The plant grows one of the thickest stems in the genus. As the plant grows older, the stem gradually begins to tilt and grow until the plant is prostrate on the ground. Atop this stem is a rosette of 40 to 60 wide, flat fleshy leaves of pale green which age to a pinkish papery texture. The rosettes are usually solitary, but sometimes they may present anywhere from 3 to even 23 rosettes in a hen-and-chicks fashion. The leaves are oblong, broadest at the base or upper third, with the tip acuminate to mucronate. The epidermis of the plant is covered with a dense coating of chalky, powdery epicuticular wax.
The peduncle is among the largest of the genus, and the entire stalk may reach up to 1.2 meters (4 feet). Its pale green or white inflorescences are nodding in youth, but spread in age. The inflorescences bear many flowers, each on a long pedicel.The corolla is the longest in the genus, adapted to hummingbird pollinators. The petals of the flower are red, while the sepals are covered in wax.
The plant flowers from May to July. Plants subject to full sun go close their rosettes in summer, and in July to August the leaves will begin to fold upward and inward, "shrinking" in the heightened temperatures. Plants on north-facing or shaded slopes are less likely to close their rosettes.
Higher temperatures are tolerated well by Dudleya because of their epicuticular wax, which reflects light and prevents evaporation of water droplets.


The type specimen was collected by Thomas Nutall in San Diego, in May 1835.
Dudleya pulverulenta grades into the similar species of Dudleya anthonyi and Dudleya arizonica, both of which have been sometimes regarded as subspecies. Dudleya brittonii shares an overlapping distribution in Baja California and resembles a much larger version of D. pulverulenta. Both are distantly related.
Dudleya puvlerulenta hybridizes with Dudleya lanceolata where they overlap in their ranges.


Dudleya pulverulenta is native to California and Baja California. Its range extends from extreme southern Monterey County southward to Punta Prieta in the central desert of Baja California. It is typically found in rocky cliffs, and canyons, generally under 1000 meters in elevation. It is primarily a plant of coastal distribution and can often be found within 12 miles of the coast, and more inland occurrences are typically in valleys where the heat is moderated by elevation or coastal influence.
Plants are very rapid recolonizers as evidenced by proliferation on roadcuts or disturbed soil shortly after development. Their habitat preference for rocky, shallow soils and open habitats mean that fuel is limited in proximity to the plants, enabling them to survive wildfire. The plant will resprout after fire.


The plant tolerates full sun exposure or part shade. It is susceptible to aphid infestations which result in flower and rosette deformities. It is a much hardier plant for the garden environment than the more commonly available Dudleya brittonii.
Dudleya pulverulenta is not noted for its longevity and may only live up to 2 or 3 years in cultivation, but some specimens in the wild may be over 40 years old in a most optimal location. When the plant dies, the rosette takes on a withered, ashy gray appearance, resembling a bird's nest. It is important to note whether the center leaves of the rosette are still alive, as the dormant plant will often surround a few live leaves with a ring of withered leaves until the next growing season pushes them down.


Dulichium is a monotypic genus of sedge containing the single species Dulichium arundinaceum, which is known by the common name threeway sedge. This is an aquatic or semi-aquatic plant of the lakes, streams, and ponds of the United States and Canada It has a wide distribution across the two countries, though noticeably absent from the Dakotas and from the Southwestern Deserts.
Dulichium arundinaceum has a thick rhizome system and grows to heights approaching a meter. It is reminiscent of bamboo in appearance when new, growing bright green erect stalks in large, grassy stands. Stems are round to slightly triangular in cross-section (though not nearly as angularly triangular as in Cyperus or Carex), and hollow. The leaves are in three ranks along the stem when seen from above (thus the common name "threeway sedge"), with sheaths along the stems, and the inflorescence grows from the leaf axilla. The spikelets are generally lance-shaped and one to three centimeters long when ripe.
Two varieties are recognized:
Dulichium arundinaceum var. arundinaceum - most of species range including Québec
Dulichium arundinaceum var. boreale Lepage - Québec


The gray catbird (Dumetella carolinensis), also spelled grey catbird, is a medium-sized North American and Central American perching bird of the mimid family. It is the only member of the "catbird" genus Dumetella. Like the black catbird (Melanoptila glabrirostris), it is among the basal lineages of the Mimidae, probably a closer relative of the Caribbean thrasher and trembler assemblage than of the mockingbirds and Toxostoma thrashers. In some areas it is known as the slate-colored mockingbird.


