In areas where it has been introduced outside of its native range, V. rotundifolia has proven to be an invasive species. This plant dominates dune ecosystems leading to a reduction in the prevalence of native species. Native species exclusion is of particular concern because some of the species that share a niche with V. rotundifolia, such as sea beach amaranth (Amaranthus pumilus Rafinesque), are presently listed as threatened.
Vitex rotundifolia fruits have been shown to transfer cuticular alkanes to the sand substrate. This results in intense sand hydrophobicity that persists in the soil for many years. This hydrophobicity might negatively impact dune recovery or serve as a means for limiting growth of native plant species.
Sea turtle conservation groups have publicized concerns that dense V. rotundifolia growth may prevent sea turtles from reaching acceptable nesting sites. These same organizations believe that V. rotundifolia may limit the ability of baby turtles to reach the ocean after they hatch. A recent USA Today article mentioned these concerns as part of an effort to raise awareness of V. rotundifolia, and has at least one review article. However, these concerns have not been validated scientifically. Several sea turtle species nest along the coasts of the Carolinas. These include the endangered loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta), the endangered green turtle (Chelonia mydas), and the critically endangered Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii). If scientific evidence is found to support claims that V. rotundifolia harms sea turtles, this threat would constitute a substantial environmental issue.
Beach vitex emits large amounts of methyl chloride from its leaves. V. rotundifolia was one of the six highest emitting species of 33 possessing this characteristic. A total of 187 species were examined. Methyl chloride is produced naturally, but may be responsible for a substantial portion of the negative impacts on the stratospheric ozone layer.


In light of the invasive characteristics of V. rotundifolia, it has been added to the North Carolina Noxious Weed List (effective 2/1/2009). Plants on this list are effectively banned within the state in that possession, sale, and transport of these species is illegal.

Virginia has enacted a permanent statewide quarantine (effective 05/07/12) to limit further V. rotundifolia spread.
 At least 12 municipalities in North and South Carolina have enacted ordinances that ban V. rotundifolia planting and require homeowners to remove established plantings from their property. In June 2020 Florida also banned V. rotundifolia, making it illegal to purchase in Florida or to move it into or within the state.


Initially, beach vitex stems are wounded using a machete. A 5.25% solution of imazapyr is applied to the wounded areas of the stems. After a period of 6 months, all stems are removed. This treatment procedure is repeated until zero regrowth is observed. Triclopyr may be used to treat small resprouts and seedlings.


Vitis arizonica is a North American species of wild grape. It is a deciduous vine.
Common names for the grape are Arizona grape, canyon grape, and uva del monte.


Arizona grape is found in California (Inyo County), Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, western Texas, southern Utah, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, and Tamaulipas. Within Arizona, Vitis arizonica is found in all counties, except La Paz.


Form: Vine General: Woody vine, sprawling or weakly climbing; stems generally 2–6 m long; the young twigs densely woolly, but losing this over time and the bark becoming shreddy. Leaves: Winter deciduous; broadly cordate, 3–10 cm long and about as wide, irregularly toothed and sometimes shallowly 3-lobed, more-or-less cottony hairy; petiole 1–3 cm long; tendrils opposite the leaves, bifurcate, lacking adhesive discs, withering quickly if not attached to something. Flowers: Inflorescence a loose, open, strongly branched panicle, 2–10 cm long, emerging opposite the leaves; flowers tiny with five, white petals. Fruits: Edible (but sometimes bitter) grapes, 8–10 mm thick, black.
The Arizona grape is a vigorously branching vine. Stems are slender, with significant tapering from base to apex. Fully developed leaves resemble a three-lobed heart shape and generally grow to an average of 4 inches long/wide. Leaves exhibit irregular toothed edge. Green flower buds develop in clusters, and small flowers bloom in a whitish green hue. Globe or ovate shaped fruit are typically 1/3-3/8 in diameter; immature fruit is green in color, developing into a deep purple or black. Fruit are clustered on red pedicels.


Vitis arizonica has been used in breeding varieties resistant to Pierce's Disease.
Arizona grape is edible with different individual plants being sweet and others being bitter. The fruit can be used for wine making, jams, but is mainly consumed by wildlife.


Vitis californica, with common names California wild grape, Northern California grape, and Pacific grape, is a wild grape species widespread across much of California as well as southwestern Oregon.
The California wild grape grows along streams and rivers and thrives in damp areas; however, like most other native California plants it can withstand periods of dry conditions.


Vitis californica is a deciduous vine which can grow to over 10 m (33 ft) in length. It climbs on other plants or covers the ground with twisted, woody ropes of vine covered in green leaves. In the fall the leaves turn many shades of orange and yellow.
Bunches of small and often sour but edible purple grapes hang from the vines in autumn, which can be made into wine or jelly. The grapes provide an important food source for a variety of wild animals, especially birds, and the foliage provides thick cover. The grapes are a common sight along the banks of the Sacramento River.


Vitis californica is cultivated as an ornamental plant. The interesting shape and color of the leaves and the lush, trainable vines make this species an attractive garden plant. This vine is commonly used in native plant gardens, where once established it thrives without summer water.
The cultivar 'Roger's Red' (named for noted horticulturist Roger Raiche) turns brilliant red in fall and is a hybrid with a wine grape, Vitis vinifera Alicante Bouschet. The cultivar 'Walker Ridge' turns yellow in the autumn.


Vitis rotundifolia, or muscadine, is a grapevine species native to the southeastern and south-central United States. The growth range extends from Florida to New Jersey coast, and west to eastern Texas and Oklahoma. It has been extensively cultivated since the 16th century. The plants are well-adapted to their native warm and humid climate; they need fewer chilling hours than better known varieties, and thrive in summer heat.
Muscadine berries may be bronze or dark purple or black when ripe. Wild varieties may stay green through maturity. Muscadines are typically used in making artisan wines, juice, and jelly. They are rich sources of polyphenols.
In a natural setting, muscadine provides wildlife habitat as shelter, browse, and food for many birds and animals. It is also a larval host for the Nessus Sphinx Moth (Amphion floridensis) and the Mournful Sphinx Moth (Enyo lugubris).


Although in the same genus Vitis with the other grapevine species, the muscadine species belongs to a separate subgenus, Muscadinia (all other grapevine species belong to subgenus Euvitis).
Usually the species is divided into three varieties, Vitis rotundifolia Michx. var. rotundifolia (southeast USA), Vitis rotundifolia Michx. var. munsoniana (Florida), and Vitis rotundifolia Michx. var. popenoei (Central America). Some taxonomists have suggested giving the muscadines standing as a genus of its own. It has then also suggested upgrading the varieties to species rank and so splitting two additional species off from Vitis rotundifolia, Vitis munsoniana and Vitis popenoei. All have 40 chromosomes, rather than 38, are generally not cross-compatible with Euvitis subgenus, and most hybrids between the subgenera are sterile. A few are moderately fertile, and have been used in breeding. A commercially available Euvitis × Muscadinia hybrid is the Southern Home cultivar.
Although muscadines are hearty grapes with tough skin that protects them from many plant diseases, these grapes nonetheless appear to be susceptible to parasitic nematodes.


There are about 152 muscadine cultivars grown in the Southern states. These include bronze, black and red varieties and consist of common grapes and patented grapes.
Unlike most cultivated grapevines, many muscadine cultivars are pistillate, requiring a pollenizer to set fruit. A few, such as 'Carlos' and 'Noble', are perfect-flowered, produce fruit with their own pollen, and may also pollinate pistillate cultivars.
Muscadine grape cultivars may have low or inconsistent yields, small berries, flavor and thick skin unsuitable to consumer acceptance, and disease susceptibility. Cultivars tend to be developed either for a limited fresh market or for winemaking. For consumer acceptance, fresh market grapes need to be large, sweet, and with relatively thin skin, whereas those for wine,  juice or jelly need high yields of high-sugar, color-stable berries.
Fresh-market cultivars include Black Beauty, Carlos, Cowart, Flowers, Fry, Granny Val, Ison, James, Jumbo, Magnolia, Memory (first found on T.S. Memory's farm in 1868 in Whiteville, NC), Mish, Nesbitt, Noble, Scuppernong, Summit, Supreme, and Thomas. Produced by the University of Florida, the cultivar, 'Southern Home', contains both subgenera Muscadinia and Euvitis (more precisely, V. rotundifolia × V. vinifera) in its background.
Crops can be started in 3–5 years.  Commercial yields of 20–45 tonnes per hectare (8–18 tons per acre) are possible. Muscadines grow best in fertile sandy loam and alluvial soils. They grow wild in well-drained bottom lands that are not subject to extended drought or waterlogging. They are also resistant to pests and diseases, including Pierce's disease, which can destroy other grape species. Muscadine is one of the grape species most resistant to Phylloxera, an insect that can kill roots of grapevines.


Appellations producing Muscadine wines:
America (Country Appellation)
Alabama (State Appellation)
Arkansas (State Appellation)
Florida (State Appellation)
Georgia (State Appellation)
Louisiana (State Appellation)
Mississippi (State Appellation)
North Carolina (State Appellation)
South Carolina (State Appellation)
Tennessee (State Appellation)
Texas (State Appellation)


100 grams of muscadine grapes contain the following nutrients according to the USDA:
Energy: 57 kilocalories
Fats: 0.47 g
Carbohydrates: 13.93 g
Dietary Fiber: 3.9 g
Protein: 0.81 g
Calcium: 37 mg
Phosphorus: 24 mg
Potassium: 203 mg
Sodium: 1 mg
Vitamin C (total ascorbic acid): 6.5 mg
Riboflavin: 1.5 mg


Consumer research indicates that the thick skins and variable in-season quality of fresh muscadine grapes are significant deterrents to retail acceptance.


One report indicated that muscadine grapes contained high concentrations of resveratrol, but subsequent studies have found no or little resveratrol in muscadine grapes.
Other muscadine polyphenols include anthocyanins, tannins, and various flavonoids.
The rank order of total phenolic content among muscadine components was found to be seeds higher than skins higher than leaves higher than pulp.


This species is present in most of Europe, in the East Palearctic realm, in the Near East and in the Nearctic realm.


These hoverflies can be found in forest edges and clearings, woodland margins, hedgerows, wet meadows, spruce forest edge and urban wasteland or gardens, usually sunning on leaves.


