Ripe jackfruit is naturally sweet, with subtle pineapple- or banana-like flavor. It can be used to make a variety of dishes, including custards, cakes, or mixed with shaved ice as es teler in Indonesia or halo-halo in the Philippines. For the traditional breakfast dish in southern India, idlis, the fruit is used with rice as an ingredient and jackfruit leaves are used as a wrapping for steaming. Jackfruit dosas can be prepared by grinding jackfruit flesh along with the batter. Ripe jackfruit arils are sometimes seeded, fried, or freeze-dried and sold as jackfruit chips.
The seeds from ripe fruits are edible once cooked, and are said to have a milky, sweet taste often compared to Brazil nuts. They may be boiled, baked, or roasted. When roasted, the flavor of the seeds is comparable to chestnuts. Seeds are used as snacks (either by boiling or fire-roasting) or to make desserts. In Java, the seeds are commonly cooked and seasoned with salt as a snack. They are commonly used in curry in India in the form of a traditional lentil and vegetable mix curry. Young leaves are tender enough to be used as a vegetable.


Jackfruit has a distinctive sweet and fruity aroma. In a study of flavour volatiles in five jackfruit cultivars, the main volatile compounds detected were ethyl isovalerate, propyl isovalerate, butyl isovalerate, isobutyl isovalerate, 3-methylbutyl acetate, 1-butanol, and 2-methylbutan-1-ol.
A fully ripe and unopened jackfruit is known to "emit a strong aroma" – perhaps unpleasant – with the inside of the fruit described as smelling of pineapple and banana.  After roasting, the seeds may be used as a commercial alternative to chocolate aroma.


The edible pulp is 74% water, 23% carbohydrates, 2% protein, and 1% fat. The carbohydrate component is primarily sugars, and is a source of dietary fiber. In a 100-gram (3+1⁄2-ounce) portion, raw jackfruit provides 400 kJ (95 kcal), and is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of vitamin B₆ (25% DV). It contains moderate levels (10-19% DV) of vitamin C and potassium, with no significant content of other micronutrients.
The jackfruit is a partial solution for food security in developing countries.


The flavor of the ripe fruit is comparable to a combination of apple, pineapple, mango, and banana. Varieties are distinguished according to characteristics of the fruit flesh. In Indochina, the two varieties are the "hard" version (crunchier, drier, and less sweet, but fleshier), and the "soft" version (softer, moister, and much sweeter, with a darker gold-color flesh than the hard variety). Unripe jackfruit has a mild flavor and meat-like texture and is used in curry dishes with spices in many cuisines. The skin of unripe jackfruit must be peeled first, then the remaining jackfruit flesh is chopped into edible portions and cooked before serving. The final chunks resemble prepared artichoke hearts in their mild taste, color, and flowery qualities.
The cuisines of many Asian countries use cooked young jackfruit. In many cultures, jackfruit is boiled and used in curries as a staple food. The boiled young jackfruit is used in salads or as a vegetable in spicy curries and side dishes, and as fillings for cutlets and chops. It may be used by vegetarians as a substitute for meat such as pulled pork, though the protein content of the fruit is not significant. It may be cooked with coconut milk and eaten alone or with meat, shrimp or smoked pork. In southern India, unripe jackfruit slices are deep-fried to make chips.


In Bangladesh, the fruit is consumed on its own. The unripe fruit is used in curry, and the seed is often dried and preserved to be later used in curry. In India, two varieties of jackfruit predominate: muttomvarikka and sindoor. Muttomvarikka has a slightly hard inner flesh when ripe, while the inner flesh of the ripe sindoor fruit is soft.
A sweet preparation called chakkavaratti (jackfruit jam) is made by seasoning pieces of muttomvarikka fruit flesh in jaggery, which can be preserved and used for many months. The fruits are either eaten alone or as a side to rice. The juice is extracted and either drunk straight or as a side. The juice is sometimes condensed and eaten as candies. The seeds are either boiled or roasted and eaten with salt and hot chilies. They are also used to make spicy side dishes with rice. Jackfruit may be ground and made into a paste, then spread over a mat and allowed to dry in the sun to create a natural chewy candy.


In Indonesia and Malaysia, jackfruit is called nangka. The ripe fruit is usually sold separately and consumed on its own, or sliced and mixed with shaved ice as a sweet concoction dessert such as es campur and es teler. The ripe fruit might be dried and fried as kripik nangka, or jackfruit cracker. The seeds are boiled and consumed with salt, as they contain edible starchy content; this is called beton. Young (unripe) jackfruit is made into curry called gulai nangka or stewed called gudeg.
In the Philippines, jackfruit is called langka in Filipino and nangkà in Cebuano. The unripe fruit is usually cooked in coconut milk and eaten with rice; this is called ginataang langka. The ripe fruit is often an ingredient in local desserts such as halo-halo and the Filipino turon. The ripe fruit, besides also being eaten raw as it is, is also preserved by storing in syrup or by drying. The seeds are also boiled before being eaten.
Thailand is a major producer of jackfruit, which are often cut, prepared, and canned in a sugary syrup (or frozen in bags or boxes without syrup) and exported overseas, frequently to North America and Europe.
In Vietnam, jackfruit is used to make jackfruit chè, a sweet dessert soup, similar to the Chinese derivative bubur cha cha. The Vietnamese also use jackfruit purée as part of pastry fillings or as a topping on xôi ngọt (a sweet version of sticky rice portions).
Jackfruits are found primarily in the eastern part of Taiwan. The fresh fruit can be eaten directly or preserved as dried fruit, candied fruit, or jam. It is also stir-fried or stewed with other vegetables and meat.


The golden yellow timber with good grain is used for building furniture and house construction in India. It is termite-resistant and is superior to teak for building furniture. The wood of the jackfruit tree is important in Sri Lanka and is exported to Europe. Jackfruit wood is widely used in the manufacture of furniture, doors and windows, in roof construction, and fish sauce barrels.
The wood of the tree is used for the production of musical instruments. In Indonesia, hardwood from the trunk is carved out to form the barrels of drums used in the gamelan, and in the Philippines, its soft wood is made into the body of the kutiyapi, a type of boat lute. It is also used to make the body of the Indian string instrument veena and the drums mridangam, thimila, and kanjira.


The jackfruit has played a significant role in Indian agriculture for centuries. Archaeological findings in India have revealed that jackfruit was cultivated in India 3000 to 6000 years ago. It has also been widely cultivated in Southeast Asia.
The ornate wooden plank called avani palaka, made of the wood of the jackfruit tree, is used as the priest's seat during Hindu ceremonies in Kerala. In Vietnam, jackfruit wood is prized for the making of Buddhist statues in temples  The heartwood is used by Buddhist forest monastics in Southeast Asia as a dye, giving the robes of the monks in those traditions their distinctive light-brown color.
Jackfruit is the national fruit of Bangladesh, and the state fruit of the Indian states of Kerala (which hosts jackfruit festivals) and Tamil Nadu.


In 2017, India produced 1.4 million tonnes of jackfruit, followed by Bangladesh, Thailand, and Indonesia.
The marketing of jackfruit involves three groups: producers, traders, and middlemen, including wholesalers and retailers. The marketing channels are rather complex. Large farms sell immature fruit to wholesalers, which helps cash flow and reduces risk, whereas medium-sized farms sell the fruit directly to local markets or retailers.


Outside countries of origin, fresh jackfruit can be found at food markets throughout Southeast Asia.  It is also extensively cultivated in the Brazilian coastal region, where it is sold in local markets. It is available canned in sugary syrup, or frozen, already prepared and cut. Jackfruit industries are established in Sri Lanka and Vietnam, where the fruit is processed into products such as flour, noodles, papad, and ice cream. It is also canned and sold as a vegetable for export.
Jackfruit is also widely available year-round, both canned and dried.  Dried jackfruit chips are produced by various manufacturers. As reported in 2019, jackfruit became more widely available in US grocery stores, cleaned and ready to cook, as well as in premade dishes or prepared ingredients. It is on restaurant menus in preparations such as taco fillings and vegan versions of pulled pork dishes.


In Brazil, the jackfruit can become an invasive species as in Brazil's Tijuca Forest National Park in Rio de Janeiro or at the Horto Florestal in neighbouring Niterói. The Tijuca is mostly an artificial secondary forest, whose planting began during the mid-nineteenth century; jackfruit trees have been a part of the park's flora since it was founded.
The species has expanded excessively because its fruits, which naturally fall to the ground and open, are eagerly eaten by small mammals, such as the common marmoset and coati. The seeds are then dispersed by these animals, spreading jackfruit trees that compete for space with native tree species. The supply of jackfruit has allowed the marmoset and coati populations to expand. Since both prey opportunistically on bird eggs and nestlings, the increases in marmoset and coati populations are detrimental to local birds.


Arum italicum is a species of flowering herbaceous perennial plant in the family Araceae, also known as Italian arum and Italian lords-and-ladies. It is native to the Mediterranean region (southern Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East). It is also naturalized in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Crimea, Caucasus, Canary Islands, Madeira, Azores, Argentina, and scattered locations in America.