Adults weigh from 23.2 to 56.5 g (0.8 to 2.0 oz), with an average of 35–40 g (1.2–1.4 oz) They range in length from 20.5 to 24 cm (8.1 to 9.4 in) and span 22 to 30 cm (8.7 to 11.8 in) across the wings. Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 8.4 to 9.8 cm (3.3 to 3.9 in), the tail is 7.2 to 10.3 cm (2.8 to 4.1 in), the culmen is 1.5 to 1.8 cm (0.6 to 0.7 in) and the tarsus is 2.7 to 2.9 cm (1.1 to 1.1 in). Gray catbirds are plain lead gray almost all over. The top of the head is darker. The undertail coverts are rust-colored, and the remiges and rectrices are black, some with white borders. The slim bill, the eyes, and the legs and feet are also blackish. Males and females cannot be distinguished by their looks; different behaviours in the breeding season is usually the only clue to the observer. Juveniles are even plainer in coloration, with buffy undertail coverts.


This species is named for its cat-like call. Like many members of the Mimidae (in particular mockingbirds), it also mimics the songs of other birds, as well as those of Hylidae (tree frogs), and even mechanical sounds. Because of its well-developed songbird syrinx, it is able to make two sounds at the same time. The alarm call resembles the quiet calls of a male mallard.
A gray catbird's song is easily distinguished from that of the northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) or brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) because the mockingbird repeats its phrases or "strophes" three to four times, the thrasher usually twice, but the catbird sings most phrases only once. The catbird's song is usually described as more raspy and less musical than that of a mockingbird.
In contrast to the many songbirds that choose a prominent perch from which to sing, the catbird often elects to sing from inside a bush or small tree, where it is obscured from view by the foliage.


Native to most of temperate North America east of the Rocky Mountains, gray catbirds migrate to the southeastern United States, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean in winter; except for the occasional vagrant they always stay east of the American Cordillera. They are extremely rare vagrants to western Europe. Normally present on the breeding grounds by May, most leave for winter quarters in September/October; as it seems, this species is increasingly extending its stay in the summer range, with some nowadays remaining until mid-winter as far north as Ohio. The gray catbird is a migratory species. Spring migration ranges from March to May, and in the fall ranges from late August to November.
The catbird tends to avoid dense, unbroken woodlands, and does not inhabit coniferous, pine woodland. Catbirds prefer a dense vegetative substrate, especially if thorny vegetation is present. Scrublands, woodland edges, overgrown farmland and abandoned orchards are generally among the preferred locations of the catbird. In Bermuda, its preferred habitats are scrub and myrtle swamp. During the winter season, the catbird has an affinity for berry-rich thickets, especially within proximity of water sources.


Their breeding habitat is semi-open areas with dense, low growth; they are also found in urban, suburban, and rural habitats. In the winter months they seem to associate with humans even more. These birds mainly forage on the ground in leaf litter, but also in shrubs and trees. They mainly eat arthropods and berries. In the winter months, Cymbopetalum mayanum (Annonaceae) and Trophis racemosa (Moraceae) bear fruit well liked by this species, and such trees can be planted to attract the gray catbird into parks and gardens.
They build a bulky cup nest in a shrub or tree, close to the ground. Eggs are light blue in color, and clutch size ranges from 1–5, with 2–3 eggs most common. Both parents take turns feeding the young birds.


Approximately 50% of the gray catbird's diet is fruit and berries. They also eat mealworms, earthworms, beetles, and other bugs. In summer, gray catbirds will eat mostly ants, beetles, grasshoppers, caterpillars, and moths. They also eat holly berries, cherries, elderberries, poison ivy, bay, and blackberries.


The gray catbird can be attracted by "pishing" sounds. Gray catbirds are not afraid of predators and respond to them aggressively by flashing their wings and tails and by making their signature mew sounds. They are also known to even attack and peck predators that come too near their nests. They also will destroy eggs of the brood parasitic brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) laid in their nests by pecking them.
This species is widespread and generally plentiful, though its reclusive habits often make it seem less common than it is. It is not considered threatened by the IUCN due to its large range and numbers.
On Bermuda however, gray catbirds were once very common, but their numbers have been greatly reduced in recent years by deforestation and nest predation by introduced species (including the great kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus and the European starling Sturnus vulgaris). In the United States, this species receives special legal protections under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.


