A study made in the Northwest Territories determined flight behaviours of olive-sided flycatchers near their nests. Results show that four out of eight males would fly from 0 m to 49 m away from their nest and would sing only when at a distance of more than 100 m. It was also found that pairs whose nests were in more open areas did not travel as far than when nests were deeper in the forest.


Vocalizations are made by songbirds through songs which are for breeding purposes or through calls to communicate with other individuals of its species. During the breeding, olive-sided flycatcher males sing a song to attract a mate. Its song sounds like it is saying “Quick, three beers!” with three successive high-pitched sounds. The first sound is shorter and not as high-pitched and loud as the two others. Sometimes, during mating season, males can produce growling sounds or even squeaks when in conflict with other males. Calls are produced by birds to communicate with one another. This species' most frequent call is 3 quick successive pip sounds.
The rate at which males sing varies throughout the breeding season. This variation appears to be correlated indirectly with the breeding status (single, paired, or feeding young) of the individuals.


Olive-sided flycatchers breed once per year and usually get clutches of 3 to 4 eggs. The incubation period lasts for 15 to 19 days and so does the nestling period. The egg size is approximately 0.8-0.9 inches long by 0.6-0.7 inches wide and is a creamy white colour with brownish spots that form a ring on the larger end of the egg. The nest location is chosen by the female and is usually on a horizontal branch of coniferous trees, but have also been seen on other types of trees. The lowest nest was 5 feet high on a tree and the highest was 197 feet. In Western regions, olive-sided flycatchers tend to have higher nests than in their Eastern distributions. The nest is about 4.6 inches wide on the outside and 2.8 inches wide on the inside and is cup-shaped. The outer part is made with twigs and small branches, while the inside is usually lined with finer material such as grass, lichen, needles, etc. The hatching are born naked and helpless. The male defends a large area around the nesting territory. Both parents feed the young birds.


Hawking is the main feeding method used by olive-sided flycatchers. They feed on flying insects (e.g., bees, wasps, moths, beetles, grasshoppers, etc.) and capture them in the air. They will sometimes feed on fruit during migration and non-breeding season.
During parental care, olive-sided flycatchers were found to consume its chicks' fecal sacs. Indeed, both sexes appear to do so within the first week of hatchings' lives, then start to remove them from the nest. This behaviour is thought to act as a supplement in the parental nutrition.


Of all the flycatcher species that breed in the United States, the olive-sided flycatcher has the longest migration. Some olive-sided flycatchers migrate up to 7,000 miles traveling between central Alaska and Bolivia.


According to the IUCN Red List in 2016, the olive-sided flycatcher is classified as a "near threatened" species. The criteria for a species to fit in this conservation status is when the taxon does not fit within the Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable categories, but is likely to fit within one of them in the near future. The Canadian Species at Risk Act lists the olive-sided flycatcher as threatened due to its declining population.
The olive-sided flycatcher's global population is estimated at 1.9 million individuals but appears to be declining at a rate of 3% of the population per year and has declined by 79% in the past 50 years.


With climate change becoming increasingly important and causing important changes in the ecosystems, a study was made in Nova Scotia to predict climate-resilient habitats which would be suitable for olive-sided flycatchers. The authors built a model which considered mean canopy height as the most important factor to consider for this species because it needs a habitat with tall trees. The results suggest that the relative habitat suitability for olive-sided flycatchers in the area of study (Nova Scotia) increased with canopy height and decreased as the habitat moved further away from conifer-dominated forests and areas with dead material which is known to be crucial for their feeding habits. This species is also expected to prefer valleys, lowlands and flatter areas which have the potential to form wetlands or streams. The results from this study determined that the forests used in Nova Scotia have a high potential for olive-sided flycatcher populations to be resilient to climate change.


A research made in Eastern Canada showed that disturbances caused by human activities and road proximity have a negative impact on olive-sided flycatcher populations in Canadian national parks. This study helped quantify the importance of protected areas for the species.
The loss of wintering habitat might be one of the main causes for its population decline. However, they do not seem to be directly impacted by forest loss, although they might be sensitive to it. Declines in flying insect populations due to insecticide use is what is thought to impact most directly the species. In their non-breeding habitat, on the east slope of Andres, the winter populations are highly threatened, but the exact threats have not yet been identified. Burned or freshly-logged forests are great foraging habitats for the olive-sided flycatchers due to the increased presence of flying insects, but they could be negatively affected in these environments by wildfire suppression techniques or salvage logging. Collisions with communication towers seem to be another cause of mortality threatening olive-sided flycatchers.


Crepis tectorum, commonly referred to as 'the narrowleaf hawksbeard' or 'narrow-leaved hawk's-beard', is an annual or winter annual plant between 30 and 100 centimetres in height. Originating in Siberia before being introduced to Canada in 1890, the narrowleaf hawksbeard's  is an invasive species. Maintaining one branched, hairless and leafy stem during maturity, the narrowleaf hawksbeard has yellow leaves which are arranged in an alternate manner and less than 0.5 inches (13 mm) wide.

The narrowleaf hawksbeard's scientific namesake 'Crepis tectorum' originates from the Greek word krepis meaning sandal or slipper, which resembles the shape of the seed.


Crepis tectorum is native to most of Europe, as well as northern and central Asia (Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and parts of China (Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Xinjiang)).
The species is now naturalized in much of Canada, Greenland, and northern parts of the United States including Alaska. Narrowleaf hawksbeard is now commonly found in the parkland zone of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Crepis tectorum is found in waste areas, conventional tillage, reduced tillage, forage and hay fields, and roadsides.


Crepis tectorum is identified by its long, erect stem and yellow, dandelion-like flowers. The leaves are pointed and lobed with a length of 10–15 centimetres (3.9–5.9 in) and width up to 4 cm (1.6 in). The flower heads look like they contain single flowers, but in fact they contain many ray florets.


Crepis tectorum may look similar to a dandelion at this stage but will have teeth that point downward on the underside leaf margin. The cotyledons are oval and the first true leaves are more elongated with petioles.


The juvenile stage of the narrowleaf hawksbeard is distinguishable by its rosette of leaves. The stem may contain a milky-white latex.


A mature Crepis tectorum plant will have dandelion-like flowers, with many flower heads on each stem. When the plant had gone to seed it will have a white, fluffy head where the flower used to be. The seeds are dark purple/brown achenes dispersed by the wind using hairs called the pappus.


Crepis tectorum is an annual weed that grows in cultivated fields and roadsides. It is very invasive so it can take over a field and lead to serious ecological impacts for the surrounding. Crepis tectorum is able to grow in calcareous soil as well as soil that does not contain lime. However, it grows best in nutrient rich soils containing clays and loams. It also thrives in dry, coarse soil. It grows with other species in the wild however, it becomes infectious if not controlled by humans. It can easily be removed by hand, although it can be controlled better by chemical means.  The presence of the narrowleaf hawksbeard is damaging to the soil and other species of plants nearby as it generally takes over the area. The temperature range for germination is 2–4 °C (36–39 °F), with an optimum depth of 3–4 cm (1.2–1.6 in).


Individuals of this species are usually approximately 3 feet (0.91 m) tall, single-stemmed, yellow petals on flowers, and produce 30–70 yellow ray florets.


Inflorescences of Crepis tectorum are approximately ½-¾ inches wide and are hermaphrodite, having both male and female organs. It produces small flowers from June until September. The fruit is cylindrical shaped and dark brown. The fruit of Crepis tectorum is dry and is called an achene.


Feeding often occurs nocturnally, but they can be encountered eating at any hour of the day. Black-bellied whistling ducks ingest a wide variety of plant material (including corn, rice, millets, several types of weed and other grasses), but also consume arthropods (such as insects and spiders), aquatic invertebrates (such as snails and molluscs) and tadpoles when available. They often feed on submerged vegetation by wading through shallow water. As its Latin name (autumnalis) implies, it is commonly seen gleaning recently harvested fields for leftover seeds and invertebrates brought up by the harvesters disturbing the soil.


Dioscorea communis or Tamus communis is a species of flowering plant in the yam family Dioscoreaceae and is commonly known as black bryony, lady's-seal or black bindweed.


It is a climbing herbaceous plant growing to 2–4 m tall, with stems that twine anticlockwise. The leaves are spirally arranged, heart-shaped, up to 10 cm long and 8 cm broad, with a petiole up to 5 cm long. It is dioecious, with separate male and female plants. The flowers are individually inconspicuous, greenish-yellow, 3–6 mm diameter, with six petals; the male flowers produced in slender 5–10 cm racemes, the female flowers in shorter clusters. The fruit is a bright red berry, 1 cm diameter. Its fairly large tuber is, like the rest of the plant, poisonous.


Dioscorea communis is native and widespread throughout southern and central Europe, northwest Africa and western Asia, from Ireland to the Canary Islands, east to Iran and Crimea.


Dioscorea communis is a typical plant of the forest understory, from the sea to the mountains, usually in dense woods, but it can also be found in meadows and hedges.


All components of the black bryony plant, including the tubers, are poisonous due to saponin content, so it is not typically used internally; however, it has been used as a poultice for bruises and inflamed joints. It has been suggested that black bryony be used topically with caution, due to a tendency for the plant to cause painful blisters.
Studies have isolated calcium oxalate deposits and histamines in the berry juice and rhizomes, which may contribute to skin irritation and contact dermatitis associated with black bryony.
Black Bryony is highly poisonous and should not be ingested at all at least when raw. When cooked, young shoots are commonly eaten in southern France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Croatia.


The rhizome contains phenanthrenes (7-hydroxy-2,3,4,8-tetramethoxyphenanthrene, 2,3,4-trimethoxy-7,8-methylenedioxyphenanthrene, 3-hydroxy-2,4,-dimethoxy-7,8-methylenedioxyphenanthrene, 2-hydroxy-3,5,7-trimethoxyphenanthrene and 2-hydroxy-3,5,7-trimethoxy-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene).


Dolichovespula maculata is a species of wasp in the genus Dolichovespula and a member of the eusocial, cosmopolitan family Vespidae. It is known by many colloquial names, primarily bald-faced hornet, but also including bald-faced aerial yellowjacket, bald-faced wasp, bald hornet, white-faced hornet, blackjacket, white-tailed hornet, spruce wasp, and bull wasp. Technically a species of yellowjacket wasp, it is not one of the true hornets, which are in the genus Vespa. Colonies contain 400 to 700 workers, the largest recorded colony size in its genus, Dolichovespula. It builds a characteristic large hanging paper nest up to 58 cm (23 in) in length. Workers aggressively defend their nest by repeatedly stinging invaders.
The bald-faced hornet  is distributed throughout the United States and southern Canada, but is most common in the Southeastern United States. Males in this species are haploid and females are diploid. Worker females can, therefore, lay eggs that develop into males.


