burning.
In Florida, it is found in a number of different ecological areas that are typically shady and have well-draining soils; it is also found in hummocks, along ravines, on slopes, and in wooded floodplains. Despite preferring sites with increased moisture, it does not tolerate inundation. It grows on sand-hills in maritime forests, where it is found growing with live oaks and saw palmetto (Serenoa repens). In the eastern United States, it has become an escapee, and has become naturalized in the tidewater area of Virginia and locally in other areas outside of its historically natural range.


Magnolia grandiflora can produce seed by 10 years of age, although peak seed production is achieved closer to 25 years of age. Around 50% of seeds can germinate, and they are spread by birds and mammals. Squirrels, possums, quail, and turkey are known to eat the seeds.


The plant collector Mark Catesby, the first in North America, brought M. grandiflora to Britain in 1726, where it entered cultivation and overshadowed M. virginiana, which had been collected a few years earlier. It had also come to France, the French having collected it in the vicinity of the Mississippi River in Louisiana. It was glowingly described by Philip Miller in his 1731 work The Gardeners' Dictionary. One of the earliest people to cultivate it in Europe was Sir John Colliton of Exeter in Devon; scaffolding and tubs surrounded his tree, where gardeners propagated its branches by layering, the daughter plants initially selling for five guineas each (but later falling to half a guinea).
It is often planted in university campuses and allowed to grow into a large tree, either with dependent branches, or with the lower branches removed to display the bare trunks. It is also espaliered against walls, which improves its frost-hardiness.