Volucella bombylans is larger than most hoverflies, reaching a body length of 11 to 17 mm. and a wingspan length of 8–14 mm. They look something like a bumblebee with a furry black, yellow and/or white body, but they are given away by their heads, plumed antennae, large eyes and the particular wing venation, which make them quite easy to identify as a true fly, like a blowfly.
The mesonotum bears black or yellow hairs on the sides, while the scutellum is brownish or yellowish. The wings are milky white with a dark cross-bands in the anterior half and a diffuse dark spot at the wing tip. The abdomen is yellow at the base and black in the middle, with long, dense hairs at the end. The legs are rather short and black.
This species occurs in several forms, each of which mimics a species of bumblebee (Batesian mimicry). The two main varieties are Volucella bombylans var. bombylans, showing an orange-red tail, mimicking the Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) and Volucella bombylans var. plumata with a white tail, mimicking the White-tailed Bumble Bee (Bombus lucorum) and the Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris).
Volucella bombylans var. plumata is also rather similar to other syrphids (Arctophila bombiformis and Merodon equestris.


V. bombylans has two generations and can be encountered from May until September, with a peak in June. These hoverfies are fast fliers. The adults feed on nectar and pollen (mainly on Valeriana officinalis, Geranium sylvaticum, Centaurea jacea, Cirsium palustre, Epilobium angustifolium, etc.), with preference for blue flowers.
The females of these hoverflies lay their eggs in the nests of social wasps or bumblebees, where the larvae live as scavengers, feeding on debris and occasionally on host's larvae.


This species is present in most of Europe, in eastern Palearctic realm, in the Near East and in North Africa.


The adults reach 15–17 mm (0.59–0.67 in) long. They have three yellow bands on an otherwise black abdomen and thus closely resemble wasps in a form of mimicry. The first two bands are completely or partially interrupted by a black wedge. The head has feather-like antennae and the wings have darkened patches in the middle and on the tip.


Volucella inanis can be encountered from early July to early September, feeding on flowers of species such as yarrow (Achillea millefolium), dill (Anethum graveolens), heather (Erica species), thistles (genera Carduus, Cirsium, and Onopordum) and Buddleja davidii.
The female lays eggs in the nests of social wasps and hornets (Vespa crabro, Vespula germanica, etc.). The larvae of this hoverfly are ectoparasites of larvae of the wasps.


Volucella zonaria, the hornet mimic hoverfly, is a species of hoverfly. These flies are capable of buzz pollination.


This species is present in most of Europe, in Tunisia, Iran, Russia (to Far East) and in Mongolia.
In Great Britain, it was only known from two specimens prior to 1940, so was regarded as rare. Since then, it has become increasingly widespread in many parts of the South and South East England, often in association with parks and gardens, where adults are usually seen visiting flowers. Elsewhere in England, only a few scattered records exist.


These hoverflies usually inhabit meadows close to forests.


Volucella zonaria can reach a length of 25 millimetres (0.98 in), with a wingspan of about 40 mm. These very large and wide hoverflies have reddish-brown shining thorax with dark brown marks, and a reddish-brown scutellum. The head shows a  waxy yellow face, with yellow forehead and antennae. The large ovoid compound eyes are reddish with dense and short hairy. In the males they are very close to each other, so that the forehead is very narrow. The abdomen is reddish yellow, with two wide black bands. The underside has broad black bars. The first abdominal segment is black. The 2nd tergite is chestnut brown. Wings are amber infused. The legs are basically red-brown, but  black at the base.
This species mimics the European hornet (Vespa crabro), by its size, by its appearance and its buzzing flight.


Adults can be found from May to September, but they are most common in July / August. Like all Volucella, the adults of these hoverflies are migratory. Volucella zonaria is a Mediterranean migratory species. These hoverflies  mainly feed on nectar of flowers of various plants, especially Valeriana, Oregano, Mentha longifolia, Scabiosa, Cornus, Ligustrum, Cirsium, Carduus, Buddleia  and various other flowering shrubs. Females lay their eggs in wasp and hornet nests. The larvae live as commensals in nests of bees, hornets and of social wasps of the genus Vespula. The pupae overwinter in the soil and hatch in following spring.


Vombatus is a genus of marsupial that contains a single living species, the common wombat (Vombatus ursinus).
The recently extinct Hackett's wombat (Vombatus hacketti) is also a member of this genus.


Washingtonia filifera, the desert fan palm, California fan palm, or California palm, is a flowering plant in the palm family Arecaceae, native to the far southwestern United States and Baja California, Mexico. Growing to 15–20 m (49–66 ft) tall by 3–6 m (10–20 ft) broad, it is an evergreen monocot with a tree-like growth habit. It has a sturdy, columnar trunk and waxy, fan-shaped (palmate) leaves.


Washingtonia filifera grows to 18 m (59 ft) in height, and occasionally to as much as 25 m (82 ft) in ideal conditions. The California fan palm is also known as the desert fan palm, American cotton palm, and Arizona fan palm.
The fronds are up to 4 m (13 ft) long, made up of a petiole up to 2 m (6.6 ft) long, bearing a fan of leaflets 1.5–2.0 m (4.9–6.6 ft) long. They have long, thread-like, white fibers, and the petioles are pure green with yellow edges and filifera-filaments, between the segments. The trunk is gray and tan, and the leaves are gray green. When the fronds die, they remain attached and drop down to cloak the trunk in a wide skirt. The shelter that the skirt creates provides a microhabitat for many small birds and invertebrates.
Washingtonia filifera typically lives from 80 to 250 years or more.


Washingtonia filifera is the only palm native to the Western United States and one of the country's largest native palms, exceeded in height only by the Cuban or Florida royal palm.
Primary populations are found in desert riparian habitats at spring-fed and stream-fed oases in the Colorado Desert and at a few scattered locations in the Mojave Desert. It is also found near watercourses in the Sonoran Desert along the Gila River in Yuma, along the Hassayampa River and near New River in Maricopa County, and in portions of Pima County, Pinal County, Mohave County (along the Colorado River), and several other isolated locations in Clark County, Nevada. It is a naturalized species in the warm springs near Death Valley and in the extreme northwest of Sonora (Mexico). It is also reportedly naturalized in the South and Southeast Texas, Florida, Hawaii, and extreme southwest Utah, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Australia.


Desert fan palms provide habitat for the giant palm-boring beetle, western yellow bat, hooded oriole, and many other bird species. Hooded orioles rely on the trees for food and places to build nests. Numerous insect species visit the hanging inflorescences that appear in late spring.
Historically, natural oases are mainly restricted to areas downstream from the source of hot springs, though water is not always visible at the surface.
Today's oasis environment may have been protected from colder climatic changes over the course of its evolution. Thus, this palm is restricted by both water and climate to widely separated relict groves. The trees in these groves show little if any genetic differentiation, (through electrophoretic examination), suggesting that the genus is genetically very stable.


Grazing animals can kill young plants through trampling, or by eating the terminus at the apical meristem, the growing portion of the plant. This may have kept palms restricted to a lesser range than indicated by the availability of water.
The palm boring beetle Dinapate wrightii (Bostrichidae) can chew through the trunks of this and other palms. Eventually, a continued infestation of beetles can kill various genera and species of palms. W. filifera appears to be resistant to the red palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) by a mechanism of antibiosis – production of compounds lethal to the larvae.
Currently, the desert fan palm is experiencing a population and range expansion, perhaps due to global warming or mustang control.


The sweet fruit pulp of the fan palm is edible. The fruit was eaten raw, cooked, or ground into flour for cakes by Native Americans. The Cahuilla and related tribes used the leaves to make sandals, roof thatch, and baskets. The woody petioles were used to make cooking utensils. The Moapa band of Paiutes and other Southern Paiute people have written memories of using this palm's seed, fruit, or leaves for various purposes, including as famine food. The bud (known as heart of palm) has also been eaten.


Joshua Tree National Park in the Mojave Desert preserves and protects healthy riparian palm habitat examples in the Little San Bernardino Mountains, and westward where water rises through the San Andreas Fault on the east valley side. In the central Coachella Valley, the Indio Hills Palms State Reserve and nearby Coachella Valley Preserve, other large oases are protected and accessible. The Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument, and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park both have large and diverse W. filifera canyon oasis habitats.


Washingtonia filifera is widely cultivated as an ornamental tree. It is one of the hardiest coryphoid palms, rated as hardy to USDA hardiness zone 8. It can survive brief temperatures of −10 °C (14 °F) with minor damage, and established plants have survived, with severe leaf damage, brief periods as low as −17 °C (1 °F). The plants grow best in Mediterranean climates, but can be found in humid subtropical climates such as eastern Australia and the southeastern USA. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


The oak hook-tip, Drepana binaria, is a moth of the family Drepanidae. It is part of the Drepana subgenus Watsonalla. It is found in most of Europe except the far north. It is quite common in England and Wales but not found in Scotland and only recently in Ireland. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1767.
The sexes differ in size (male wingspan about 30 mm, female about 35 mm) but are similar in colour. The forewings are orange brown with three narrow yellow fascia (the outer one being faint and sometimes absent) with two dark discal spots between the inner two fascia. Sometimes these occur, but weaker, on the rear wings. The apex of the forewing is hook shaped, giving the species its name. The hindwings are lighter orange, again with three yellow fascia. Usually two broods are produced each year, the adults flying in May and June and again in August . Second-generation moths are much smaller and slightly lighter coloured than those of the first. They are very similar to Watsonalla cultraria which also has a yellowish-brown colour. Two black twin points on the front wings are the clearest differentiator. The species sometimes flies during the day but usually flies at night and is attracted to light.
The larva is brown with yellow markings and shows the typical drepanid shape with a tapered tail. It usually feeds on oak but has also been recorded on alder, beech and birch. The species overwinters as a pupa.
The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.


Drepana cultraria, the barred hook-tip, is a moth of the family Drepanidae and part of Drepana subgenus Watsonalla. It is found in southern and central Europe.
The wingspan is 20–28 mm. The moth flies from May to August depending on the location.
The larvae feed on Fagus species.


Wedelia acapulcensis var. acapulcensis
Wedelia acapulcensis var. hispida (Kunth) Strother (=Lipochaeta texana Torr. & A.Gray, W. hispida Kunth, W. texana (A.Gray) B.L.Turner, Zexmenia hispida (Kunth) A.Gray ex Small) – hairy wedelia, orange wedelia, orange zexmenia


Weinmannia racemosa, commonly called kamahi, is an evergreen small shrub to medium-sized tree of the family Cunoniaceae. It is the most abundant forest tree in New Zealand, occurring in lowland, montane, and subalpine forests and shrubland from the central North Island south to Stewart Island.


