The northern cardinal is a mid-sized songbird with a body length of 21–23.5 cm (8.3–9.3 in) and a wingspan of 25–31 cm (9.8–12.2 in). The adult weighs from 33.6–65 g (1.19–2.29 oz), with an average 44.8 g (1.58 oz). The male averages slightly larger than the female. The adult male is a brilliant crimson red color with a black face mask over the eyes, extending to the upper chest. The color becomes duller and darker on the back and wings. The female is fawn-colored, with mostly grayish-brown tones and a slight reddish tint on the wings, crest, and tail feathers. The face mask of the female is gray to black and is less defined than that of the male. Both sexes possess prominent raised crests and bright coral-colored beaks. The beak is cone-shaped and strong. Young birds, both male and female, show coloring similar to the adult female until the fall, when they molt and grow adult feathers. They are brown above and red-brown below, with brick-colored crest, forehead, wings, and tail. The legs and feet are a dark pink-brown. The iris of the eye is brown.
The plumage color of the males is produced from carotenoid pigments in the diet. Coloration is produced from both red pigments and yellow carotenoid pigments. Northern cardinal males normally metabolize carotenoid pigments to create plumage pigmentation of a color different from the ingested pigment. When fed only yellow pigments, males become a pale red color. A few "yellow morph" cardinals, a trait called xanthochroism, lack the enzyme to do this conversion. Their beak and feathers (except for black face mask) are yellow. Sightings are rare.
During winter, both males and females will fluff up their down feathers in order to retain warm air next to their body. The down feathers are small and hairlike at the base of each flight feather. The legs and feet of almost all birds are thin and lack feathers, and are vulnerable to rapid heat loss.
In lower temperatures, they resort to more drastic measures which require even more energy expenditure. These techniques include shivering and adjusting their body temperature. Many wild birds, including northern cardinals, will shiver to stay warm. They tense their muscles, especially breast muscles, to generate heat. Cardinals have the ability to drop their body temperature 3 to 6° if needed. In dire conditions, they resort to dropping their temperature in order to survive.


Northern cardinals are numerous across the eastern United States from the southern half of Maine to Minnesota to the Texas-Mexico border and in Canada in the southern portions of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, all the way east to Cape Breton Island. Its range also extends south through Mexico to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, northern Guatemala, and northern Belize. An allopatric population is found on the Pacific slope of Mexico from Jalisco to Oaxaca; note that this population is not shown on the range map. The species was introduced to Bermuda in 1700. It has also been introduced in Hawaii, southern California and southern Arizona. Its natural habitat is in woodlands, gardens, shrublands, and wetlands.


The northern cardinal is a territorial song bird. The male sings in a loud, clear whistle from the top of a tree or another high location to defend his territory. He will chase off other males entering his territory. He may mistake his image on various reflective surfaces as an invading male, and will fight his reflection relentlessly. The northern cardinal learns its songs, and as a result the songs vary regionally.  Mated pairs often travel together. Also, the songs of a northern cardinal will usually overlap more in syllables when compared to other northern cardinals near it than those far away from it.
Both sexes sing clear, whistled song patterns, which are repeated several times, then varied. Some common phrases are described as "cheeeer-a-dote, cheeer-a-dote-dote-dote", "purdy, purdy, purdy...whoit, whoit, whoit, whoit", "what-cheer, what-cheer... wheet, wheet, wheet, wheet" and "cheer, cheer, cheer, what, what, what, what". The northern cardinal has a distinctive alarm call, a short metallic chip sound. This call often is given when predators approach the nest, in order to give warning to the female and nestlings.
The songs of the two sexes of the northern cardinal, although not distinguishable by the human ear, are sexually dimorphic. It is suggested that this is because of the differences in levels of hormones of the two sexes.


Northern cardinals are preyed upon by a wide variety of predators native to North America, including falcons, all Accipiter hawks, shrikes, bald eagles, golden eagles and several owls, including long-eared owls, and eastern screech owls. Predators of chicks and eggs include milk snakes, coluber constrictors, blue jays, crows, eastern gray squirrels, fox squirrels, eastern chipmunks, and domestic cats.


The diet of the northern cardinal consists mainly (up to 90%) of weed seeds, grains, and fruits. It is a ground feeder and finds food while hopping on the ground through trees or shrubbery. It will also consume snails and insects, including beetles, cicadas, and grasshoppers; it feeds its young almost exclusively on insects. Other common items include corn (maize) and oats, sunflower seeds, the blossoms and bark of elm trees, and drinks of maple sap from holes made by sapsuckers, an example of commensalism.


Pairs may mate for successive years, but some also 'divorce' between seasons or choose a new mate when one dies. Pairs generally stay together year-round but are not necessarily monogamous. DNA studies of two populations of cardinals found that between 9 and 35% of nestlings were not fathered by the female's mate. Mated pairs sometimes sing together before nesting. During courtship they may also participate in a bonding behavior where the male collects food and brings it to the female, feeding her beak-to-beak.
Males sometimes bring nest material to the female, who does most of the building. She crushes twigs with her beak until they are pliable, then turns in the nest to bend the twigs around her body and push them into a cup shape with her feet. The cup has four layers: coarse twigs (and sometimes bits of trash) covered in a leafy mat, then lined with grapevine bark and finally grasses, stems, rootlets, and pine needles. The nest typically takes three to nine days to build; the finished product is 5.1–7.6 cm (2.0–3.0 in) tall, 10.1 cm (4.0 in) across, with an inner diameter of about 7.6 cm (3.0 in). Cardinals do not usually use their nests more than once. The female builds a cup nest in a well-concealed spot in dense shrub or a low tree 1–3 m (3.3–9.8 ft) off the ground. The nest is made of thin twigs, bark strips, and grasses, lined with grasses or other plant fibers. Eggs are laid one to six days following the completion of the nest. The eggs are white, with a tint of green, blue or brown, and are marked with lavender, gray, or brown blotches which are thicker around the larger end. The shell is smooth and slightly glossy. Three or four eggs are laid in each clutch. Eggs measure approximately 26 mm × 19 mm (1.02 in × 0.75 in) in size. The female generally incubates the eggs, though, rarely, the male will incubate for brief periods of time. Incubation takes 12 to 13 days. Young fledge 10 to 11 days after hatching. Two or three, and even four, broods are raised each year. The male cares for and feeds each brood as the female incubates the next clutch of eggs.
The oldest wild cardinal banded by researchers lived at least 15 years and 9 months, although 28.5 years was achieved by a captive bird. Annual survival rates for adult northern cardinals have been estimated at 60 to 65%.


The northern cardinal is found in residential areas throughout its range. Backyard birders attract it using feeders containing seeds, particularly sunflower seeds and safflower seeds. Although some controversy surrounds bird feeding, an increase in backyard feeding by humans has generally been beneficial to this species. It is listed as a species of least concern by the IUCN Red List, with an estimated global range of 5,800,000 km² (2,200,000 sq mi) and a global population of some 100 million. Populations appear to remain stable and not threatened to reach the threshold of inclusion as a threatened species, which requires a decline of more than 30% in ten years or three generations. It was once prized as a pet due to its bright color and distinctive song. In the United States, this species receives special legal protection under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, which also banned their sale as cage birds. It is also protected by the Convention for the Protection of Migratory Birds in Canada. It is illegal to take, kill, or possess northern cardinals, and violation of the law is punishable by a fine of up to US$15,000 and imprisonment of up to six months.
In the United States, the northern cardinal  (referred to as just "cardinal") is the mascot of numerous athletic teams; however, most teams portray the bird with a yellow beak and legs. In professional sports, it is the mascot of the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball's National League and the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League, which for many years were also based in St. Louis. In college athletics, it is the mascot of many schools including Ball State University, The Catholic University of America, Illinois State University, the University of the Incarnate Word, Lamar University, the University of Louisville, the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, North Idaho College, Otterbein University, Saint John Fisher College, the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, Wesleyan University, Wheeling University, and William Jewell College.
A study conducted in 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia, on West Nile virus transmission in the United States, found that unlike other species, northern cardinals biologically suppress the disease upon infection.


The northern cardinal is the state bird of seven U.S. states, more than any other species: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia; although in each case the particular state just refers to the bird as "cardinal". It was also a candidate to become the state bird of Delaware, but lost to the Delaware Blue Hen.


The pyrrhuloxia /ˌpɪrəˈlɒksiə/ or desert cardinal (Cardinalis sinuatus) is a medium-sized North American song bird found in the American southwest and northern Mexico. This distinctive species with a short, stout bill and red crest and wings, and closely resembles the Northern cardinal and the Vermilion cardinal which are in the same genus.


The desert cardinal is one of three birds in the genus Cardinalis in the family Cardinalidae, a group of passerine birds found in North and South America.
Its name of pyrrhuloxia – once part of its scientific name – comes from Greek terms describing its coloration (πυρρος = pyrrhos = reddish or orange) and the shape of its bill (λοξος = loxos = oblique). The common name, desert cardinal, refers to it inhabiting the southwest, and often arid regions, of the North American continent.


The pyrrhuloxia is a year-round resident of desert scrub and mesquite thickets, in the U.S. states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas and woodland edges in Mexico. It occupies the southwestern half of Texas, roughly the southern third of New Mexico, and southeastern region of Arizona. Its range includes areas from the west to east coast of Mexico north of the Sierra Madre del Sur, Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, and Isthmus of Tehuantepec, while excluding the Sierra Madre Occidental. An individual of the species has reportedly been seen as far away from its dominant range as Costa Mesa, California, in Orange County.
This cardinal is relatively nonmigratory, though it may occasionally stray slightly north of its usual range. The pyrrhuloxia prefers habitat along stream beds. In areas where the range of the pyrrhuloxia and northern cardinal overlap, hybridization may occur between them.


In breeding season, songs are used to establish and defend territories. One song has a sharp, clear, "wha-cheer, wha-cheer", while another is characteristic of a metallic "quink".  Females also sing, but they use softer and duller notes. A short "cheep" or "chip" is a regular contact call given by both sexes while foraging.


The breeding season for this cardinal usually begins in mid-March, ending in mid-August. As the breeding season approaches, territories are established and defended by the male. The male defends the territory by chasing away intruders and from a good vantage point, singing. Where both the desert and northern cardinal breeding territories overlap, no interspecific conflicts have been observed.
The desert cardinal places its nest in dense shrub, often concealed. The nest is small and forms a bowl or cup-like shape made up of grass, twigs, or bits of tree bark. Clutches of two to four eggs are most common, while the eggs are whitish with specks of green or gray. During an incubation period of two weeks, the male brings food to the female. At hatching, the chicks are helpless and have a bright yellow bill with red lining around the mouth. The chicks fledge around 10 days old, while both male and female tend to the young. The young bird can wait for up to a month before fully fledging, becoming independent and feeding in large flocks. During this period, the bird will achieve complete growth.