The bald-faced hornet gets its name from the characteristic white markings on its face, as the word "bald" in English is derived from the word "piebald". It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1763 Centuria Insectorum. D. maculata is part of the cosmopolitan family Vespidae, in the genus Dolichovespula. Its black and white coloring differentiates it from its mostly black and yellow congenerics.


The bald-faced hornet is distinguished from other yellowjackets by its white and black coloring. It has a white or "baldfaced" head, which is the source of its colloquial name. This wasp also has three white stripes at the end of its body and is notably larger than other species of Dolichovespula, as adults average about 19 mm (0.75 in) in length. Queen and worker wasps have similar morphologies. Queens are always larger than workers in their colonies, though size distributions can vary in different nests, and workers in one colony might be as large as a queen in a different one.
D. maculata creates egg-shaped, paper nests up to 360 mm (14 in) in diameter and 580 mm (23 in) in length. Nests are layered hexagonal combs covered by a mottled gray paper envelope. Bald-faced hornets create this paper envelope by collecting and chewing naturally occurring fibers. The wood fiber mixes with their saliva to become a pulpy substance that they can then form into place.


The bald-faced hornet lives in North America, including Canada, the Rocky Mountains, the western coast of the United States, and most of the eastern United States. It is most common in the Southeastern United States.
D. maculata is found in forested areas and in vegetation in urban areas. Nests are generally located in trees and bushes, but  occasionally are found under rock overhangs or the sides of buildings. Vertical distribution of nests has been recorded from heights of 0.3 to 20 m (1 ft 0 in to 65 ft 7 in) above ground level.


Bald-faced hornets are omnivorous, and considered to be beneficial due to their predation of flies, caterpillars, and spiders. Their aggressive defensive nature, though, makes them a threat to humans who wander too close to a nest or when a nest is constructed too close to human habitation. They vigorously defend the nest, with workers stinging repeatedly, as is common among social bees and wasps. The bald-faced hornet has a unique defense in that it can squirt or spray venom from the stinger into the eyes of vertebrate nest intruders. The venom causes immediate watering of the eyes and temporary blindness.


The colony is founded by a single overwintered, inseminated queen. She rears the first generation of workers on her own until they are functional. Colonies pass through the foundation over an average period of 23–24 days. After the queen lays her eggs,  6 days are needed for them to hatch. They grow as larvae for eight days, then an additional 9–10 days to mature into adult workers.


During the ergonomic stage, the colony's activities are concerned with cell building and worker production. The queen devotes herself entirely to laying eggs, while the workers take over all other necessary housekeeping tasks. At some point, sometime before the midpoint of colony life, the colony begins to invest energy in producing reproductives, as well. This marks the transition into the reproductive stage. An extensive time occurs where both workers and reproductives are raised. Production of both castes limits the size of the workforce. However, an early switching time is highly adaptive for social wasp colonies in limiting the risk of total loss.
In a sampling of 50 colonies taken in Maryland in 1977, workers were produced from mid-April to early October, and reproductives were produced from mid-July through the end of November. Onset of male output usually precedes that of queen output in social wasps, but D. maculata is an exception to this trend.
Energy investment by workers required to produce reproductives is considerable. Newly emerged males and queens are no more functional than pupae; both depend heavily on solid prey brought in by workers, thus competing with larvae for food resources. As a result, worker quantity must remain high to maintain reproductive output. Workers must maintain food stores and defend the nest, and colonies whose work force diminishes too early in the colony's life cycle can suffer a greater overall total loss in reproductives.


A colony is divided into haploid males, female workers, and the queen. All females are born with reproductive capacities. Dolichovespula is unique from its sister group Vespula in that some of the workers create haploid offspring that develop into males. Caste systems are determined by larval feeding regimens. G. T. Felippotti et al examined caste distribution amongst females in five small-cell colonies and six large-cell colonies. Small-cell colonies had one queen and 17–21 female workers. Large-cell colonies had two to six queens and 10–52 workers. Morphological comparisons revealed that queens are always larger than workers in the same colonies.


In D. maculata, queens mate with only one male, which results in a worker relatedness of 0.75, whereas the relatedness between the queen and worker is only 0.5.


Gynes in D. maculata have the ability to discriminate between fragments of natal comb and foreign comb. Recognition does not depend upon presence of viable brood in the comb fragment. The physical nature of cues mediating natal comb recognition is unknown, though some researchers propose distinct cuticular hydrocarbon profiles allow wasps to recognize nest mates.


E. medusa F. (= ligea Esp., themistocles de Loche, medea Bkh.) (35 f). In the reddish yellow macular distal band there are two larger white-centred black ocelli near the apex placed close together, being sometimes united. The ocelli which are situated in the other spots — usually 3 — are smaller, being often reprented by blind black dots. The hindwing has 3—4 reddish yellow separated spots bearing white-centred black ocelli. The somewhat lighter underside has the same pattern as the upper. Modifications as regards the number of the ocelli and reddish yellow spots occur frequently. Central Europe, from Northern Germany and Belgium southward to Soutli France, Central Italy and the Balcan, eastwards to the Amur, flying also in the plains.
— In the form psodea Hbn. (= eumenis Frr) (35 f) the macularm band is somewhat lighter and broader; the ocelli, especially in the band of the hindwing, are larger and bear a more conspicuous white pupil. In South Hungary, the Balcan, Caucasus, and Western Siberia : is said to occur occasionally in Central Europe as aberration. — procopiani Hormuz., with blind ocelli, is a smaller form from the Bukowina. — hippomedusa  O. (35 g) is still smaller; occurs in the alpine regions,  the macular band being reduced and the ocelli smaller. — polaris Stgr. (35 g) is but little larger than the preceding form, the macular band being obsolescent on the hindwing beneath. Lapland, Finmark, Norway - uralensis Stgr. (= medusa Er.) (35 g), with less ocelli, otherwise but little different from polaris, forming a transition towards the latter, the underside of the hindwing being different. In the Southern Ural, the Kirghizsteppe and the adjacent districts of Siberia. — subalpina Gumpp. Beneath like medusa, but deep black above, the forewing bearing ferruginous red black-dotted spots; in the Bavarian Alps, up to 3000 ft. — transiens Ruhl-Heyne (= medusa var. Stgr) comes nearer psodea ; the ocelli are larger and more numerous than in medusa ; the hindwing beneath more or less dusted with grey in the female ; East Siberia. — Larva light green, with light-edged dark dorsal line, a light line above the stigmata, a white line above the legs, and 2 black ocelli on the head. It feeds on various grasses, as Panicum sanguinale, Millium effusum, etc., hibernates and changes the end of April into a light grey pupa, which lies on the ground in a loose web, the butterfly appearing in 4 weeks. The species is on the wing from the end of May to early July, occurring in the woods in meadows and on grassy roads, in road-ditches, etc., the flight being slow but irregular and probing. The males are very abundant, while the females remain at rest, appearing but towards
the end of the period of flight.


This sub-shrub can grow to 10 feet (3.0 m) in height and width in frost-free climates, and 4–5 feet (1.2–1.5 m) where colder. The plant blossoms profusely over a long period with many small and tubular pendent flowers, in brilliant shades of red and purple, softer shades of pink and lavender, and some in white.
F. magellanica is a consistently variable species across the whole of its natural range and, despite past usage and popular misconceptions, no scientific varieties are currently recognized by botanist Dr. Paul E. Berry, the leading authority on the genus. Care should be taken not to accord any of the many garden selections and hybrids with taxonomic status by using "var." Additionally, pollen stain tests conducted in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States by members of the Western Fuchsia Species Society have indicated that almost all of the many garden selections of this species are, in fact, hybrids to a lesser or greater degree.


This species of Fuchsia occurs in temperate southern regions of Argentina and Chile, from latitude 32°50' S.  to the Straits of Magellan. In Australia, the species is recorded as naturalised in the states of Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.


They arrived in England in the late 18th century. According to tradition, the English gardener James Lee discovered them on the windowsill of a seaman's house and bought them for a considerable sum. As early as 1793 Lee is said to have sold a large number of pieces that he had pulled from this one copy. Fuchsia magellanica, and its cultivars and hybrids, are widely cultivated by plant nurseries and gardeners as ornamental plants. They are grown in temperate and subtropical gardens and conservatories, in containers on patios, balcony|balconies, and indoors. They prefer a sunny position.
The plants are quite cold-hardy compared to other species from more tropical climates, being deciduous where frosts are light, and only top die back in hard frosts (with mulching).  The profuse drooping flowers are a nectar source attractive to hummingbirds.
This species, and hybrids using it as parent stock, are very susceptible to the fuchsia gall mite, Aculops fuchsiae, a serious disfiguring pest that was first accidentally spread from its native Brazil to the West Coast of the United States in 1980. It has more recently made appearances in France (2003), the Channel Islands (2006) and the United Kingdom (2007). Fortunately the fuchsia gall mite does not readily survive temperatures below 40 °F (4 °C), and there are effective treatments and strategies.