Kamahi bears racemes of small, pink or white flowers from July to January. Fruits are small capsules, 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) long, ripening from October to May. Kamahi generally occurs with other broadleaf trees, at times acting as a pioneer species which is eventually succeeded by the southern beeches (Nothofagus spp.) or podocarps. It reaches 25 m (82 ft) or more in the Catlins of the south-eastern South Island. In forests to the west of the Southern Alps it codominates with southern rātā (Metrosideros umbellata) and black beech (N. solandri). A closely related tree, tōwai or tawhero (W. silvicola), replaces kamahi in the North Island north of latitude 38°S.


The bark is very high in tannin, about 13%, and was once exported for tanning. The inner bark was used as a laxative by Māori. The wood has a tendency to warp or crack, so it is little used despite the tree's abundance.


Lorinseria is a genus of  fern in the subfamily Woodwardioideae of the family Blechnaceae. Its only species is Lorinseria areolata (synonym Woodwardia areolata), the netted chain fern, native to eastern North America. The monotypic genus Lorinseria has been separated from  Woodwardia in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), on the basis of its anastamosing veins and lobed frond form, as well as its more marked frond dimorphism. However, the genus name Lorinseria appears to be a later homonym of Lorinsera Opiz, and will need to be replaced or conserved.
The sterile fronds are 40–60 cm long, and the fertile fronds 50–70 cm long.
It is superficially similar to Onoclea sensibilis and sometimes confused with it.


This species is native to the southeast United States, but ranges all the way up the East Coast of the United States and Canada to southern Nova Scotia.  It favors moist, sandy, acid soils, and has appeared in areas in the interior of the US around acid mine seeps, thus being one of the few species to benefit from acid mine drainage.


Woodwardia fimbriata, known by the common name giant chain fern, is a fern species in the family Blechnaceae, in the eupolypods II clade of the order Polypodiales, in the class Polypodiopsida. It is native to western North America from British Columbia through California, including the Sierra Nevada, into Baja California.
It grows in coniferous forests and other moist wooded habitat.


Woodwardia fimbriata has very long fronds, each reaching 1 to 3 meters in length. Its sori are short but broad and are arranged in neat lines, the characteristic that gives the chain ferns their name. The chain shape is visible on both sides of each leaflet.


Woodwardia fimbriata is cultivated as an ornamental plant for traditional and native plant gardens, and in natural landscaping and habitat restoration projects. It is a recipient of the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Anchistea is a genus of leptosporangiate ferns in the family Blechnaceae. It has only one species, Anchistea virginica (synonym Woodwardia virginica) the Virginia chain fern, which has long creeping, scaly, underground stems or rhizomes giving rise to tall (up to about 4 feet, 120 centimetres) widely separated, deciduous, single leaves. In contrast, the leaves of Osmundastrum cinnamomeum, which can be mistaken for A. virginica, grow in a group from a crown. Also in contrast to O. cinnamomeum the leaves are monomorphic without distinct fertile fronds. The lower petiole or stipe is dark purple to black, shiny and swollen, the upper rachis is dull green. The leaf blade is green and lanceolate, composed of 12 to 23 paired, alternate pinnatifid pinnae. The pinnae are subdivided into 15 to 20 paired segments that are ovate to oblong. The lower rachis is naked for about half its length. The sori or spore-producing bodies are found on the underside of the pinnae and are long and form a double row which outlines the major veins of the pinnae. In common with all ferns, A. virginica exhibits a gametophyte stage in its life cycle (alternation of generations) and develops a haploid reproductive prothallus as an independent plant. The spores are produced in red-brown sori which line the spaces (areolae) between the costa and costules. Further photographs can be found at the Connecticut Botanical Society and Ontario Ferns websites.


The plant is occasionally cultivated as a greenhouse or garden ornamental. Hardy to USDA Zone 3.


Wyethia glabra is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Coast Range mule's ears. It is endemic to California, where it grows in the North and Central Coast Ranges. It is a perennial herb growing from a tough taproot and caudex unit and producing a stem up to 40 centimeters tall. It is hairless to hairy and glandular. The leaves have lance-shaped or oval blades up to 45 centimeters long. The inflorescence is usually a solitary flower head or occasionally a cluster of 2 or more. The head has lance-shaped leaflike phyllaries at the base. It contains up to 21 yellow ray florets each up to 5 centimeters long and many yellow disc florets. The fruit is an achene over a centimeter long, including its pappus.


The red and blue damsel (Xanthagrion erythroneurum) is a damselfly in the family Coenagrionidae.
It is the only member of the monotypic genus Xanthagrion.


The red and blue damsel is widespread across all Australian states,
as well as Fiji, New Caledonia, and other islands in the Pacific.
It is found in north and eastern Tasmania. It is typically found near dams, marshes and slow watercourses.


Xanthium strumarium (rough cocklebur, clotbur, common cocklebur, large cocklebur, woolgarie bur) is a species of annual plants of the family Asteraceae. Some sources claim it originates in southern Europe and Asia, but has been extensively naturalized elsewhere. Others, such as the Flora of China and Flora of North America, state it orignates in the Americas but was an early introduction to Eurasia.


The species is monoecious, with the flowers borne in separate unisexual heads: staminate (male) heads situated above the pistillate (female) heads in the inflorescence. The pistillate heads consist of two pistillate flowers surrounded by a spiny involucre. Upon fruiting, these two flowers ripen into two brown to black achenes and they are completely enveloped by the involucre, which becomes a bur. The bur, being buoyant, easily disperses in the water for plants growing along waterways. However, the bur, with its hooked projections, is obviously adapted to dispersal via mammals by becoming entangled in their hair. Once dispersed and deposited on the ground, typically one of the seeds germinates and the plants grows out of the bur.


The plant may have some medicinal properties and has been used in traditional medicine in South Asia and traditional Chinese medicine. In Telugu, this plant is called Marula Matangi.
However, while small quantities of parts of the mature plants may be consumed, the seeds and seedlings should not be eaten in large quantities because they contain significant concentrations of the extremely toxic chemical carboxyatractyloside. The mature plant also contains at least four other toxins.
Animals have also been known to die after eating the plants.
A patient consuming a traditional Chinese medicine containing cocklebur called Cang Er Zi Wan (苍耳子丸) developed muscle spasms.
It was responsible for at least 19 deaths and 76 illnesses in Sylhet District, Bangladesh, 2007. People ate large amounts of the plants, locally called ghagra shak, because they were starving during a monsoon flood and no other plants were available. The symptoms included vomiting and altered mental states, followed by unconsciousness.


Xanthocnemis zealandica, commonly known as common redcoat damselfly, red damselfly, or red coat damselfly, is the most common native New Zealand damselfly. Adult damselflies are often seen flying around vegetation close to streams.
X. zealandica has a 2–3 year life cycle; the shorter one was observed near sea level while the longer one was characteristic to a mid-elevation site (579 m (1,900 ft) above sea level). Some individuals at the lowland site may even complete their life cycle in one year. X. zealandica larvae are widespread across New Zealand, occurring in rocky and weedy streams and ponds. It is predominantly a low-altitude species but can reach 1,945 m (6,381 ft) above sea level. The larvae of the red damselfly are identified by their pointed tail gills and long hairs by the tip.


Xanthogaleruca luteola, commonly known as the elm-leaf beetle, is a beetle species in the family Chrysomelidae that is native to Europe but invasive in other parts of the world.


The imago (adult beetle) is 6–8 mm in length, and ranges from yellow to green in colour, with a spot on its head, an hourglass mark and two spots on the pronotum, and a broad, dark stripe along the edge of each elytron. The larvae are usually black, occasionally black and yellow, with multiple rows of dots on the back and on the sides and < 13 mm long. The pupae are orange-yellow with black chaetae.  The ova are yellow, and laid in spindle-like clusters of < 25 on the undersides of the elm leaves.


X. luteola is a serious pest of the elm. Both the adults and larvae feed on the emergent leaves of the elm. Repeated heavy infestation rarely kills the tree outright, but weakens it, rendering it vulnerable to disease. Falling branches encourage elm bark beetles (Scolytus multistriatus and S. schevyrewi) to proliferate; the beetles are vectors of Dutch elm disease.
Elm leaf beetles become active in the spring once temperatures rise above 52 °F (11 °C). In fact, weather is one of the most limiting factors in their population growth. A late spring freeze or long winter can kill off entire colonies. The imagines depart their hibernation sites (often houses), the females laying their ova on the underside of the elm leaves. The ova hatch after one week, and the larvae immediately feed on the underside of the leaves. This larval stage lasts between two and three weeks, at the end of which larvae migrate to the lower part of the trees in search of bark crevices in which to pupate. The next generation emerges in midsummer after two to three weeks' pupation, and begins feeding on the leaves. The female can lay about 800 ova, but this ovipositing may be interrupted by shortening of the photoperiod to less than 14 hours, inducing a brief feeding bout before the search for a hibernation site.
Hosts are known to include English elm (U. minor 'Atinia'), wych (Scots) elm (Ulmus glabra), American elm (Ulmus americana), Siberian elm (Ulmus pumila), and Chinese elm (Ulmus parvifolia), as well as complex hybrids such as 'Homestead'. The beetle has also been reported on Zelkova serrata.
When X. luteola oviposits, U. minor releases plant volatiles which recruit the egg parasitoid Oomyzus gallerucae. U. minor is able to distinguish between oviduct secretions (small molecule proteinaceous compounds) and damage which occurs in the natural course of oviposition, releases different volatiles upon detection of the oviduct compounds. O. gallerucae is then able to distinguish between these different sets of volatiles and is only attracted to oviposition. Gravid X. luteola females also respond, but inversely: They are attracted to volatiles indicating undamaged and/or unoviposited Ulmus material. Gene expression studies have shown a large number of genes to be involved in the oviposition response process. (See Tritrophic interactions in plant defense.)
Jasmonic acid is released during gravid females' herbivory on Ulmus spp.


The first and most apparent symptoms are of skeletonization. During feeding, elm leaf beetle larvae skeletonize the leaves. They leave the outer edge and veins of the leaf intact, which gives the foliage a net-like appearance. Areas around the feeding site dry up and die, causing the leaf to drop prematurely. Adults, on the other hand, chew small, irregularly shaped holes in the expanding leaves. Trees that lose their leaves often develop a second set, only to have them consumed when the next generation is produced.