As large areas of the pyrrhuloxia's habitat in its northern range have been lost to humans, unlike with the northern cardinal, the former's populations appear to be in a slight decline.


Cardionema ramosissimum is a beach-dwelling plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, which is known by the common name sandcarpet.


Cardionema ramosissimum is a flat or clumping mat-forming perennial plant which grows along the coastline of western North America, as well as Chile. From a taproot it extends many petite to sprawling stems up to 30 centimeters long and covered in very tiny leaves, which are about a centimeter long and needlelike.
Filling in the spaces between the spine-shaped leaves are long stipules. The plant bears tiny woolly flowers.
Uses
This thick plant forms a blanket on the sand and can be used for erosion control on beaches.


The European goldfinch or simply the goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) is a small passerine bird in the finch family that is native to Europe, North Africa and western and central Asia. It has been introduced to other areas, including Australia, New Zealand and Uruguay.
The breeding male has a red face with black markings around the eyes, and a black-and-white head. The back and flanks are buff or chestnut brown. The black wings have a broad yellow bar. The tail is black and the rump is white. Males and females are very similar, but females have a slightly smaller red area on the face.
The goldfinch is often depicted in Italian Renaissance paintings of the Madonna and Child.


Carduus acanthoides, known as the spiny plumeless thistle, welted thistle, or plumeless thistle, is a biennial plant species of thistle in the family Asteraceae. The plant is native to Europe and Asia and introduced in many other areas, where it is sometimes considered an invasive species.


Carduus acanthoides may exceed 2 metres (6.6 ft) in height and can form weedy monotypic stands. The stem and foliage are spiny and sometimes woolly. The specific epithet acanthoides refers to its spiny foliage. The plant starts from a flat, basal rosette and then bolts an erect stem with occasional toothed, wrinkled, spiny leaves. The leaves are 4–8 in (10–20 cm) long with lobed or pinnately-divided edges. The abaxial surface (underside) of the leaf is somewhat hairy.
At the top of each branch of the stem is an inflorescence of one to several flower heads, each rounded, covered in spiny phyllaries, and bearing many threadlike, purple or pink disc florets. Each flowerhead is around 0.5–1 in (13–25 mm) across. It flowers throughout the summer and early fall. The achenes are 2–3 mm long, four-angled, with faint lengthwise stripes. The fluffy pappus bristles are 11–13 mm long. After flowering and setting seed, it dies.


Carduus acanthoides is native from France, Italy, and western Turkey; through Russia and Kazakhstan; to China. In its native range the plant is found in open grasslands and disturbed areas, and in non-native ranges it is a weed of annual grasslands, roadsides, fields and pastures, and disturbed areas.
The plant has introduced broadly across much of North America where it is sometimes considered a noxious weed or invasive species. The California Department of Food and Agriculture has an active program to control known populations. It spreads through its seeds. Each plant creates around 1,000 seeds.
Although first noted in 1962 in the Chicago region, it has not been seen since 1985. In Michigan and Wisconsin, it does not occur in remnant, native habitats, but rather those with a history of disturbance, such as railroad right-of-ways, roadsides, and farm fields.


Carduus crispus, the curly plumeless thistle or welted thistle, is a biennial herb in the daisy family Asteraceae.  It is native to Europe and Asia.


The plant is found from Southwestern Europe, through Scandinavia and Siberia, to Eastern Asia.


The species and genus is a favorite food plant of caterpillars of the painted lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui), which derives its specific epithet, cardui, from their preference for Carduus thistles. It is also used by bees for honey production.


Extracts from this plant have been found to have anti-cancer properties, the main one of which being crispine B.
It is said to hold restorative and anodyne properties in its roots.


Carduus crispus is an introduced species in North America, and a noxious weed in several U.S. states, including West Virginia.


Carex albursina (White Bear sedge, blunt-scaled wood sedge) is a wide-leaved sedge. It grows in moist deciduous or mixed woods in eastern North America. It was named after White Bear Lake in east central Minnesota, where it was found by Edmund Sheldon in the 1890s. The leaves are 10–38 mm (3⁄8–1+1⁄2 inches) wide and 10–35 cm (4–14 inches) long.


Carex aurea is a species of sedge known by the common name golden sedge. It is native to much of North America, including most of Canada and the western, upper Midwest, and northeastern United States. It grows in wet habitat, often on soils of a basic pH.


Carex aurea produces stems up to about 40 cm (16 in) tall. The inflorescence produces staminate and pistillate flowers, the latter yielding rounded fruits. The fruit is coated in a sac called a perigynium which is fleshy and green at full size and then turns bright orange just before it falls off.


Carex eburnea, known as ivory sedge, ebony sedge, and bristleleaf or bristle-leaved sedge, is a small and slender sedge native to North America, from Alaska and Newfoundland south to central Mexico (San Luis Potosí and Querétaro).


Ivory sedge is a clump-forming sedge that spreads gradually by slender, light brown rhizomes to form colonies. It has narrow leaves, 0.2 to 1 mm (0.008 to 0.039 in) wide and 3 to 21 cm (1 to 8 in) long, that grow from the base of the plant and alternately on the culms (stems). The culms are longer than the leaves, 7 to 31 cm (2+3⁄4 to 12+1⁄4 in) long. The bases of the leaves and culms are wrapped in a light brown sheath. The leaves dry up after the growing season and persist at least until the next spring.
Each inflorescence (flower cluster), at the end of a culm, has one staminate (male) spike above two to three pistillate (female) spikes, each enclosed at the base by a tubular bract. There are 3 to 10 florets in each pistillate spike. The scales under the florets are white and translucent.
Pollinated florets produce three-sided seeds (achenes) that are glossy blackish-brown when ripe, 1.5–2.2 mm (0.059–0.087 in) long by 0.7–1.1 mm (0.028–0.043 in) wide. The stem of the inflorescence and the stems of the pistillate spikes are very short at blooming time, but lengthen a great deal by the time the seed matures, so that the clusters of achenes overtop the withered staminate spike and the stem is always longer than the leaves.


Carex echinata is a species of sedge known by the common names star sedge and little prickly sedge.


This plant is native to North and Central America and parts of Eurasia. Carex echinata is a plant of wet forests, marshes, and mountain meadows of moderate elevation. It is commonly associated with peat bogs.


Carex echinata has a solid, ridged stem that may exceed 1 m (3 ft 3 in) in height and it has a few thready leaves toward the base. The inflorescences are star-shaped spikelets and are 3–15 mm (0.12–0.59 in) wide.


Carex grayi, commonly known as Gray's sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family, Cyperaceae. It is native to eastern North America.


Carex hystericina is a species of sedge known by the common names bottlebrush sedge and porcupine sedge. It is native to much of North America including most of southern Canada and most of the United States. It grows in wet habitat such as wetlands and riverbanks, especially on calcareous soils. In the right conditions it can become very abundant and even weedy. This sedge produces dense or loose clumps of triangular stems up to a meter tall from short rhizomes. The inflorescence is several centimeters long and is accompanied by a bract which is longer than the spikes. The fruits are coated in perigynia with pointed, toothed tips. It is highly recommend for sedge meadow restorations.


Carex intumescens, also known as bladder sedge, is a species of Carex native to Canada and the eastern United States.


Carex lupulina, known as hop sedge or common hop sedge, is a species of sedge native to most of eastern North America.
It was first formally named in 1805.


Carex lurida is a monocot species of the family Cyperaceae, also known as the sedge family. The common name for Carex lurida is shallow sedge. Carex lurida is an obligate wetland plant.


Carex obnupta is a species of sedge known by the common name slough sedge. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California where it grows abundantly in wet, often saline habitat such as wetlands. The plant produces upright, angled stems approaching 1.2 meters in maximum height, growing in beds or colonies from rhizome networks. The inflorescence is a cluster of flower spikes accompanied by a long leaflike bract. The pistillate spikes and sometimes the staminate spikes dangle on peduncles. The fruit is coated by a hard, tough, shiny perigynium which is generally dark in color.


Carex oligosperma, common name fewseed sedge, few-seeded sedge, and few-fruited sedge, is a perennial plant in the Carex genus. A distinct variety, Carex oligosperma var. oligosperma, exists.


It is a species of special concern and believed extirpated in Connecticut, It is endangered in Illinois, Massachusetts, and North Carolina, and threatened in Ohio and Pennsylvania.


The Iroquois take a compound decoction of the plant as an emetic before running or playing lacrosse.


Carex pensylvanica is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family commonly called Pennsylvania sedge (sometimes shortened to Penn sedge). Other common names include early sedge, common oak sedge, and yellow sedge.


This plant is native to North America, especially eastern Canada and the eastern United States. Based on a census of the literature, herbaria specimens, and confirmed sightings, C. pensylvanica is found in Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec in Canada; and in the United States it is most widely distributed in Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, mainland Rhode Island, Virginia and Wisconsin. it is also known from northern Alabama, the western Carolinas, the mostly eastern Dakotas, northern and southern Delaware, northern Georgia, western Iowa, mostly northern Indiana, northern and eastern Missouri, mostly central and eastern Ohio, and mostly central Tennessee. It is also found in Arkansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland and the District of Columbia, New York, West Virginia, and Vermont. It has been reported from just one county, Lee, in the far northeastern portion of the state of Mississippi.


Pennsylvania sedge produces leaves up to 2 ft (0.6 m) long and 1 to 3 mm (0.04 to 0.12 in) wide that become arching at maturity. It has culms (stems) 10 to 45 cm (4 to 18 in) long.
Pennsylvania sedge blooms early in the spring, from April to June. Each flower cluster contains one slender staminate (male) spike 10 to 25 mm (³⁄₈ to 1 in) long above one to three shorter pistillate (female) spikes each with 4 to 12 florets. During the blooming period, the staminate spike produces slender cream-colored anthers, aging to light brown, and each pistillate floret produces three long white, thread-like styles. The scales underneath the florets are dark purple.


This competitive species is often found in large monotypic stands. It is mainly vegetative, spreading via systems of cordlike rhizomes. Shorter rhizomes produce tufts, clumps, and mats, and longer rhizomes form wide, matted colonies.


Carex utriculata is a species of sedge known as Northwest Territory sedge and common yellow lake sedge.