Kohekohe (Dysoxylum spectabile) is a medium-sized tree in the Meliaceae family, native to New Zealand.  It is found in lowland and coastal forests throughout most of the North Island and also occurs in the Marlborough Sounds in the north of the South Island. Mature trees grow up to 15 metres (49 ft) in height, with a trunk up to a metre in diameter.
A fairly close relative of true mahogany (Swietenia), it is also called New Zealand mahogany, because its wood is light, strong and polishes to a fine red colour. Kohekohe is notable for having characteristics normally associated with trees growing in the tropics, for example, its flowers and fruit grow directly from the trunk or branches (known as cauliflory), and it has large, glossy, pinnate leaves up to 40 cm in length. The inflorescences of kohekohe may be up to 30 cm long, and the flowers produce a strong sweet smell.  The large green fruit takes around fifteen months to ripen.  The fruit contains three or four cells containing a seed encased in a fleshy orange-coloured aril. The tree does not flower in the year while the fruit capsules are maturing, and therefore individual trees may flower in alternate years.
Kohekohe forest used to be common in damp coastal and lowland areas in the North Island, but these forests have mostly disappeared because the land was used for settlement or they were browsed by possums. Studies have shown rapid recovery in kohekohe canopy after implementation of possum control.
Māori boiled the bark in water and drank it as a tonic. The wood was used for building canoes but is soft and not as durable as other woods and tends to rot quickly. It is valued for carving. Kohekohe was probably the dominant vegetation cover on Kapiti Island before it was cleared in the early 19th century for cultivation and farming. The kohekohe forest on Kapiti is recovering after possums were eradicated in 1986.


Kohekohe was first described by Georg Forster in 1786 as Trichilia spectabilis, and was transferred to the genus, Dysoxylum, in 1864 by Joseph Hooker.


Its wingspan is about 80–96 mm. Forewings of male produced, long and narrow. The fovea strongly developed. Head, thorax and abdomen golden yellowish with purplish bands. Forewings with golden-yellow basal half, the outer half deep purplish with its inner edge irregularly sinuous. Two oblique basal purple fascia, where the lower fascia sometimes having a spot detached from it. Two spots found on costa near base. There is an oblique antemedial series of three spots often conjoined. The outer area with two pale blue maculate bands, where the outer ending found at vein 3. Hindwings golden yellow, with a large purple discocellular spot and a spot below the cell. A postmedial lunulate band excurved between veins 3 and 5. A submarginal spot series becoming large conjoined lunulate patches at apex. The spots on the yellow area are very variable.


It flies during the day and because of its bright colours it is often mistaken for a butterfly. Several similar species, including Dysphania subrepleta, occur in the region and some are very closely related. Dysphania alloides, which was described from the Andaman Islands, was originally considered a subspecies.
Larvae have been reported to feed on Carallia species, Kandelia candel and Rhodomyrtus tomentosa plants.


Dysphania pumilio is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae known by the common name clammy goosefoot.
It is native to Australia, but it can be found in other parts of the world as an introduced species, often growing in disturbed and waste areas such as roadsides and lots. It is known from many parts of North America and Europe, and it was recently spotted in Iran for the first time, in the Māzandarān Province. It is thought to have first arrived in Europe with imports of wool from Australia. This is a very aromatic annual herb growing erect, sticky, glandular stems up to about 25 centimeters tall. The leaves are alternately arranged, up to 2 centimeters long, lance-shaped to oval and edged with bumpy lobes. The surface of the leaf is coated in white sticky glands and sparse hairs. The inflorescence is a spherical cluster of densely packed tiny green flowers located in the leaf axils. Each flower is pebbly with glands and covers the developing fruit.


Dyspteris is a monotypic moth genus in the family Geometridae erected by Jacob Hübner in 1818 found in North America. Its only species, Dyspteris abortivaria, the bad-wing, was first described by Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer in 1855. It is called "bad-wing" because its forewing is much larger than its hindwing, making it often difficult to pull into position for spreading.
The MONA or Hodges number for Dyspteris abortivaria is 7648.