Cultivars of Fuchsia magellanica agm include (those marked agm are recipients of the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit);
'Aurea' - bronze and gold leaves on deep red stems, vivid magenta and purple flowers
'Gracilis' agm - smaller leaves, more arching branch structure
'Gracilis Aurea' agm – yellow leaves, magenta and purple flowers
'Gracilis Variegata' agm (syn: Fuchsia magellanica 'Variegata') -  small, cream-edged leaves, long-narrow crimson and purple flowers
'Gracilis Versicolor' agm – small, grey-green leaves variably margined with cream, pink flush when young; red and purple flowers
'Molinae' - lavender with white flowers
'Riccartonii' agm - dark green leaves with a faint bronze sheen
'Thompsonii' agm – compact, pink and purple flowers


Condors begin to look for a mate when they reach sexual maturity at the age of 6. To attract a prospective mate, the male condor performs a display, in which the male turns his head red and puffs out his neck feathers. He then spreads his wings and slowly approaches the female. If the female lowers her head to accept the male, the condors become mates for life. The pair makes a simple nest in caves or on cliff clefts, especially ones with nearby roosting trees and open spaces for landing. A mated female lays one bluish-white egg every other year. Eggs are laid as early as January to as late as April. The egg weighs about 280 grams (10 oz) and measures from 90 to 120 mm (3.5 to 4.7 in) in length and about 67 mm (2.6 in) in width. If the chick or egg is lost or removed, the parents "double clutch", or lay another egg to take the lost one's place. Researchers and breeders take advantage of this behavior to double the reproductive rate by taking the first egg away for puppet-rearing; this induces the parents to lay a second egg, which the condors are sometimes allowed to raise.
The eggs hatch after 53 to 60 days of incubation by both parents. Chicks are born with their eyes open and sometimes can take up to a week to leave the shell completely. The young are covered with a grayish down until they are almost as large as their parents. They are able to fly after 5 to 6 months, but continue to roost and forage with their parents until they are in their second year, at which point the parents typically turn their energies to a new nest. Ravens are the main predatory threat to condor eggs, while golden eagles and bears are potential predators of condor offspring.
In 2021, the San Diego Zoo reported having had two unfertilized eggs hatch within its breeding program in 2001 and 2009, producing male young by parthenogenesis as indicated by genetic studies. The mothers had been housed with males and had mated before, but the offspring lacked markers of male paternity and showed all-maternal inheritance, suggesting the specific mechanism of parthenogenesis involved automixis, gametic fusion, or endomitosis. Earlier evidence of similar parthenogenesis in birds found that among the known examples the embryos died before hatching, unlike these condor chicks. Neither chick lived to sexual maturity, preventing data collection on their reproductive potential.


Juncus effusus can become a naturalized or invasive species, undesirable in rangelands for its unpalatability to livestock. Suggested methods of controlling rushes include: ploughing; high applications of inorganic fertilizer (can pollute watersheds); and topping to prevent seed formation.


Knautia arvensis, commonly known as field scabious, is a herbaceous perennial species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae.


It is a perennial plant that grows between 25 and 100 centimetres (9.8 and 39.4 in). It prefers grassy places and dry soils, avoiding heavy soils, and flowers between July and September. The flowers are borne on inflorescences in the form of heads; each head contains many small florets. The head is flatter than in similar species, such as devil's bit scabious (Succisa pratensis) and small scabious (Scabiosa columbaria). There are 4 stamens in each floret, and 1 notched long stigma. The fruit is nut like, cylindrical and hairy, 5–6 millimetres (0.20–0.24 in) in size. It has a tap root. The stem has long stiff hairs angled downwards. The leaves form a basal rosette, are paired on the stem, the lowest typically 300 millimetres (12 in) long, spear shaped, whereas the upper are smaller. There are no stipules.


It is occasionally used by the marsh fritillary as a foodplant instead of its usual foodplant of devils bit scabious (Succisa pratensis).  It is also the foodplant of the narrow-bordered bee hawk-moth (Hemaris tityus).


Commonly found on roadsides and field margins, and in meadows, it is particularly abundant where there is chalk bedrock.


Largus californicus, also known as the California bordered plant bug, is a species of bordered plant bug in the family Largidae. It is found in western North America, as well as parts of Central America.
They measure around 2.5 cm in length. Adults have a black exoskeleton with orange edges on the thorax and abdomen. Nymphs are metallic blue, later with a red spot at the base of the abdomen. They are indistinguishable in appearance from Largus cinctus.


Giant Coreopsis is cultivated as an ornamental plant by specialty nurseries. It is planted in native plant, drought tolerant, and wildlife gardens, and in natural landscaping and habitat restoration projects.
The plant needs good drainage and is not tolerant of excess moisture, needing minimal watering during the summer.


Lobelia siphilitica, the great blue lobelia, great lobelia, or blue cardinal flower, is a plant species within the family Campanulaceae.  It is an herbaceous perennial dicot native to eastern and central Canada and United States.  There are two recognized varieties of Lobelia siphilitica, Var. siphilitica and Var. ludoviciana. Blooming from August to October, it is short-lived, lasting only for a few years.
Although self-compatible, a flower is unable to offer pollen to itself and it must be pollinated by insects, primarily bumblebees. Bees use the lower three fused petals as a landing pad. A bee of correct weight will depress these petals on its way to the flower's nectar, this lowers the stigma wiping it against the bee's back.


Growing up to four feet tall, Great lobelia has a single ridged, unbranched stem, which is smooth or sparsely hairy. Leaves are hairless or scarcely hairy, that vary in shape from elliptical to lance-like, slightly narrowing at the base. They are about 2 inches wide and 2 to 6 inches in length. Leaves are alternately attached to the stem with no leaf stalk. The root system is a central taproot, that occasionally produces basal offshoots.
It produces a spike of zygomorphic flowers in the late summer. The flowers are more closely clustered towards the top of the raceme and become more infrequent further down with the lower flowers begin blooming first. Great lobelia flowers are notably large than many other lobelia species. Flowers are typically blue or violet, but can be lighter, even white and are usually about 1 in long. The tubed portion of the flower is often striped. Great lobelia flowers have 5 petals; the 3 lower petals are fused, and the 2 upper petals are usually curled back. A curved style pokes between the upper two petals. The lower center lobe is wider and has 2 small bumps near the throat that are typically lighter in coloration. Seed pods are two-chambered with an auriculate base and have many small seeds. Seeds are ovular, translucent, and golden brown and are presumed to be distributed by wind or water.


Lobelia siphilitica is sold in garden centers and is often grown in zones 4 to 9. It can be propagated either by cutting or seed.


Native Americans traditionally use this species to treat respiratory and muscle disorders. It was once considered a cure for syphilis by early European settlers, which is where the scientific name for this species originates.


Like Drosophila melanogaster, M. sexta is commonly used as a model organism for experiments. They are frequently studied in the laboratory due to their large size and relative ease of rearing. They may be reared on host plants, such as tobacco and tobacco relatives, tomato plants, or wheat-germ-based artificial diet. Their rearing is straightforward, provided they receive a long daylight cycle (e.g., 14 hours) during development to prevent diapause.
Eggs are rinsed for one to five minutes in dilute household bleach for disinfection.
Eggs are placed on diet cubes or host plants. The eggs hatch and develop at different speeds depending on temperature. The larvae are moved to a fresh diet or leaves as their food spoils or is consumed. When they start to "wander", they are about to pupate, so are placed in a pupation chamber. Pupation chambers are holes drilled into a wood board. The Manduca larvae are sealed in the chamber using a stopper and allowed to pupate. After pupation, the pupae are placed in a breeding or colony chamber to eclose. Providing a cup of sugar water and a tobacco (or related) plant will allow mated females to oviposit fertile eggs, which can then be reared.
When fed an artificial diet, Manduca larvae do not consume the xanthophyll -which is a yellow pigment- needed to produce their green coloration; instead they appear blue. On some diets, they have very little pigment and pigment precursors, so are a very pale blue-white. As vitamin A and other carotenoids are necessary for the visual pigments (rhodopsin), an artificial-diet-reared hornworm may have poor vision due to lack of carotenoids in the diet.


Opuntia humifusa, commonly known as the devil's-tongue, Eastern prickly pear or Indian fig, is a cactus of the genus Opuntia present in parts of eastern North America.


As is the case in other Opuntia species, the green stems of this low-growing perennial cactus are flattened, and are formed of segments. Barbed bristles are found around the surfaces of the segments, and longer spines are sometimes present. The flowers are yellow to gold in color, and are found along the margins of mature segments. The flowers are waxy and sometimes have red centers. They measure 4–6 cm (1+5⁄8–2+3⁄8 in) across. This cactus blooms in the late spring.
The juicy red or purple fruits measure from 3–5 cm (1+1⁄8–2 in). As the fruit matures, it changes colour from green to red, and often remains on the cactus until the following spring. There are 6 to 33 small, flat, light-colored seeds in each fruit.


Some botanists treat this cactus as a variety of Opuntia compressa: hence  Opuntia compressa var. humifusa, or a synonym of Opuntia compressa. Those recognizing this species treat Opuntia rafinesquii as a junior synonym.


This species naturally occurs along the East Coast of the United States, including on barrier islands from the Florida Keys to coastal Massachusetts, and inland, such as a small endangered population in Canada, specifically in Point Pelee National Park on Lake Erie. Eastern Prickly Pear is found is scattered locations from New Mexico and Montana eastward, and is the only cactus native to the eastern United States.  Since Eastern Prickly Pear grows in hot, sunny locations with thin soil that does not hold water, it is found in shale barrens, which are accumulations of thin, flat, eroded sedimentary rock on steep slopes with southern exposures - essentially a desert microclimate - in the Appalachian Mountains.


This plant is very intolerant of shade and instead thrives in sunny, hot and dry environments with well-draining, sandy soil.  Opuntia humifusa will grow in open areas in sandy, rocky and coastal scrub habits. It is capable of surviving cool winters unlike many cacti, although harsh winter storms are known to cause habitat loss.


The fruits are edible, but have small spiny bristles. The pulp can be scooped and the seeds strained out to make syrup or jelly. The seeds can be briefly roasted and ground into meal. Young cactus segments can be roasted to remove spines, then peeled and sliced to be eaten like string beans; alternatively, they can be deep fried. The leafy segments can be peeled and chewed for emergency hydration.


The small (1.5- to 2.0-mm-long) phorid fly, Apocephalus paraponerae, is a parasite of injured workers of P. clavata, of which the supply is constant because frequent aggressive encounters occur between neighbouring colonies, resulting in maimed workers. The flies are able to parasitise healthy ants if the ants are artificially restrained, but healthy ants are agile and able to repel them. Both male and female flies are attracted by the scent of injured ants; the females lay eggs, as well as feed, and the males feed and possibly mate with the females. The flies are attracted to a crushed ant within two to three minutes and 10 or more flies may be attracted to each ant. Each ant can harbour 20 fly larvae. Carl Rettenmeyer observed P. clavata actively trying to attack A. paraponerae when they approached the entrance to their nest.


The Savannah sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) is a small New World sparrow. It was the only member of the genus Passerculus and is typically the only widely accepted member. Comparison of mtDNA NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 and 3 sequences indicates that the Ipswich sparrow, formerly usually considered a valid species (as Passerculus princeps), is a well-marked subspecies of the Savannah sparrow, whereas the southwestern large-billed sparrow should be recognized as a distinct species (Passerculus rostratus).
The species name sandwichensis is Latin, of place, Sandwich, Unalaska, or Aleutians area, from which came the first subspecies, Aleutian Savannah Sparrow, to be described. The common name honors Savannah, Georgia where Alexander Wilson discovered the species in 1811.