This sedge is native to the northern half of North America, including most all of Canada and the northern United States, and down to montane California. It is also found in northern Europe and northern Asia. It is a common plant in many types of wetland habitat.


Carex utriculata produces stems exceeding 1 m (3 ft 3 in) in maximum height from a thick network of long rhizomes. The inflorescence is a cylindrical mass of flowers up to about 40 cm (16 in) long with an accompanying leaf-like bract which is generally longer than the flower spike. Each inflorescence bears up to 200 developing fruits, each enclosed in a shiny green, golden, or brown perigynium.


Carex vesicaria is an essentially Holarctic species of sedge known as bladder sedge, inflated sedge, and blister sedge. It has been used to insulate footwear in Norway and among the Sami people, and for basketry in North America.


Carex vesicaria is a perennial plant with short creeping rhizomes which grow shoots resembling small tufts. It grows to heights of 30 to 120 cm (12 to 47 in). Its stems are rough near the tip but smoother towards their base. The narrow, ridged and pleated leaves can grow to around 1 m (3.3 ft) in length or more, and have fine toothed edges and sharp points. The fruits are erect, glossy and bulbous. The flower clusters are long and cylindrical in shape and each contains up to 150 developing fruits.


Carex vesicaria was first formally named by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. Many forms and varieties have been named, but no infraspecific taxa of Carex vesicaria are accepted in Kew's Plants of the World Online as of March 2020.


Bladder sedge has a circumpolar, boreo-temperate distribution. It is native to northern North America being recorded over most of Canada and the northern United States, as far south as California. It can also be found in nearly all of northern Europe and northern Asia as far as Japan and Korea. It is widespread in Britain and Ireland although it is absent from the Orkney and Shetland and very rare in the Western Isles.


Carex vesicaria grows in damp habitats, mostly in mesotrophic soils which are slightly basic, in areas where the water table is at or above the soil surface. It grows along edge of many types of waterbodies, as well as damp depressions in pastures and in wet woodlands. It can also colonise wet areas Where pits have been created for extraction of aggregates such as sand, gravel, or clay.
In Britain it has an altitude range of 0–455 m (0–1,493 ft) with the highest plants being found at Llyn Gorast in Cardiganshire.


Carex vesicaria was cultivated in North America by indigenous people as its rhizomes were used for basketry, The dried fibres, were sometimes used as thermal insulation in footwear in polar regions, are known as sennegrass, saennegrass or similar, from the plant's Bokmål name sennegras.


The papaya (/pəˈpaɪə/, US: /pəˈpɑːjə/) (from Carib via Spanish), papaw, (/pəˈpɔː/) or pawpaw (/ˈpɔːpɔː/) is the plant Carica papaya, one of the 22 accepted species in the genus Carica of the family Caricaceae. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within modern-day southern Mexico and Central America. In 2020, India produced 43% of the world supply of papayas.


The papaya is a small, sparsely branched tree, usually with a single stem growing from 5 to 10 metres (16 to 33 feet) tall, with spirally arranged leaves confined to the top of the trunk. The lower trunk is conspicuously scarred where leaves and fruit were borne. The leaves are large, 50–70 centimetres (20–28 inches) in diameter, deeply palmately lobed, with seven lobes. All parts of the plant contain latex in articulated laticifers. Papayas are dioecious. The flowers are five-parted and highly dimorphic; the male flowers have the stamens fused to the petals. The female flowers have a superior ovary and five contorted petals loosely connected at the base. Male and female flowers are borne in the leaf axils; the male flowers are in multiflowered dichasia, and the female ones are in few-flowered dichasia. The pollen grains are elongated and approximately 35 microns in length. The flowers are sweet-scented, open at night, and wind- or insect-pollinated.
The fruit is a large berry about 15–45 cm (6–17+3⁄4 in) long and 10–30 cm (4–11+3⁄4 in) in diameter. It is ripe when it feels soft (as soft as a ripe avocado or softer), its skin has attained an amber to orange hue and along the walls of the large central cavity are attached numerous black seeds.


Papaya skin, pulp, and seeds contain a variety of phytochemicals, including carotenoids and polyphenols, as well as benzyl isothiocyanates and benzyl glucosinates, with skin and pulp levels that increase during ripening. The carotenoids, lutein and beta-carotene, are prominent in the yellow skin, while lycopene is dominant in the red flesh (table).
Papaya seeds also contain the cyanogenic substance prunasin.


Native to tropical America, papaya originates from southern Mexico and Central America. Papaya is also considered native to southern Florida, introduced by predecessors of the Calusa no later than 300 CE. Spaniards introduced papaya to the Old World in the 16th century. Papaya cultivation is now nearly pantropical, spanning Hawaii, central Africa, India, and Australia.
Wild populations of papaya are generally confined to naturally disturbed tropical forest. Papaya is found in abundance on Everglades hammocks following major hurricanes, but is otherwise infrequent. In the rain forests of southern Mexico, papaya thrives and reproduces quickly in canopy gaps, while dying off in mature closed-canopy forest.


Papaya ringspot virus is a well-known virus within plants in Florida. The first signs of the virus are yellowing and vein-clearing of younger leaves, as well as mottling yellow leaves. Infected leaves may obtain blisters, roughen, or narrow, with blades sticking upwards from the middle of the leaves. The petioles and stems may develop dark green greasy streaks and in time become shorter. The ringspots are circular, C-shaped markings that are a darker green than the fruit. In the later stages of the virus, the markings may become gray and crusty. Viral infections impact growth and reduce the fruit's quality. One of the biggest effects that viral infections have on papaya is the taste. As of 2010, the only way to protect papaya from this virus is genetic modification.
The papaya mosaic virus destroys the plant until only a small tuft of leaves are left. The virus affects both the leaves of the plant and the fruit. Leaves show thin, irregular, dark-green lines around the borders and clear areas around the veins. The more severely affected leaves are irregular and linear in shape. The virus can infect the fruit at any stage of its maturity. Fruits as young as two weeks old have been spotted with dark-green ringspots about 1 inch (25 mm) in diameter. Rings on the fruit are most likely seen on either the stem end or the blossom end. In the early stages of the ringspots, the rings tend to be many closed circles, but as the disease develops, the rings increase in diameter consisting of one large ring. The difference between the ringspot and the mosaic viruses is the ripe fruit in the ringspot has mottling of colors and mosaic does not.


The fungus anthracnose is known to specifically attack papaya, especially the mature fruits. The disease starts out small with very few signs, such as water-soaked spots on ripening fruits. The spots become sunken, turn brown or black, and may get bigger. In some of the older spots, the fungus may produce pink spores. The fruit ends up being soft and having an off flavor because the fungus grows into the fruit.
The fungus powdery mildew occurs as a superficial white presence on the surface of the leaf in which it is easily recognized. Tiny, light yellow spots begin on the lower surfaces of the leaf as the disease starts to make its way. The spots enlarge and white powdery growth appears on the leaves. The infection usually appears at the upper leaf surface as white fungal growth. Powdery mildew is not as severe as other diseases.
The fungus phytophthora blight causes damping-off, root rot, stem rot, stem girdling, and fruit rot. Damping-off happens in young plants by wilting and death. The spots on established plants start out as white, water-soaked lesions at the fruit and branch scars. These spots enlarge and eventually cause death. The most dangerous feature of the disease is the infection of the fruit, which may be toxic to consumers. The roots can also be severely and rapidly infected, causing the plant to brown and wilt away, collapsing within days.


The papaya fruit fly lays its eggs inside of the fruit, possibly up to 100 or more eggs. The eggs usually hatch within 12 days when they begin to feed on seeds and interior parts of the fruit. When the larvae mature, usually 16 days after being hatched, they eat their way out of the fruit, drop to the ground, and pupate in the soil to emerge within one to two weeks later as mature flies. The infected papaya turns yellow and drops to the ground after infestation by the papaya fruit fly.
The two-spotted spider mite is a 0.5-mm-long brown or orange-red or a green, greenish-yellow translucent oval pest. They all have needle-like piercing-sucking mouthparts and feed by piercing the plant tissue with their mouthparts, usually on the underside of the plant. The spider mites spin fine threads of webbing on the host plant, and when they remove the sap, the mesophyll tissue collapses and a small chlorotic spot forms at the feeding sites. The leaves of the papaya fruit turn yellow, gray, or bronze. If the spider mites are not controlled, they can cause the death of the fruit.
The papaya whitefly lays yellow, oval eggs that appear dusted on the undersides of the leaves. They eat papaya leaves, therefore damaging the fruit. There, the eggs developed into flies in three stages called instars. The first instar has well-developed legs and is the only mobile immature life stage. The crawlers insert their mouthparts in the lower surfaces of the leaf when they find it suitable and usually do not move again in this stage. The next instars are flattened, oval, and scale-like. In the final stage, the pupal whiteflies are more convex, with large, conspicuously red eyes.
Papayas are one of the most common hosts for fruit flies like A. suspensa, which lay their eggs in overripe or spoiled papayas. The larvae of these flies  then consume the fruit  to gain nutrients until they can proceed into the pupal stage. This parasitism has led to extensive economic costs for nations in Central America.


Papaya plants grow in three sexes: male, female, and hermaphrodite. The male produces only pollen, never fruit. The female produces small, inedible fruits unless pollinated. The hermaphrodite can self-pollinate since its flowers contain both male stamens and female ovaries. Almost all commercial papaya orchards contain only hermaphrodites.
Originally from southern Mexico (particularly Chiapas and Veracruz), Central America, northern South America, and southern Florida the papaya is now cultivated in most tropical countries. In cultivation, it grows rapidly, fruiting within 3 years. It is, however, highly frost-sensitive, limiting its production to tropical climates. Temperatures below −2 °C (29 °F) are greatly harmful if not fatal. In Florida, California, and Texas, growth is generally limited to southern parts of those states. It prefers sandy, well-drained soil, as standing water can kill the plant within 24 hours.


Two kinds of papayas are commonly grown. One has sweet, red or orange flesh, and the other has yellow flesh; in Australia, these are called "red papaya" and "yellow papaw", respectively. Either kind, picked green, is called a "green papaya".
The large-fruited, red-fleshed 'Maradol', 'Sunrise', and 'Caribbean Red' papayas often sold in U.S. markets are commonly grown in Mexico and Belize.
In 2011, Philippine researchers reported that by hybridizing papaya with Vasconcellea quercifolia, they had developed papaya resistant to papaya ringspot virus (PRV).