Dysstroma citrata citrata
Dysstroma citrata katshadalarium Beljaev & Vasilenko, 2002 (Magadan, Kamchatka, Komandor Island, northern Kurils)
Dysstroma citrata nyiwonis  (Matsumura, 1925)
Dysstroma citrata glacialis  (Hulst, 1898)


Dysstroma hersiliata, the orange-barred carpet moth, is a species of geometrid moth in the family Geometridae. It is found in North America.
The MONA or Hodges number for Dysstroma hersiliata is 7189.


These two subspecies belong to the species Dysstroma hersiliata:
Dysstroma hersiliata cervinifascia (Walker, 1862)
Dysstroma hersiliata hersiliata (Guenée in Boisduval & Guenée, 1858)


The common marbled carpet (Dysstroma truncata) is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is sometimes placed in the genus Chloroclysta. It is very common throughout the Palearctic region and the Near East. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1767.
This is one of the most variable of the geometrids both in size (wingspan 32–39 mm) and colour. The basal and terminal areas of the forewings are marked with fascia separated by a large plain area in the middle, but the colouration of all these areas is confusingly variable from white to black with various grey, brown and reddish tones in between. The hindwings, though, are always pale grey marked with faint fascia. Some forms closely resemble Dysstroma citrata.
One or two broods are produced each year and the adults can be seen in any month from May to November. The species flies at night and is attracted to light. It is also attracted to nectar-rich flowers and sugary foods which is fairly unusual for the family.
The larva is slender and green, usually with reddish stripes. It has been recorded feeding on a wide range of plants (see list below). The species overwinters as a larva.
The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.


Alnus - alder
Betula - birch
Crataegus - hawthorn
Fragaria - strawberry
Ligustrum - privet
Lonicera - honeysuckle
Prunus - bird cherry
Rosa - rose
Rubus - bramble
Rumex - dock
Salix - willow
Sorbus - rowan
Vaccinium
Parthenocissus quinquefolia - Virginia creeper


Dythemis fugax, the checkered setwing, is a species of skimmer in the dragonfly family Libellulidae. It is found in Central America and North America.
The IUCN conservation status of Dythemis fugax is "LC", least concern, with no immediate threat to the species' survival. The population is stable. The IUCN status was reviewed in 2017.


Dythemis nigrescens, the black setwing, is a species of skimmer in the dragonfly family Libellulidae. It is found in Central America and North America.
The IUCN conservation status of Dythemis nigrescens is "LC", least concern, with no immediate threat to the species' survival. The population is stable. The IUCN status was reviewed in 2017.


Achlyodes mithridates, the sickle-winged skipper or Jung's dusky wing, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found from Argentina, north through tropical America and the West Indies to southern Texas. A regular stray north to central Texas, rarely to Arkansas and Kansas.
The wingspan is 35–45 mm. Adults are on wing all year round in most of its range.
The larvae feed on leaves of Rutaceae species, including Zanthoxylum fagara in Texas and Zanthoxylum monophyllum in tropical America. Adults feed on flower nectar.


Ebenopsis ebano is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, that is native to the coastal plain of southern Texas in the United States and eastern Mexico. It is commonly known as Texas ebony or ebano (in Spanish).


Texas ebony is a small, evergreen tree that reaches a height of 7.6–9.1 m (25–30 ft) and a crown width of 1.8–4.6 m (5.9–15.1 ft).


The range of E. ebano stretches from Laredo and Corpus Christi, Texas south through the states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, Campeche, and Yucatán in Mexico. It can be found in the Tamaulipan matorral, Tamaulipan mezquital, Veracruz dry forests, and Yucatán dry forests ecoregions. Its habitat extends from sea level to 1,000 m (3,300 ft), averages 20 to 27 °C (68 to 81 °F) in temperature, and receives a mean of 900 mm (35 in) of annual rainfall.


Texas ebony is cultivated in xeriscaping for its dense foliage and fragrant flowers. It is also used in bonsai.


Ebenopsis ebano is a host plant for the caterpillars of the coyote cloudywing (Achalarus toxeus) and Sphingicampa blanchardi. The seedpods host the bean weevils Stator beali and S. limbatus. Despite the native range of Texas ebony overlapping with that of the latter, S. limbatus only feeds upon it in locales where it is grown as an ornamental and is not native. E. ebano is also a preferred host of the epiphyte Bailey's ball moss (Tillandsia baileyi).