It grows 30–46 cm (1–1.5 ft) high, with equal spread. It blooms in spring with white flowers that turn to showy red fruit. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant for traditional and woodland shade gardens. Subspecies italicum (the one normally grown in horticulture) has distinctive pale veins on the leaves, whilst subspecies neglectum (known as late cuckoo pint) has faint pale veins, and the leaves may have dark spots. Nonetheless, intermediates between these two subspecies also occur, and their distinctiveness has been questioned. Some gardeners use this arum to underplant with Hosta, as they produce foliage sequentially: when the Hosta withers away, the arum replaces it in early winter, maintaining ground-cover. Numerous cultivars have been developed for garden use, of which A. italicum subsp. italicum 'Marmoratum' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Arum italicum can be invasive in some areas.
Arum italicum may hybridize with Arum maculatum. The status of two subspecies currently included in Arum italicum, subsp. albispathum (Crimea to the Caucasus) and subsp. canariense (Macaronesia), is uncertain and they may represent independent species.
In 1778, Lamarck noticed that the inflorescence of this plant produces heat.
Leaves, fruits and rhizomes contain compounds that make them poisonous. Notably, leaves are rich in oxalic acid; other active principles are present in other parts. The ingestion of berries, which are showy and red, can be fatal for babies and young children, as well as dogs.


Aruncus dioicus, known as goat's beard, buck's-beard or bride's feathers, is a flowering herbaceous perennial plant in the family Rosaceae, and is the type species of the genus Aruncus. It has alternate, pinnately compound leaves, on thin, stiff stems, with plumes of feathery white or cream flowers borne in summer. This plant can be found in moist woodland, often at higher altitudes, throughout temperate areas of Europe, Asia, and eastern and western North America. In the UK it is considered suitable for planting in and around water areas, and has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
The Latin specific epithet dioicus means "having the male reproductive organs on one plant, and the female on another".
In Italy the young shoots are eaten, usually boiled briefly in herb infused water, and then cooked with eggs and cheese. In Friuli it is one of the ingredients in the local home-made soup based on wild greens called 'pistic'.
Aruncus dioicus var. kamtschaticus has shown potent cytotoxicity against Jurkat T cells.


Arundo donax is a tall perennial cane. It is one of several so-called reed species. It has several common names including giant cane, elephant grass, carrizo, arundo, Spanish cane, Colorado river reed, wild cane, and giant reed.
Arundo donax grows in damp soils, either fresh or moderately saline, and is native to the Greater Middle East. It has been widely planted and naturalised in the mild temperate, subtropical and tropical regions of both hemispheres, especially in the Mediterranean, California, the western Pacific and the Caribbean and is considered invasive in North America and Oceania. It forms dense stands on disturbed sites, sand dunes, in wetlands and riparian habitats.


Arundo donax is a tall, perennial grass in the subfamily Arundinoideae, characterised by C3 photosynthesis. The Stems produced during the first growing season are unbranched and photosynthetic. In the Mediterranean, where a temperate climate is characterized by warm and dry summer and mild winter, new shoots of giant reed emerge around March, growing rapidly in June and July and producing stems and leaves. From late July the lower leaves start to dry, depending on seasonal temperature patterns. Drying accelerates during autumn when anthesis occurs from the beginning of October to the end of November. In this phenological stage moisture content falls significantly. In the low temperatures of winter giant reed stops its growth; regrowth occurs in springtime. Giant reed behaves as an annual in Central Europe where soil temperatures are low, due to poor freeze tolerance of the rhizomes.
The base growth temperature reported for giant reed is 7 °C, with a maximum temperature of 30 °C. It has a high photosynthetic capacity, associated with absence of light saturation. Carbon dioxide exchange rates are high compared to other C₃ and C₄ species; maximum CO₂ uptake ranged from 19.8 to 36.7 µmol m⁻² s⁻¹ under natural conditions, depending on irradiance and leaf age. Carbon dioxide exchange is regulated by leaf conductance.
Studies have found this plant to be rich in active tryptamine compounds, but there are more indications of the plants in India having these compounds than in the United States. Toxins such as bufotenidine and gramine have also been found.
The dried rhizome with the stem removed has been found to contain 0.0057% DMT, 0.026% bufotenine, 0.0023% 5-MeO-MMT. The flowers are also known to have DMT and the 5-methoxylated N-demethylated analogue, also 5-MeO-NMT. The quite toxic quaternary methylated salt of DMT, bufotenidine, has been found in the flowers, and the cyclic dehydrobufotenidine has been found in the roots.A. donax is also known to release volatile organic compounds (VOCs), mainly isoprene.


In most areas where giant reed grows (Mediterranean area and US), viable seeds are not produced. It is reported that sterility of giant reed results from failure of the megaspore mother cell to divide. This sterility, which drastically limits genetic variability, is an obstacle for breeding programs which aim to increase the productivity and biomass quality for energy conversion.
A total of 185 clones of A. donax were collected from California to South Carolina and genetically fingerprinted with the SRAP and TE-based markers. Giant reed exhibited no molecular genetic variation despite the wide genomic coverage of the markers used in this study. The molecular data strongly point to a single genetic clone of A. donax in the United States, although multiple introductions of this plant into the United States have been documented. Another study conducted in the Mediterranean area sampled giant reed from 80 different sites, and demonstrated low gene diversity in this region as well. Results indicate the occurrence of post-meiotic alterations in the ovule and pollen developmental pathway. AFLP data support a monophyletic origin of giant reed and suggest that it originated in Asia, spreading from there into the Mediterranean Basin.


Arundo is a highly invasive plant in southwestern North American rivers, and its promotion as a biofuel in other regions is of great concern to environmental scientists and land managers. Arundo donax was introduced from the Mediterranean to California in the 1820s for roofing material and erosion control in drainage canals in the Los Angeles area. Through spread and subsequent plantings as an ornamental plant, and for use as reeds in woodwind instruments, it has become naturalised throughout warm coastal freshwaters of North America, and its range continues to spread.
It has been planted widely through South America and Australasia and in New Zealand it is listed under the National Pest Plant Accord as an "unwanted organism". Despite its invasive characteristics in regions around the world where it is not native, Arundo is being promoted by the energy industry as a bio-fuel crop. Some of the regions, such as the southeastern United States have natural disturbances, such as hurricanes and floods, that could widely disperse this plant.
It is among the fastest-growing terrestrial plants in the world (nearly 10 centimetres (3.9 in) per day). To present knowledge, Arundo does not provide any food sources or nesting habitats for wildlife. Replacement of native plant communities by Arundo results in low-quality habitat and altered ecosystem functioning. For example, it damages California's riparian ecosystems by outcompeting native species, such as willows, for water. A. donax stems and leaves contain a variety of harmful chemicals, including silica and various alkaloids, which protect it from most insect herbivores and deter wildlife from feeding on it. Grazing animals such as cattle, sheep, and goats may have some effect on it, but are unlikely to be useful in keeping it under control.
Arundo donax appears to be highly adapted to fires. It is highly flammable throughout the year, and during the drier months of the year (July to October), it can increase the probability, intensity, and spread of wildfires through the riparian environment, changing the communities from flood-defined to fire-defined communities. After fires, A. donax rhizomes can resprout quickly, outgrowing native plants, which can result in large stands of A. donax along riparian corridors. Fire events thus push the system further toward mono-specific stands of A. donax.
A waterside plant community dominated by A. donax may also have reduced canopy shading of the in-stream habitat, which may result in increased water temperatures. This may lead to decreased oxygen concentrations and lower diversity of aquatic animals.
As the impact of Arundo donax increased in the environment and native species various efforts have been taken to reduce its population. It has few natural enemies in its introduced range. Several Mediterranean insects have been imported into the United States as biological control agents. The Arundo wasp, Tetramesa romana, the Arundo scale insect, Rhizaspidiotus donacis, and the Arundo fly, Cryptonevra are known to have some effect in damaging the plant. Tetramesa romana and more recently Rhizaspidiotus donacisis were registered in the US as biological control agents.
Other remedies like using mechanical force have also been employed, since outside its native range Arundo donax doesn't reproduce by seeds, so removing its root structure can be effective at controlling it. Preventing it from getting sunlight will deplete the plant of its resources and eventually kill it. Systemic herbicides and glyphosate are also used as chemical remedies.
The US Department of Homeland Security considers this plant invasive and in 2007 began researching biological controls. In 2015, Texas Senator Carlos Uresti passed legislation to create a program to eradicate Arundo donax using herbicides and the Arundo wasp.
In New Zealand's northernmost region, Arundo donax crowds out native plants, reduces wildlife habitat, contributes to higher fire frequency and intensity, and modifies river hydrology.