In North America, there are few natural enemies, but in Europe, the larva of the beetle are often heavily predated by the chalcidoid wasp Oomyzus gallerucae.
Insecticide sprays are of little use since by the time the infestation is apparent, the application will be too late to be effective. However, tree trunks banded with insecticides can limit repetition the following year by killing the larvae as they descend before hibernation. Soil injection presents a non-invasive alternative to trunk injections with a 2-year effect on the X. luteola population.
Since overwintering elm leaf beetles infest the homes of those close to an elm leaf beetle infestation, it is suggested that all cracks outside the house should be sealed. It is discouraged to use insecticides unless there are really heavy colonies.
Nearly all chemicals currently used commercially in Australia to treat Elm Leaf Beetle, regardless of brand name or delivery method, are neonicotinoid insecticides. This is the chemical type that has had (2016) a two-year ban placed on it by the European Commission, owing to the association between the widespread use of these chemicals and their impact on bee populations.


Xanthorhiza simplicissima (yellowroot) is the only member of the genus Xanthorhiza, and one of very few genera in the family Ranunculaceae with a woody stem (the other notable example being Clematis). It is native to the eastern United States from Maine south to northern Florida and west to Ohio and eastern Texas. It contains the alkaloid berberine, which has a number of traditional and contemporary uses for dyeing and medicine.
The genus name as well as the common name refer to the plant's yellow roots (xantho- meaning "yellow" and rhiza meaning "root"), which was used to produce a yellow dye by Native Americans. The specific epithet refers to the simple (not branched) stems.
In the wild, it grows on the edges of streams in sandy soil under a canopy of dappled sunlight. In cultivation, it is often provided with more sunlight so that the fall colors are more vivid. It is a subshrub, reaching 20–70 centimetres (8–28 in) (rarely 90 centimetres (35 in)) in height, with stems up to 6 millimetres (0.24 in) diameter. The leaves are spirally arranged, 10–18 centimetres (4–7 in) long, each divided into 5 toothed leaflets, and flowers emerge only from the upper portion of the unbranched stem. The flowers are produced in broad panicles 6–20 centimetres (2–8 in) long, each flower small, star-shaped, reddish brown to purple brown, with five petals.
Yellowroot propagates asexually by sending out many underground runners, and it reproduces sexually with seeds.
Yellowroot is comparatively rare in British gardens, although E.H. Wilson and E.A. Bowles are among distinguished plantsmen to have championed its merits. It was grown by Bowles in his garden at Myddelton House, near Enfield, Middlesex, and gardens that currently cultivate it include the Savill Garden at Windsor, Berkshire and the Westonbirt Arboretum near Tetbury, Gloucestershire. Wilson, who regarded yellowroot as one of the best plants for hardy deciduous ground cover, also described (in 1923) its use in the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University in Massachusetts.
Yellowroot is considered an endangered species in Florida.


American Indians used the root tea for stomach ulcers, colds, jaundice, sore mouth or throat and as an astringent. A folk remedy used in the South for diabetes and hypertension. This species contains berberine, which is an anti-inflammatory, astringent, hemostatic, antimicrobial, anticonvulsant and immunostimulant. Berberine also stimulates secretion of bile and bilirubin and may be useful in correcting high tyramine levels in patients with liver cirrhosis.


The garden carpet (Xanthorhoe fluctuata) is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is an abundant and familiar species across its huge range which covers the whole Palearctic region from Ireland to Japan and including the Near East and North Africa. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.


The silver-ground carpet (Xanthorhoe montanata) is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. It is common throughout the Palearctic region (from Ireland to the Russian Far East but not Japan) including the Near East and North Africa.It is found in a variety of different habitats and occurs, for example, in humid forests, moorland and shore areas, on embankments or on unimproved grass meadows and heathlands as well as in gardens.
The wingspan is 29–33 mm although some northern races may be smaller. The forewings are white with a broad shaded band which varies from pale grey to almost black. The hindwings are also white with pale fascia and a small black discal spot.
In The Macrolepidoptera of the World Louis Beethoven Prout wrote:
Another very variable species. In the typical form the median band is pale-centred and the distal area rather weakly marked. - In ab. fuscomarginata Stgr. both are broadly fuscous-margined, containing a distinct white subterminal line. In ab. continuata Krulik the median band is solid, brown or blackish, not interrupted by any white patch. — In ab. degenerata Prout the median area is narrowed and broken into two parts, a larger anterior and a smaller posterior.- ab. costimaculata Rbl. shows only the anterior half of the band. - ab. limbaria Hbn.is a more extreme development, with the band reduced to a very small patch on the discocellulars. - ab. unicolor Rbl. has the wings entirely suffused with smoky black, the median band of the forewing faintly indicated. Taken in S. Yorkshire.In addition to these casual aberrations montanata shows a strong tendency to the formation of local races. Staudinger considers fuscomarginata as such in the Pyrenees,Alps, etc. But in any case the following appear noteworthly: iberica Stgr. high elevations in the mountains of Castile and Andalusia, with the forewing white-yellowish, with less markings and these less distinct,the median band narrowed and more fuscous. - lapponica Stgr. from Northern Scandinavia and N. E. Siberia, a smaller, paler form with the markings (except the discal dot) quite weak. - ab. albicans Strand merely indicates the extreme specimens of lapponica, with the markings (except the discal dot) not or scarcely visible - shetlandica Weir, from the Shetland Islands, is of the same average size as lapponica, but forms a striking contrast to it. It has the forewing much more variegated, the ground-colour suffused with ochreous between the basal and median bands and distally, the median band sharply marked at least at its edges, sometimes pale in the centre, sometimes mixed with bright ochreous brown.
The species flies from May to July, usually at dusk. It will come to light but is not strongly attracted.
The larva is grey with a purplish-brown back. It has been recorded feeding on bedstraw, Corydalis, globeflower, hemlock and primrose and probably feeds on other low-growing plants. The species overwinters as a larva.
The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.


Xenocatantops humilis is the type species of grasshoppers in its genus, belonging to the family Acrididae and subfamily Catantopinae.


The Catalogue of Life lists:
X. humilis humilis
X. humilis brachycerus


This species can be found in India, Indo-China, Malaysia (the type locality is Java), and Papua New Guinea.


The head of Xenocatantops humilis shows a straight frons in the profile and filiform antennae. Hind femora are rather slender, with wide black spots on the back. In the males cerci are quite short, without clear apical bifurcation, bilaterally compressed and apically incurved.


Xenocatantops humilis must go through about five stages before becoming a winged adult.


The ivory-billed woodcreeper (Xiphorhynchus flavigaster) is a species of bird of the order of Passerformes, which are perching birds. It is in the family Furnariidae (ovenbirds) and the subfamily Dendrocolaptinae (woodcreepers).
It is a rather large, fairly common woodcreeper of tropical forest in both dry and humid areas of  Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, and heavily degraded former forest.
The ivory-billed woodcreeper feeds mainly on larger trunks, often probing into bromeliads and moving methodically. Note the long stout bill, which is mostly pale (but not really ivory colored), and the bold streaking on the head, back, and underparts.
Its length is 20–26·5 cm (7.8--10.5 inches; the male weighs 40–62 g (1.4--2.2 oz), and the female weighs 35–56g (1.24–2 oz).


Xylaria hypoxylon is a species of fungus in the  family Xylariaceae. It is known by a variety of common names, such as the candlestick fungus, the candlesnuff fungus, carbon antlers, or the stag's horn fungus. The fruit bodies, characterized by erect, elongated black branches with whitened tips, typically grow in clusters on decaying hardwood. The fungus can cause a root rot in hawthorn and gooseberry plants.


Xylaria hypoxylon was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1745, and then later mentioned by him in his Species Plantarum II.
The specific epithet is derived from the Greek words hypo meaning "below", and xylon, meaning "wood".


Fruit bodies (ascocarps) are cylindrical or flattened with dimensions of 3–8 centimetres (1+1⁄8–3+1⁄8 in) tall × 2–8 mm thick. The erect ascocarps are often twisted or bent, and typically sparsely branched, often in a shape resembling a stag's antlers. Specimens found earlier in the season, in spring, may be covered completely in asexual spores (conidia), which manifests itself as a white to grayish powdery deposit. Later in the season, mature ascocarps are charcoal-black, and have minute pimple-like bumps called perithecia on the surface. These are minute rounded spore bearing structures with tiny holes, or ostioles, for the release of sexual spores (ascospores). The perithecia are embedded in the flesh of the ascocarp, the stroma, which is tough, elastic, and white. Within the perithecia, the asci are 100 × 8 μm.
Ascospores are kidney-shaped, black, and smooth, with dimensions of  10–14 × 4–6 μm. The asexual spores (mitospores) are ellipsoid in shape, smooth, and hyaline.


Although not poisonous, the small size and tough texture of this fungus deter consumption. It is considered inedible by some guides.


Xylaria polymorpha is thicker and not as branched as X. hypoxylon.


A variety of chemical compounds with in vitro properties have been identified in this fungus. The compounds xylarial A and B both have moderate cytotoxic activity against the human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line Hep G2. The pyrone derivative compounds named xylarone and 8,9-dehydroxylarone also have cytotoxic activity. Several cytochalasins, compounds that bind to actin in muscle tissue, have been found in the fungus. X. hypoxylon also contains a carbohydrate-binding protein, a lectin, with a unique sugar specificity, and which has potent anti-tumor effects in various tumor cell lines.


The California carpenter bee, Xylocopa californica, is a species of carpenter bee in the order Hymenoptera. It is native to western North America.


Xylocopa californica is typically found in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Northwestern Mexico, with outlying records in Montana, Kansas, and Louisiana. It is especially abundant, along with Xylocopa sonorina, in the Central Valley and in Southern California, including the Mojave Desert. They are agriculturally beneficial insects and pollinators of diverse California chaparral and woodlands and desert native plant species. This carpenter bee is active during hot seasons.


The California carpenter bee is all black, with bluish/greenish reflections. The males typically have at least a few light hairs on the pronotum (dorsal prothorax) and the abdominal segments.


Xylocopa sonorina, the valley carpenter bee or Hawaiian carpenter bee, is a species of carpenter bee found from western Texas to northern California, and the eastern Pacific islands. Females are black while males are golden-brown with green eyes.