Echeveria gibbiflora is a large species of Echeveria, producing rosettes of 15 leaves, a tall flowering stem up to 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) in height, and an average of 160 flower buds. The red, tubular flowers are about 2.5 centimetres (0.98 in) long with 10 stamens and 5 styles. It flowers between September and January. The dry fruits each produce approximately 200 small seeds.


Each flower is open for between 7–8 days and is visited by nectar-seeking broad-billed hummingbirds (Cynanthus latirostris). The American bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) has been documented foraging for aphids that occur among the flowers.


Echeveria gibbiflora has been used in Mexican folk medicine as a contraceptive, as a vaginal postcoital rinse.
Cultivars include E. gibbiflora 'Carunculata' (also spelled 'Caronculata'), E. gibbiflora 'Metallica', and E. gibbiflora 'Violescens'.


Echinacea pallida, the pale purple coneflower, is a species of herbaceous perennial plant in the family Asteraceae. It is sometimes grown in gardens and used for medicinal purposes. Its native range is the central region of the United States.


Echinacea pallida is similar to E. angustifolia, but plants often grow taller, ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 ft (45 to 75 cm) tall, with some growing 3 ft (90 cm) or more tall. Plants normally grow with one unbranched stem in the wild, but often produce multi-stemmed clumps in gardens. They have deep taproots that are  spindle shaped, wider in the center and narrowing at the ends. Stems are green or mottled with purple and green. The leaves are elongated lanceolate or linear-lanceolate with three veins. Flower head rays are narrow, linear, elongated, and drooping, ranging from 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.6 cm) long. The flower heads are from 3⁄4 to 3 inches (1.9 to 7.6 cm) wide with  pale rose-purple or nearly white ray florets. The flowers have white pollen. Echinacea pallida blooms from May into July. The fruits are cypselae and are tan or bi-colored with angled edges.


It is found in the Mississippi Valley, the southeastern Great Plains, and the region south of Lake Michigan. Most of the known populations are in the region from southern Wisconsin and Iowa south to Louisiana and eastern Texas, with additional reports (many of them likely from introductions) in the Southeastern United States, New England, New York, Michigan, and Ontario.


The states of Tennessee and Wisconsin list the species as threatened, mostly due to habitat loss and over-collection of roots, which are made into herbal medicine. The use of Echinacea as a medicinal plant has not been demonstrated to have any positive health effects. It is a larval host to the silvery checkerspot.


Echinacea purpurea, the eastern purple coneflower, purple coneflower, hedgehog coneflower, or echinacea, is a North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to parts of eastern North America and present to some extent in the wild in much of the eastern, southeastern and midwestern United States as well as in the Canadian Province of Ontario. It is most common in the Ozarks and in the Mississippi/Ohio Valley. Its habitats include dry open woods, prairies and barrens.


Echinacea is derived from Greek, meaning 'spiny one', in reference to the spiny sea urchins 'εχίνοι' which the ripe flower heads of species of this genus resemble. The epithet purpurea means 'reddish-purple'. Originally named Rudbeckia purpurea by Linnaeus in 1753 in Species plantarum 6, it was reclassified in 1794 by Conrad Moench, in a new genus named Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench. In 1818, Thomas Nuttall describes a new variety that he named Rudbeckia purpurea var. serotina. Just two decades later, De Candolle raised him to the rank of species of the other genus Echinacea serotina (Nutt.) DC. (1836). In 2002, Binns et al. discovered a misapplication of the name Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench for the taxon correctly named Echinacea serotina (Nutt.) DC. in 1836. The authors proposed to retain the names not to cause confusion among gardeners and herbalists.
Other names include: Broad-leaved purple coneflower, Eastern Purple Coneflower, Hedgehog Coneflower, Echinacea.