Carica papaya was the first transgenic fruit tree to have its genome sequenced. In response to the papaya ringspot virus outbreak in Hawaii, in 1998, genetically altered papaya were approved and brought to market (including 'SunUp' and 'Rainbow' varieties.) Varieties resistant to PRV have some DNA of this virus incorporated into the DNA of the plant. As of 2010, 80% of Hawaiian papaya plants were genetically modified. The modifications were made by the University of Hawaii scientists, who made the modified seeds available to farmers without charge.


In 2020, global production of papayas was 13.9 million tonnes, led by India with 43% of the world total (table). Global papaya production grew significantly over the early 21st century, mainly as a result of increased production in India and demand by the United States. The United States is the largest consumer of papaya worldwide.


Papaya releases a latex fluid when not ripe, possibly causing irritation and an allergic reaction in some people. Because the enzyme papain acts as an allergen in sensitive individuals, meat that has been tenderized with it may induce an allergic reaction.


The unripe green fruit is often eaten cooked due to its latex content. It is commonly eaten raw in Vietnam and Thailand. The ripe fruit of the papaya is usually eaten raw, without skin or seeds. The black seeds of the papaya are edible and have a sharp, spicy taste.
The raw fruit can be ripened by placing in the sun. The young leaves, flowers and stems can be prepared by boiling with changes of water.


Raw papaya pulp contains 88% water, 11% carbohydrates, and negligible fat and protein (table). In a 100-g amount, papaya fruit provides 43 kilocalories and is a significant source of vitamin C (75% of the Daily Value, DV) and a moderate source of folate (10% DV), but otherwise has low content of nutrients (see table).


Green papaya is used in Southeast Asian cooking, both raw and cooked. In some parts of Asia, the young leaves of the papaya are steamed and eaten like spinach.
Papayas became a part of Filipino cuisine after being introduced to the islands via the Manila galleons. Unripe or nearly ripe papayas (with orange flesh but still hard and green) are julienned and are commonly pickled into atchara, which is ubiquitous as a side dish to salty dishes. Nearly ripe papayas can also be eaten fresh as ensaladang papaya (papaya salad) or cubed, and eaten dipped in vinegar or salt. Green papaya is also a common ingredient or filling in various savory dishes such as okoy, tinola, ginataan, lumpia, and empanada, especially in the cuisines of northern Luzon.
In Indonesian cuisine, the unripe green fruits and young leaves are boiled for use as part of lalab salad, while the flower buds are sautéed and stir-fried with chillies and green tomatoes as Minahasan papaya flower vegetable dish.
In Lao and Thai cuisine, unripe green papayas are used to make a type of spicy salad known in Laos as tam maak hoong and in Thailand as som tam. It is also used in Thai curries, such as kaeng som.


In Brazil and Paraguay, the unripe fruits are used to make sweets or preserves.


Both green papaya fruit and its latex are rich in papain, a protease used for tenderizing meat and other proteins, as practiced currently by indigenous Americans, people of the Caribbean region, and the Philippines. It is now included as a component in some powdered meat tenderizers. Papaya is not suitable for gelatin-based desserts because the enzymatic properties of papain prevent gelatin from setting.


In traditional medicine, papaya leaves have been used as a treatment for malaria, an abortifacient, a purgative, or smoked to relieve asthma.


Caripeta divisata, known generally as the gray spruce looper or twin-spot girdle, is a species of geometrid moth in the family Geometridae. It is found in North America.
The MONA or Hodges number for Caripeta divisata is 6863.


Carissa bispinosa grows as a shrub or small tree up to 5 metres (16 ft) tall. Its fragrant flowers feature a white corolla. The fruit is red when ripe. Its habitat is woodland and forest from 1,080 m (3,540 ft) to 1,630 m (5,350 ft) altitude. Vernacular names for the plant include "forest num-num" and "Y-thorned carissa". Carissa bispinosa is native an area from Uganda to South Africa.


Carissa macrocarpa is a shrub native to tropical and southern Africa. It is commonly known as the Natal plum and, in South Africa, the large num-num. In Zulu, as well as in the Bantu tribes of Uganda, it is called Amathungulu or umThungulu oBomvu. In Afrikaans the fruit is called noem-noem.
C. macrocarpa deals well with salt-laden winds, making it a good choice for coastal areas.  It is commonly found in the coastal bush of the Eastern Cape and Natal. It produces shiny, deep green leaves and snowy white flowers whose perfumed scent intensifies at night. Like other Carissa species, C. macrocarpa is a spiny, evergreen shrub containing latex. They bloom for months at a time.  The ornamental plump, round, crimson fruit appears in summer and fall (autumn) at the same time as the blooms. In moderate, coastal areas the fruits appear through the year. The fruit can be eaten out of hand or made into pies, jams, jellies, and sauces.  Some claim that other than the fruit, the plant is poisonous. However, this claim is a myth, possibly based on similarities to other plants with milky sap. The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at
University of California, Davis rates the plant as mildly toxic.
It appears in the South African National tree list as number 640.3.
A traditional food plant in Africa, this little-known fruit has potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable landcare.


Danish naturalist Christian Friedrich Ecklon described the Natal plum.


Carissa macrocarpa grows mainly in coastal areas of South Africa. It can be found on sand dunes and on the edges of coastal forests in the Eastern Cape and northwards to Natal and Mozambique. The species also occurs in Zambia and Zimbabwe and further north in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya. Today the plant is also growing commonly in southern Florida and is cultivated in southern California and used widely as an ornamental in Central America and the Caribbean.


Carissa macrocarpa is quite easy to grow. Its seeds germinate two to four weeks after sowing. The development of the seedlings is very slow at first. Plants cultivated from seeds are bearing fruits within the first two years. A vegetative propagation is possible and preferred. The most efficient method consists of notching young branchlets by cutting them halfway through. Then they are bent downwards and allowed to hang limply. After the young branchlets have built a callus, in approximately two months, the cutting has to be removed from the parent and planted in sand under moderate shade. Roots form within one month. Carissa macrocarpa will produce fruits within the first two years applying this reproduction method.


The maintenance of Carissa macrocarpa is simple. The plant is indigenous to South Africa and does not need fertilizer.


In the homeland of Carissa macrocarpa night-flying insects pollinates the white, bisexual flowers. Out of its origin area unfruitfulness has been attributed to inadequate pollination. However, hand pollination is possible and in future poor pollination could be avoided by cultivation of floral structures that are highly favourable for self-fertilization.


Narrow hedges are recommended as orchard design for Carissa macrocarpa due to its prickles. Like this the access to the fruits which are growing on the top of the bush is much simpler. Pruning the plant is beneficial because it induces the development of more fruiting tips. Beyond cutting, little pruning work has to be done to restrain the bush from massive growth. This results in an increasing amount of fruits per plant.


With a minimal yield of 3 tons per hectare under commercial production in South Africa, the productivity is considered as high. The main fruit production is in summer with slightly varying ripening times. So each fruit must be picked when it is ripe. Under good growing conditions the plant also produces many fruits during the off-season. During the harvest attention must be paid to the ripe fruits’ skin as it can be easily bruised and is highly perishable.


Horticultural scientists in South Africa and the USA (Florida and California) have selected and named several Carissa types that tend to produce fruits more reliably. The fruits are larger, have a good texture and contain fewer seeds. In California they selected Fancy (many large fruits with few seeds), Torrey Pines (good crop production and abundant pollen), Frank (good pollen supplier but low yield), Chelsey and Serena. In Florida Gifford is one of the best fruit bearers. In Africa C. haematocarpa is defined suitable for drier areas and C. bispinosa for higher altitudes.


Carissa macrocarpa requires warm, moist subtropical climate. It tolerates different exposures as full sun and fairly heavy shade. As a coastal plant it can deal very well with salty ocean spray.


Carlina acaulis, the stemless carline thistle, dwarf carline thistle, or silver thistle, is a perennial dicotyledonous flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to alpine regions of central and southern Europe. The specific name acaulis (New Latin for "without a stem," from Latin caulis "stem" or "stalk") and common names are descriptive of the manner in which its flower head rests directly upon a basal leaf rosette. The plant is named after Charlemagne who searched for a treatment against the plague. He dreamed of an angel who told him to shoot an arrow in the sky and see on what plant the arrow would hit. This plant would bring relieve to the plague. The plant the arrow hit was the Carlina acaulis, the roots of the plant were distributed among the population following which the plague diminished.
The spiny, pinnatilobate leaves grow in a basal rosette approximately 20 cm in diameter. The flowers are produced in a large (up to 10 cm) flowerhead of silvery-white ray florets around a central disc. The disc florets are tubular and yellow-brown in colour. To protect the pollen, the head closes in wet weather, a phenomenon folklore holds to presage forthcoming rain. The flowering time is between August and September.
It prefers chalky soils and dry pastures in environments from valleys up to an altitude of 2,800 m.
Subspecies
There are two subspecies:
Carlina acaulis subsp. acaulis – inflorescences sessile
Carlina acaulis subsp. simplex – inflorescences with a short stem


The rhizome contains a number of essential oils, in particular the antibacterial carlina oxide. The root was formerly employed in herbal medicine as a diuretic and cold remedy.
While young, the flowerhead bud can be cooked and eaten in a similar manner to the Globe artichoke, which earned it the nickname of hunter's bread.
It is sometimes cultivated as a rockery plant, or dried and hung as a house decoration.
In Basque culture it was traditionally used as symbol of good fortune, fixed into the frontal door of the house and was given by the goddess Mari.


Carlina vulgaris, the carline thistle, is a plant species of the genus Carlina.
It is a biennial that grows on limestone, chalky or other alkaline grasslands or dunes. The flowers are clusters of very small brown florets surrounded by brown-golden bracts. Both feel dry and spiky, so at first glance the plants appear to be dying when in full flower. The green leaves are spiny and may have hairs. Plants are often short but can reach 60 cm.
It originates from Europe, north Africa and Asia but is also found in other parts of the world such as north America. It is considered an invasive plants.


Carmichaelia australis, or common broom,  is a species of pea in the family Fabaceae. It is native to New Zealand and found in both the North and South Islands. Its conservation status (2018) is "Not Threatened" under the New Zealand Threat Classification System.


The species was first described by Robert Brown in 1825. The specific epithet, australis, means "southern". The earliest collected specimen was collected by Joseph Banks  and Daniel Solander in 1769 (AK102896) and is held in Auckland Museum.


Carmichaelia solandri G.Simpson is accepted as a different species by ILDIS, but not by Plants of the World Online, nor by Allan (1961), nor Heenan (1996). (Heenan's extensive list of synonyms differs from that of Plants of the World Online.) See also: NZFlora Carmichaelia australis.