X. sonorina is one of three southwestern US species in the genus Xylocopa, which has 31 subgenera and 500 species worldwide. Frederick Smith, Assistant in the Zoological Department of the British Museum and member of the council of the Entomological Society of London, first described X. sonorina in 1874 from specimens collected in Hawaii. Until 1956, it was thought that X. sonorina came from the Sunda Islands, but in a paper published that year, M. A. Lieftinck showed that Smith's interpretation of the original specimen labels was in error: Smith had mistakenly read the label of X. sonorina as meaning the Sunda Islands instead of the Sandwich Islands.
In 1899, R. C. L. Perkins described the same species as Xylocopa aeneipennis, and in 1922, P. H. Timberlake claimed that the Hawaiian Xylocopa was the same as the mainland X. varipuncta, that had been named in 1879, and Roy Snelling predicted in 2003 that X. varipuncta would eventually be reclassified as a synonym of X. sonorina. This was confirmed in 2020 using DNA analysis, and as the name sonorina has seniority, this is the valid species name.


They are among the largest bees found in California and Hawaii, growing to around 1 inch (2.5 cm) in length. Smith's original description was:
Female.—Black; head and thorax closely and moderately punctured; the mesothorax smooth, impunctate and shining on the disk; metathorax rounded behind; abdomen shining rather finely punctured, most closely so at the sides above; the pubescence entirely black, except that on the anterior tarsi beneath, which is ferruginous; the claws of the tarsi ferruginous; wings fusco-hyaline, with a darker cloud beyond the enclosed cells, and adorned with a bright purple and coppery iridescence.
Like most native bees, females are not aggressive, and will normally sting only when provoked, while the males do not have stingers. Males possess a large thoracic gland that produce pheromones to attract females.


This species is primarily found in the southwestern part of the United States (Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas, and Utah) and adjacent parts of Mexico. The primary habitats of mainland X. sonorina are valleys and foothills with deciduous trees dominated by oaks. The species is also one of 11 non-native bees in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Humans are thought to have helped the species colonize Pacific archipelagoes. It is not known when X. sonorina was introduced to the Hawaiian Islands, but it occurred prior to 1874, when British entomologist Frederick Smith originally named the species, and X. sonorina is currently found on all of the main Hawaiian Islands and in the Mariana Islands. In tropical agriculture, X. sonorina has been used as a pollinator of Passiflora edulis, a species of passion fruit.
Located in the Pacific Ocean, more than 2,000 mi (3,219 km) away from the closest landfall in North America, Hawaii's great distance from the Americas is thought to have been too large for natural biological dispersal to succeed, and it has been suggested that it is likely humans aided X. sonorina in its arrival to Hawaii. Following the colonization of Hawaii, X. sonorina was introduced into the Marianas Islands, China, and Japan, but these introductions were not successful. The species has also been anecdotally reported in Midway Atoll, Java, New Guinea, and the Philippines, but only the records from Midway have any specimens recorded that serve to confirm the report.
Only two other species in the genus Xylocopa have successfully colonized Pacific archipelagoes east of the Americas through natural biological dispersal or with human help; This is out of a total of more than 150 identified species in North and South America, 70 of which can be found in Brazil alone. The two species are Xylocopa darwini, found in the Galápagos Islands, 604 mi (972 km) west of South America, with the mainland of Ecuador as the closest land mass; and Xylocopa clarionensis, found on Clarión Island in the Revillagigedo Islands, 700 mi (1,127 km) from the coast of Mexico. X. clarionensis is thought to be most closely related to Xylocopa sonorina.


In the spring, females mate with males and then may disperse and start new nests, or clean out and enlarge the old tunnels used during the winter, adding brood cells. Each cell a female provisions contains a substance called "bee bread", which is a mixture of pollen and nectar used as food for the larvae. An egg is deposited on the pollen mass and each cell is sealed off with a partition of sawdust. Young adult male and female bees hibernate in the tunnels during the winter.


Virgin females may make exploratory foraging flights and be attracted to visual and olfactory signals. Female mate-searching behavior might involve waiting for the male at the flower on which she discovers his markings or a directed flight toward a marked spot from a distance.


All nesting cycles for all species of Xylocopa show common features. The bees have a period of reproductive dormancy even in the presence of the other sex that occurs during the dry seasons. Or, they may enter into a non-reproductive phase during the cooler months. The second characteristic of nesting cycles is that the dormant females are unmated. Additionally, mating occurs after territorial flights by the males and before nest establishment.
The name "carpenter" comes from the fact that these bees excavate nests inside a variety of woods, and the species' common name refers to the Californian Central Valley in which they are commonly found. Like its relative, Xylocopa virginica, X. sonorina like to nest in fence posts, telephone poles. and structural timbers. The bees will tunnel through wood with their mandibles, although they do not ingest the wood in the process, and they avoid painted or stained wood. The tunnels average 6 to 10 in (15 to 25 cm) in length and consist of a linear series of partitioned brood cells. The adult bees spend the winter in the tunnels. Most nests of X. sonorina contain a single female and her brood.
Because Xylocopa species are not aggressive, defense is primarily carried out by building well constructed cell partitions, blocking the nest entrance in various ways, covering the cell partitions with liquid substances, or sacrificing all the brood of a nest that has been compromised by a parasite.
Entomologist Julian R. Yates III of the University of Hawaii at Manoa describes the life cycle of X. sonorina in Hawaii:
Having located a suitable piece of wood, the female bee begins to excavate a single tunnel in preparation for egg laying. Because of our tropical climate, egg laying by female carpenter bees occurs year-round although it may decline during the winter months, when the weather is worse. Before laying eggs, the female collects pollen and deposits it, in the form of a ball, in the tunnel at a point furthest from the entrance. She lays a single egg on the pollen ball and seals both in a chamber with wood shavings. She may lay several eggs, each on its own pollen ball and inside its own sealed chamber, in a series within the tunnel. The eggs hatch in two to three days. The larvae develop in approximately two weeks. The prepupal (nonfeeding larvae) and pupal stages take about three to four weeks to reach adulthood. Teneral (adult shortly after emergence, when it is not entirely hardened or not of the mature color) females are fed by the mother. They are capable of buzzing in about a week, and of flight in approximately two to three weeks. A single female in a tunnel may be joined later by her offspring or other bees. Only one female will collect pollen, prepare cells, and lay eggs, however. Other females perform guard and nest-cleaning duties.


Flowers are the sole source of food and water for these bees, which have a pattern of visiting certain plants at various times throughout the day, and provide pollen for the females to feed their brood. To collect pollen from most flowers, females gather pollen on their hindlegs through contact with the exposed anthers, but in flowers such as Solanaceae with closed anthers, they can use buzz pollination, by which the pollen is released from anther following vibration of the indirect flight muscles of the bee.
The foraging behavior of X. sonorina involves a quick series of movements between flowers.  In a 1996 study using Asystasia gangetica (Chinese violet), X. sonorina visited 16 flowers per minute and spent an average of 1.5 seconds at each flower, usually flying towards the flower from the front, landing on the petals, and moving to the bottom of the corolla. Another study found that X. sonorina was a primary and secondary nectar "robber" of A. gangetica since it "took nectar through perforations and did not contact stigmas in doing so." Floral robbery occurs when the carpenter bee makes perforations near the base of the tubular corolla of the flower to obtain nectar, but does not pollinate the flower in return, when visiting flowers that are so deep they cannot reach the nectar with their tonques.
Some flowers protect themselves from robbery with adaptive structures such as strong plant walls or by producing extrafloral nectar which is visited by ants that inhibit the bees from robbing the nectar, though ant guards are only effective against certain bee species (not Xylocopa).
In Hawaii and Niue Island, X. sonorina has been used in tropical agriculture as a pollinator of Passiflora edulis, a species of passion fruit. Although valued for their pollination, carpenter bee nesting behavior often results in their classification as pests; The bees prefer to burrow into wood to create nest galleries. Due to this problem, in 1934, a blister beetle (Cissites auriculata) was brought to Hawaii in an attempt to decrease the number of X. sonorina; there is no evidence that C. auriculata became established.


Males of X. sonorina appear to optimize their mate-locating activity, following the predictions of the ideal free distribution theory. This theory states that the most fit individuals will seek to occupy the most resource rich territory and those that are less fit will have to occupy a resource lacking territory until both territories are filled. For species such as X. sonorina, there are patches of different quality arising from "the continuous but variable input of mate-searching females over afternoons and flight seasons". Males may rely on environmental cues rather than on food availability when choosing their territories.


The large mesosomal gland of male X. sonorina produces volatile components, called pheromones, which are attractive to females. These pheromones are long-range attractants and are used as male advertisements. The gland is seasonally active and overwintering males have no detectable attractant. X. sonorina mark the central area of their territories with the pheromones. Three observations were made that helped form this conclusion:
Flying bees occasionally brush against leaves or twigs towards the center
The "land and walk" behavior occurs at the focal area involving the application of the pheromone chemical
Females fly to and pause on non-flowering plants that had been the focal area of the male where the attractant was placed.


Non-resource-based territoriality evolved from food source territoriality as a response to a low density of bees. The probability of a single male encountering females is very low, and the production of attractants by the male would be advantageous to both sexes. The attractants may be signals such as loud buzzing by the male and the addition of an odor to the flowers. The males may use these signals when patrolling along extended paths or hovering at a specific site. "At this point real male dominance polygyny begins, for males may produce quantitatively or qualitatively individual pheromonal signals that may reflect their fitness, and the female could react correspondingly by selecting among the males". The use of pheromonal signals allows males to relocate their territories from resource sites to prominent sites such as hilltops, various protrusions, or trees. At this point, pheromones may direct the female into the territory founded by males. Short-range marking of the signal by the female bee attracts them to male territory just before copulation will occur. Competition among males for non resource sites may lead to adaptations that continue to evolve until one male has an advantage over the other.
There are various factors that affect X. sonorina fidelity rates. First, high mortality rates of resident males is significantly correlated with frequent turnover rates and decreased site fidelity. Second, male density affects site fidelity. As the ratio of rivals to suitable territories rises, competition for territorial control increases, which leads to frequent turnover. In contrast, if there are few replacements for territory owners, there will be evidence of increasing site fidelity. For X. sonorina, the prevalence of days of very low territorial occupation and a few days of high male density in "lek" conditions resulted in decreasing fidelity. Another aspect of the environment that affects site fidelity is the quality of territorial sites. Finally, fluctuating or declining territory value should reduce the extent of site fidelity. The extent to which female territorial preferences remain constant throughout the mating season will be very important in territory value. Males are expected to abandon territories at times when they no longer have the potential to produce offspring. It is also conceivable that in X. sonorina, the quality of the male's sex pheromone may be a key feature determining his sexual attractiveness. Most males of X. sonorina did not exhibit site fidelity, while few males exhibited strong attachment to their original sites.