Echinacea purpurea is an herbaceous perennial up to 120 cm (47 in) tall by 25 cm (10 in) wide at maturity. Depending on the climate, it blooms throughout summer into autumn. Its cone-shaped flowering heads are usually, but not always, purple in the wild. Its individual flowers (florets) within the flower head are hermaphroditic, having both male and female organs in each flower. It is pollinated by butterflies and bees. The alternate leaves, borne by a petiole from 0 to 17 cm, are oval to lanceolate, 5-30 x 5-12 cm; the margin is tightened to toothed.
The inflorescence is a capitulum, 7 to 15 cm in diameter, formed by a prominent domed central protuberance consisting of multiple small yellow florets. These are surrounded by a ring of pink or purple ligulate florets. The tubular florets are hermaphrodite while the ligular florets are sterile. The involucral bracts are linear to lanceolate. The plant prefers well-drained soils in full sun. The fruit is an achene, sought after by birds.


Echinacea purpurea is grown as an ornamental plant in temperate regions. It is ideal for curbs, walkways or beds. The flowers can also go into the composition of fresh bouquets. Numerous cultivars have been developed for flower quality and plant form. The plant grows in sun or light shade. It thrives in either dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought once established. The cultivars 'Ruby Giant' and Elton Knight='Elbrook' have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Echinacea purpurea is propagated either vegetatively or from seeds. Useful vegetative techniques include division, root cuttings, and basal cuttings. Clumps can be divided, or broken into smaller bunches, which is normally done in the spring or autumn. Cuttings made from roots that are "pencil-sized" will develop into plants when started in late autumn or early winter. Cuttings of basal shoots in the spring may be rooted when treated with rooting hormones, such as IBA at 1000 ppm.
Seed germination occurs best with daily temperature fluctuations or after stratification, which help to end dormancy. Seeds may be started indoors in advance of the growing season or outdoors after the growing season has started.


Slugs and rabbits will also eat the foliage when young, or shortly after emerging in the spring. Additionally, roots can be damaged and eaten by gophers.


Echinacea purpurea contains alkamides, caffeic acid derivatives, polysaccharides, and glycoproteins. Nicotiflorin is the dominant flavonoid in E. purpurea, followed by the flavonoid rutin.


Native Americans used the plant as traditional medicine to treat many ailments.


Echinocactus horizonthalonius is a species of cactus known by several common names, including devilshead, turk's head cactus, blue barrel cactus, eagle's claw, horse maimer, horse crippler, and visnaga meloncillo. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it occurs in Chihuahuan Desert and Sonoran Desert habitats, particularly on limestone substrates. One of its varieties is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.


This cactus is gray-green to blue-gray in color and spherical, hemispherical, columnar, or flat-topped in shape. It reaches a maximum size of about 45 centimeters tall by 20 wide. The body is made up of curving sections that twist around the body in a helical fashion. These sections are lined with areoles bearing up to 10 spines each. The pink, gray, or brown spines may be over 4 centimeters long.
The bright pink to magenta flowers are up to 7 to 9 centimeters wide. Flowers open around midday and close for the night. They also open after the plant receives rainfall, and although most of the flowers occur in June, they may bloom again in late summer and fall if rain occurs.
The fruit is hairy or woolly and pink or red in color.
Varieties
The species is generally divided into two varieties.
The more common, Echinocactus horizonthalonius var. horizonthalonius, can be found in Chihuahuan Desert habitats, from Arizona, through New Mexico, into Texas and Northeastern Mexico. USDA: Echinocactus horizonthalonius var. horizonthalonius'
The rare Echinocactus horizonthalonius var. nicholii, Nichol's turk's head cactus, is known only from three Sonoran Desert populations in southeastern Arizona, and one in Sonora, Mexico. It is federally listed as an endangered species of the United States. Some populations are protected within Ironwood Forest National Monument in Pinal and Pima Counties in Arizona. Threats to the species include limestone mining, offroading, and collection of specimens for their showy flowers. Buffelgrass is also a major threat to the species, due to its introduction of fire to the landscape. There has been some success in conserving this variety, mainly by suppressing buffelgrass.


Echinocactus platyacanthus, also known as the giant barrel cactus, golden barrel cactus, giant viznaga, or biznaga de dulce, is a species of cactus (family Cactaceae). It is native to central Mexico in the Chihuahuan Desert. This species is the largest of the barrel cacti. In Mexico the hairs are often used for weaving; a traditional candy is produced by boiling the pith.