Establishment is a critical point of cultivation. Stem and rhizome have a great ability to sprout after removal from mother plant and both can be used for clonal propagation. The use of rhizomes were found to be the better propagation method for this species, achieving better survival rate. In this field study, it was noticed how the lowest density (12 500 rhizomes ha⁻¹) resulted in taller and thicker plants compared to denser plantation (25 000 rhizomes ha⁻¹). Seedbed preparation is conducted in the spring, immediately before planting, by a pass with a double-disk harrowing and a pass with a field cultivator. Giant reed has the possibility of adopting low plant density. The rhizomes were planted at 10–20 centimetres (3.9–7.9 in) of soil depth, with a minimum plant density of 10 000 plants per ha), while mature stems, with two or more nodes, can be planted 10–15 centimetres (3.9–5.9 in) deep. In order to ensure good root stand and adequate contact with the soil, sufficient moisture is needed immediately after planting. Pre-plant fertilizer is distributed according to the initial soil fertility, but usually an application of P at a rate of 80–100 kilograms (180–220 lb) ha⁻¹ is applied.
A. donax maintains a high productive aptitude without irrigation under semi-arid climate conditions. In Southern Italy, a trial was carried out testing the yields performance of 39 genotypes, and an average yields of 22.1 t ha⁻¹ dry matter in the second year were reached, a comparable result with others results obtained in Spain (22.5 t ha⁻¹) as well as in South Greece (19.0 t ha⁻¹). Several reports underlined that it is more economical to grow giant reed under moderate irrigation.
In order to evaluate different management practices, nitrogen fertilizer and input demand was evaluated in a 6-year field study conducted at the University of Pisa. Fertilizer enhanced the productive capacity in the initial years, but as the years go by and as the radical apparatus progressively deepens, the differences due to fertilizer decrease until disappearing. Harvest time and plant density were found to not affect the biomass yields.
Due to its high growth rate and superior resource-capture capacity (light, water and nutrients), A. donax is not affected by weed competition from the second year. An application of post-emergence treatment is usually recommended.
Giant reed has few known disease or insect pest, but in intensive cultivation, no pesticides are used.
To remove giant reed at the end of the crop cycle, there are mainly two methods: mechanical or chemical. An excavator can be useful to dig out the rhizomes or alternatively a single late-season application of 3% glyphosate onto the foliar mass is efficient and effective with least hazardous to biota. Glyphosate was selected as the most appropriate product for specific considerations on efficacy, environmental safety, soil residual activity, operator safety, application timing, and cost-effectiveness. However, glyphosate is only effective in fall when plants are actively transporting nutrients to the root zone, and multiple retreatments are usually needed. Other herbicides registered for aquatic use can be very effective in controlling Arundo at other times of the year.


An increased environmental concern is the health of soil system as one of the main factors affecting quality and productivity of agroecosystems. Around the world, several regions are subjected to a decline of fertility due to an increasing degradation of soils, loss of organic matter and increasing desertification. Recently research was carried out to evaluate, in the same pedological and climatic conditions, the impact of three long-term (14 years) agricultural systems, continuous giant reed, natural grassland, and cropping sequence, on the organic-matter characteristics and microbial biomass size in soil. The study pointed out that a long term Giant reed cropping system, characterized by low tillage intensity, positively affect the amount and quality of soil organic matter. Arundo donax showed greater values than tilled management system for total soil organic carbon, light fraction carbon, dissolved organic carbon, and microbial biomass carbon. Regarding the humification parameters, there were noticed any statistically differences between giant reed and a cropping sequence (cereals-legumes cultivated conventionally).


Asarum caudatum is found in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Northern California, Idaho, and Montana in moist, shaded environments. Its northernmost populations occur near Meziadin Lake. It is a typical herb found in the understory of mixed conifer forests under 670 metres (2,200 ft) in elevation, and is often a dominant plant.


The prostrate stems are 10–15 centimetres (3.9–5.9 in) long, each bearing two reniform leaves with long petioles. The leaves are about 10 cm wide. The upper surface of the leaves is shiny, and they have a pepper-like taste and smell. There are also 2 to 3 stipules present that occur in two rows opposite each other on the stem. The flowers are solitary, terminal and nodding. The flower tube is composed of fused tepals that ends with 3 petal-like projections that are brownish towards their ends and dark purple toward the centre. There are 12 stamens present. The flowers emerge in the late winter and spring.


Asarum europaeum has a wide distribution in Europe. It ranges from southern Finland and northern Russia south to southern France, Italy, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Bulgaria. It is absent from the British Isles and Scandinavia, and also from northwestern Germany and the Netherlands. Within Europe, the plant is grown outside of its range in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands.
It occurs mostly in deciduous woodland or coniferous forests, especially in calcareous (chalky) soils.


Asclepias californica is a species of milkweed known by the common name California milkweed. It grows throughout lower northern, central and southern California.


Asclepias erosa is a species of milkweed known commonly as desert milkweed. It is native to southern California, Arizona, and northern Baja California, where it is most abundant in the desert regions.


Asclepias fascicularis is a species of milkweed known by the common names narrowleaf milkweed and Mexican whorled milkweed. It is a perennial herb that grows in a variety of habitats.


Asclepias fascicularis is a flowering perennial herb sending up many thin, erect stems and bearing distinctive long pointed leaves which are very narrow and often whorled about the stem, giving the plant its common names.
It blooms in clusters of lavender, pale pink, purple, white, to greenish shades of flowers. They have five reflexed lobes that extend down away from the blossom. The flowers are 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) and pedicels are 6–10 mm (0.2–0.4 in) in size.
The fruit pods are the smooth milkweed type, which split open to spill seeds along with plentiful silky hairs. They bloom from late spring to late summer.


Swamp milkweed is an upright, 100 to 150 cm (39 to 59 in) tall plant, growing from thick, fleshy, white roots. Typically, its stems are branched and the clump forming plants emerge in late spring after most other plants have begun growth for the year. The oppositely arranged leaves are 7.5 to 15 cm (3 to 6 in) long and 1 to 4 cm (1⁄2 to 1+1⁄2 in) wide and are narrow and lance-shaped, with the ends tapering to a sharp point.
The plants bloom in early through mid-summer, producing small, fragrant, pink to mauve (sometimes white) colored flowers in rounded umbellate racemes.  The flower color varies from darker shades of purple through soft, pinkish purple and a white flowering form exists as well.  The actinomorphic flowers have five reflexed petals and an elevated central crown. After blooming, green follicles, approximately 12 cm (4+3⁄4 in) long, are produced that when ripe, split open. They then release light or dark brown, flat seeds that are attached to silver-white, silky hairs which catch the wind. This natural mechanism for seed dispersal is similar to that used by other milkweed species.


Swamp milkweed prefers moisture retentive through damp soils in full sun or partial shade and is typically found growing wild near the edges of ponds, lakes, streams, and low areas—or along ditches.  It is one of the best attractors of the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), which feeds on the flowers and lays  eggs on the plants. The emerging caterpillars feed on the leaves.
The plants have specialized roots which function in heavy, wet soils. The scented, thick, white roots are in environments low in oxygen. Blooming occurs in mid- through late summer and after blooming long, relatively thin, rounded follicles are produced that grow uprightly. They split open in late summer through late fall, releasing seeds attached to silky hairs, which act as parachutes that carry the seeds in wind currents.


Asclepias lanceolata is found on the coastal plains of Eastern and Southeastern United States. Populations of this milkweed are found in the following states: Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Jersey, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. It is distributed throughout most of Florida but only found in small areas of southeast Texas. Further details on state county distributions can be found on the USDA's plant profile for this species. A. lanceolata is on display at the Crosby Arboretum in Picayune, Mississippi.


Fewflower milkweed is a perennial plant that can be frequently found in marshes (fresh and brackish), low glades, and wet pine barrens. It prefers sandy and loamy soils that are well-drained, but can also survive in poorly drained swampy soils. Optimum soil pH is between 5 and 7, however it can grow within a range of 4.5 to 7.5. While it can grow in semi-shaded areas, it prefers a sunny site. A. lanceolata is adapted to a precipitation zone that ranges from 500 to 1500 mm annually, and a temperature that ranges from 8 to 35 degrees Celsius. Optimum precipitation range is 600 to 1400 mm per year, and optimum temperate ranges from 12 to 30 degrees Celsius. This milkweed can withstand winter temperatures down to -25 degrees Celsius.  In the wild, it is often found growing near Salt Marsh Mallow, Kosteletzkya virginica. This plant is susceptible to damage by slugs, especially when it is young and vulnerable.


Flowers of Asclepias lanceolata are bright red-orange and can reach up to 1 cm wide. They first bloom in the early summer months of May and June and continue into July and August. The flowers are bisexual, having both male and female reproductive structures. They have five sepals, five petals, and exhibit actinomorphic (radial) symmetry. Fruits of this species are described as slender pods or follicles containing tiny seeds. The seeds ripen in September and have tiny hairs that aid in wind dispersal.


Unlike more commonly known species such as common milkweed or butterflyweed, fourleaf milkweed is a woodland denizen. It usually occurs in dry, rocky open forest. It is frequently found on upland slopes.


Asclepias syriaca, commonly called common milkweed, butterfly flower, silkweed, silky swallow-wort, and Virginia silkweed, is a species of flowering plant. It is native to southern Canada and much of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, excluding the drier parts of the prairies. It is in the genus Asclepias, the milkweeds. It grows in sandy soils as well as other kinds of soils in sunny areas.