This species has a typically sparrow-like dark-streaked brown back, and whitish underparts with brown or blackish breast and flank streaking. It has whitish crown and supercilium stripes, sometimes with some yellow (more often near the beak). The cheeks are brown and the throat white. The flight feathers are blackish-brown with light brown or white border. The eyes are dark. The feet and legs are horn-colored, as is the lower part of the bill, with the upper part being dark grey.
The Savannah sparrow is a very variable species, with numerous subspecies, several of which have been split as separate species at various times. The different forms vary principally in the darkness of the plumage. The variation generally follows Gloger's rule, with Alaskan and interior races the palest, and southwestern coastal forms the darkest. There are some exceptions, though, most conspicuously in some island populations that presumably were strongly affected by founder effects. The general pattern of variation has a fairly clear divide, southwest of which the birds become notably darker; this agrees quite well with the limit between P. sandwichensis and P. (s.) rostratus. Savannah sparrows show some variation in size across subspecies. The total length can range from 11 to 17 cm (4.3 to 6.7 in), wingspan ranges from 18 to 25 cm (7.1 to 9.8 in) and body mass from 15 to 29 g (0.53 to 1.02 oz). In the nominate subspecies, the body weight averages 20.1 g (0.71 oz).
The Savannah sparrows proper (see below) are very similar, and migrant birds can not usually be related to a breeding population with certainty. The resident or partially migratory subspecies are well distinguishable by size and, particularly between groups, coloration.


These birds forage on the ground or in low bushes; particularly in winter they are also found in grazed low-growth grassland. They mainly eat seeds, but also eat insects in the breeding season. They are typically encountered as pairs or family groups in the breeding season, and assemble in flocks for the winter migration. The flight call is a thin seep. Sensu lato, the Savannah sparrow is considered a threatened species by the IUCN. The song is mixture of chirps and trills.


Seventeen subspecies (including the large-billed sparrows) are currently recognized, though many are only described from wintering birds and much of the variation seems to be clinal. Four additional subspecies are no longer generally accepted. The complex is usually divided into several groups:


All are migratory; wintering ranges overlap widely.
P. s. labradorius, breeds in Newfoundland, Labrador, and N Quebec
P. s. oblitus, breeds in north Ontario and Manitoba
P. s. savanna (eastern Savannah sparrow), breeds in the northeast US and adjacent Canada (includes P. s. mediogriseus)
P. s. sandwichensis (Aleutian Savannah sparrow), breeds on the Aleutian Islands and west Alaskan Peninsula
P. s. anthinus, breeds in the remainder of Alaska, south and east to central British Columbia and north of the Great Plains to Manitoba
P. s. brooksi (dwarf Savannah sparrow), breeds in southernmost British Columbia to northernmost California
P. s. alaudinus, breeds in coastal northern and central California
P. s. nevadensis, breeds in the northern Great Plains and the Great Basin
P. s. brunnescens, breeds from central Mexico south to Guatemala (includes P. s. rufofuscus)
P. s. wetmorei is a doubtful subspecies that may breed in the mountains of Guatemala. It is known from only five specimens, collected June 11–17, 1897, in Huehuetenango Department.


Some post-breeding dispersal. Formerly considered a distinct species.
P. s. princeps, breeds almost exclusively on Sable Island
The Ipswich sparrow is somewhat larger and paler in color than other eastern Savannah sparrows. The breast streaks are narrower and pale brown. Some birds overwinter on the island; others migrate south along the Atlantic coast, usually departing later and returning sooner than mainland birds. Some birds interbreed with P. s. savanna in Nova Scotia. These birds frequently raise three broods in a year. This bird was first observed in winter on the dunes near the town of Ipswich, Massachusetts.


The large-billed sparrows proper are two dark, large and strong-billed subspecies:
Passerculus rostratus/sandwichensis rostratus, which breed on the Gulf Coast of northeast Baja California and northwest Sonora (some post-breeding dispersal).
P. r./s. atratus, resident on the coast of central Sonora to central Sinaloa (resident)
The Belding's (Savannah/large-billed) sparrows are all-year residents of salt marshes of the Californian Pacific coast. They are dark, rufous, and have rather long but not very hefty bills.
P. r./s. beldingi, resident on the Pacific coast from Morro Bay, California, to El Rosario, Baja California (includes P. r./s. bryanti)
P. r./s. anulus, resident around Sebastián Vizcaíno Bay, Baja California
P. r./s. guttatus, resident around San Ignacio Lagoon
P. r./s. magdalenae, resident around Magdalena Bay
The San Benito (Savannah/large-billed) sparrow is a resident bird of the Islas San Benito off Baja California; a stray bird was observed on Cedros Island on April 21, 1906.
P. r./s. sanctorum
This is a large-bodied and large-billed subspecies, similar to rostratus. They utilize different habitat and their breeding season does not seem to coincide with that of Belding's sparrows. However, their bill size is due to convergent evolution and their habitat choice simply to the lack of alternatives on their barren island home; altogether, it appears to be a fairly recent offshoot from the Belding's sparrows group. It appears as distinct evolutionarily from these as does the Ipswich sparrow from the Savannah sparrow proper group, only that there seems to have been more gene flow and/or a larger founder population in the case of the latter.


Penstemon rostriflorus is a perennial herb growing in clumps of many erect stems from a woody base. It may reach 1 m (3 ft.) in height. The leaves are linear to lance-shaped, smooth-edged, and up to 7 centimeters long.
The glandular inflorescence bears tubular red to orange-red flowers 2 to 3 centimeters long. The mouth of the flower has a hooded upper lip and a three-lobed lower lip.


Polystichum vestitum, commonly known as the prickly shield fern or pūnui (Maori), is a hardy, evergreen or semi-evergreen ground fern.


Polystichum vestitum  is a terrestrial fern with an erect and scaly rhizome, sometimes forming a short trunk and growing up to 700 mm in height.  The fronds are 220–600 mm long.  There are 3–7 (usually 5) round sori on each pinnule, halfway between the margin and midrib, with a light brown indusium. The ferns are usually bicolour with a dark brown centre that is surrounded by margins that are a pale brown. On the ferns found on the Chatham Islands and the Islands south of New Zealand (Stewart Island and the Sub Antarctic Island) the dark brown centre can be reduced making it less obvious.


The fern is native to the three principal islands of New Zealand (North Island, South Island and Stewart Island) and the Chatham Islands, as well as to New Zealand's subantarctic Snares, Antipodes, Auckland and Campbell Islands, and to Australia’s Macquarie Island.


The Prickly Shield Fern is found on the North and South Island of New Zealand, however it is not very common north of Auckland or the Coromandel Peninsula in the North Island.


On Macquarie it dominates the fernbrake communities which typically occur on the eastern, leeward side of the island on valley slopes and sheltered valley floors.  Although it can form dense stands in which few other plants will grow, more commonly it is found in conjunction with Stilbocarpa polaris, Poa foliosa and Pleurophyllum hookeri.  The fern is seriously affected by rabbit grazing.


Polystichum vestitum on the North Island is often found covering the hillsides and at higher altitudes where the climate is colder, while on the South Island it can be found in a more various range of places such as both coastal and alpine regions and at lower altitudes. Polystichum vestitum is common in the more exposed landscapes such as gulley floors, forest margins and tussock grasslands, but can also be found in abundance in the more cooler and wetter forests.


Polystichum vestitum, just like all other ferns, are non-flowering plants and cannot therefore produce seed. Instead, ferns reproduce with the spores they are carrying on the underside of their fronds. When springtime arrives, the green fern fronds uncoil and uncurl and stretches up. On the underside of the frond, tiny green bumps start to appear and are soon turning brown. These spots are called "sori" and consist of masses of spore cases, called sporangia. On Polystichum vestitum the spores are monolete and bilaterally symmetrical located which gives them unique identification. When the spores are ripe, the sporangia is torn apart and the light-weighted spores are carried away with the wind. The spore can remain fertile for many years and go on a journey for hundreds of kilometers. For the spores to be able to start growing, it must fall into wet ground. A spore that falls into dry land, will never begin to grow, since it needs to absorb water. Once the spore has settled down it can start absorbing water through osmosis, which enables swelling and bursting of the outer walls of the spore and the growing tissue can be released. The one spore cell can now divide into two and continue to develop into a small heart-shaped object called ‘prothallus’, which looks very similar to a liverwort and can therefore be mistaken for it. On the underside of the prothallus, the male reproductive organs are located, while the female ones are at the top. The male sex organs are called antheridia and the female ones are called archegonia. When the sperm and the egg has matured and there is enough moisture on the prothallus, the antheridia release the spermatozoa which is attracted by the scent coming from the ripened egg and swims towards it to fertilize it. Once fertilized, the cell can divide and the new baby fern starts to grow with help from the prothallus, which supports it with nutrients. After a while when the fern has established its own root system and can continue growing on its own, the prothallus dies. A new life cycle can now begin when the fern grows towards maturity.


The Prickly Shield Fern prefers soil that is free draining (does not get waterlogged) and is fertile enriched with humus. The fern can survive in a wide range of environmental conditions. It prefers areas with more rainfall and can survive in temperature below 0oc however in these conditions the ferns are more often found under the forest canopy where it will be a bit warmer. It prefers wetter areas and is why it can often be found in gully's however it does like the soil to be free draining rather than waterlogged.


The Prickly Shield Fern is in a large abundance and its current conservation status is not threatened and has been for the past 14 years.
The etymology of Polystichum comes from the Greek words polus and stikhos, which can be translated as "many rows" and can be referred to the parallel rows of spore cases on the underside of the fronds. Vestitum has its origins from the Latin vestire and means "clothed", which denotes from the dense cover of the scales on its leaf stalks.


Forster (1836).
NZ Flora. "Polystichum Vestitum". NZ Flora. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
Flora of Australia Online.
Firth, S; Firth, M; Firth, E (1986). Ferns of New Zealand. Auckland: A Shoal Bay Press book. p. 68.
Macquarie Island Flora (2010).
Bryant & Shaw (2007).
Chinnock, R.J (1987). Common Ferns and Fern Allies in New Zealand. Auckland: Reed Methuen Publishers LTD. p. 27.
de Lange, P.J. "Polystichum Vestitum". New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
Frankel, E (1981). Ferns - a natural history. Vermont: The Stephen Greene Press. pp. 31–40.
Large, M.F; Braggins, J.E (1991). Spore atlas of New Zealand ferns & fern allies. Wellington: SIR Publishing. p. 119.
Grounds, R (1974). Ferns. London: Pelham books LTD. pp. 24–28.
Goudey, C.J (1988). A Handbook of Ferns for Australia and New Zealand. Victoria: Lothian Publishing Company Pty Ltd. pp. 6–7.
Crowe, A (2009). Which Native Fern?. Hong Kong: Bookbuilders. p. 46.