This slow-growing species can  reach sizes up to 2.5 m (8.2 ft) tall and 1.5 m (4.9 ft) wide and can live over a hundred years. Photographs exist of specimens almost four feet (almost 1.2 m) in thickness. What is probably the largest individual living today is the one called "Goliat"  at the "Area natural de Daxpe" in the municipio de Cadereyta, Querétaro State, Mexico, which is 9' 8"  (2.95 meters) in height, at least three feet (0.9 meter) thick and weighs about three metric tons (6,600 pounds). Another at Ixmiquilpan, Mexico has a measured diameter of 3 ft 11 in (120 cm) and is 7 ft 10 in (2.4 meters) high. Their stems are a gray-ish blue color and the straight, rigid spines are black. The apex of the cactus is flat and covered with a yellow felt-like substance. They are heavily ribbed and have large areoles. Their diurnal, tubular flowers bloom at the end of spring to summer and are a vivid yellow color; they grow to about 2 cm (0.79 in) in height and 3 cm (1.2 in) in width. The fruit is about 3 cm (1.2 in) long and is covered by a hairy wool.


Echinocereus coccineus (scarlet hedgehog cactus) is a species of hedgehog cactus. Its native to Northern and Central America. It grows on full sun, in sandy and well-drained soil. It can survive in hardiness zones 8–11. When mature, it reaches heights of 60 cm (24 in). The flowers are usually red, yellow, pink, purple or white. It blooms in late spring to early summer. After blooms, it has red, edible fruit.


Echinocereus dasyacanthus is a member of the cactus family, Cactaceae.  It is one of about 2000 total species belonging to this family. The cactus is commonly known as Texas rainbow cactus because of the subtle rings or bands of contrasting colors along the stem of the plant. Not all Texas rainbow cacti have the "rainbow" coloration on their stems. Another common name is spiny hedgehog cactus.
E. dasyacanthus can be identified as a tetraploid with predominantly yellow flowers.  Experiments suggest this is due to the hybridization of E. dasyacanthus and E. coccineus.  The E. dasyacanthus received its specific epithet from the two Greek words dasys and akantha, which mean "shaggy" and "thorns" respectively.


Echinocereus dasyacanthus plants are usually found with a single stem or 2-3 basal branches.  Though it is not uncommon to find plants with 3-10 stems.  The stems of Texas rainbow cactus are between 11–24 cm long and 5.5–7 cm wide and usually have 15-18 ribs. The spines usually overlap making the stem not visible.  There is a great amount of variation in the spines characteristics. There are typically 4-12 central spines that are .5-1.2 cm long and 14-25 radial spines that are .7–2 cm long.  The basic coloration of the spines are tan to yellow to pink.  Some spines may be ashy-white to reddish brown, but that is less common.


The flowering season for E. dasyacanthus is between the months of March and May.  The large flower of the plant grow at the sides of the stem above the areoles close to the stem apex.  The flowers are typically 8–12 cm long and 7–11 cm wide.  The flowers smell sweet and are pollinated by bees.  In the Trans-Pecos region of Texas the flowers are usually bright yellow with a green throat.  Other color the flowers may be include dark to pale yellow, canary yellow, golden yellow or deep red to rose pink.  Since this taxon of cacti are mostly yellow flowered, flowers that are beta cyanic and orange are less common.  The tepals are relatively thick and durable  compared to E. reichenbachii, but thin and soft compared to E. coccineus.  The stamens of the flowers have filaments resulting in the floral throat being filled with a funnel of yellow anthers.


The fruits of E. dasyacanthus are usually green or greenish purple at first.  As they mature the fruits become a darker purple.  The pulp is very juicy and can be white to purplish-pink in color.  The fruit are globose to ellipsoid and relatively large measuring at 6 cm long and 4.5 cm wide.  The spines on the fruit are deciduous.


Echinocereus dasyacanthus can be found on rocky slopes of arid mountains, desert floor, in desert grasslands and more mesic habitats.  They are distributed throughout New Mexico and Texas.  It occurs in every county of Texas's Trans-Pecos region except for Val Verde.  Texas rainbow cactus can also be spotted as far south as Chihuahua, and Coahuila, Mexico.


Echinocereus dasyacanthus is cultivated as an ornamental plant, for use in desert native plant natural landscaping, or as a house plant and in a greenhouse.  As the Texas Rainbow cactus is a smaller cacti species, it can be easier to care for.
Growing conditions
Texas rainbow cactus requires little to no maintenance for growing. It requires little water and a lot of sunlight to partial shade. It can grow in soil or rocky sandy substrate. Seeds of Texas rainbow cactus will germinate between 5–180 days.