Carpinus caroliniana, the  American hornbeam, is a small hardwood tree in the genus Carpinus. American hornbeam is also known as blue-beech, ironwood, musclewood and muscle beech. It is native to eastern North America, from Minnesota and southern Ontario east to Maine, and south to eastern Texas and northern Florida. It also grows in Canada (southwest Quebec and southeast Ontario). It occurs naturally in shaded areas with moist soil, particularly near the banks of streams or rivers, and is often a natural constituent understory species of the riverine and maritime forests of eastern temperate North America.


American hornbeam is a small tree reaching heights of 10–15 meters (35–50 ft), rarely 20 meters (65 ft), and often has a fluted and crooked trunk. The bark is smooth and greenish-grey, becoming shallowly fissured in all old trees. The leaves are alternate, 3–12 centimeters (1+1⁄4–4+3⁄4 in) long, with prominent veins giving a distinctive corrugated texture, and a serrated margin. The male and female catkins appear in spring at the same time as the leaves. The fruit is a small 7–8-millimeter (9⁄32–5⁄16-inch) long nut, partially surrounded by a three- to seven-pointed leafy involucre 2–3 centimeters (3⁄4–1+1⁄4 in) long; it matures in autumn. The seeds often do not germinate till the spring of the second year after maturating.
Bark: On old trees near the base, furrowed.  Young trees and branches smooth, dark bluish gray, sometimes furrowed, light and dark gray.  Branchlets at first pale green, changing to reddish brown, ultimately dull gray.
Wood: Light brown, sapwood nearly white; heavy, hard, close-grained, very strong.  Used for levers, handles of tools.  Specific gravity, 0.7286; density 45.41 pounds per cubic foot (0.7274 g/cm³).
Winter buds: Ovate, acute, chestnut brown, 1⁄8 inch (3 mm) long.  Inner scales enlarge when spring growth begins.  No terminal bud is formed.
Leaves: Alternate, two to four inches long, ovate-oblong, rounded, wedge-shaped, or rarely subcordate and often unequal at base, sharply and doubly serrate, acute or acuminate.  They come out of the bud pale bronze green and hairy; when full grown they are dull deep green above, paler beneath; feather-veined, midrib and veins very prominent on under side.  In autumn bright red, deep scarlet and orange. Petioles short, slender, hairy.  Stipules caducous.
Flowers: April.  Monœcious, without petals, the staminate spike naked in pendulous catkins (aments).  The staminate ament buds are axillary and form in the autumn. During the winter they resemble leaf-buds, only twice as large. They begin to lengthen very early in the spring, and when full grown are about 1+1⁄2 inches (4 cm) long.  The staminate flower is composed of three to twenty stamens crowded on a hairy torus, adnate to the base of a broadly ovate, acute boot-shaped scale, green below the middle, bright red at apex.  The pistillate aments are one-half to three-fourths of an inch long with ovate, acute, hairy, green scales and bright scarlet styles.
Fruit: Clusters of involucres, hanging from the ends of leafy branches.  Each involucre slightly encloses a small oval nut.  The involucres are short stalked, usually three-lobed, though one lobe is often wanting; halberd-shaped, coarsely serrated on one margin, or entire.


There are two subspecies, which intergrade extensively where they meet:
Carpinus caroliniana subsp. caroliniana. Atlantic coastal plain north to Delaware, and lower Mississippi Valley west to eastern Texas. Leaves mostly smaller, 3–9 cm (1+1⁄4–3+1⁄2 in) long, and relatively broader, 3–6 cm (1+1⁄4–2+1⁄4 in) broad.
Carpinus caroliniana subsp. virginiana. Appalachian Mountains and west to Minnesota and south to Arkansas. Leaves mostly larger, 8–12 cm (3+1⁄4–4+3⁄4 in) long, and relatively narrower, 3.5–6 cm (1+3⁄8–2+3⁄8 in) broad.


They are shade-loving trees, preferring moderate soil fertility and moisture. It has a shallow, wide-spreading root system. The leaves are eaten by the caterpillars of some Lepidoptera, for example the Io moth (Automeris io).
Common along the borders of streams and swamps, loves a deep moist soil.  Varies from shrub to small tree, and ranges throughout the United States east of the Rocky Mountains.
Deer browse the foliage and twigs, while game birds eat the nutlets.


The wood is heavy and hard, and is used for tool handles, longbows, walking sticks, walking canes and golf clubs.


Carpobrotus chilensis is a species of succulent plant known by the common name sea fig. It is a species that is used as an ornamental plant, and it is also edible. However, along with its even more troublesome cousin, C. edulis, it has invaded sections of the California coast at the expense of native vegetation, and is subject to control efforts.


Carpobrotus chilensis sends out prostrate stems that are upwards of 2 metres (6+1⁄2 feet) long; these root at the nodes and can carpet the ground, with fleshy, pointed leaves which are 4–7.5 centimetres (1+1⁄2–3 inches) long and triangular in cross-section. It is similar to, and often mistaken for, its close relative the "ice plant" (Carpobrotus edulis), which is larger, and grows alongside and sometimes hybridizes with C. chilensis. For comparison, the larger flowers of C. edulis (6.4 to 15.2 cm [2.5 to 6 in] in diameter) are yellow or light pink, whereas C. chilensis flowers are smaller (3.8 to 6.4 cm [1.5 to 2.5 in] in diameter) and deep magenta.
The flowers open in the morning and close at night, and its can bloom and fruit all year round. The fruit has 8–10 chambres.
The plant can easily be propagated by cuttings, which can be planted immediately in the soil or instantly in the garden and will root without the need of rooting hormone or mist.


Along with C. edulis, it was once placed in Mesembryanthemum.


Usually found in warm temperate and subtropical areas, it is probably native to southern Africa. It is familiar elsewhere, particularly the coastline of western North America, where it is an introduced invasive species that has taken hold and become commonplace. It is also found, and naturalised, in Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Australia, Spain, Greece, Southern England and New Zealand. Grown in sunny conditions, it is normally found within coastal dunes and bluffs, margins of estuaries, along roadsides; at elevations from sea level to 100 m (330 ft) along the southern Pacific Coast of North America.


Growing well in poor sandy soil, this species is hardy and can withstand disturbance by humans, which is common on the well-travelled beaches where it grows. This trait gives it an advantage over many native plant species, causing it to become a threat to native coastal ecosystems where it has invaded.


The plant has a pleasant flavour, although it can be laxative if eaten in high quantity, especially its fruit. The plant can be consumed raw or cooked (especially its leaves), or dried for future use or made into pickles and chutney. There is only a tiny amount of flesh in the fruit, and it must be fully ripe otherwise it is very sour. The leaves can be used in salads and can also be used as a replacement for pickled cucumber.


The leaf juice is acerbic and slightly antiseptic. It can be mixed with water and used to treat diarrhoea, dysentery and stomach cramps, and can also be gargled to alleviate laryngitis, sore throat and mouth infections. Masticating its leaf tip and ingesting the juice may relieve a sore throat. The leaf juice is also used externally as a calming curative for burns, bruises, scrapes, cuts, grazes and sunburn, ringworm, eczema, dermatitis, sunburn, herpes, nappy rash, cold sores, cracked lips, chafing, skin conditions and allergies and curative for insect stings.


Carpobrotus edulis is a ground-creeping plant with succulent leaves in the genus Carpobrotus, native to South Africa. Its common names include hottentot-fig, sour fig, ice plant or highway ice plant.


Carpobrotus edulis is a creeping, mat-forming succulent species. It grows year round, with individual shoot segments growing more than 1 m (3 ft) per year. It can grow to at least 50 m (165 ft) in diameter. The leaves are only very slightly curved and have serrated sides near the tips.
The yellow or light pink flowers are produced from April to October, and range from 6.4 to 15.2 centimetres (2+1⁄2 to 6 inches) in diameter. Two of the calyx lobes are longer, extending further than the petals. They open in the morning in bright sunlight and close at night.
The fruit is multi-chambered, ripening from green to yellow.
The species is easily confused with its close relatives, including the more diminutive and less aggressive Carpobrotus chilensis (sea fig), with which it hybridizes readily.
C. edulis can, however, be distinguished from most of its relatives by the size and colour of its flowers. The smaller flowers of C. chilensis, 3.8 to 6.4 cm (1+1⁄2 to 2+1⁄2 in) in diameter, are deep magenta.


C. edulis contains rutin, neohesperidin, hyperoside, catechin and ferulic acid; these contribute to the antibacterial properties of the plant.
It also contains procyanidins and propelargonidins.


The species is a member of the fig-marigold family, Aizoaceae, one of about 30 species in the genus Carpobrotus. It was previously classified in Mesembryanthemum and is sometimes referred to as Mesembryanthemum edule.


The sour fig grows on coastal and inland slopes in South Africa from Namaqualand in the Northern Cape through the Western Cape to the Eastern Cape. It is often seen as a pioneer on disturbed sites.


The flowers are pollinated by solitary bees, honey bees, carpenter bees, and many beetle species. Leaves are eaten by tortoises. Flowers are eaten by antelopes and baboons. Fruits are eaten by baboons, rodents, porcupines, antelopes, who also disperse the seeds. The clumps provide shelter for snails, lizards, and skinks. Puff adders and other snakes, such as the Cape cobra, are often found in Carpobrotus clumps, where they ambush the small rodents attracted by the fruits.


Carpobrotus edulis has naturalised in many other regions throughout the world, and is an invasive species in several parts, notably Australia, California and the Mediterranean, all of which have similar climates. The ice plant has escaped from cultivation and has become invasive, posing a serious ecological problem by forming vast monospecific zones, lowering biodiversity, and competing directly with several threatened or endangered plant species for nutrients, water, light, and space.


Recorded as a garden escape from County Down, in the south and east and on the cliffs of Howth Head, County Dublin.Irish Naturalists' Journal 37(2) 102 - 10</ref>


On the Mediterranean coast, Carpobrotus has spread out rapidly and now parts of the coastline are completely covered. Moreover, another invasive species, the black rat, has been shown to enhance the spreading of the ice plant through its feces. As the ice plant represents a food resource for the rat, both benefit from each other which is referred to as invasive mutualism.


In New Zealand forms monocultures and has taken over vast areas of coastal sand dune ecosystem. C. edulis and its hybrids are classed as unwanted organisms and are listed on the National Pest Plant Accord.


It needs well-drained soil, a sunny position, and room to spread. It is an excellent evergreen, drought- and wind-resistant groundcover; it can be planted on flat, sandy ground, on loose sand dunes, lime-rich and brackish soils, and gravelly gardens, as well as in containers, rockeries, and embankments, and will cascade over terrace walls.