An unusual characteristic of X. sonorina is their ability to thermoregulate at temperatures beyond the range of other bee species that have been tested; they can fly at very high temperatures without overheating and at low temperatures without freezing. By modifying their foraging patterns and flying between different altitudes depending upon temperature, the valley carpenter bee is able to adapt to very different environments. Xylocopa sonorina maintain thoracic temperatures of 33.0 to 46.5 °C while traveling through environments with 12.0 to 40.0 °C. Since the thoracic temperature is not constant the bees are thermoregulating. There is physiological transfer of large amounts of heat to the abdomen and to the head during pre-flight warming and thoracic heating. The temperature increase of the head is due to passive conduction, while the abdomen is due to physiological heat transfer throughout the body. Xylocopa have circulatory anatomy like honeybees and bumblebees. Like bumblebees, they have an aortic loop through the flight muscles that acts as a cooling coil allowing heat transfer to the blood, head, and abdomen.
Carpenter bees have large heads, which present a larger surface area for convective cooling. The abdomen is also "well-suited for rapid convective heat loss because it is flattened dorso-ventral, and uninsulated". Physiological heat transfer to head or abdomen would not be apparent from body temperatures due to the rapid convective cooling, especially at high air temperatures when flight speed increases; thermoregulation involves a strong reliance on forced convection as a result of changes in flight speed, with active heat transfer to the abdomen and evaporative heat loss from the head at high temperatures.


Xylocopa violacea, the violet carpenter bee, is the common European species of carpenter bee, and one of the largest bees in Europe. It is also native to Asia.
Like most members of the genus Xylocopa, it makes its nests in dead wood. It is not particularly aggressive, and will attack only if forced to.


The range of Xylocopa violacea extends from Europe eastward across Asia as far as central China, restricted to latitudes above 30 degrees. In India, any all-black species of Xylocopa are referred to by the common name "bhanvra" (or "bhomora" - ভোমোৰা - in Assamese), and reports and sightings of bhanvra are commonly misattributed to this species; however, this species is found only in the northern regions of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab. Most sightings refer to any of several other common black Xylocopa, such as X. nasalis, X. tenuiscapa, or X. tranquebarorum.
In 2006, Xylocopa violacea was reported from Cardigan, Wales. In 2007, it was found breeding for the first time in England, in Leicestershire. This follows a northwards expansion of its range in France, Germany, and the Channel Islands. In 2010 it was recorded in Northamptonshire and Worcestershire.


Violet carpenter bees hibernate overwinter and they emerge in the spring, usually around April or May. Hibernation is undertaken by the adults in wood where there are abandoned nest tunnels. In the late spring or early summer, they may be seen around searching for mates and suitable nesting sites. After mating, the gravid females bore tunnels in dead wood, which is where the name "carpenter bee" comes from, although old nest tunnels may be used.
Like other solitary bees, the female creates the nest alone. The eggs are laid within a series of small cells, each of which is supplied with a pollen ball for the larvae to feed upon. The adults emerge in late summer then hibernate until the following year.


Xylorhiza tortifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, known by the common names Mojave-aster and Mojave woodyaster.


The flowering plant is native to the Mojave Desert, Sonoran Desert, and Great Basin Desert ecoregions of the southwestern United States, California, and northwestern Mexico.
It grows in arid canyons and bajadas/washes, from 240–2,000 metres (790–6,560 ft) in elevation. Habitats it is found in include creosote bush scrub, saltbush scrub, and Joshua tree woodlands.


Xylorhiza tortifolia is a perennial herb or subshrub with branching, hairy, glandular stems that reach 60–80 centimetres (24–31 in) in height/length. The leaves are linear, lance-shaped, or oval, with pointed or spiny tips and spiny edges. The leaf surfaces are hairy and glandular.
The inflorescence is a solitary flower head borne on a long peduncle. The head has a base with long, narrow phyllaries which may be over 2 centimeters long. The head contains up to 60 or more lavender, pale blue, or white ray florets which may be over 3 centimeters long. The bloom period is March through June.
The fruit is an achene which may be over a centimeter long, including its pappus of bristles.


Desert species of this aster with a woody base (Xylorhiza means woody base) are classified under the genus Xylorhiza, and have been removed from the large and complex genus Machaeranthera, where they were placed for many decades.  A similar species, Xylorhiza wrightii−Big Bend aster, is native to the Chihuahuan Desert in western Texas and northern Mexico.


Xylotrechus colonus is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae, subfamily Cerambycinae, and tribe Clytini. Its common name is the rustic borer. It was described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775. The larva of this beetle feed on the sapwood of oaks (Quercus), whereas adults feed on the nectar of flowers such as goldenrod (Solidago), and some composite flowers. The wing covers are grey, with bands of black and a yellow dash near the top of each. The underside of the beetle is black, with faint yellow banding.


The honeysuckle moth (Ypsolopha dentella) is a moth of the family Ypsolophidae. It is found in Europe, Anatolia, north-eastern China, Russia and mideast Asia. It is also present in North America, where it is known from the eastern United States and southern Canada.
The wingspan is 18–23 mm. The head and thorax are white, patagia deep brown. Forewings with apex very strongly falcate; deep ochreous-brown, lighter towards costa anteriorly ; a light yellmv dorsal streak from base to tornus, edged above by a fine white line which is posteriorly bent obliquely upwards to disc at 2/3. Hindwings are rather dark grey. The larva is pale yellowish-green ; dorsal stripe broad, brown-reddish.
The moth flies from June to September depending on the location.
The larvae feed on honeysuckle, Symphoricarpos albus and Weigela.


Yucca brevifolia is a plant species belonging to the genus Yucca. It is tree-like in habit, which is reflected in its common names: Joshua tree, yucca palm, tree yucca, and palm tree yucca.
This monocotyledonous tree is native to the arid Southwestern United States, specifically California, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada, and to northwestern Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, and Sonora). It is confined mostly to the Mojave Desert between 400 and 1,800 m (1,300 and 5,900 ft) elevation. It thrives in the open grasslands of Queen Valley and Lost Horse Valley in Joshua Tree National Park. Other regions with large populations of the tree can be found northeast of Kingman, Arizona in Mohave County; and along U.S. 93 between the towns of Wickenburg and Wikieup, a route which has been designated the Joshua Tree Parkway of Arizona. A dense Joshua tree forest also existed on the Cima Dome in the Mojave National Preserve until the Dome fire of August 2020.


The Joshua tree is also called izote de desierto (Spanish, "desert dagger"). It was first formally described in the botanical literature as Yucca brevifolia by George Engelmann in 1871 as part of the Geological Exploration of the 100th meridian (or "Wheeler Survey").
The name "Joshua tree" is commonly said to have been given by a group of Mormon settlers crossing the Mojave Desert in the mid-19th century: The tree's role in guiding them through the desert combined with its unique shape reminded them of a biblical story in which Joshua keeps his hands reached out for an extended period of time to enable the Israelites in their conquest of Canaan (Joshua 8:18–26). Further, the shaggy leaves may have provided the appearance of a beard. However, no direct or contemporary attestation of this origin exists, and the name Joshua tree is not recorded until after Mormon contact; moreover, the physical appearance of the Joshua tree more closely resembles a similar story told of Moses.
Ranchers and miners who were contemporaneous with the Mormon immigrants used the trunks and branches as fencing and for fuel for ore-processing steam engines. They referred to these fallen or collapsed Joshua trees as tevis stumps.
In addition to the autonymic subspecies Y. b. subsp. brevifolia, two other subspecies have been described: Y. b. subsp. herbertii (Webber's yucca or Herbert Joshua tree) and Y. b. subsp. jaegeriana (the Jaeger Joshua tree or Jaeger's Joshua tree or pygmae yucca), though both are sometimes treated as varieties or forms. Y.b. subsp. jaegeriana has also been treated as its own species.


Joshua trees are fast growers for a desert species; new seedlings may grow at an average rate of 7.6 cm (3.0 in) per year in their first 10 years, then only about 3.8 cm (1.5 in) per year. The trunk consists of thousands of small fibers and lacks annual growth rings, making  determining the tree's age difficult. This tree has a top-heavy branch system, but also what has been described as a "deep and extensive" root system, with roots reaching down to 11 m (36 ft). If it survives the rigors of the desert, it can live for hundreds of years; some specimens survive a thousand years. The tallest trees reach about 15 m (49 ft). New plants can grow from seed, but in some populations, new stems grow from underground rhizomes that spread out around the parent tree.
The evergreen leaves are dark green, linear, bayonet-shaped, 15–35 cm long, and 7–15 mm broad at the base, tapering to a sharp point; they are borne in a dense spiral arrangement at the apex of the stems. The leaf margins are white and serrated.
Flowers typically appear from February to late April, in panicles 30–55 cm tall and 30–38 cm broad, the individual flowers erect, 4–7 cm tall, with six creamy white to green tepals. The tepals are lanceolate and are fused to the middle. The fused pistils are 3 cm tall and the stigma cavity is surrounded by lobes. The semi-fleshy fruit that is produced is green-brown, elliptical, and contains many flat seeds. Joshua trees usually do not branch until after they bloom (though branching may also occur if the growing tip is destroyed by the yucca-boring weevil), and they do not bloom every year. Like most desert plants, their blooming depends on rainfall at the proper time. They also need a winter freeze before they bloom.
Once they bloom, the flowers are pollinated by the yucca moth (Tegeticula synthetica), which spreads pollen while laying eggs inside the flower. The  larvae feed on the seeds, but enough seeds remain to reproduce. The Joshua tree is also able to actively abort ovaries in which too many eggs have been produced.


The Joshua tree is native to the southwestern United States (Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah) and northwestern Mexico. This range mostly coincides with the geographical reach of the Mojave Desert, where it is considered one of the major indicator species for the desert. It occurs at elevations between 400 and 1,800 m (1,300 and 5,900 ft).


Joshua trees are one of the species predicted to have their range reduced and shifted by climate change. Concern remains that they will be eliminated from Joshua Tree National Park, with ecological research suggesting a high probability that their populations will be reduced by 90% of their current range by the end of the 21st century, thus fundamentally transforming the ecosystem of the park. Wildfires, invasive grasses and poor migration patterns for the trees’ seeds are all additional factors in the species’ imperilment. Also, concern exists about the ability of the species to migrate to favorable climates due to the extinction of the giant Shasta ground sloth (Nothrotheriops shastensis) 13,000 years ago; ground sloth dung has been found to contain Joshua tree leaves, fruits, and seeds, suggesting that the sloths might have been key to the trees' dispersal.