Bryant, S. L. & Shaw. J.D. (2007). Threatened species assessment on Macquarie Island, Voyage 5, April 2007 (PDF). Report to Biodiversity Conservation Branch, DPIW. Hobart: Department of Primary Industries and Water, Tasmania.
Presl, Carl (1836). Tentamen Pteridographiae. Vol. 1. p. 83.
"Coastal Slopes vegetation on Macquarie Island". Macquarie Island Flora. Australian Antarctic Division. 2010-08-12. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
"Polystichum vestitum (G.Forst.) C.Presl". Flora of Australia Online. Australian Biological Resources Study. 1993. Retrieved 2011-01-18.


In 1792, the English explorer George Vancouver noted on his expedition through the Santa Clara Valley, after seeing an expanse of valley oaks:
For about twenty miles it could only be compared to a park which had originally been closely planted with the true old English oak; the underwood, that had probably attended its early growth, had the appearance of having been cleared away and left the stately lords of the forest in complete possession of the soil which was covered with luxuriant foliage.
In the year 1861, William Henry Brewer, the chief botanist for the first California Geological Survey wrote of the valley oaks that he saw in Monterey County:
First I passed through a wild canyon, then over hills covered with oats, with here and there trees—oaks and pines. Some of these oaks were noble ones indeed. How I wish one stood in our yard at home....I measured one [valley oak] with wide spreading and cragged branches, that was 26.5 feet in circumference. Another had a diameter of over six feet, and the branches spread over 75 feet each way. I lay beneath its shade a little while before going on.
The Hooker Oak of Chico, California, was once considered the largest-known valley oak. When it fell on May 1, 1977, it was nearly 30 m (100 ft) and 8.8 m (29 ft) in circumference at 2.4 m (8 ft) from the ground.


The great-tailed grackle or Mexican grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus) is a medium-sized, highly social passerine bird native to North and South America. A member of the family Icteridae, it is one of 10 extant species of grackle and is closely related to the boat-tailed grackle and the extinct slender-billed grackle. In the southern United States, it is sometimes simply referred to as "blackbird" or (erroneously) "crow" due to its glossy black plumage, and similarly it is often called cuervo ("raven") in some parts of Mexico, although it is not a member of the crow genus Corvus, nor even of the family Corvidae.


Great-tailed grackles are medium-sized birds (larger than starlings and smaller than crows; 38 cm (15 in)-46 cm (18 in)) with males weighing 203 g (7.2 oz)-265 g (9.3 oz) and females between 115 g (4.1 oz)-142 g (5.0 oz), and both sexes have long tails. Wingspan ranges from 18.9-22.8 in (48-58 cm). Males are iridescent black with a purple-blue sheen on the feathers of the head and upper body, while females are brown with darker wings and tail. Adults of both sexes have bright yellow eyes, while juveniles of both sexes have brown eyes and brown plumage like females (except for streaks on the breast). Great-tailed grackles, particularly the adult males, have a keel-shaped tail that they can fold vertically by aligning the two halves.
The great-tailed grackle and boat-tailed grackle were considered the same species until genetic analyses distinguished them as two separate species.


The great-tailed grackle mating season usually begins in early or mid-April. The nest is typically built near the top of a large or medium-sized tree, using materials such as woven grass and twigs, as well as some man-made materials. Females usually lay around 4 to 7 eggs. Incubation is usually around 14 to 13 days and their young usually leave the nest 12 to 17 days after hatching; the parents continue to feed their young several weeks after they have left the nest until they reach maturity. Eggs are bright blue to pale bluish gray in color, marked with swirls and splotches that range from dark brown to black.


Great-tailed grackles originated from the tropical lowlands of Central and South America, but historical evidence from Bernardino de Sahagún shows that the Aztecs, during the time of the emperor Ahuitzotl, introduced the great-tailed grackle from their homeland in the Mexican Gulf Coast to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in the highland Valley of Mexico, most likely to use their iridescent feathers for decoration. In more recent times, great-tailed grackles expanded their breeding range by over 5,500% by moving north into North America between 1880 and 2000, following urban and agricultural corridors. Their current range stretches from northwestern Venezuela and western Colombia and Ecuador in the south to Minnesota in the north, to Oregon, Idaho, and California in the west, to Florida in the east, with vagrants occurring as far north as southern Canada. Their habitat for foraging is on the ground in clear areas such as pastures, wetlands and mangroves, and chaparral. The grackles' range has expanded with agricultural and urban settings.


Great-tailed grackles are noted for their diverse foraging habits. They extract larvae and insects from grassy areas; eat lizards, nestlings, and eggs; forage in freshly plowed land; remove parasites from cattle, and eat fruits (e.g., bananas, berries) and grains (e.g., maize, corn on the cob by opening the husks). They turn over objects to search for food underneath, including crustaceans, insects, and worms, they hunt tadpoles and fish by wading into shallow water, and although they do not swim, they catch fish by flying close to the water's surface, and are even reported to dive a few inches into the water to retrieve a fish. They are also known to pick dead insects off the license plates of parked cars, and kill barn swallows while flying.


Great-tailed grackles communally roost in trees or the reeds of wetlands at night and, during the breeding season, they nest in territories using three different mating strategies: 1) territorial males defend their territory on which many females place their nests and raise young, 2) residential males live in the larger colony but do not defend a territory or have mates, and 3) transient males stay for a few days before leaving the colony to likely move on to another colony. Resident and transient males sire a small number of offspring through extra-pair copulations with females on territories. Territorial males are heavier and have longer tails than non-territorial males, and both of these characteristics are associated with having more offspring.
Great-tailed grackles can solve The Crow and the Pitcher puzzle - a problem involving a tube that is partially filled with water and a floating, out-of-reach piece of food. The problem is solved by dropping objects into the water to raise the level and bring the food within reach. They are also behaviorally flexible, changing their preferences quickly in response to changes in cognitive tasks.


In Mexico, where it is known as the chanate or zanate, there is a legend that it has seven songs. "In the creation, the Zanate having no voice stole its seven distinct songs from the wise and knowing sea turtle. You can now hear the Zanate's vocals as the Seven Passions (Love, Hate, Fear, Courage, Joy, Sadness, and Anger) of life." Mexican artisans have created icons in clay, sometimes as whistles that portray the sea turtle with the zanate perched on its back.
In Colombia, the species is called the maria mulata, and is the official bird of Cartagena, Colombia.The Cartagena artist Enrique Grau had an affinity for these birds and, because of this inspiration, many Colombian monuments and artistic works were created in honor of the bird's intelligence, adaptability, cheerfulness, sociability, collaborative tendencies, diligence, craftiness, and ability to take advantage of adversity.
In Austin, Texas, it is commonly found congregating near the city's numerous food trucks, and grocery store parking lots. The great-tailed grackle has become an icon in the city, and especially on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, to the extent that local radio station KUT offers grackle-themed socks as a popular gift for its supporters.


Rhamnus crocea, the spiny redberry, is a species of plant in the family Rhamnaceae. There are two subspecies: Rhamnus crocea subsp. crocea (redberry buckthorn) and Rhamnus crocea subsp. pilosa (hollyleaf buckthorn). It is native to California, Arizona, and Baja California.


This evergreen shrub, Rhamnus crocea, is typically one to two meters in height. R. crocea typically occurs in chaparral, with common flora associates being toyon and hollyleaf cherry.


Rhamnus crocea covers two major mountain foothills. In California, it surrounds the entire San Joaquin Valley, the pacific coast ranges and the western foothills of the Sierra Nevadas. In Arizona, it is found in the entire length of the Mogollon Rim to the western region of the White Mountains.


The fruit of Rhamnus crocea was used as food by Native Americans in the Western United States. When eaten in large quantities, the berry is reported to impart a red tint to the entire body of the consumer.


The blue-eyed darner occurs in western North America and in Central America as far south as Panama, at both low and moderate altitudes. It occurs near a variety of water bodies, lakes, ponds, slow-moving streams, canals and marshy areas, especially in open rather than wooded areas. When not breeding, it is more likely than most dragonflies to be seen far away from water, in city yards, parking lots and other urban locations. It is on the wing from spring to late in the year and may be migratory in California, as a large number of them seem to appear in the fall.


Rhyothemis phyllis, known as the yellow-striped flutterer or yellow-barred flutterer, is a species of dragonfly of the family Libellulidae,
widespread in South-east Asia, including Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and northern Australia.
Rhyothemis phyllis is a small to medium-sized dragonfly, commonly found at open ponds or marshes, and swamp forests. Its flight is usually fluttering.
There are two known sub-species in Australia, Rhyothemis phyllis chloe Kirby, 1894 and Rhyothemis phyllis beatricis Lieftinck, 1942.


Rubus odoratus, the purple-flowered raspberry, flowering raspberry, or Virginia raspberry, is a species of Rubus, native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to Ontario and Wisconsin, and south along the Appalachian Mountains as far as Georgia and Alabama.
Rubus odoratus is a shrub growing to 3 meters (10 feet) tall, with perennial, not biennial, stems (unlike many other species in the genus). Also, unlike most other related species this plant does not have thorns.  The leaves are palmately lobed with five (rarely three or seven) lobes, up to 25 cm (10 inches) long and broad, superficially resembling maple leaves. The flowers are 3–5 cm (1.2–2 inches) in diameter, with five magenta or occasionally white petals; they are produced from early spring to early fall. The red edible fruit matures in late summer to early autumn, and resembles a large, flat raspberry with many drupelets, and is rather fuzzy to the touch and tongue.


Rubus odoratus is widely grown as an ornamental plant for its conspicuous flowers with a long flowering period. This plant likes partial shade, rich, slightly acid soil and moderate water.  It is locally naturalized in parts of Washington state and also in Europe, notably south eastern England.


Schefflera arboricola (Chinese: 鹅掌藤; pinyin: ézhǎng téng; lit. 'goose-sole vine') is a flowering plant in the family Araliaceae, native to Taiwan and Hainan Province, China. Its common name is dwarf umbrella tree, as it resembles a smaller version of the umbrella tree, Schefflera actinophylla. Current taxonomy places both species in the genus Heptapleurum.