The fruit is edible (as with some other members of the family Aizoaceae), as are its leaves. In South Africa the sour fig's ripe fruit are gathered and either eaten fresh or made into a very tart jam.
The different parts of C. edulis are used in different forms in traditional medicine, mainly in South Africa. Mostly, the fruits and flowers are eaten raw or cooked for fungal and bacterial infections. The leaves can be ingested orally for digestive problems or the juice can be sucked out to help a sore throat. The juice can also be mixed into a lotion base and used for external issues such as ringworm, bruises, sunburns, and cracked lips.


Carpocoris fuscispinus can reach a length of 11–14 millimetres (0.43–0.55 in). The basic colour of the body is quite variable, ranging from greyish yellow to reddish brown, with tiny black dots. It has a sharp angled pronotum, most prominent in the summer than in autumn. Antennae are black.


Larvae are polyphagous, but they mainly occur on plants of the families Apiaceae and Asteraceae. Adults are commonly found from June to October. These shield bugs overwinter as adults.


This species is widespread throughout Europe. It mainly occurs in deciduous and mixed forest areas.


This butterfly has a wingspan of 29 to 31 mm. The uppersides of chequered skippers are dark brown with orange scales at the base of the wings and golden spots, giving it its English name of chequered skipper. The basic pattern on the underside is similar but the forewings are orange with dark spots, and the hindwings are russet with cream spots rimmed in black. The sexes are similar although females are generally slightly larger.


In Britain, the chequered skipper was formerly resident in England and Scotland.  Now, the chequered skipper is only found in western Scotland. A programme is under way to reintroduce the species to England.  The butterfly has also reached parts of Japan but faces threats there. In North America the chequered skipper is also known as the arctic skipper and is found in the northern coasts and expands to central Alaska.  The chequered skipper can be seen in central California.  The chequered skipper has been seen along the coasts of Canada.  It is generally considered a woodland butterfly and breeds in and around damp woodland, favoring clearings and woodland paths and seems to have a particular attraction to blue woodland flowers.


The chequered skipper has been extinct in England since 1976 but has stable populations in western Scotland. Attempts to reintroduce the butterfly to England were started in the 1990s. It was previously widespread in the Midlands, with isolated populations as far south as Devon and Hampshire. It is thought that the cessation of coppicing in English woodlands is the main cause of its extinction. It was only discovered in Scotland in 1939 where it was found in grassland on the edges of open broad-leaved woodland. In May 2018, 50 individual chequered skippers are to be reintroduced to Rockingham Forest in Northamptonshire by a Butterfly Conservation-led Back from the Brink project.


Though the chequered skipper is a woodland butterfly it can also be found in bogs, at the edges of streams, and at grassy forest openings in both Great Britain and northern parts of the United States.  Chequered skippers can breed in open grasslands in Scotland. In woodland areas the breeding sites happen at the edges of rivers and the bottom of slopes. Though there is a small range in the areas the butterfly can live in, these areas tend to have a smaller range in seasonal and temperature range. The presence of the M. caerulea is really important in determining habitat in Scotland and in England the Bromus is essential. In North America, chequered skippers can be found around forest trails, forest edges, and open grassy areas.  Even though the chequered skipper goes by arctic skipper it does not live in Arctic areas.


Males defend territories and intercept passing females from favored perches.  This behavior tends to occur when there are concentrations of females, larvae, or food plants. The area where the butterflies place the larvae are in between woodland soils and peats.  Chequered skippers set up home close to nectar sources.  However, they are careful to not let their territory attract other males.  When it is flight season males are known to spread their home farther away from each other.


Seeing that the chequered skipper is an active butterfly and can travel long distances it needs to keep its energy stores filled. Since the chequered skipper lives an active lifestyle it needs to stay in nectar-rich sources. In North America the adults are eating from flower's nectar and they include wild iris and Jacob's ladder.


The life cycle of the chequered skipper starts in early June and ends slightly before the July of the following year. This species of butterfly is single brooded.


Eggs are singly laid, 20–30 cm above the ground, on the upperside leaf blade of Molinia caerulea or purple moor grass. The eggs are tiny, white, and dome- shaped. The eggs are laid in early June and it takes two to three weeks before it hatches.


Pupation occurs on the ground by the bases of tussocks. Six weeks later a butterfly comes out of the pupa.


These butterflies fly around spring time when there are lower temperatures and stay in the cooler and unpredictable climate that is Scotland. How far they fly is based on the amount of resources and the adequate habitat that there is.


There are no known enemies of the chequered skipper. However, changes in their woodland habit decrease their population size. This decrease in population size is due to the decline of coppicing, which is the cutting of trees close to the base and allowing regrowth to happen. New management of the chequered skippers' habitat also plays a role in its survivability. Chequered skippers' populations decreased in England due to coppicing coming to a halt in the 1950s. By 1976, they were only found in Scotland.


According to Ravenscroft's study, male chequered skippers are territorial and will determine where mating occurs as they decide optimal places to live. Most males find multiple perches, that they guard to catch any potential mates that are pass through their territory. Males make short and brief round trips near their territory in order to defend it. Researchers deduced that male decision in mating location was not due to richness in resources, but rather due to varying temperature relations. Females generally gravitate to territories based on this as well.


Chequered skippers are small and because of their size flight is fast and inefficient. When they fly it is almost like they are skipping above the plants.  This skipping makes it hard for them to be followed.


Conservation of this butterfly is being called for because there once was an abundance of chequered skippers throughout the United Kingdom, but over time the population decreased, so that they are now predominantly seen only in western Scotland. One important factor that played into this outcome is the overgrazing of the larval habitat by the sheep which decreased the nutrients in the M. caerulea thus causing the larvae to have a hard time gathering the resources it needs in order to survive. The hunting of deer decreased the amount of grazing that is accomplished usually, which causes shrub to form and that in turn results in adult habitats suffering. A new company was managing the woodlands in the mid-twentieth century and it resulted in the deforestation of many areas in the United Kingdom and that also allowed the adults to suffer and find different places to live. In North America, conservation is not required for the chequered skipper.
Nature Conservation Act in Scotland protects the chequered skipper. In various butterfly association high priority is given to the chequered skipper such as the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, Butterfly Conservation priority. However, the European status states that the butterfly is not threatened. A Species Action Plan, written in 1996, has a specific way in which it want to protect the butterfly from reintroducing the species into parts of the United Kingdom to denying grants to plant conifers. This action plan was going to be maintained annually.


Caraway, also known as meridian fennel and Persian cumin (Carum carvi), is a biennial plant in the family Apiaceae, native to western Asia, Europe, and North Africa.


The etymology of "caraway" is unclear. Caraway has been called by many names in different regions, with names deriving from the Latin cuminum (cumin), the Greek karon (again, cumin), which was adapted into Latin as carum (now meaning caraway), and the Sanskrit karavi, sometimes translated as "caraway", but other times understood to mean "fennel". English use of the term caraway dates to at least 1440, possibly having Arabic origin.


The plant is similar in appearance to other members of the carrot family, with finely divided, feathery leaves with thread-like divisions, growing on 20–30 cm (8–12 in) stems. The main flower stem is 30–60 cm (12–24 in) tall, with small white or pink flowers in compound umbels composed of 5-16 unequal rays 1-6 cm long. Caraway fruits, informally called seeds, are smooth, crescent-shaped, laterally compressed achenes, around 2 mm (1⁄16 in) long, with five pale ridges and a distinctive pleasant smell when crushed
It flowers in June and July


Caraway was mentioned by the early Greek botanist Pedanius Dioscorides as a herb and tonic. It was later mentioned in the Roman Apicius as an ingredient in recipes. Caraway was known in the Arab world as karauya, and cultivated in Morocco.


Caraway is distributed through most of Europe, with the exception of the Mediterranean region. The only species that is cultivated is Carum carvi, its fruits being used in many ways in cooking and its essential oils in the preparation of certain medicines and liqueurs. All other European species of Carum generally have smaller fruits; some grow on rocks in the mountains, chiefly in the Balkans, Italian Alps and Apennines.
The plant prefers warm, sunny locations and well-drained soil rich in organic matter.  In warmer regions, it is planted in the winter as an annual.  In temperate climates, it is planted as a summer annual or biennial. However, a polyploid variant (with four haploid sets=4n) of this plant was found to be perennial.
It is widely established as a cultivated plant. The Netherlands, Poland and Germany are the top caraway producers.  Finland supplies about 28% (2011) of the world's caraway production from some 1500 farms, the high output occurring possibly from its favorable climate and latitudes, which ensure long summer hours of sunlight.


Caraway seeds are 10% water, 50% carbohydrates, 20% protein, and 15% fat (table). In a 100 grams (3.5 oz) reference amount, caraway seeds are a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of protein, B vitamins (24-33% DV), vitamin C (25% DV), and several dietary minerals, especially iron (125% DV), phosphorus (81% DV), and zinc (58% DV) (table).


When ground, caraway seeds yield up to 7.5% of volatile oil, mostly D-carvone, and 15% fixed oil of which the major fatty acids are oleic, linoleic, petroselinic, and palmitic acids.
Phytochemicals identified in caraway seed oil include thymol, o-cymene, γ‑terpinene, trimethylene dichloride, β-pinene, 2-(1-cyclohexenyl), cyclohexanone, β-phellandrene, 3-carene, α-thujene, and linalool.


The leaves of caraway are mildly toxic, with symptoms including vomiting and diarrhea.


The fruits, usually used whole, have a pungent, anise-like flavor and aroma that comes from essential oils, mostly carvone, limonene, and anethole. Caraway is used as a spice in breads, especially rye bread. In the United States, the most common use of caraway is whole as an addition to rye bread – often called seeded rye or Jewish rye bread, where the recipe itself owes to East Slavic coriander and caraway flavoured rye bread (see Borodinsky bread). Caraway fruits are frequently used in Irish soda bread, along with raisins and currants.
Caraway may be used in desserts, liquors, casseroles, and other foods. Its leaves can be added to salads, stews, and soups, and are sometimes consumed as herbs, either raw, dried, or cooked, similar to parsley. The root is consumed as a winter root vegetable in some places, similar to parsnips.
Caraway fruits are found in diverse European cuisines and dishes, for example sauerkraut, and the United Kingdom's caraway seed cake.
In Austrian cuisine it is used to season beef and, in German cuisine, pork. In Hungarian cuisine it is added to goulash, and in Norwegian cuisine and Swedish cuisine it is used for making caraway black bread. In Latvian cuisine whole caraway seeds are added to the Jāņi sour milk cheese.
Caraway oil is used to for the production of Kümmel liquor in Germany and Russia, Scandinavian akvavit, Icelandic brennivín.
In Oxford, where the plant appeared to have become naturalised in a meadow, the seeds were formerly offered on a tray by publicans to people who wished to disguise the odour of their drinker's breath


The pecan (Carya illinoinensis) is a species of hickory native to the southern United States and northern Mexico in the region of the Mississippi River. The tree is cultivated for its seed in the southern United States, primarily in Georgia, New Mexico,and  Texas, as well as Mexico, which produces nearly half of the world total. The seed is an edible nut used as a snack and in various recipes, such as praline candy and pecan pie. The pecan, in various aspects, is included in state symbols of Alabama, Arkansas, California, Oklahoma, and Texas.