Different forms of the species are cultivated, including smaller plants native from the eastern part of the species range. These smaller plants grow 2.5 m tall and branch when about 1 m tall. Red-shafted flickers make nests in the branches, which are later used by other birds.
Cahuilla Native Americans, who have lived in the Southwestern United States for generations, identify this plant as a valuable resource and call it hunuvat chiy’a or humwichawa. Their ancestors used the leaves of Y. brevifolia to weave sandals and baskets, in addition to harvesting the seeds and flower buds for meals. Native Americans also used the reddish roots to make dye. Yucca tree roots have saponin glycosides.


Usually trunkless, it is multisuckering with heads of 75 centimetres (30 inches) long, filamentous, blue-green, strappy leaves. Y. filamentosa is readily distinguished from other yucca species by white, thready filaments along the leaf margins. Flower stems up to 3 metres (10 feet) tall bear masses of pendulous cream flowers in early summer.


Its common names include Adam's needle, common yucca, Spanish bayonet, bear-grass, needle-palm, silk-grass, and spoon-leaf yucca.


The species is found from southeast Virginia south to Florida, and as far west as south and southeast Texas. It has become naturalized along the Atlantic coastal plain north to Cape Cod and Long Island Sound, and into areas of the lower Midwest. It is reportedly also naturalized in France, Italy and Turkey.
This plant is most commonly found in sandy soils, especially in beach scrub and dunes, but also in fields, barrens, and rocky slopes, though it grows well also in silt or clay soils.


Y. filamentosa is widely cultivated in mild temperate and subtropical climates. A fairly compact species, it nevertheless presents a striking appearance with its sword-like leaves and dramatic flowerheads. It is naturally a focal point in the landscape, also providing a tropical touch in temperate gardens. It needs full sun and a well-drained soil, preferring an acid or slightly alkaline pH range of 5.5 to 7.5. It develops a large, fleshy, white taproot with deep lateral roots. Once planted and established, it is difficult to remove, as the roots keep sending up new shoots for many years. It is normally hardy down to −29 °C (−20 °F), or U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) hardiness zones of 5 to 9: UK H7).


'Bright Edge', a dwarf cultivar with yellow-margined foliage and creamy flowers tinged with green, has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. ‘Color Guard’, with broad yellow  stripes all year plus red stripes in the winter, has also won the award.
Other cultivars include:
'Golden Sword' - similar to 'Bright Edge', but larger
'Ivory Tower' - creamy white flowers tinged with green


Once the seeds have been removed, the fruits can be cooked and eaten. The large flower petals can also be eaten in salads.
The leaves, stems and roots of this plant can be used to stun fish. The Cherokee used it for this purpose.


It was discovered in 1840 in northeastern Mexico between Saltillo and Parras (23°37′0″N 102°34′30″W) on 19 May 1847 by merchant and explorer Josiah Gregg.  It was later introduced to Europe and described for science by J. Benjamin Chabaud (1833-1915) in 1876.


A tall, heavily branched yucca, Y. filifera has straight, ensiform leaves growing in rosette-shaped bunches from the end of each stem.  Its inflorescence hangs over and is made of many separate white flowers.


Yucca filifera is not considered to be threatened by the IUCN, as it has a very large range and its population appears to be stable. It is locally used for fibers, and may experience some threat from habitat degradation.


Y. filifera can be cultivated in xerophytic conditions. It is used as roof covering and as a source of fibre for handcrafting by the indigenous people, who call it palma china or izote.
Am enormous specimen of Yucca filifera stands in front of the Anderson Gallery at the Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University. It was transplanted to  this site in the 1880s. In the spring, it bears long clusters of white flowers, some well over a meter long.


Yucca glauca (syn. Yucca angustifolia) is a species of perennial evergreen plant, adapted to xeric (dry)growth conditions. It is also known as small soapweed, soapweed yucca, Spanish bayonet,   and Great Plains yucca.
Yucca glauca forms colonies of rosettes. Leaves are long and narrow, up to 60 cm long but rarely more than 12 mm across. Inflorescence is up to 100 cm tall, sometimes branched sometimes not. Flowers are pendent (drooping, hanging downward), white to very pale green. Fruit is a dry capsule with shiny black seeds.


Yucca glauca is native to central North America: occurring from the Canadian Prairies of Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada; south through the Great Plains to Texas and New Mexico in the United States.


The "honey ant" (Myrmecocystus mexicanus), among other species, has been observed collecting nectar from Y. glauca.


Soapweed yucca was a traditional Native American medical plant, used by the Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Lakota, and other tribes.
Among the Zuni people, the seed pods are boiled and used for food. Leaves are made into brushes and used for decorating pottery, ceremonial masks, altars and other objects. Leaves are also soaked in water to soften them and made into rope by knotting them together. Dried leaves are split, plaited and made into water-carrying head pads. Leaves are also used for making mats, cincture pads and other articles. The peeled roots are pounded, made into suds and used for washing the head, wool garments and blankets.
The young flower stalks and unripe fruits can be cooked and eaten.


Yucca rupicola is a  plant in the family Asparagaceae, known as the twistleaf yucca, twisted-leaf yucca, Texas yucca or twisted-leaf Spanish-dagger. The species was described by George Heinrich Adolf Scheele in 1850. This is a small, acaulescent plant with distinctive twisted leaves. It is native to the Edwards Plateau region of Texas and also to northeastern Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León).
Yucca rupicola forms colonies of rosettes, lacking trunks above-ground but producing a branched caudex under the surface. Leaves are narrowly lanceolate, slightly succulent, twisted, up to 60 cm long but about 40 mm wide at its widest point. Flowers are pendant (drooping), bell-shaped, white or greenish. Fruit is a dry capsule up to 6 cm long.


Yucca schidigera, also known as the Mojave yucca or Spanish dagger, is a flowering plant native to the southwest deserts of North America.


Yucca schidigera is a small evergreen tree growing to 5 metres (16 feet) tall, with a dense crown of spirally arranged bayonet-like leaves on top of a conspicuous basal trunk. The bark is gray-brown, being covered with brown dead leaves near the top, becoming irregularly rough and scaly-to-ridged closer to the ground. The leaves are 30–150 centimetres (12–59 inches) long and 4–11 cm (1+1⁄2–4+1⁄4 in) broad at the base, concavo-convex, thick, very rigid, and yellow-green to blue-green in color.
The flowers are white, sometimes with a purple tinge, 3–5 cm (1+1⁄4–2 in) long (rarely to 7.5 cm), bell-shaped and segmented into six parts; they are produced in a compact, bulbous cluster 60–120 cm (24–47 in) tall at the top of the stem. The fruit is an elongate berry, up to 11.5 cm (4.5 in) long.


The plant is native to the Mojave Desert, Chihuahuan Desert and Sonoran Desert of southeastern California, Baja California, New Mexico, southern Nevada and Arizona.
This yucca typically grows on rocky desert slopes and creosote desert flats between 300–1,200 m (980–3,940 ft) altitude, rarely up to 2,500 m (8,200 ft). They thrive in full sun and in soil with excellent drainage. It also needs no summer water. It is related to the banana yucca (Y. baccata), which occurs in the same general area; hybrids between the two are sometimes found.


Post fire, the Mojave yucca produces sprouts eagerly and the regeneration of the seedlings are witnessed. The fire regime is defined predominantly by heavy crop vegetation that take part in carrying the fire in the ecosystem. Over time, the invasive species that have been introduced to the ecosystem, such as grasses, have turned more fire tolerant, increasing the fire frequency and altering the fire regime that existed in the past.
Early accounts describe the flora of the Mojave Desert as arid grassland and shrubland communities. This ecosystem depended on winter precipitation. Y. schidigera was tolerant of this fire regime and rarely harmed. However, the introduction of nonnative grasses led to a higher frequency of fire, which decreased the survival rate of Y. schidigera.


Moths gather pollen from the flowers and deposit it on the stigma of a flower, the ovary of which they lay their eggs in; the larvae eat of the fruit capsule as it grows, but leave behind some seeds to develop into fruit.
The fibers of the Yucca schidigera leaves are used by Native Americans to make rope, cloth, thread, and sandals. The flowers and fruit are eaten either raw or roasted, and the black seeds were ground into a flour. The roots are used to make soap.
Some reports claim that Native Americans wash their hair with yucca to fight dandruff and hair loss. Among the other maladies this yucca has been used to treat are headaches, bleeding, gonorrhea, arthritis and rheumatism.
Currently extracts from this plant are in animal feed and various herbal medications. The rigid flower stalk of the yucca, after maturation, is used as a substitute for eucalyptus stems or logs to make didgeridoos. It is also used as a natural deodorizer, and is used in pet deodorizers. Steroid saponins are produced commercially from Y. schidigera that can be used as naturally derived food-grade surfactant. Y. schidigera is an ingredient that is found in a quarter of dog food sold. It is mainly included in their food to reduce the waste odor of most pets.
Researchers have also found that the ingestion of Y. schidigera have decreased the blood cholesterol of human and chickens, increased vitamin and mineral absorption in animals, and increased cattle reproduction.


Zale horrida, the horrid zale, is a species of moth in the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1819. It is found in North America.
The MONA or Hodges number for Zale horrida is 8717.


Zamia integrifolia, also known as coontie palm is a small, tough, woody cycad native to the southeastern United States (in Florida and Georgia), the Bahamas, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands.


Zamia integrifolia produces reddish seed cones with a distinct acuminate tip. The leaves are 20–100 cm long, with 5-30 pairs of leaflets (pinnae). Each leaflet is linear to lanceolate or oblong-obovate, 8–25 cm long and 0.5–2 cm broad, entire or with indistinct teeth at the tip. They are often revolute, with prickly petioles. It is similar in many respects to the closely related Zamia pumila, but that species differs in the more obvious toothing on the leaflets.
This is a low-growing plant, with a trunk that grows to 3–25 cm high, but is often subterranean. Over time, it forms a multi-branched cluster, with a large, tuberous root system, which is actually an extension of the above-ground stems. The leaves can be completely lost during cold periods, with the plant lying dormant in its tuberous root system, allowing this cycad to be relatively cold hardy. The plant can survive up to USDA region 8b (10° to 20° F). The stems and leaves regenerate after the cold period subsides with full foliage.
Like other cycads, Zamia integrifolia is dioecious, having male or female plants. The male cones are cylindrical, growing to 5–16 cm long; they are often clustered. The female cones are elongate-ovoid and grow to 5–19 cm long and 4–6 cm in diameter.