A. syriaca is a clonal perennial forb growing up to 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) tall. Individual plants grow from rhizomes. All parts of common milkweed plants produce a white latex when cut. The simple leaves are opposite, sometimes whorled; broadly ovate-lanceolate. They grow to 10–28 cm (4–11 in) long and 4–12 cm (1+1⁄2–4+3⁄4 in) broad, usually with entire, undulate margins and reddish main veins. They have very short petioles and velvety undersides.
The highly fragrant, nectariferous flowers vary from white (rarely) through pinkish and purplish and occur in umbellate cymes. Individual flowers are about 1 cm (0.4 in) in diameter, each with five horn-like hoods and five pollinia. The seeds, each with long, white flossy hairs, occur in large follicles. Fruit production from self-fertilization is rare. In three study plots, outcrossed flowers had an average of about 11% fruit set.


More than 450 insects species feed on A. syriaca, including flies, beetles, ants, bees, wasps, and butterflies; it is an important food source for monarch butterfly caterpillars (Danaus plexippus); other species that feed on the plant include red milkweed beetle (Tetraopes tetraophthalmus), the milkweed tussock caterpillar (Euchaetes egle) and Oncopeltus fasciatus and Lygaeus kalmii. Many kinds of insects visit A. syriaca flowers, and some kinds pollinate them, including Apis mellifera, the Western honey bee, and native Bombus spp. (bumblebees). In the U.S. mid-Atlantic region, the introduced species A. mellifera was found to be the most "effective" pollinator, but this occurs more often among flowers of the same plant; since  A. syriaca has a high level of self-incompatibility, it is less effective than  'Bombus spp. in the fertilization of flowers because Bombus spp. are more likely to visit unrelated individuals.
Monarch butterfly larvae consume only milkweeds, and monarch populations may decline when milkweeds are eliminated with herbicides. The development and widely adopted cultivation of herbicide-resistant staple crops such as corn and soybeans have led to a massive reduction in weeds and native plants such as milkweeds. Subsequently, this has played a significant part in the population decline of the monarch butterfly. In 2018 the CEO of the National Wildlife Federation stated that the population of the monarch butterfly is now down 90 percent in the last 20 years and cited the reduction in milkweed as a contributing factor.
Many parts of the United States face a reduction in milkweed population due to factors such as increased habitat loss due to development, roadside median mowing, and herbicide use. Despite this, deforestation due to human settlement may have expanded the range and density of common milkweed in some regions. Milkweed has even become invasive as it is naturalized in several areas outside of its original native range, including Oregon and some parts of Europe.
Over 40 distinct pathogens of Asclepias species have been identified, including two dozen pathogens for A. syriaca. For example, milkweed yellows is an infectious disease caused by the milkweed yellows phytoplasma, a strain of bacteria distinguished by the absence of a cell wall.
The species features since 2017 on the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union Concern. This means that import of the species and trade in the species is forbidden in the whole of the European Union.


The plant's latex contains large quantities of cardiac glycosides, making the leaves and stems of old tall plants toxic to humans and large animals. The young shoots, young leaves, flower buds and immature fruits are all edible raw.
Euell Gibbons, the author of Stalking the Wild Asparagus (1962), wrote that milkweed is bitter and toxic.  However, he may have inadvertently prepared common dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum), a poisonous somewhat similar-looking plant instead. Gibbons devised a method to remove the bitterness and toxicity by plunging the young shoots into boiling water and cooking for one minute, repeating the procedure at least three times to make the plant safe to eat. Some modern foragers consider the bitterness and toxicity issue a myth. The plants have no bitterness when tasted raw, and can be cooked like asparagus, with no special processing.
Failed attempts have been made to exploit rubber (from the latex) and fiber (from seeds' "floss") production from the plant industrially. The fluffy seed hairs have been used as the traditional background for mounted butterflies and other insects. The compressed floss has a silk-like sheen. The plant has also been explored for commercial use of its bast (inner bark) fiber, which is both strong and soft. U. S. Department of Agriculture studies in the 1890s and 1940s found that common milkweed has more potential for commercial processing than any other indigenous bast fiber plant, with estimated yields as high as hemp and quality as good as flax. Both the bast fiber and the floss were used historically by Native Americans for cordage and textiles. Milkweed has also been cultivated commercially to be used as insulation in winter coats.
Traditionally, in both North America and Europe, the plant was used to treat respiratory infections such as pleurisy.


The first native Australian fungus to be formally described, Aseroe rubra was collected in 1792 in southern Tasmania and named by the French botanist Jacques Labillardière. The scientific name is derived from the Ancient Greek words Asē/αση 'disgust' and roē/ροη 'juice', and the Latin ruber 'red'. It is a member of the stinkhorn family Phallaceae, although has been placed by some mycologists in a separate family Clathraceae. Like them it bears its spores in a brownish slime which smells of faeces or carrion and attracts flies, which spread the spores.


This fairly common fungus is widely distributed in Australia from southeastern Queensland through New South Wales and eastern Victoria and Tasmania. It is also found across many islands in the Pacific Ocean, including New Zealand. A saprotroph, it is found on decomposing plant matter as well as on woodchips and mulch and is common in gardens and amenities plantings. It also occurs in alpine grasslands and woodlands.
From its natural habitat, it appears to have traveled to other parts of the world in garden or soil products; it was recorded growing on soil transported from Australia in a glasshouse in Kew Gardens in 1829 and later in California in North America. Transport in garden or soil products does not explain its presence on remote and uninhabited Pacific islands nor its occurrence in South Africa, Kangaita, Kirinyaga a small village in Kenya in localities remote from any garden. These unexplained localities cast doubt on the assumption that the species was spread from Australia and New Zealand by humans. Recently, A. rubra var.  zeylanica which differ in size (3-4.5 cm diam.) and salmon pink to reddish-orange unbranched arms or tentacles, has been reported from the Western Ghats, Kerala, India. This fungus is distributed in the semi-evergreen to evergreen forests and Eucalyptus  stands at high ranges.


The short-eared owl is a medium-sized owl measuring 34–43 cm (13–17 in) in length and weighing 206–475 g (7.3–16.8 oz). It has large eyes, a big head, a short neck, and broad wings. Its bill is short, strong, hooked and black. Its plumage is mottled tawny to brown with a barred tail and wings. The upper breast is significantly streaked. Its flight is characteristically floppy due to its irregular wingbeats. The short-eared owl may also be described as "moth or bat-like" in flight. Wingspans range from 85 to 110 cm (33 to 43 in). Females are slightly larger than males. The yellow-orange eyes of A. flammeus are exaggerated by black rings encircling each eye, giving the appearance of them wearing mascara, and large, whitish disks of plumage surrounding the eyes like a mask.


Sexual maturity is attained at one year. Breeding season in the northern hemisphere lasts from March to June, peaking in April. During this time these owls may gather in flocks. During breeding season, the males make great spectacles of themselves in flight to attract females. The male swoops down over the nest flapping its wings in a courtship display. These owls are generally monogamous.
The short-eared owl nests on the ground in prairie, tundra, savanna, or meadow habitats. Nests are concealed by low vegetation, and may be lightly lined by weeds, grass, or feathers. Approximately 4 to 7 white eggs are found in a typical clutch, but clutch size can reach up to a dozen eggs in years when voles are abundant. There is one brood per year. The eggs are incubated mostly by the female for 21–37 days. Offspring fledge at a little over four weeks. This owl is known to lure predators away from its nest by appearing to have a crippled wing.


Hunting occurs mostly at night, but this owl is known to be diurnal and crepuscular as well. Its daylight hunting seems to coincide with the high-activity periods of voles, its preferred prey. It tends to fly only feet above the ground in open fields and grasslands until swooping down upon its prey feet-first. Several owls may hunt over the same open area. Its food consists mainly of rodents, especially voles, but it will eat other small mammals such as mice, ground squirrels, shrews, rats, bats, muskrats and moles. It will also occasionally predate smaller birds, especially when near sea-coasts and adjacent wetlands at which time they attack shorebirds, terns and small gulls and seabirds with semi-regularity. Avian prey is more infrequently preyed on inland and centers on passerines such as larks, icterids, starlings, tyrant flycatchers and pipits. Insects supplement the diet and short-eared owls may prey on roaches, grasshoppers, beetles, katydids and caterpillars. Competition can be fierce in North America with the northern harrier, with which the owl shares similar habitat and prey preferences. Both species will readily harass the other when prey is caught.
Because of the high pH in the stomach of owls they have a reduced ability to digest bone and other hard parts, they eject pellets containing the remains of their prey.


The long-eared owl (Asio otus), also known as the northern long-eared owl or, more informally, as the lesser horned owl or cat owl, is a medium-sized species of owl with an extensive breeding range. The scientific name is from Latin. The genus name Asio is a type of eared owl, and otus also refers to a small, eared owl. The species breeds in many areas through Europe and the Palearctic, as well as in North America. This species is a part of the larger grouping of owls known as typical owls, of the family Strigidae, which contains most extant species of owl (while the other taxonomic family of owls are the barn owls, or Tytonidae).
This owl shows a partiality for semi-open habitats, particularly woodland edge, as they prefer to roost and nest within dense stands of wood but prefer to hunt over open ground. The long-eared owl is a somewhat specialized predator, focusing its diet almost entirely on small rodents, especially voles, which quite often compose most of their diet. Under some circumstances, such as population cycles of their regular prey, arid or insular regional habitats or urbanization, this species can adapt fairly well to a diversity of prey, including birds and insects. All owls do not build their own nests. In the case of the long-eared owl, the owls generally utilizes nests that are built by other animals, with a partiality in many regions for those built by corvids. Breeding success in this species is largely correlated with prey populations and predation risks. Unlike many owls, long-eared owls are not strongly territorial nor sedentary. They are partially migratory and, although owls appear to generally use the same migratory routes and wintering sites annually, can tend to appear so erratically that they are sometimes characterized as “nomadic”. Another fairly unique characteristic of this species is its partially for regular roosts that are often shared by a number of long-eared owls at once. The long-eared owl is one of the most widely distributed and most numerous owl species in the world, and due to its very broad range and numbers it is considered a least concern species by the IUCN. Nonetheless, strong declines have been detected for this owl in several parts of its range.