The pecan tree is a large deciduous tree, growing to 20–40 m (66–131 ft) in height, rarely to 44 m (144 ft). It typically has a spread of 12–23 m (39–75 ft) with a trunk up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) diameter. A 10-year-old sapling grown in optimal conditions will stand about 5 m (16 ft) tall. The leaves are alternate, 30–45 cm (12–18 in) long, and pinnate with 9–17 leaflets, each leaflet 5–12 cm (2–4+1⁄2 in) long and 2–6 cm (1–2+1⁄2 in) broad.
A pecan, like the fruit of all other members of the hickory genus, is not truly a nut, but is technically a drupe, a fruit with a single stone or pit, surrounded by a husk. The husks are produced from the exocarp tissue of the flower, while the part known as the nut develops from the endocarp and contains the seed. The husk itself is aeneous, that is, brassy greenish-gold in color, oval to oblong in shape,  2.6–6 cm (1–2+3⁄8 in) long and 1.5–3 cm (5⁄8–1+1⁄8 in) broad. The outer husk is 3–4 mm (1⁄8–5⁄32 in) thick, starts out green and turns brown at maturity, at which time it splits off in four sections to release the thin-shelled seed.


Pecans were one of the most recently domesticated major crops. Although wild pecans were well known among native and colonial Americans as a delicacy, the commercial growing of pecans in the United States did not begin until the 1880s. As of 2014, the United States produced an annual crop of 119.8 million kilograms (264.2 million pounds), with 75% of the total crop produced in Georgia, New Mexico and Texas. They can be grown from USDA hardiness zones approximately 5 to 9, and grow best where summers are long, hot and humid. The nut harvest for growers is typically around mid-October. Outside the United States, Mexico produces nearly half of the world total, similar in volume to the United States, together accounting for 93% of global production. Generally, two or more trees of different cultivars must be present to pollinate each other.
 Choosing cultivars can be a complex practice, based on the Alternate Bearing Index (ABI) and their period of pollinating. Commercial growers are most concerned with the ABI, which describes a cultivar's likelihood to bear on alternating years (index of 1.0 signifies highest likelihood of bearing little to nothing every other year). The period of pollination groups all cultivars into two families: those that shed pollen before they can receive pollen (protandrous), and those that shed pollen after becoming receptive to pollen (protogynous). State-level resources provide recommended varieties for specific regions.
Native pecans in Mexico are adapted from zone 9 to zone 11.  Little or no breeding work has been done with these populations.  A few selections from native stands have been made such as Frutosa and Norteña which are recommended for cultivation in Mexico. Improved varieties recommended for cultivation in Mexico are USDA-developed cultivars.  This represents a gap in breeding development given that native pecans can be cultivated at least down to the Yucatán peninsula while the USDA cultivars have chilling hour requirements greater than those occurring in much of the region.  Some regions of the U.S. such as parts of Florida and Puerto Rico are zone 10 or higher, and these regions have limited options for pecan cultivation.  'Western' is the only commonly available variety that can make a crop in low-chill zones.


Active breeding and selection is carried out by the USDA Agricultural Research Service with growing locations at Brownwood and College Station, Texas. University of Georgia has a breeding program at the Tifton campus working to select pecan varieties adapted to subtropical southeastern U.S. growing conditions.
While selection work has been done since the late 19th century, most acreage of pecans grown today is of older cultivars, such as 'Stuart', 'Schley', 'Elliott', and 'Desirable', with known flaws but also with known production potential. Cultivars such as 'Elliot' are increasing in popularity due to resistance to pecan scab. The long cycle time for pecan trees plus financial considerations dictate that new varieties go through an extensive vetting process before being widely planted. Numerous varieties produce well in Texas, but fail in the Southeastern U.S. due to increased disease pressure. Selection programs are ongoing at the state level, with Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, and others having trial plantings.
Varieties adapted from the southern tier of states north through some parts of Iowa and even into southern Canada are available from nurseries. Production potential drops significantly when planted further north than Tennessee. Most breeding efforts for northern-adapted varieties have not been on a large enough scale to significantly affect production. Varieties that are available and adapted (e.g., 'Major', 'Martzahn', 'Witte', 'Greenriver', 'Mullahy', and 'Posey') in zones 6 and farther north are almost entirely selections from wild stands.  Kanza, a northern-adapted release from the USDA breeding program, is a grafted pecan having high  productivity and quality, and cold tolerance.


Pecans are subject to a wide range of diseases, pests, and physiological disorders that can limit tree growth and fruit production.  These range from scab to hickory shuckworm to shuck decline.
Pecans are prone to infection by bacteria and fungi such as pecan scab, especially in humid conditions.  Scab is currently the most destructive disease affecting pecan trees untreated with fungicides.  Recommendations for preventive spray materials and schedules are available from state level resources.
Various insects feed on the leaves, stems, and developing nuts.  These include ambrosia beetles, twig girdlers, pecan nut casebearer, hickory shuckworm, phylloxera, curculio, weevils, and several aphid species.
In the Southeastern United States, nickel deficiency in C. illinoinensis produces a disorder called "mouse-ear" in trees fertilized with urea. Similarly, zinc deficiency causes rosetting of the leaves. Various other disorders are documented, including canker disease and shuck decline complex.


The seeds of the pecan are edible, with a rich, buttery flavor. They can be eaten fresh or used in cooking, particularly in sweet desserts, such as pecan pie, a traditional Southern U.S. dish. Butter pecan is also a common flavor in cookies, cakes, and ice creams. Pecans are a major ingredient in American praline candy. Other applications of cooking with pecans include pecan oil and pecan butter.
Pecan wood is used in making furniture and wood flooring, as well as a flavoring fuel for smoking meats, giving grilled foods a sweet and nutty flavor stronger than many fruit woods.


A pecan nut is 4% water, 72% fat, 9% protein, and 14% carbohydrates (see table). In a 100 g reference amount, pecans provide 690 calories and are a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of dietary fiber (38% DV), manganese (214% DV), magnesium (34% DV), phosphorus (40% DV), zinc (48% DV), and thiamine (57% DV) (table). Pecans are a moderate source (10-19% DV) of iron and B vitamins. Pecan fat content consists principally of monounsaturated fatty acids, mainly oleic acid (57% of total fat), and the polyunsaturated fatty acid, linoleic acid (30% of total fat).


The pecan, Carya illinoinensis, is a member of the Juglandaceae family. Juglandaceae are represented worldwide by between seven and 10 extant genera and more than 60 species. Most of these species are concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere of the New World, but some can be found on every continent except for Antarctica. The first fossil examples of the family appear during the Cretaceous. Differentiation between the subfamilies of Engelhardioideae and Juglandioideae occurred during the early Paleogene, about 64 million years ago. Extant examples of Engelhardioideae are generally tropical and evergreen, while those of Juglandioideae are deciduous and found in more temperate zones. The second major step in the development of pecan was a change from wind-dispersed fruits to animal dispersion. This dispersal strategy coincides with the development of a husk around the fruit and a drastic change in the relative concentrations of fatty acids. The ratio of oleic to linoleic acids are inverted between wind- and animal-dispersed seeds. Further differentiation from other species of Juglandaceae occurred about 44 million years ago during the Eocene. The fruits of the pecan genus Carya differ from those of the walnut genus Juglans only in the formation of the husk of the fruit. The husks of walnuts develop from the bracts, bracteoles, and sepals, or sepals only. The husks of pecans develop from the bracts and the bracteoles only.


Before European settlement, pecans were widely consumed and traded by Native Americans. As a wild forage, the fruit of the previous growing season is commonly still edible when found on the ground.
Pecans first became known to Europeans in the 16th century. The first Europeans to come into contact with pecans were Spanish explorers in what is now Louisiana, Texas, and Mexico. These Spanish explorers called the pecan, nuez de la arruga, which roughly translates to "wrinkle nut". Because of their familiarity with the genus Juglans, these early explorers referred to the nuts as nogales and nueces, the Spanish terms for "walnut trees" and "fruit of the walnut". They noted the particularly thin shell and acorn-like shape of the fruit, indicating they were indeed referring to pecans. The Spaniards took the pecan into Europe, Asia, and Africa beginning in the 16th century. In 1792, William Bartram reported in his botanical book, Travels, a nut tree, Juglans exalata that some botanists today argue was the American pecan tree, but others argue was hickory, Carya ovata. Pecan trees are native to the United States, and writing about the pecan tree goes back to the nation's founders. Thomas Jefferson planted pecan trees, C. illinoinensis (Illinois nuts), in his nut orchard at his home, Monticello, in Virginia. George Washington reported in his journal that Thomas Jefferson gave him "Illinois nuts", pecans, which Washington then grew at Mount Vernon, his Virginia home.
Commercial production of pecans was slow because trees are slow to mature and bear fruit. More importantly, the trees grown from nuts of one tree have very diverse characters.  To speed nut production and retain the best tree characteristics, grafting from mature productive trees was the obvious strategy. However, this proved technically difficult. The Centennial cultivar was the first to be successfully grafted. This was accomplished by an enslaved person called Antoine in 1846 or 1847, who was owned by Jacques Telesphore Roman of the Oak Alley Plantation near the Mississippi River. The scions were supplied by Dr. A. E. Colomb, who had unsuccessfully attempted to graft them himself.


Pecan is a 32-chromosome species (1N = 16) that readily hybridizes with other 32-chromosome members of the Carya genus, such as Carya ovata, Carya laciniosa, Carya cordiformis and has been reported to hybridize with 64-chromosome species such as Carya tomentosa. Most such hybrids are unproductive. Hybrids are referred to as "hicans" to indicate their hybrid origin.  Recent efforts at NMSU to complete a pecan genome showed that DNA introgressed from C. Aquatica (water hickory), C. Myristiciformis (nutmeg hickory), and C. Cordiformis (bitternut hickory) is present in commercial pecan varieties grown today.