It is an evergreen shrub growing to 8–9 m tall, free-standing, or clinging to the trunks of other trees as an epiphyte. The leaves are palmately compound, with 7–9 leaflets, the leaflets 9–20 cm long and 4–10 cm broad (though often smaller in cultivation) with a wedge-shaped base, entire margin, and an obtuse or acute apex, sometimes emarginate. The leaves are leathery in texture, shiny green, glabrous on the upper surface and somewhat lighter and matte on the underside. Young plants have smaller leaves and fewer leaflets. Each leaflet has a central rib that divides it into two halves, with between four and six ribs clearly visible up to the third order. The stipules merge with the petiole, the length of which is 12-15 cm.


Appearing from midsummer to early autumn, the flowers are produced in a 20 cm panicle of small umbels, each umbel 7–10 mm in diameter with 5–10 flowers. The flowers are hermaphroditic, having a colour ranging from yellow to green and a double perianth radial symmetry. They are composed of an entire annular calyx, five almost fully developed sepals, a corolla with five petals 2.5 mm long, with five stamens and five or six carpels that enclose the ovary. The style is not recognizable and the stigma is established.


The fruits have an almost spherical oval drupe, with a diameter of about 5 mm. The endocarp contains five seeds. The fruits ripen from late summer to early winter.  They begin as orange glandular points.  At maturity, they become red-violet. The fruits are inedible to humans.


This species is indigenous to the northern tropical regions of Australia, Papua New Guinea and Java. It has spread into areas of Queensland south of its natural range, and has been recorded to outcompete native species in this area.


Schefflera arboricola is commonly grown as a houseplant, popular for its tolerance of neglect and poor growing conditions. It is also grown as a landscape (garden) plant in milder climates where frosts are not severe. Numerous cultivars have been selected for variations in leaf colour and pattern, often variegated with creamy-white to yellow edges or centres, and dwarf forms. The cultivar 'Gold Capella' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Schefflera poisoning is due to the species containing "sharp" calcium oxalate crystals that are insoluble and damage the cells and tissues of the animals ingesting them. For their own safety, children and household pets should be kept away from consuming this plant.  In animals, the resulting damage (swelling) of exposed tissues and digestive tract may be fatal to the animal. Signs of poisoning in pets can include: oral irritation, intense burning and irritation of the mouth, lips, tongue, excessive drooling, vomiting, and difficulty in swallowing.


The plant prefers higher light if possible, but can adapt to a wide variety of light levels. As a tropical plant it likes moisture (and humidity), but avoid letting the plant sit in water after you water it.  It likes to be moist but not wet so just let the soil dry out between waterings.


Under the right conditions, this plant will produce aerial roots that, when they reach the ground, will convert to fully functional roots. They give the plant an unusual and interesting appearance. Three conditions must be maintained for the plant to produce them: a high growth rate, insufficient trunk roots (the plant is root bound or these roots are pruned) and constant, very high humidity.


Senecio ampullaceus,  also known as Texas ragwort, Texas squaw-weed, Texas groundsel,
and Texas butterweed,
is a species of Senecio in the family Asteraceae, receiving its Latin name ampullaceus from its flask shaped flower-head.
It is recommended for landscape use in its native Texas.


The seedlings of S. ampullaceus often have a purplish color on the undersides of their leaves in the winter, especially along their midrib.  Flowering in early–mid spring, Texas ragwort is a tall annual,
growing to from 20 centimeters (7.9 in) to 80 centimeters (31 in) tall and similar to S. quaylei.
Stems and leaves:
The leaves with broadly winged leaf stalks, grow from single stems; the nodes between leaves getting shorter and shorter higher on the stem.  Ovate leaves with pointed tips 3 centimeters (1.2 in) to 10 centimeters (3.9 in) long by 1.5 centimeters (0.59 in) to 4 centimeters (1.6 in) wide with tapered bases.  Leaves at the lower portion of the plant have more teeth on their edges than the leaves at the upper portion of the mature plant.
Stems and leaves are covered loosely and unevenly with a mat of fine hairs, occasionally having no hairs.
Flowers:
Flowering stalks have 10 to 30 flower heads which as a group make a flat top to the whole plant.  Each flower head is surrounded by 2 to 8 bractlets or mini-leaves, each 1 millimeter (0.039 in) to more than 2 millimeters (0.079 in).  Approximately 13 green to grayish bracts, 7 millimeters (0.28 in) to 10 millimeters (0.39 in) long surrounding 8 ray florets and an 8 millimeters (0.31 in) to 10 millimeters (0.39 in) corolla.
Fruits:
One seeded fruits with rigid pappus.
Roots:
Roots relatively thin and branching.


S. ampullaceus prefers altitudes of 100 meters (330 ft) to 800 meters (2,600 ft) in open sandy or disturbed sites.
Native:
Nearctic:
North-central United States: Missouri
Southeastern United States: Arkansas
South-central United States: Texas
or
Southeastern United States: Arkansas
South central United States: Texas
Current:
Nearctic:
North-central United States: Missouri, Oklahoma
Southeastern United States: Arkansas
South-central United States: Texas


Spermacoce verticillata, the shrubby false buttonweed, is a species of plant in the family Rubiaceae.


They are incessant nest builders that may raise up to four broods a year, given favourable circumstances. The nest is a large domed grass structure in a tree, into which 4 to 8 small, white eggs are laid. Incubation takes 12 days, and chicks fledge after three weeks, and are independent in another three weeks. The chicks are reared on soft green seeds and insects.


Symphoricarpos albus is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family known by the common name common snowberry. Native to North America, it is browsed by some animals and planted for ornamental and ecological purposes, but is poisonous to humans.


S. albus is an erect, deciduous shrub, producing a stiff, branching main stem and often several smaller shoots from a rhizome. It can spread and colonize an area to form a dense thicket. It reaches 1–2 metres (3+1⁄2–6+1⁄2 feet) in maximum height. The leaves are oppositely arranged on the spreading branches. They are generally oval, differing in size and shape, and up to 5 centimetres (2 inches) long, or slightly larger on the shoots. The inflorescence is a raceme of up to 16 flowers. Each flower has a small, five-toothed calyx of sepals. The bell-shaped, rounded corolla is about 0.5 cm (1⁄4 in) long and bright pink in color. It has pointed lobes at the mouth and the inside is filled with white hairs. The fruit is a fleshy white berry-like drupe about 1 cm wide which contains two seeds. The plant sometimes reproduces via seed but it is primarily vegetative, reproducing by sprouting from its spreading rhizome. Birds disperse the seeds after they eat the fruit.


There are two varieties:
S. albus var. albus, native to eastern North America
S. albus var. laevigatus, native to the Pacific coast. It is a larger shrub, up to 2 m (6+1⁄2 ft) tall, with slightly larger fruit. Some botanists treat it as a distinct species, Symphoricarpos rivularis.


S. albus occurs across much of Canada and the northern and western United States.
It grows in shady and moist mountain and forest habitat, in woodlands and on floodplains and riverbanks. It can grow in a wide variety of habitat types. It is naturalized in parts of Britain, where it has been planted as an ornamental and cover for game animals.


This shrub is an important food source for a number of animals, including bighorn sheep, white-tailed deer, and grizzly bears. Livestock such as cattle and sheep readily browse it. Many birds and small mammals use it for food and cover. Pocket gophers dig burrows underneath it during the winter.


The fruit and shrub are poisonous to humans, causing vomiting.


Native Americans used the plant as medicine, soap, sometimes for food, and the wood was good for arrow shafts. In Russia, the berries are crushed in the hands and rubbed about for a soothing folk-remedy hand lotion.
This shrub is used for erosion control in riparian areas, and it is planted in ecological restoration projects on disturbed sites such as abandoned mines. Its white fruits and blue-green foliage made it popular as an ornamental plant planted around old houses of the 1890s through the 1920s like with the Vanhoutte Spirea or Bridalwreath. It is still sold by some large diverse conventional nurseries and native plant nurseries, and occasionally found in modern landscapes. It grows in full sun to full light shade and a well-drained soil that is slightly acid to well alkaline, pH range of about 6.0 to 8.5. it is easy to transplant with its fibrous, shallow root system. It fares well in U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zones of 2 to 7.


Corvus paradisi was the scientific name proposed by Linnaeus in 1758.
Paradise-flycatchers used to be classified with the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, but are now placed in the family Monarchidae together with monarch flycatchers.
Until 2015, the Indian paradise flycatcher, Blyth's paradise flycatcher, and the Amur paradise flycatcher were all considered conspecific, and together called Asian paradise flycatcher.


Typha domingensis, known commonly as southern cattail or cumbungi, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Typha.


It is found throughout temperate and tropical regions worldwide. It is sometimes found as a subdominant associate in mangrove ecosystems such as the Petenes mangroves ecoregion of Yucatán.


In the Mesopotamian Marshes of southern Iraq, Khirret is a dessert made from the pollen of this plant. In Turkish folk medicine the female inflorescences of this plant and other Typha are used externally to treat wounds such as burns. Extracts of T. domingensis have been demonstrated to have wound healing properties in rat models.
Water extracts of the fruit, female flower and male flower of Typha domingensis exhibit iron chelating activity as well as superoxide and nitric oxide scavenging activities. By contrast, only the fruit and female flower extracts were found to have alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity. A partially purified, proanthocyanidin-rich butanol fraction of the fruit was shown to be a competitive inhibitor of alpha-glucosidase, which also had concurrent antioxidant activity.
Recently it was found that Typha domingensis is very effective at reducing bacterial contamination of water for agricultural use. This plant helps to reduce, up to 98 percent, pollution by enterobacteria (usually found in the intestines of mammals) involved in the development of disease.


Zizia aptera is a flowering plant native to North America. Its common names include meadow zizia, golden alexanders, heart leaved golden alexanders, and prairie golden alexanders.


The leaves are 2.5–10 centimetres (1–4 inches) long, ovate and indented at the base, with jagged edges; the upper leaves are divided into three segments. Compound umbels of yellow flowers bloom atop the stems from May to July. The fruits are elliptical.


Zizia aptera can be found from western Canada south to eastern Washington state, northwestern Oregon, and northeastern Nevada, extending east to Colorado. It inhabits wet areas.


Zizia aptera is listed as endangered in Connecticut, as rare in Indiana, as threatened in Michigan, and as "historical" (extirpated) in Rhode Island.