The long-eared owl was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Strix otus. This owl is now assigned to the genus Asio that was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760.
Owls in the genus Asio are sometimes commonly referred to as eared owls. Despite the extensive modern distribution of the species, only eight modern species are thought to exist. Four species are found both in Eurasia and Africa and in the Americas, including the long-eared owl and short-eared owl in both. Despite similarities and being considered as in the same genus, it was found in a study utilizing electrophoresis that the genetic distance between long-eared owls and short-eared owls was unusually large for species within the same genera. Notwithstanding fossil records of Asio species showing the species presence during prehistory in locations like Kansas and Idaho (Asio brevipes) and California (Asio priscus), the exact origins of the long-eared owl are unknown nor their area of evolutionary origin and are unlikely to ever be known. At least three modern species represent related derivations, possibly with long-eared owls as the paraspecies or with the long-eared as part of a species complex that potentially bear a basal common ancestor. In all three cases, the related owls are obviously more tropical in distribution and adapted to more humid conditions, with darker plumage and are larger bodied with apparently stronger feet and more overdeveloped talons, possibly exploiting a more or less unoccupied ecological niche against competing owls. One of these three is the Stygian owl, which is the darkest derivation of all and readily known to be distinct for some time. The other two slightly larger, tropical species possibly housed in a species complex with the long-eared owls were at one time considered to be part of the long-eared owls species. One of these is the Madagascar owl (Asio madagascariensis), obviously endemic to the island of its name, while the other is the Abyssinian owl (Asio abyssinicus), native to east Africa especially in the northern area such as Ethiopia. While the marsh owl of Africa is outwardly very similar to and likely closely related to the short-eared owl, the striped owl (Asio clamator) is somewhat of an outlier among living Asio species and of mysterious origin, despite being genetically related to the other Asio, does not appear to be a close cousin of other living species. Studies of the mitochondrial genome found that the Asio genus, and consequently the long-eared owl, diverged most recently among living owl groups from the Otus or scops owls genus, with a more distant branch division from the Strix genus. A study of the genetic homogeny of long-eared owls in a single roost site was shown to be slightly higher than between different roosts. However, this homogeny is relatively low for a communal roosting bird in general.


Four subspecies of the long-eared owl are recognised.
A. o. otus (Linnaeus, 1758)- This is the nominate subspecies and is distributed throughout the species’ range in the Palearctic. They may be found as far west as the Azores, northwestern Africa, the Iberian Peninsula and the British Isles through as far east as Sakhalin, Japan and northern China. Some populations of this race may winter as far south as in Egypt, Pakistan, northern India and southern China. The wing chord of the nominate subspecies may range between 263 and 313 mm (10.4 and 12.3 in) and tail length may be between 132 and 165 mm (5.2 and 6.5 in). Size appears to increase slightly from west to east, with owls in China being about 4% larger winged than those from Europe. Despite there being no known published weights for eastern/Chinese long-eared owls, they appear to obtain the largest sizes within the species. In this subspecies, the facial disc tends to be pale ochraceous tawny, rimmed black with relatively short eyebrows that are marked whitish or absent entirely of markings. The erectile ear-tufts are prominent, being colored mainly blackish-brown with tawny edges. The upperparts are ochraceous-tawny, finely peppered with dusky spots and blackish streaks on a grey "veil", while the crown is finely mottled to dusky. The nape and hindneck bear dusky shaft-streaks with the feather outer webs of the scapulars being whitish, forming a row across the shoulder. Primaries basally are uniformly ochraceous-tawny, distally barred light and dark, while the secondaries are barred ochraceous and dusky. The tail is typically tawny with a greyish wash, overlaid with 6-8 very narrow dark brown bars. The underparts have a base colour of ochre, with the foreneck and upper breast marked with blackish-brown streaks; these becomes paler below and marked with dusky shaft-streaks and narrow cross bars. The underwing has distinctive barring and dark comma-like markings at the wrist (conspicuously lacking on overlapping Eurasian short-eared owls). The eyes tend to be yellowish-orange to orange, but occasionally may be chrome yellow. The cere is brownish-flesh, the bill is grey and the talons are blackish-grey. In this subspecies, the downy chick is whitish with pink skin, while the mesoptile plumage is fluffy greyish to brownish-white with diffusely barred dusky flight and tail feathers, being similar to adults but with the ear tufts not yet developed.
A. o. canariensis (Madarász, 1901)- This subspecies is endemic to the Canary Islands. With a wing chord measurement of 257 to 284 mm (10.1 to 11.2 in), this is seemingly the smallest subspecies of the long-eared owl. This race averages darker than most long-eared owls of the nominate subspecies, bearing heavier and sharper dark markings overall. Furthermore, the Canary Island long-eared owls tend to have brighter reddish-orange eyes.
A. o. wilsonianus (Lesson, 1830)- This subspecies is found in south central and south east Canada (Manitoba to Nova Scotia) south to southern USA (north Oklahoma and Virginia). The wing chord typically measures 284 to 305 mm (11.2 to 12.0 in). In general, American long-eared owls are more vividly marked than many Eurasian populations. The facial disc is bright rufous, with a strong blackish rim and extensive white about the disc. The eyes are typically a deep yellow. Meanwhile, the markings on the underside usually are quite blackish and prominent with distinct cross bars.
A. o. tuftsi Godfrey, 1948 - The range is western Canada (south Yukon to southwest Manitoba) south to south central USA (west Texas). It differs from A. o. wilsonianus in having paler plumage. The brown mottling on upper parts is paler and more restricted. It is weakly differentiated and may compromise clinal variations due to region and habitat, rather than subspecific differences.


This species is a rather slim and long winged owl with usually prominent erectile ear tufts, which are positioned closer to the center of the head than in many other types of owl. The purposes of ear tufts are not definitively known and are present in about half of living owls. Arguably the most popular theory amongst biologists and ornithologists is that ear tufts could be a means of intraspecies communication of intent and mood. In general coloration, the long-eared owl is often considered a hue of ochraceous-tawny with a grayish or brownish wash variably manifesting. The base color is commonly overlaid with variable blackish vertical streaks (and occasionally spots), which are usually more apparent about the wings and back. The scapulars are usually marked whitish, which provide further contrast when seen against the base color and blackish markings. The wing's dark carpal patches can also display broad panels of buff or almost orange on the wings across the base of primaries, which represent a more richly emphasized version of a pattern shared with other owls that tend to be vole-hunting specialists, like short-eared owls (Asio flammeus) and great gray owl (Strix nebulosa). On the underside, the body tends to be a somewhat paler ochraceous-tawny compared to the upperside. Long-eared owls tend to have dusky streaks on the upper breast, below which they may be heavily marked with herring bone pattern (which is created by dusky shaft-streaks and crossbars on these feathers). There is much individual and regional variation in markings with owls dwelling in more extensively forested regions tending to be of a darker hue, often so densely washed above as to appear largely dusky brown on the back and the underside largely overlaid with bolder dusky-blackish marks. Meanwhile, in some desert-like regions, the plumage may tend towards a somewhat more washed out look, at times appearing fairly cream or yellowish, with sparser and lighter dusky markings overall. The facial disc is visibly well developed and variably colored (see subspecies) in the species, rimmed dusky often with white running down along the center through the bill, while at times the white lines form a “moustache” and/or extending to the inside of the facial disc rim. The ear tufts are usually dusky in front and paler tawny on the back.  Long-eared owl possess a blackish bill color while its eyes may vary from yellowish-orange to orange-red, tarsi and toes feathered.
The long-eared owl is a medium-sized owl, which measures between 31 and 40 cm (12 and 16 in) in total length. Their wingspan is relatively large for their size, measuring 86 to 102 cm (2 ft 10 in to 3 ft 4 in). However, compared to other widespread owls considered of medium size and to which they can appear broadly similar in size, such as barn owl (Tyto alba), short-eared owls and tawny owls (Strix aluco), the long-eared owl is quite a bit lighter and slenderer bodied, with mature weights around half of those of tawny owls not being uncommon. As expected in owls and birds of prey in general, long-eared owls display reverse sexual dimorphism in which females are usually slightly larger than males (to the contrary of most non-raptorial birds). Males furthermore may tend to be somewhat paler in plumage than females. In Finland, one survey of the body mass of mature birds found that 22 males averaged 288 g (10.2 oz) while 20 females averaged 327 g (11.5 oz). In body mass, European long-eared owls per a study were shown to run contrary to Bergmann's rule (that widespread animals should be smaller closer to the Equator) as body mass seemed to increase further south, being lightest in Sweden, where 37 males averaged 197 g (6.9 oz) and 24 females averaged 225 g (7.9 oz), intermediate in Denmark and heaviest in the Netherlands, where 21 males averaged 256 g (9.0 oz) and 24 females averaged 308 g (10.9 oz). In migratory owls largely from Scandinavian summer grounds in England, the average weight of 8 males was 263.6 g (9.30 oz) and the average of 28 females was 294.7 g (10.40 oz). Meanwhile, in various studies in North America, 38 males (in Montana) were found to average 245.3 g (8.65 oz), 55 males (also Montana in a different study) to average 261 g (9.2 oz) and 15 males (from Idaho) 232 g (8.2 oz). From the same studies, respectively, 28 females averaged 279.4 g (9.86 oz), 49 females averaged 337 g (11.9 oz) and 19 females averaged 288 g (10.2 oz). Museum specimens in North America were found to average 245 g (8.6 oz) in 38 males and 279 g (9.8 oz) in 28 females, while 520 migrating adults in Duluth, Minnesota averaged 281.1 g (9.92 oz). In all, long-eared owl males may vary in weight from 160 to 330 g (5.6 to 11.6 oz) while females may vary from 180 to 435 g (6.3 to 15.3 oz).
In standard measurements, long-eared owls vary in wing chord length from 262 to 315 mm (10.3 to 12.4 in) in males, with 883 in North America averaging 285.1 mm (11.22 in), and 255 to 332 mm (10.0 to 13.1 in) in females, with 520 American ones averaging 286.2 mm (11.27 in). The tail may measure 121.5 to 161 mm (4.78 to 6.34 in) in males and 143.5 to 165 mm (5.65 to 6.50 in) in females, with 1,408 owls averaging 146.3 mm (5.76 in). Less widely measured are bill length, which averaged 15.7 mm (0.62 in) in males and 16.2 mm (0.64 in) in females from North America, and tarsus length, which averaged 38.2 mm (1.50 in) in 20 males and 39.9 mm (1.57 in) for 16 females from Europe, with a range in both sexes of 36.9 to 42.3 mm (1.45 to 1.67 in). In terms of their skeletal structure, it bears a relatively wide skull but relatively small eyes and orbits, while the beak is relatively elongated but weak. The legs are relatively long and thin and, while needle-sharp, the talons are relatively fine and the feet relatively weak for an owl. However, the talons are still highly proficient at drawing blood if contact is made with human skin.