In 1919, the 36th Texas Legislature made the pecan tree the state tree of Texas; in 2001, the pecan was declared the state's official "health nut", and in 2013, pecan pie was made the state's official pie. The town of San Saba, Texas claims to be "The Pecan Capital of the World" and is the site of the "Mother Tree" (c. 1850) considered to be the source of the state's production through its progeny. Alabama named the pecan the official state nut in 1982. Arkansas adopted it as the official nut in 2009. California adopted it, along with the almond, pistachio, and walnut, as one of four state nuts in 2017. In 1988, Oklahoma enacted an official state meal which included pecan pie.


Carya tomentosa, (mockernut hickory, mockernut, white hickory, whiteheart hickory, hognut, bullnut) is a tree in the Juglandaceae or walnut family. The most abundant of the hickories, common in the eastern half of the US, it is long lived, sometimes reaching the age of 500 years. A straight-growing hickory, a high percentage of its wood is used for products where strength, hardness, and flexibility are needed. The wood makes excellent fuel wood, as well. The leaves turn yellow in Autumn.
The species' name comes from the Latin word tomentum, meaning "covered with dense, short hairs," referring to the underside of the leaves, which help identify the species. Also called the white hickory due to the light color of the wood, the common name mockernut likely refers to the would-be nut eater, who would struggle to crack the thick shell only to find a small, unrewarding nut inside.


Mockernut hickory, a true hickory, grows from Massachusetts and New York west to southern Ontario, and northern Illinois; then to southeastern Iowa, Missouri, and eastern Kansas, south to eastern Texas and east to northern Florida. This species is not present in Michigan, New Hampshire and Vermont as previously mapped by Little. Mockernut hickory is most abundant southward through Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida, where it is the most common of the hickories. It is also abundant in the lower Mississippi Valley and grows largest in the lower Ohio River Basin and in Missouri and Arkansas.


The climate where mockernut hickory grows is usually humid. Within its range, the mean annual precipitation measures from 890 mm (35 in) in the north to 2,030 mm (80 in) in the south. During the growing season (April through September), annual precipitation varies from 510 to 890 mm (20 to 35 in). About 200 cm (79 in) of annual snowfall is common in the northern part of the range, but snow is rare in the southern portion.
Annual temperatures range from 10 to 21 °C (50 to 70 °F). Monthly average temperatures range from 21 to 27° C (70 to 80 °F) in July and from -7 to 16 °C (20 to 60 °F) in January. Temperature extremes are well above 38 °C (100 °F) and below −18 °C (0 °F). The growing season is about 160 days in the northern part of the range and up to 320 days in the southern part of the range.


In the north, mockernut hickory is found on drier soils of ridges and hillsides and less frequently on moist woodlands and alluvial bottoms. The species grows and develops best on deep, fertile soils. In the Cumberland Mountains and hills of southern Indiana, it grows on dry sites such as south and west slopes or dry ridges. In Alabama and Mississippi, it grows on sandy soils with shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata) and loblolly pine (P taeda). However, most of the merchantable mockernut grows on moderately fertile upland soils.
Mockernut hickory grows primarily on ultisols occurring on an estimated 65% of its range, including much of the southern to northeastern United States. These soils are low in nutrients and usually moist, but during the warm season, they are dry part of the time. Along the mid-Atlantic and in the southern and western range, mockernut hickory grows on a variety of soils on slopes of 25% or less, including combinations of fine to coarse loams, clays, and well-drained quartz sands. On slopes steeper than 25%, mockernut often grows on coarse loams.
Mockernut grows on inceptisols in an estimated 15% of its range. These clayey soils are moderate to high in nutrients and are primarily in the Appalachians on gentle to moderate slopes, where water is available to plants during the growing season. In the northern Appalachians on slopes of 25% or less, mockernut hickory grows on poorly drained loams with a fragipan. In the central and southern Appalachians on slopes 25% or less, mockernut hickory grows on fine loams. On steeper slopes, it grows on coarse loams.
In the northwestern part of the range, mockernut grows on mollisols. These soils have a deep, fertile surface horizon greater than 25 cm (9.8 in) thick. Mollisols characteristically form under grass in climates with moderate to high seasonal precipitation.
Mockernut grows on a variety of soils including wet, fine loams, sandy textured soils that often have been burned, plowed, and pastured. Alfisols are also present in these areas and contain a medium to high supply of nutrients. Water is available to plants more than half the year or more than three consecutive months during the growing season. On slopes of 25% or less, mockernut grows on wet to moist, fine loam soils with a high carbonate content.


Mockernut hickory is associated with the eastern oak-hickory forest and the beech-maple forest. The species does not exist in sufficient numbers to be included as a title species in the Society of American Foresters forest cover types. Nevertheless, it is identified as an associated species in eight cover types. Three of the upland oak types and the bottom land type are subclimax to climax.
In the central forest upland oak types, mockernut is commonly associated with:
pignut hickory (Carya glabra)
shagbark hickory (C. ovata)
bitternut hickory (C. cordiformis)
black oak (Quercus velutina)
scarlet oak (Q. coccinea)
post oak (Q. stellata)
bur oak (Q. macrocarpa)
blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica)
yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)
maples (Acer spp.)
white ash (Fraxinus americana)
eastern white pine (Pinus strobus)
eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)
Common understory vegetation includes:
flowering dogwood (Cornus florida)
sumac (Rhus spp.)
sassafras (Sassafras albidum)
sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum)
downy serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.)
redbud (Cercis canadensis)
eastern hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana)
American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana)
Mockernut is also associated with:
wild grapes (Vitis spp.)
rosebay rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum)
mountain-laurel (Kalmia latifolia)
greenbriers (Smilax spp.)
blueberries (Vaccinium spp.)
witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)
spicebush (Lindera benzoin)
New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus)
wild hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens)
tick-trefoil (Desmodium spp.)
bluestem (Andropogon spp.)
poverty oatgrass (Danthonia spicata)
sedges (Carex spp.)
pussytoes (Antennaria spp.)
goldenrod (Solidago spp.)
asters (Aster or other genera, depending on the classification).
In the southern forest, mockernut grows with:
shortleaf pine
loblolly pine
pignut hickory
gums
oaks
sourwood
winged elm (Ulmus alata)
flowering dogwood
redbud
sourwood
persimmon (Diospyros uirginiana)
eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana)
sumacs
hawthorns (Crataegus spp.)
blueberries
honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.)
mountain-laurel
viburnums
greenbriers
grapes
In the loblolly pine-hardwood type in the southern forest, mockernut commonly grows in the upland and drier sites with:
white oak (Quercus alba)
post oak
northern red oak (Q. rubra)
southern red oak (Q. falcata)
scarlet oak
shagbark and pignut hickories
blackgum
flowering dogwood
hawthorn
sourwood
greenbrier
grape
honeysuckle
blueberry
In the southern bottom lands, mockernut occurs in the swamp chestnut oak-cherrybark oak type along with:
green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica)
white ash
shagbark
shellbark hickory (Carya laciniosa)
bitternut hickories
white oak
delta post oak (Quercus stellata var. paludosa)
Shumard oak (Q. shumardii)
blackgum.
Understory trees include:
American pawpaw (Asimina triloba)
flowering dogwood
painted buckeye (Aesculus sylvatica)
American hornbeam
devils-walking stick (Aralia spinosa)
redbud
American holly (Ilex opaca)
Dwarf palmetto (Sabal minor)
Coastal plain willow (Salix caroliniana)


Mockernut hickory is monoecious - male and female flowers are produced on the same tree. Mockernut male flowers are catkins about 10 to 13 cm (3.9 to 5.1 in) long and may be produced on branches from axils of leaves of the previous season or from the inner scales of the terminal buds at the base of the current growth. The female flowers appear in short spikes on peduncles terminating in shoots of the current year. Flowers bloom in the spring from April to May, depending on latitude and weather. Usually the male flowers emerge before the female flowers. Hickories produce very large amounts of pollen that is dispersed by the wind.
Fruits are solitary or paired and globose, ripening in September and October, and are about 2.5 to 9.0 cm (0.98 to 3.54 in) long with a short necklike base. The fruit has a thick, four-ribbed husk 3 to 4 mm (0.12 to 0.16 in) thick that usually splits from the middle to the base. The nut is distinctly four-angled with a reddish-brown, very hard shell 5 to 6 mm (0.20 to 0.24 in) thick containing a small edible kernel.


The seed is dispersed from September through December. Mockernut hickory requires a minimum of 25 years to reach commercial seed-bearing age. Optimum seed production occurs from 40 to 125 years, and the maximum age listed for commercial seed production is 200 years.
Good seed crops occur every two to three years with light seed crops in intervening years. Around 50 to 75% of fresh seed will germinate. Fourteen mockernut hickory trees in southeastern Ohio produced an average annual crop of 6,285 nuts for 6 years; about 39% were sound, 48% aborted, and 13% had insect damage. Hickory shuckworm (Laspeyresia caryana) is probably a major factor in reducing germination.
Mockernut hickory produces one of the heaviest seeds of the hickory species; cleaned seeds range from 70 to 250 seeds/kg (32 to 113/lb). Seed is disseminated mainly by gravity and wildlife, particularly squirrels. Birds also help disperse seed. Wildlife such as squirrels and chipmunks often bury the seed at some distance from the seed-bearing tree.


Hickory seeds show embryo dormancy that can be overcome by stratification in a moist medium at 1 to 4 °C (33° to 40 °F) for 30 to 150 days. When stored for a year or more, seed may require stratification for only 30 to 60 days. Hickory nuts seldom remain viable in the ground for more than I year. Hickory species normally require a moderately moist seedbed for satisfactory seed germination, and mockernut hickory seems to reproduce best in moist duff. Germination is hypogeal.
Mockernut seedlings are not fast-growing. The height growth of mockernut seedlings observed in the Ohio Valley in the open or under light shade on red clay soil was:


True hickories sprout prolifically from stumps after cutting and fire. As the stumps increase in size, the number of stumps that produce sprouts decreases; age is probably directly correlated to stump size and sprouting. Coppice management is a possibility with true hickories. True hickories are difficult to reproduce from cuttings. Madden discussed the techniques for selecting, packing, and storing hickory propagation wood. Reed indicated that the most tested hickory species for root stock for pecan hickory grafts were mockernut and water hickory (Carya aquatica).
However, mockernut root stock grew slowly and reduced the growth of pecan tops. Also, this graft seldom produced a tree that bore well or yielded large nuts.