The Abbey of St. Märgen (German: Kloster St. Märgen) is a former Augustinian canons monastery in St. Märgen in the Black Forest in Germany, which was founded around 1118 under the name Cella Sanctae Mariae ("Chapel of St. Mary"). The German form of the name, Maria-Zell, changed over the centuries through Marienzell, Sante Merien and St. Mergen to the present name of the abbey and village, St. Märgen. The Baroque abbey church of St. Mary of the Assumption (Mariä Himmelfahrt) is today the Roman Catholic parish church of St. Märgen and one of the most important Marian pilgrimage churches in the Archdiocese of Freiburg.
The history of the abbey has been researched in depth, especially by church historian Wolfgang Müller (1905–1983), the priest and art historian Manfred Hermann, the teacher and historian, Elisabeth Irtenkauf (born 1931 in Rottweil) and St. Märgen's sexton and local historian, Klaus Hog (born 1966 in Freiburg im Breisgau).
The abbey was destroyed five times by fire, the first time in 1284 or shortly before and the last time in 1907. It was rebuilt or restored five times.
In art history it has a special significance because one of the most important rococo woodcarvers in southern Germany, Matthias Faller, lived and worked here for a while.


This list is extracted from the work by Wolfgang Müller (1969) and also contained in Irtenkauf and Hog (2010). It is divided into superiors before and after the union of 1370.


Hermann (1300, 1302)
Werner (1329)
Heinrich Wibeler (1306, 1311)
Johannes (1314, 1315)
Konrad (1316, 1324)
Werner (1329)
Heinrich Melvinger (1335, 1357)
Nikolaus of Hochdorf (Freiburg im Breisgau) (1358–1370)
Bertold Schultheiß of Hüfingen 1370


Josef Bader: Die Schicksale der ehemaligen Abtei S. Märgen im breisgauischen Schwarzwalde. in: Freiburger Diözesan-Archiv, Vol. 2, Freiburg im Breisgau, 1866, pp. 211–278. (Digitalisat)
Manfred Hermann: St. Märgen im Schwarzwald und seine Wallfahrtsgeschichte. Die Gnadenmutter der einstigen Klosterkirche und die Wallfahrt zum hl. Judas Thaddäus auf dem Ohmen. Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg im Allgäu, 2002.
Manfred Hermann: Katholische Pfarr- und Wallfahrtskirche Mariä Himmelfahrt St. Märgen im Schwarzwald. Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg im Allgäu, 2003, ISBN 3-89870-135-2.
Klaus Hog: Im Gedenken an die Säkularisation des Klosters Mariazell auf dem Schwarzwald. 1806–2006. St. Märgen, 2005.
Elisabeth Irtenkauf: Die Tagebücher des Abtes bzw. Propstes Andreas Dilger von St. Märgen und Allerheiligen/Freiburg (reg. 1713–1736). In: Freiburger Diözesan-Archiv, Vol. 119 (1999), pp. 5–328 (digitalised)
Elisabeth Irtenkauf, Wolfgang Irtenkauf: Die Tagebücher des Abtes bzw. Propstes Peter Glunk von St. Märgen auf dem Schwarzwald (reg. 1736–1766). In: Freiburger Diözesan-Archiv, Vol. 115 (1995), pp. 35–278 (digitalised)
Elisabeth Irtenkauf, Klaus Hog: Die Baugeschichte des Klosters St. Märgen auf dem Schwarzwald eingebettet in die Klostergeschichte (ca. 1115–1860). Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg im Allgäu, 2010, ISBN 978-3-89870-274-4.
Franz Kern: Das Tagebuch des vorletzten Abtes von St. Märgen im Schwarzwald, Michael Fritz. In: Freiburger Diözesan-Archiv, Vol. 89 (1969), pp. 141–309 (digitalised)
Bernhard Mangei: Herrschaftsbildung von Königtum, Kirche und Adel zwischen Oberrhein und Schwarzwald. Dissertation Freiburg 2003 (full text)
Wolfgang Müller: Studien zur Geschichte der Klöster St. Märgen und Allerheiligen, Freiburg i. Br. In: Freiburger Diözesan-Archiv, Vol. 89 (1969), pp. 5–129 (digitalised)
Johannes Weber: Aus der Geschichte der katholischen Pfarrgemeinde St. Märgen. 2. Auflage. Katholische Kirchengemeinde St. Märgen, 1985.


Abingdon Square Conservancy is a non-profit public charity exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.  The Conservancy's mission is to enhance and maintain the Square as a scenic and historic landmark.  The Conservancy is solely dependent on private donations for its operations and receives no public funding.
The Conservancy employs a horticulturalist to design and maintain plantings, provide gardening services, liaise with the City, and supervise maintenance in the park.  A groundskeeper is employed to keep the Square clean.  The Square is maintained in cooperation with the New York City Parks and Recreation Department, which collects trash and locks and unlocks the gates.
Annual Conservancy events include a spring tulip display, Tulip Celebration (a member appreciation cocktail party), a carved Pumpkin Patch on Halloween night and a winter holiday decoration and light display.


The M11 and M14A bus lines terminate at Abingdon Square.


The earliest mention of Ammerzoden, or Ambersoi as it was once known, was in the 11th century. Given that the village was built on a river with very arable lands, it was most likely just a small farming community with little importance until the creation of the castle in the 14th century. Today, the village is home to approximately 4000 people, and since 1999 has been part of the municipality of Maasdriel. Prior to 1999, Ammerzoden was its own municipality.


The Argens ([aʁʒɑ̃(s)]; Occitan: Argens) is a 116 km long river of the French Riviera. Its 2,734 km² (1,056 sq mi) drainage basin is fully included in the Var department.
The river goes through Vidauban, Le Muy, Roquebrune-sur-Argens, Fréjus, then it flows into the Mediterranean Sea, near Fréjus.


The river is attested as ad flumen Argenteum in the 1st century BC, Argenteus in the 1st century AD, and A̓rgentíou (Ἀργεντίου) in the 2nd century. It derives from the Latin or Celtic word for 'silver'.


The Brodhead-Bell-Morton Mansion, also known as the Levi P. Morton House is a historic Beaux-Arts  home, located at 1500 Rhode Island Avenue, Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the Logan Circle neighborhood.


It was built in 1879, to the designs of architect John Fraser, and comprehensively remodeled in 1912 by architect John Russell Pope.
The Beaux-Arts style building originally served as the private residence of John. T. Brodhead, and Jessie Willis Brodhead.
Between 1939 and 2016, the building served as offices for the National Paint, Varnish, and Lacquer Association (now known as the American Coatings Association).
Former occupants include Alexander Graham Bell and his wife Mabel Gardiner Hubbard, U.S. Vice President Levi P. Morton, the Embassy of Russia, and U.S. Secretary of State Elihu Root.
The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites.
In February 2016 the Mansion was purchased from American Coatings Association by Hungary to move the Embassy of Hungary there later in the year.


WikiWeb_Casa del Lago Juan Jose Arreola_2

The construction of the building began in 1906, but it was inaugurated as the headquarters of the first Automobile Club in Mexico until April 30, 1908. In 1929, it was home to the Biological Studies Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Development (la Dirección de Estudios Biológicos de la Secretaría de Agricultura y Fomento). University autonomy definitely influenced the fate of Casa del Lago joining it to the National University and housing the new Institute for Biology, until 1959 when it moved to the new facilities created in Ciudad Universitaria (University City). On 10 May 1959 the enclosure opened its doors as a center for the promotion and dissemination of culture, but the official opening took place on September 15 of the same year.
By agreement of the rector Juan Ramón de la Fuente 31 January 2002 it was given the name of its founding director: Juan José Arreola, who turned it into the model of the national cultural centre with deep roots and prestige in Latin America, and where, over the past 50 years, representatives of the artistic vanguard of the country have gathered.
Since 1959, the University has undertaken, with extraordinary energy, the avant-garde, the experimentation and the renewal of many of the anachronistic criteria that had been adapted to culture. A new generation began at Casa del Lago when notorious figures such as José Luis Ibáñez, Leonora Carrington, Juan Soriano, Octavio Paz and even Juan José Arreola, who along with Miguel Gonzalez Avelar, to name a few, began to promote Poetry Out Loud, Chess Tournaments and the Philatelic Club.
Tomás Segovia, successor of Arreola, poet and essayist, created an extraordinary group of young writers, among whom Juan García Ponce, short story writer, novelist and playwright, stands out; thanks to his essays and notes about visual arts, he examined and promoted artists like: Vicente Rojo, Lilia Carrillo, José Luis Cuevas, Fernando García Ponce, Alberto Gironella and Manuel Felguerez; giving also a huge boost to the music of young artists through the program Nueva Música en México (New Music in Mexico), which got together people like Joaquín Gutiérrez Heras, Rocío Sanz and other leading artists and composers.
Other figures that embodied the spirit of Casa del Lago were: Juan Vicente Melo and Juan José Gurrola. Melo dermatologist and music critic replace Segovia and develop a remarkable task: Conference Cycles of literary authors and composers, small exhibitions of the mentioned artists and plays that renewed the scenic work and vanguard music concerts. Juan José Gurrola bright and bold, who began as an actor in Poetry Out Loud, always proposed avant-garde attitudes in his staging. It was an extraordinary period for Casa del Lago, awarded by the Association of Theatre and Music Critics for giving room to the artistic compositions of the twentieth century, positioning itself as one of the most renowned cultural centers in the capital of the country.
In 1982 the group called Los Estridentistas attracted public attention due to the confusion created by an exhibition about this literary group of the 20s. The exhibition at the time was the appropriate framework to exhibit the work of 80 sculptors as part of the meeting of sculptors, where they discussed issues related to sculpture and other disciplines.
Casa del Lago also gave shelter to the artists called "the rupture generation" when in 1989 they made an important exhibition in which works that once were rejected by commercial galleries were included. The Documentary Cinema Club gained special significance as a unique space of its kind in the capital.
The evening walks along the Bosque de Chapultepec (Woods of Chapultepec), with the collaboration of the Directorate of the Forest, since 1999 to date, has been a project that the university community and the population have received with great interest, since it has contributed to the rescue of the historical and artistic values of the largest urban park in Latin America.
Promotion of culture by nature, Casa del Lago has always been the ideal platform for experimentation in arts and to encourage the new generation of creators.


WikiWeb_Casa del Lago Juan Jose Arreola_3

It is located in the heart of the Woods of Chapultepec, where significant work in the diffusion of culture has been done in the last fifty years. It is an emblematic space of Mexico City, where the representatives of the country's cultural vanguard have gathered and which endorses the mission of promoting culture as essential in the integral formation of young university students and the large audience who visit it.
It has developed an intense program of activities including expositions, rock concerts and alternative music, conferences, courses and workshops, Festival of Poetry Out Loud and everything related to emerging and experimental arts.