If seen well, an experienced observer is usually able to distinguish a long-eared owl by combination of its field marks, size and coloration. However, some potential owl species may be confused for them. Stygian owls (Asio stygius) (which barely overlap perhaps in northern Mexico) is larger with partially bare toes and generally darker with inky and more boldly patterned plumage, with often nearly the enter facial mask appearing off-black. Tawny owls, which co-exist with long-eared owls in Eurasia, are unlikely to be mistaken given that they usually appear considerably rounder and bulkier overall (and are indeed slightly larger and much heavier), further possessing a much broader, more rounded head. The tawny species has no ear tufts, eyes of blackish-brown colour and relatively shorter wings. In flight, tawny owls show well-fingered primaries (with five apparent emarginations) unlike the squared off wings of the long-eared owl. The Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo) is far larger and more massive than a long-eared owl with visibly more overdeveloped and  powerful-looking feet and talons and a huge squared-off-looking head with the ear tufts set nearer to the edge. The eagle-owl is often more heavily patterned on the crown and back with heavy blackish marking but has a less strongly demarked (and shallower) facial disc when compared to the long-eared. In some parts of the wintering range, other eagle-owls may scarcely abut the wide range of long-eared owls in Eurasia (and perhaps Northwestern Africa) but are usually distinguishable (similarly as in the Eurasian species) by size differences, plumage characteristics and, occasionally, habitat preferences. Asian fish owls, which are essentially a subset of eagle-owls, are generally also much larger than long-eared owls with tousled looking ear tufts, have less variable coloring and often have feathering over only part of their tarsi. In North America, great horned owls (Bubo virginianus), yet another type of eagle-owl in all but name, have a squarish head and more widely separated ear tufts. Like other Bubo species, great horned owls are also perceptibly larger and more massively built than any long-eared owl (despite being smaller than the Eurasian eagle-owl). Great horned owls also have typically heavily barred, rather than streaked, underparts. Scops and screech owls are much smaller than long-eared owls, as well as differently marked (often with more individual varying overall coloring, i.e. from gray to brown to rufous) and usually have rather short ear tufts. Marsh owl (Asio capensis) (rare overlap perhaps in northern Morocco) is generally brown with quite different looking fine mottling or barring below and has brown eyes and tiny ear tufts.
Over much of its range, long-eared owls occur with the related short-eared owl, the latter species averaging slightly larger. Much has been written about distinguishing them in the field, though, if seen well, the resemblance between the species is not particularly strong. Furthermore, the two species differ in habitat preferences, with the short-eared owl often favoring (where available) any kind of entirely treeless, open habitats (including many wetlands and Arctic tundra as well as steppe, prairie and extensive meadows), often avoiding the edge habitats favored by the long-eared. However, in dim light, at a distance or in flight, confusion is certainly possible. In both long-eared and short-eared owls, the flight style when seen has a distinctive, erratic and buoyant flapping quality that many birdwatchers considered reminiscent of a moth. At rest, the ear-tufts of the long-eared owl serve to easily distinguish the two (although long-eared owls can sometimes hold their ear-tufts lax). The iris-colour differs: yellow in short-eared, and often orange in long-eared. Furthermore, the black surrounding the eyes is vertical and slight on the long-eared, and horizontal and far more conspicuous on the short-eared. Overall, the short-eared owl tends to be a paler, sandier-looking bird than the long-eared, lacking the darker and more extensive markings of the latter.  There are a number of other ways in which the two species differ which are best seen when they are flying. Short-eared owls often have a broad white band along the rear edge of the wing, which is not shown by long-eared owls. On the upperwing, the short-eared owl's primary-patches are usually paler and more obvious. The band on the upper side of the short-eared owl's tail are usually bolder than those of the long-eared. The short-eared's innermost secondaries are often dark-marked, contrasting with the rest of the underwing. The long-eared owl has streaking throughout its underparts whereas on the short-eared the streaking ends at the breast. The dark markings on the underside of the tips of the longest primaries are bolder on short-eared owls. The upperparts of short-eared owls are coarsely blotched, whereas on the long-eared they are more finely marked. The short-eared owl also differs structurally from the long-eared, having longer, slimmer wings. The shorter and broader wings in combination with a squarer tail in long-eared owls produce proportions more reminiscent of a buzzard than the short-eared.  When studied by their osteological features, however, the long-eared and short-eared owls are difficult to distinguish.


The long-eared owl has relatively large ear slits placed asymmetrically on the sides of its head, as in a majority of owls, with the left ear higher and right lower in order to allow them to absorb sound both from above and below. The ear slit very nearly occupy the full height of the skull, being are about 38 mm (1.5 in), long and covered in movable skin flaps. The right ear is about 13% larger based on freshly dead owls. Due to its ear structure, the hearing of a long-eared owl is around ten times better at hearing high and medium pitches than humans. Barn owls and boreal owl (Aegolius funereus) have (via convergent evolution) roughly similar ear structures, with the relative size of the ear structure and facial disc in owls generally indicative of the level of importance of acute hearing to their life history. Owls with relatively smaller ear slits and shallower or vestigial facial discs tend to skew towards more crepuscular or partially diurnal behaviors, whereas owls such as long-eared owls are more or less entirely nocturnal. It is well known that a majority of owls can hunt in darkness due to their extraordinary hearing, which allows them to pinpoint locations of prey, but they can also utilize their hearing to track intraspecific calls and activities and avoid predation risks.
The vocalizations of this species are highly variable. Amongst owls of all ages, long-eared owls in Michigan were recorded to have made 23 different vocalizations. Karel Voous considered them to likely be the most diverse vocalists of all owl species in the Northern hemisphere. The song of the male long-eared owl is a deep whoop, which is repeated at intervals of several seconds. It starts with some hoots at slightly lower pitch before reaching full volume and quality. On calm nights, this song may carry over up to 1 to 2 km (0.62 to 1.24 mi) away (at least to human auditory perception). The song of the male is around 400 hertz. In North America, some observers have considered the male's song as analogous to the deep cooing of band-tailed pigeons (Patagioenas fasciata). Females gives a weaker, less clear and much higher pitched song with a nasal quality. In nearly all owl species, the females, despite being typically the larger sex, have smaller syrinx than the males and so tend to have less powerful voices. The call of the female is at times compared to a weak tin whistle and is only audible at close range, being about 4-5 halftones higher than the song of the male. Females usually call only in duet with male during courtship, but also when the nest is selected and around the beginning of incubation (probably in conjunction with food-begging). In fact, close study has revealed that female calling may occur as frequently as every 2–8 seconds at times of night between nest selection and egg laying. Both sexes utter a cat-like, somewhat hoarse jaiow notes or high yip-yip notes, the latter reminiscent of a call made by barn owls. When disturbed near the nest holding young, both parents may utter a series of tinny tones, watt-watt-watt-watt. During the period of courtship the male flies around and flaps its wing around, producing a clapping sound. During the display flight, the male may make as many as 20 claps. As with many owls, all ages may produce hissing sounds and bill snapping when they feel threatened, especially in the context of nesting. Fledging young call all with high-pitched, drawn-out notes, variously transcribed as feek, peeyee and pzeei, and are often likened to the noise of a gate swinging on a rusty hinge.