This plant has several common names. Two names, Florida arrowroot and wild sago, refer to the former commercial use of this species as the source of an edible starch. Coontie (or koonti) is derived from the Seminole Native American language conti hateka.


Zamia integrifolia inhabits a variety of habitats with well-drained sands or sandy loam soils. It prefers filtered sunlight to partial shade. Populations are presently limited to Florida (including the Florida Keys) and southeastern Georgia in the United States, western Cuba, the Bahamas (on Andros, Grand Bahama, Great Abaco, Long Island, and New Providence islands), and the Cayman Islands.\


Controversy has long existed over the classification of Zamia in Florida; at one extreme all the American populations are included in a broadly defined Zamia pumila species complex, and at the other several species have been recognized under various names (e.g., Z. augustifolia, Z. floridana, Z. silvicola, and Z. umbrosa). The Flora of North America treats all of the American populations as Z. integrifolia, and all West Indian populations as other species. Genetically, the differences between populations cannot be explained by habitat variability. Studies conducted by Ward showed that five different Florida populations of Z. integrifolia with identical cultivation produced distinct leaf morphology, suggesting that there may be too much genetic diversity amongst these Floridian Z. integrifolia, not to mention geographically isolated populations, to consider them a single species.


The plant has critical importance to the Atala butterfly (Eumaeus atala). The butterfly, thought extinct until recently, is dependent for its survival on Z. integrifolia, as well as several other species of Zamia. At the larval stage, the Atala caterpillar exclusively eats the leaves of the coontie. A half dozen caterpillars can completely strip a coontie bare, and a large coontie population is needed to sustain E. atala populations.
Mealybug destroyers (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri), are commonly found on Z. integrifolia. They form a mutualistic relationship by providing the plant protection from pests in exchange for food. They feed on the coonties' natural enemies, scales and mealybugs, thereby reducing the need for pesticides.


Three of the most common pests of Z. integrifolia are Florida red scales (Chrysomphalus aonidum), hemispherical scales (Saissetia coffeae) and longtailed mealybugs (Pseudococcus longispinus). When infested, the plant's growth is stunted, and it becomes covered with blackish mold. Infestations are not limited to one species; several species can be found on the same plant.


Since Z. integrifolia is a cycad, which are the only group of gymnosperms that form nitrogen-fixing associations, it depends on microbes as a source of nitrogen. It forms a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria, which live in specialized roots called coralloid roots and are green in color despite not actively photosynthesizing. The filamentous cyanobacteria belonging to the genus Nostoc, which is able to form symbiosis with a wide range of organisms, inhabits the mucilage in the microaerobic and dark intercellular zone in between the inner and outer cortex of coralloid roots. This zone is transversed and connected by elongated Zamia cells. Coralloid roots are just like lateral roots, but highly specialized to contain cyanobacteria.


The cones, also called strobilus, of Z. integrifolia are dioecious. The male strobilus and the female strobilus are found on two separate plants. The cones on the female plant are thick and have red-orange seeds. They also have a velvety texture, and only grow up to 6 inches. On the other hand, the ones on the male plant are narrow and tall, and contain pollen. They can reach a length of 7 inches. Female cones are usually borne singularly, whereas male cones grow in groups or clusters. The growing season of Z. integrifolia is during the spring, and the sex of the plant is undetermined until cones are produced.


Zamia species often produce more than one cone close to the tip of the stem or at the terminal of the caudex where it intersects with the aboveground stem. The multiple cones of Z. integrifolia may develop through three methods: sympodium, forking of the bundle system, and adventitious buds. The most common form of development is the rapid formation of cone domes on the plant's sympodium, which is its main axis. More cones are present when there is a "branching" of the bundles to the cones. The forking of the bundle system starts near the base of a terminal cone, which remains erect, of the sympodial development in certain branches. The last method is when "adventitious buds appear in the cortical tissue closely connected with the stelar system of the trunk, and these buds continue their development like typical stems."


Z. integrifolia plants are pollinated by two species of weevils, Rhopalotria slossoni and Pharaxonotha floridana. P. floridana pollinates the plants by using the pollen-bearing strobili as food for its larvae, transporting the pollen with it. The plant can regulate the mutualistic interaction by making the seed-bearing strobilis poisonous to these larvae. On the other hand, R. slossoni does not consume the pollen, but rather, takes shelter in male cones where they become dusted with pollen. They then carry over these pollen into the female cones, which becomes pollinated. Although the female cones are not consumed, there have been evidences of healed scars due to punctation in the interior of the cone, which are suspected to be caused by weevils.


Zanthoxylum americanum, the common prickly-ash, common pricklyash, common prickly ash or northern prickly-ash (also sometimes called toothache tree, yellow wood, or suterberry), is an aromatic shrub or small tree native to central and eastern portions of the United States and Canada. It is the northernmost New World species in the citrus family, Rutaceae, and is the type species in its genus, which includes sichuan pepper. It can grow to 10 meters (33 ft) tall with a diameter at breast height (DBH) of 15 cm (5.9 in). It produces membranous leaflets and axillary flower clusters. The wood is not commercially valuable, but oil extracts from the bark have been used in traditional and alternative medicine, and have been studied for antifungal and cytotoxic properties.  The genus name is sometimes spelled Xanthoxylum.


Zanthoxylum parvum, known vernacularly as Shinners' tickletongue and small prickly-ash is considered by some botanists to be an isolated and aberrant population of Zanthoxylum americanum.
Originally described by Scottish botanist Philip Miller in 1768, Zanthoxylum americanum is type species of the wide-ranging genus Zanthoxylum in the plant family Rutaceae, which includes many species with aromatic foliage. Miller, who spelled the name Xanthoxylum, described the plant in the eighth edition of his Gardeners Dictionary, as "grow[ing] naturally in Pensylvania [sic] and Maryland".


The plant has pinnately compound leaves with 5–11 membranous leaflets. It has axillary flower and fruit clusters. The buds are hairy. The dark green leaves are bitter-aromatic, with crenate margins. The stalked follicles are green and then turn red through deep blue through black. Flowers are dioecious, with yellow-green petals.
Flowers appear as umbrella-like clusters from 2–12 in small terminal to axillary umbellate clusters. They are imperfect with pedicels 2–4 m long; there are 4–5 petals, elliptic to ovate-oblong 1.6–1.9 mm long and have green with reddish hairs near the tips; stamens 5; ovary with 2–5 carpels.  The fruit is a follicle, with 2 seeds per carpel.


Rare in the South, it is more common in the northern United States. In the United States, it occurs in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin and West Virginia; the species also occurs in Ontario and Quebec in Canada. The species is listed as Endangered in Florida, Maryland, and New Hampshire; and as Special Concern in Tennessee.
Butterflies that use Zanthoxylum americanum as a larval food source include the Thoas swallowtail (Papilio thoas), giant swallowtail (P. cresphontes), and spicebush swallowtail (P. troilus).
This plant was known to the indigenous peoples of the region. It was first described to Europeans by John Bartram in his travels and plant collecting excursions.


Underlies of maple-oak woodlands or dense growth of small trees like evergreen oak on rocky, often shallow, well-drained, tuff or other igneous rock, at elevations of 1,350–1,750 metres (4,430–5,740 ft).
The understory is primarily native bunchgrasses with a mix of other cacti and herbaceous species. In shaded dense areas, the ground is sparsely inhabited with vegetation but covered with dense leaf litter.


Zanthoxylum parvum is a rare and poorly understood plant from a few populations in the Davis Mountains


An oil extracted from the bark and follicles of the prickly-ash (both this species and Zanthoxylum clava-herculis) has been used in herbal medicine. The extract may act as a stimulant, and historic medicinal use has included use "for chronic rheumatism, typhoid and skin diseases and impurity of the blood..." as well as for digestive ailments. Grieve states, "The berries are considered even more active than the bark, being carminative and antispasmodic, and are used as an aperient and for dyspepsia and indigestion; a fluid extract of the berries being given in doses of 10 to 30 drops." The bark has been chewed for toothaches, and a tea from the follicles has been used for sore throats and as a diuretic. As noted by Michael Dirr, in his Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, "Supposedly the stems and fruits were chewed by the Indians to alleviate toothache for the acrid juice has a numbing effect."


There have been some modern studies of the oil's chemical constituents and their antifungal and cytotoxic effects.
In 2012, a Pennsylvania distillery introduced a bitters called Bartram's Bitters that uses prickly ash bark as one of several botanical ingredients. The concoction was based on a recipe for "Bartram's Homestead Bitters" that was found in a book that belonged to the family of botanist John Bartram.


Zanthoxylum clava-herculis, the Hercules' club, Hercules-club, pepperwood, or southern prickly ash, is a spiny tree or shrub native to the southeastern United States. It grows to 10–17 m tall and has distinctive spined thick, corky lumps 2–3 cm long on the bark. The leaves are glabrous and leathery,
pinnately compound, 20–30 cm long with 7-19 leaflets, each leaflet 4–5 cm long. The flowers are dioecious, in panicles up to 20 cm long, each flower small, 6–8 mm diameter, with 3-5 white petals. The fruit is a two-valved capsule 6 mm diameter with a rough surface, and containing several small black seeds.  The tree has also been called Z. macrophyllum.  The genus name is sometimes spelled Xanthoxylum.
Along with the related Zanthoxylum americanum, it is sometimes called "toothache tree" or "tingle tongue" because chewing on the leaves, bark, or twigs causes a tingling numbness of the mouth, tongue, teeth and gums. It was used for such medicinal purposes by both Native Americans and early settlers to treat toothache because of this.
The tree has a rounded crown and requires plentiful water and sunlight. Its leaves are browsed by deer and its fruit is eaten by birds.
The fruit passes through birds, which helps the seeds to germinate.
The new trees tend to
sprout below the favorite resting places of the birds, along fence rows and the edge of woods.
It is known to be host to a number of insect species, including the Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) and the leaf beetle Derospidea brevicollis.


The name Hercules' club is also applied to Aralia spinosa, also native to eastern North America.  Unlike Zanthoxylum, Aralia has large twice-compound leaves and very large leaf scars, so the trees are easily distinguished.


Zanthoxylum fagara or wild lime, is a species of flowering plant that—despite its name—is not part of the genus Citrus with real limes and other fruit, but is a close cousin in the larger citrus family, Rutaceae. It is native to southern Florida and Texas in the United States, and to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America as far south as Paraguay. Common names include: lime prickly-ash, wild lime, colima, uña de gato, and corriosa.