The Citadelle of Quebec (French: Citadelle de Québec), also known as La Citadelle, is an active military installation and the secondary official residence of both the Canadian monarch and the governor general of Canada. It is located atop Cap Diamant, adjoining the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City, Quebec. The citadel contains the oldest military building in Canada, and forms part of the fortifications of Quebec City, which is one of only two cities in North America still surrounded by fortifications, the other being Campeche, Mexico.
The strategic importance of Cap Diamant was recognized by the French as early as 1608. Several defensive fortifications were built on the site first by the French, and then by the British after their conquest of New France. The modern citadel was built from 1820 to 1850, in effort to secure Quebec City against a potential American attack. The British used the citadel until 1871, when they formally handed the property over to the Canadian government. Following the handover, the citadel was used as a military installation by the Canadian Armed Forces, and as a royal and viceregal residence.
The Citadelle is a National Historic Site of Canada and forms part of the Fortifications of Québec National Historic Site of Canada. The fortress is located within the Historic District of Old Québec, which was designated a World Heritage Site in 1985. The site receives some 200,000 visitors annually.


The first British lieutenant governor of Quebec, General James Murray, saw the weakness of Quebec City's defences (indeed, Murray's post existed precisely because the British had conquered Quebec City four years before Murray's appointment as governor in 1763). He urged the construction of a citadel, but the imperial government at Westminster, like the French before, deemed a large fort to be of little value; a smaller, wooden citadel was built.
During the American Revolutionary War, after seizing Montreal in the autumn of 1775, American rebels, led by General Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold, attempted to take Quebec on 31 December. There, Montgomery was killed and Arnold wounded and forced to retreat. The Americans attempted to keep Quebec under siege, but withdrew after the arrival of British reinforcements in the spring of 1776.


The fort is an uneven star shaped citadel and comprises four bastions and three straight curtain walls, all constructed with locally quarried sandstone. Within its walls are 24 buildings constructed mostly of grey cut stone.


Building 1, the Former Hospital Administration Building, is the principal structure in Mann's Bastion. It is a two-story, rectangular, symmetrical stone structure with a hipped-roof pierced by two brick chimneys. The west-facing facade features restrained decorative detailing of pilasters supporting a flat cornice along the length of the five-bay façade. Loopholes are visible on the second floor on both sides of the building. The rear elevation facing into the bastion is functional and plain in appearance.
Building 2, also known as the Men's Barracks, was formerly the armory and powder magazine. It faces the parade ground near the throat of the Prince of Wales Bastion. It is a long, rectangular, two story masonry building built of smooth limestone with a hipped roof clad in sheet copper. The main façade of the building has little ornamentation and is regulated and orderly, with small, regularly placed, multi-paned windows.
Building 5, the Former Powder Magazine, is a low, rectangular stone structure with a gabled roof and a surrounding protective blast wall. Two doors at ground level and three openings at gable level pierce the symmetrical façade. Along the plain side elevations are three half-barrel-vaulted passages, or traverses, two on the west and one on the east.
Building 7, also known as the Memorial Building, forms part of a complex of three structures, which includes a chapel and a workshop, situated near the parade ground. They are attached by a 19th-century protective wall. It is a small, rectangular, one-story masonry edifice with a pyramidal stone roof and a row of windows on all four elevations. Its principal façade is distinguished by a modern porchway. Governor General Georges Vanier and his wife Pauline Vanier are interred here at the commemorative chapel.
Located within the King's Bastion and adjacent to the governor general's residence, Building 10 is the former military prison and presently the museum annex. Constructed in 1842, it is a two-story rectangular stone structure with a hipped roof pierced by three brick chimneys. The west elevation facing the citadel is restrained but decorated by pilasters. Loopholes pierce the walls on both stories. There are several irregularly placed windows with iron bars.
Building 14, the former ordnance store, stands along the parade ground. The long, rectangular two story structure is constructed of stone with a hipped roof clad in copper sheet. The symmetrical façade features small, evenly spaced windows.
Building 16 is the museum office and former cooperage.
Building 17, also known as the Men's Barracks, stands on the south side of the parade ground near the throat of the Dalhousie Bastion. Two stories high for most of its length, the rectangular building has exterior walls of stone and features symmetrical elevations, a hipped, copper clad roof, and a projecting course of stone above the ground floor.
Clearly seen from the river and aligned on the meridian for observation purposes, Building 20, also known as the Ball House, is the former observatory and time ball tower. It is a compact, tall, two story stone structure of several architectural shapes. The rectangular section with a gabled roof was the former observatory and the square section formerly housed the time ball installation topped with an antenna. The building is entered from the ground floor of its small porch, which joins the two buildings.
Building 32, formerly the Defensive Guard House, is located at the eastern end of the north main ditch below the King's Bastion. It is a small, squat, one story masonry edifice with a gable roof supported by wood rafters. A chimney rises through the roof, which is covered in painted tin sheeting.
The former caponier, Building 46, is located at the south end of the ditch separating the counterscarp from the Men's Barracks. Its two walls and small turret in the middle of its gabled roof are the only visible elements of this small stone building. It is integrated with the ramparts and pierced with loopholes.


Following a storm in the Moray Firth in November 1826 when 16 vessels were sunk, applications were made for lighthouses at Tarbat Ness, on the opposite coast, and at Covesea Skerries. The Commissioners of Northern Light Houses (the precursor of the NLB) and Trinity House felt that a lighthouse at Covesea was unnecessary but this was against public opinion.  Many letters and petitions were delivered to them.  Eventually, the engineer and a committee of the Board surveyed the coastline and the Elder Brethren were asked to look for the best location. They recommended a lighthouse on the Craighead with a beacon on Halliman's Skerries, which the Commissioners agreed to. A grid iron tower was erected on the Halliman's Skerries in 1845, and in 1846, the Covesea Skerries Lighthouse was completed at a cost of £11,514 (equivalent to £1,139,938 as of 2020).
The surrounding walls, because of their height, caused vortices in the yard area in strong winds.  This interfered with lightkeepers lookout so the walls were lowered in 1907.
In 1984, the lighthouse was automated being remotely monitored and controlled at the Northern Lighthouse Board's offices in Edinburgh, but originally, the lens was rotated by a clockwork mechanism with gradually descending weights providing the energy. The original lens is on display at the Lossiemouth Fisheries and Community Museum.
The light was extinguished on 2 March 2012 in effect replaced "by a North Cardinal navigational lit buoy fitted with X Band Radar Beacon at the north eastern extremity of the Halliman Skerries on 21 February 2012."


The lighthouse was designed and built by Alan Stevenson, a member of the Stevenson lighthouse engineering dynasty and uncle of the novelist Robert Louis Stevenson.


Following the discontinuation of the light on 2 March 2012 the Board no longer required the site at Covesea and plans were put in place to sell the Category A Listed property. In July 2012 the Northern Lighthouse Board received notification from The Scottish Government that the Covesea Lighthouse Community Company Limited had registered an interest in the Covesea Skerries property under the terms contained in Part 2 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.  The Covesea Lighthouse Community Company was formed by the local business association in Lossiemouth to develop the lighthouse site for tourism.
The Covesea Lighthouse Community Company managed to secure a major grant from the Scottish Land Fund and on 4 April 2013 the Northern Lighthouse Board sold the entire lighthouse complex at Covesea Skerries to the Covesea Lighthouse Community Company.  The plan is now to develop the iconic landmark as a major tourism hub to promote local heritage, the area's unique wildlife and environment and its links to the nearby airbase at RAF Lossiemouth.


The Douthat Land Company, a group of businessmen, donated the first portion of land — 1,920 acres (780 ha). In 1933, the Virginia General Assembly allotted $50,000 for the purchase of land for state parks, and the remainder of the present-day park was purchased with this money. Douthat State Park opened on 15 June 1936 as one of six original state parks in Virginia, all built with the men and resources of the Civilian Conservation Corps. The site of the park was originally almost completely covered by forests; all of the original cabins, campsites, trails, roads, and even the entirety of Douthat Lake were created by the CCC work crews.
Approximately 600 men from the Civilian Conservation Corps developed and constructed the majority of the modern-day park system between 1933 and 1942.


Mountain biking: Douthat State Park has become a premier mountain biking destination. Twenty-four of the twenty-six trails at Douthat are open to biking.  The park has been heralded as the best mountain biking destination on the East Coast.  By spring 2009, almost all of the 45 miles of 70-year-old Civilian Conservation Corps trail at Douthat will be restored to its original condition with sustainable trail design techniques integrated to maintain a unique mountain biking experience.
Fishing: Douthat allows trout fishing in its stocked lake with a valid Virginia Fishing License and a daily permit.
Boating: A boat ramp launch is available April through October. Jonboats (including those with electric motors), canoes, paddleboats, hydrocycle and funyaks (similar to kayaks) are available for rental. No gasoline-powered boats are allowed on the lake.
Hiking: Over 43 miles (69 km) of varied difficulty trails are available, many of them created originally by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Horseback riding at the park is restricted to several trails on the Western side of the park and mountain biking is permitted on nearly all of the trails.
Swimming: The beach area of the lake is available from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
Restaurant/store: Douthat Lake View Restaurant was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and overlooks the lake. Next to the restaurant are a camp store and a gift shop.
Picnicking: There are three picnic areas with shelters that can be reserved for a group.
Hunting: Hunting is allowed by reservation with the appropriate permits.


1986 – Douthat recognized as a national historic district
1998 – Virginia Lakes and Watersheds Association Award for Best Operated and Maintained Dam
1999 – Centennial Medallion from the American Society of Landscape Architects
1999 – Named one of Outside Family Vacation Guide's top ten state parks


The Estádio Nacional (English: National Stadium), also known as National Stadium Sports Complex (Portuguese: Complexo Desportivo do Estádio Nacional) and as Jamor Sports Complex (Portuguese: Complexo Desportivo do Jamor), is a national football stadium used by the Portugal national team and by Belenenses SAD since 2018. It is located in the civil parish of Algés, Linda-a-Velha e Cruz Quebrada-Dafundo, in the municipality of Oeiras, in the southwestern part of Lisbon District.
The stadium entered UEFA history as host of the first ever game played in UEFA club competitions. The game was played on 4 September 1955 between Primeira Divisão's third-placed team, Sporting CP, and the Yugoslav champions, Serbian side Partizan Belgrade. It ended as a 3–3 draw and was the first game to be played of the first edition of the European Cup.