The long-eared owl has an extremely large distributional range. In Eurasia, they are distributed from the Iberian Peninsula and the British Isles (including almost the entirety of Ireland), in both of which they are found somewhat spottily but quite broadly, especially for an owl. From western France east through the remainder of Europe they are found nearly everywhere, though still usually quite common in these areas, there are small spots where they do not usually occur in Italy, Austria and Southeastern Europe. In Scandinavia they are found only as a breeding species in about the southern two-thirds of Norway, Sweden and Finland while they usual persist year around in haunts in the southern tips of Norway and Sweden, respectively, as well as in all of Denmark. In coastal Norway they are found at their worldwide northern limit as breeding bird, with long-eared owls nesting as far north as in the Subarctic zone of Troms. In latitudinal range, they are found as far south the Azores, the Canary Islands while their limited breeding range in north Africa is from Morocco to Tunisia, as well as seemingly in northernmost Algeria. Out of Europe, they are found very spottily as breeders in Turkey, northernmost Syria, Israel and Lebanon. They are quite broadly distributed within Russia, breeding in about the southern two-thirds of the country (north as far as roughly Chernyshevsky and Yakutsk) and often occurring year around in about the southern third of it (north to about the cities of Perm, Tyumen and Tomsk) and east to Siberia, ranging far as Sakhalin. Their range is continuous from Russia into most of Kazakhstan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, about half of Uzbekistan and infrequently into northern Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. In the east, they range through most of Mongolia (absent from the southwest) and the western and eastern parts of northern China, with seasonally uncertain status in the Koreas. Long-eared owls are found throughout the islands of Japan but mainly winter only in points south of Osaka. The long-eared owl occurs apparently only in winter in small spots of southern France, southern Greece, northwestern Egypt, northern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, broadly in much of Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India (such as the Kutch, Punjab, Kashmir), as well as to the east in Bhutan, southern China, Taiwan and most of South Korea. Irruptive wanderings have resulted in vagrant long-eared owls in various places such as the Faroe islands, Iceland and Madeira as well as Ryukyu Islands in the east.
This species is found widely distributed in North America as well. Their northern limits are reached in much of British Columbia, though they are mainly absent from the western and coastal part, with the breeding range scarcely spilling over into the southern part of the Northwest Territories. As is the case in most of Eurasia, they are usually found at up to 50 degrees north. Long-eared owls are also found breeding in most of Alberta, all but northern Manitoba and southern Ontario and Quebec only to the southernmost part of the Hudson Bay. However, with the exception of inland southern British Columbia, southern Alberta, and the southern parts of Ontario and Quebec, as well as an isolated population in Newfoundland, long-eared owls usually vacate their Canadian range during winter. The species range as a breeding species is far more extensive in the west than the east within the United States. They breed in Washington, Montana and North Dakota mostly continuously to much of California, where habitat is appropriate, Arizona, western Colorado and western New Mexico as well as less broadly in South Dakota and Iowa. Even though they are absent from the Pacific coasts in Washington and Oregon, they may be found breeding along the Pacific in southern California and even Baja California in Mexico. The first record of breeding for mainland Mexico was recorded for an incidental observed nest built by owls in Janos Biosphere Reserve in Chihuahua. They also breed and occur year around in most of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. Breeding and/or year around occurrence is very rare in the eastern U.S. with a few records of them nesting in Maine, Virginia and West Virginia.  The long-eared owl occurs much more broadly in North America during the non-breeding season and may found essentially all over the Midwest, Texas and as far south in Mexico as Colima, Veracruz and northern Oaxaca. The species also occurs in the non-breeding season in Louisiana (but for the southeast) and much of northern Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina north to Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and southern Pennsylvania. Very rarely, these birds have turned up in Florida (in times of exceptional irruption) and, as a vagrant, even the Bermudas. They are found also by winter and in migration in much of the east coast of the United States, from the Outer Banks in North Carolina, broadly in eastern Pennsylvania and almost anywhere in Delaware or New Jersey, southeastern New York (including New York City) and north to much of southern New England including almost all of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island as well as southern New Hampshire.


Optimal habitat tends towards access to open spaces with short vegetation and abundant prey and wooded cover for roosting and nesting. In terms of attitudinal range, this species may live at many elevations with no strong altitudinal preferences noted, although they tend to be absent above the montane tree line. The species has been recorded exceptionally nesting at 2,700 m (8,900 ft) above sea level in Kashmir. Long-eared owls tend to inhabit usually rather open landscapes with groups of trees, hedges or small woods, as well as pastureland with rows of trees and bushes, any type of forest with clearings, forest edges, semi-open taiga forest, swampy areas and bogs, especially those with willows, alder and poplars, orchards with old fruit trees, parks, cemeteries with trees and bushes, even gardens and timbered areas in villages, towns or cities. In many parts of the world, including China, Israel and the American southwest, long-eared owls have shown the ability to adapt to deserts, though more commonly semi-desert, and may nest and roost in available oases and adapting to hunt prey over the open desert ground, whether it is sandy or more rocky. The preferred habitat in Great Britain was found to consist most regularly (amongst 200 nests) of small tree plantations, copses or scattered trees on moorlands, heath or mosses (33%), followed by blocks of forest (24.5%), smaller plantations, shelterbelts or hedgerows in various agricultural areas (24%) and scrub or wooded clumps near the coast and in wetlands (15%). All nests in Finland in a study were no more than 500 m (1,600 ft) from cultivated land and only occurred on margins of larger woods or forests. Ecological compensation areas (i.e. habitat for wildlife on privately owned farmland) in Switzerland did provide habitat for long-eared owls but it was found that voles were more extensively hunted in mowed sections of the lands rather than the more densely vegetated areas where voles were most abundant. This indicates habitat (in particular open ground habitat) is more important to the predators than prey densities, at least locally. In Spain, when compared to the little owl (Athene noctua), long-eared owls were more likely to be found in low disturbance areas where forest transitioned into plantations and to areas with a relatively low human presence. A preference by long-eared owls for stands of conifers has been noted in many American studies. In Ontario, the species breeds most often in dense conifer stands of wood and reforestation groves that are often somewhat wet, thence less often in mixed or deciduous areas. A similar association with conifers was observed aseasonally in Michigan. In North Dakota, dense thickets of small trees and brushy margins of more extensive forest tracts were the main habitat for these owls. In western areas where mixed woodlands may occur, however, deciduous stands may attract wintering owls, providing they have heavy growths of climbing vines. In the Sierra Nevadas, long-eared owls are often found in riparian zone of mixed woods around oaks and ponderosa pines (Pinus ponderosa). Analysis from Oregon has shown that forest management had no discernable effect on long-eared owls, indicating that they are not truly forest owls but clearances of riparian vegetation, conversion of foraging areas to agricultural fields and reforestation of open habitats did reduce local numbers. Despite being adaptable to both very cold areas, including the taiga and scarcely Subarctic, and quite warm areas, including drier and/or arid parts of the subtropics, the long-eared owl is largely confined to temperate zones of the north and is less climatically adaptable than the short-eared owl, with the latter species acclimating to nearly all climates and making its homes both in the Arctic and the tropics whether wet and dry so long as open habitats are available.


Long-eared owls are more or less strictly nocturnal in activity. Usually activity for the species commences at dusk. After nightfall long-eared owls in Idaho were least active from 8-10 pm and from 5-6 am, while the hours around 10-12 pm and 3-5 am were often the peak times of activity. When living relatively close to the Arctic, long-eared owls may be forced to forage during daylight as no full nightfall may occur during summer. When flying by day, long-eared owls are often mobbed by diurnal birds such as corvids and other birds of prey. Often long-eared owls will discharge a fairly large amount of pellets and drop them below regular day roosts. Unlike most other owls, the species has no territorial hunting ground. In Switzerland, 14 long-eared owls examined using radiotelemetry were found to have an average home range of 980 ha (3.8 sq mi). In the study, they required fields along borders of woodlands, avoiding completely treeless areas more so than they were prevalent in the environment. In the České Budějovice area of Czech Republic, 9 radiotagged owls were studied. Nearly equal numbers were found in suburban and urban areas, and urban ones used developed areas for more than 50% of their nocturnal activity while suburban ones used developed areas for less than half of their activities. Similar habitats were favored by both urban and suburban owls but urban owls had to range wider to avoid heavy human activity and access city parks and so had larger average ranges, 446 ha (1.72 sq mi) vs 56 ha (0.22 sq mi), while suburban ones had easier access to meadows and stands of woods.


Out of roughly 19 regular species of owl in North America and 13 regular species of owl in Europe, the long-eared owl is classed as one of the five in both continents to be truly migratory, moving annually in at least some areas and in some numbers from summer to winter grounds and back whether or not it is an irruptive year. Northern populations are migratory, showing a strong tendency to wander south in autumn. Some normally young bird from central Europe migrate southwest at distances of up to more than 2,000 km (1,200 mi). Central European adults are less migratory, at most merely wandering in winter. Long-eared owls that breed Scandinavia generally migrate to nearly anywhere in Europe, from Great Britain to Southeast Europe, though some may disperse as far as north Africa or Asia Minor. In Europe, males and females seem to differ slightly in migratory behaviour. Long-eared owls wintering in Denmark were found to be heavily biased towards females, also there is a bias towards females in winter surveys in other areas such as southern Sweden. At 10 wintering sites in Europe, females were 36% more common than males. The hypothesis posited by those that studied the owls in Denmark is that females face a higher rate of predation by larger birds of prey and may distribute away from Fennoscandia where densities are high of those predators and to areas that show low densities of these predators. Another, non-exclusive, theory is that they may be avoiding areas with deep snow that may inhibit prey capture. Supporting data that male long-eared owls winter further north than females was gathered in southern Norway, where the recovery of dead owls (from car or powerline collisions) of the species encountered in late fall throughout winter, males were 45% more common than females. On evidence, many of the females that vacate Norway and even Fennoscandia come to winter in Great Britain (the female migrants here being up to 3.5 times more common during winter than male migrants in one study). Two birds in ringing studies that were recorded in late winter in Germany were observed to return for the summer to central Russia (near Yaroslavl, 2,050 km (1,270 mi) away) and to eastern Russia (near Kazan, 2,410 km (1,500 mi) away). Birds that breed in central Asia have been recorded to winter in a wide variety of locales, including the Egyptian Nile valley, Pakistan, northern India and southern China. In North America, migrants generally sourced from Canada and the Upper Midwest winter almost anywhere in the remaining United States, however they will irruptively migrate as far as Georgia and several areas of Mexico and seldom in Florida. Typically the northern limit of the wintering range fall up to the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, the southern reaches of the Upper Midwest and central New England. Spring migration was tracked along with northern saw-whet owls (Aegolius acadius) as they migrated through Oswego County, New York via mist nets, with the saw-whet considerably outnumbering long-eared owls. Here, migration of long-eared owl was between March 21 and April 14 and, unlike the saw-whets, the long-eared owl migration does not appear to be effected as extensively by weather conditions. Long-eared owls are 19.5% of owls (or 197 total owls) recorded migrating through Cape May Point in fall (against a majority, 60.6%, being saw-whet owls), with 26.1% of the specimens from the species caught in the mist nets being adults. More than 90% of long-eared owls migrate between mid-October and late November, with the immatures migrating earlier, 52.1% of juveniles having passed through in October whereas only 9.4% of adults migrated in the month. Cape May studies also indicated that 58.87% of long-eared owls were caught in the dark before dawn rather than other times of night. Based on evidence from Cape May, migrating long-eared owls tend to fly higher above the ground than do migrating saw-whet and barn owls but not as high as the short-eared owl, with the latter owl often able to avoid mist nets apparently via its flying height while moving through. Per a study in Idaho, 7 radio-tagged owls actually migrating both north, 75 to 125 km (47 to 78 mi) north of their respective nesting sites, and to higher elevations after the breeding season (in many cases possibly to exploit displaced rodents in recently logged areas).
The long-eared owl has the peculiar ability to increase populations and then disperse in nearly multi-directional movements during good years for prey numbers. Banding records across North America show highly erratic numbers and movements across the continent of North America with unpredictable peak numbers of migrants in completely different years respectively for the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, New York and New Jersey. Therefore, the species is sometimes considered “nomadic” despite many populations of the species being consistent annual migrants. Similar tendency towards so-called “nomadism” is shared by other widespread raptors semi-specialized to hunting voles over open ground, such as short-eared owls and hen harriers (Circus cyaneus). These erratic movements and peaks and ebbs of northern populations has lent to descriptions of the long-eared owl as “irruptive”, however it generally moves in quite different ways from owls largely endemic to the taiga (or tundra), which are more traditionally irruptive in that they tend to migrate little or not at all when prey remain ample in their native home range but then move south in mass when prey populations crash. Long-eared owls, unlike these irruptive northern owls, often migrate from the northern areas regardless of conditions. However, like the northern irruptive owls, long-eared owls tend to appear in unprecedented numbers to the south when a peak prey year is followed by a winter during which prey population crashes. In North America, the migratory habits of long-eared owls are strongly mirrored by those of northern saw-whet owls. Study of banding records in Saskatchewan show that the long-eared owl Canadian populations may be considered more truly irruptive species both as a breeder and migrant in that only appears in numbers during peak vole years, with large numbers only in 4 of 44 banding years. During 7 low years, the long-eared owls of Saskatchewan seemed to disappear altogether from much of the province. Peak years also coincided often with snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) peaks, possibly due to lessened competition (as the larger owls favored prey is locally the hare) and interspecific predation by great horned owls. The phenomena of movements that seem to be nomadic or purportedly irruptive in nature may occur as well in Europe, though given the species’ denser population in general there in comparison to North America may result in less noticeable wide variations in numbers. Years with irruptive numbers of long-eared owls have been noted in the British Isles when prey peaks then crashes back in Scandinavia, resulting in much larger numbers of migrant long-eared owls into the islands than normal, as well as concurrently large numbers of short-eared owls and harriers. In southern Finland during a peak prey year followed by a prey crash, a very large number of long-eared owls were detected and were seen to be likely food stressed, as several were foraging actively during daylight despite the extensive nighttime hours during the season.


Long-eared owls may divide their hunting into phases, the first stopping around midnight, the second beginning some point after midnight and ending an hour before sunrise. While hunting, they tend focuses on the edge of woodlands, hedgerows and open spaces with rough grassland, and over young trees and open ground of all kinds. They hunt mainly on the wing, flying low and fairly slowly, often being quite low to ground, i.e. only  around 150 cm (59 in). More often than visually finding their prey, it is thought that long-eared owls most often audibly detect the rustling of their intended food. In lab settings, long-eared owls were considerably more skilled at finding mice by sound in more or less complete darkness than tawny and barred owls (Strix varia), and in some American experiments even outclassed the auditorily-acute barn owls in this regard. Once prey is spotted, the long-eared owl's flight suddenly stalls, then they quickly drop with talons spread to pounce on prey that is perceived, or especially, that comes out into the open. Habitat may be perhaps even more key than prey numbers to the selection of hunting grounds. Often when prey numbers are more ample in timbered areas nearer the roost or rich marshy areas in the vicinity, the long-eared owls will still often come to more prey-poor areas such as old fields so that they can detect prey on open ground. The footspan of a long-eared owl, including claws, reaches on average 11.3 and 12.5 cm (4.4 and 4.9 in) in males and females, respectively, which would be large for a diurnal bird of prey but is quite small for an owl of its size, given the physiological differences in the way different birds of prey tend to kill their prey. While acciptrid raptors tend to kill by stabbing with their talons through vital organs, owls are more likely to constrict their prey to death, so tend to have proportionately larger, more robust feet. In other medium-sized owls, the footspan in tawny owls and barn owls respectively averages 13.4 and 13.2 cm (5.3 and 5.2 in) in between the sexes (notably footspan seems to be a fairly reliable predictor of body mass of an owl as well). Prey capture by long-eared owls was studied and compared to tawny owls in a European experiment. The two owl species caught mammals and beetles caught in similar ways but the long-eared owls shied away from flying sparrows and would only capture the sparrows when they perched (though the tawny did not avoid flying sparrows, it too would only capture the prey when perched). Long-eared owls either disregarded or killed but did not eat amphibians, while tawny owls did catch and eat amphibians when they were available. Occasionally the tawny owls would attack fish whilst one long-eared owl caught but did not eat a fish. The European study further revealed that several owls of different species ate bits of plant and did not appear to do so out of food deprivation or hunger.
Taken as whole, the global population of long-eared owls may appear to have a widely varying diet. One study accrued information from 312 studies from around the species’ range. In total 478 prey species were found to be described, of which 180 were mammal species, 191 were bird species, 83 were assorted invertebrate species, 15 were reptiles, 7 were amphibians, and reportedly just a couple fish species. This included a total of approximately 813,033 prey items having been reviewed. However, on closer inspection, the long-eared owl generally appears to be something of a dietary specialist. It usually takes primarily, often nearly entirely, small mammals, e.g. rodents, as food in almost every part of its range. Usually a broad picture emerges that between 80 and 99% of the diet consists of mammals, averaging 94% in one estimate for all of Europe. However, in warmer, insular or more urbanized environments, a greater percentage or, rarely, even a majority of the diet can locally be non-mammalian prey. Mean prey sizes have been studied extensively and are almost always fall within a very narrow range. In Europe, the mean estimated prey size overall was 32.2 g (1.14 oz). Meanwhile, in North America, mean prey sizes have varied between 30.7 and 37 g (1.08 and 1.31 oz) in two estimates. In general, throughout their range, the mean size of prey is generally encapsulated between 20 and 50 g (0.71 and 1.76 oz), usually well under 40 g (1.4 oz), and only in cases where long-eared owls, perhaps through lessened competition, has regular access to prey weighing 60 to 100 g (2.1 to 3.5 oz) or more, may the mean prey size range uncommonly reach 50 to 60 g (1.8 to 2.1 oz). Cases of exceptionally large prey are mentioned where they occur below.