The strawberry hedgehog cactus or Engelmann's hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus engelmannii) is commonly found in desert areas of the southwestern United States and the adjacent areas of Mexico, including the states of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Baja California and Sonora.


Engelmann's hedgehog cactus usually grows in clusters, sometimes up to 20 and more stems. The bright magenta flowers bloom in April in its southern extremes to late May at northern locations. Flowers are borne at the upper half to one third of the stem and are funnelform in shape, up to 3.5 inches (8.9 centimetres) long with dark-green stigmas. The fruit is spiny. At first the fruit is green, becoming pink and drying when ripe. Ripe fruits have spines that are easily detached. Seeds are black and about a tenth of an inch in size.
Stems are initially cylindrical and erect in young plants, but later with the stem base lying on the ground. The stems are usually 1.5 to 3.5 inches (3.8 to 8.9 centimetres) in diameter and up to 25 inches (64 centimetres) high, and obscured by heavy spines. The plants have around 10 ribs, which are somewhat flattened and tuberculate.
Spines are variable in color and size. Radial spines are short and needlelike, up to 0.8 inches (2.0 centimetres) long, white, and arranged in a neat rosette. Central spines number 2 to 7 and are stout, usually twisted and angular, up to 3 inches (7.6 centimetres) long and variable in color: bright yellow, dark brown, grey, and white.
Origin and Habitat: Engelmann's hedgehog cactus is one of the most common species of cactus in the south-western USA (southern California, Arizona, southern Nevada, Utah) and Mexico (Baja California down to northern Baja California Sur, Sonora). There are a number of varieties of Echinocereus engelmannii, and some are rare.
Altitude: From near sea level to 2400 meters.
Habitat: It grows in different dry habitats normally in well drained deserts in Sonoran and Mojave deserts, chaparral, pinyon-juniper woodlands, grass, and Great Basin shrub in flats with fine sand on the plain, washes and canyons in the desert, and also in gravelly, sandy, or rocky hillsides, and in mountain ranges. The rich flora and diverse vegetation of the area includes, among the others, Ferocactus cylindraceus, Mammillaria boogie, Mammillaria microcarpa, Mammillaria tetrancistra, Echinocereus scopulorum, Fouquieria MacDougall, Larrea tridentata, Cercidium microphyllum, Idria columnaris, Opuntia leptocaulis, Opuntia ramosissima and Opuntia engelmannii. Engelmann's hedgehog cactus is abundant throughout its range. Land-use change is a threat affecting this species, however, not a major threat.


Echinocereus engelmannii is used as a landscape plant in its native areas. In pot culture, this species requires well aerated gritty substrate and a hot and sunny location in the summer. During winter, this species tolerates light frost and wet (if well-drained) soil. In cultivation, this species usually does not bloom until it develops 2-3 branches.


Echinocereus fendleri is a species of cactus known by the common names pinkflower hedgehog cactus and Fendler's hedgehog cactus. It is named in honor of Augustus Fendler.
It grows in deserts and woodlands in the Southwestern United States and Northeastern Mexico. It is most common in New Mexico.
The taxonomy of the species is uncertain, with authors recognizing up to eight varieties.


Echinocereus fendleri has an erect oval or cylindrical stem, sometimes forming a clump of several spreading stem branches. The stem may reach 7.5 to 30 centimeters in maximum height. There are up to 16 spines per areole, generally in shades of brown and white, or white with a brown stripe.
The showy flower is most any shade of pink, from nearly white to deep maroon. It can be 11 centimeters long and wide, each tepal measuring up to 7 centimeters long. The fruit is red and a few centimeters long.
The flesh of the plant is edible, and Native American groups consumed the stems and fruits.


One variety of this species, Echinocereus fendleri var. kuenzleri, Kuenzler's hedgehog cactus' (formerly Echinocereus kuenzleri), is rare and federally listed as an endangered species of the United States. When it was listed in 1979, there were only 200 known individuals of this variety remaining, all in the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico. It was threatened with extinction by poachers, who removed many plants from the wild.
More populations have since been discovered. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has suggested it be downlisted to threatened status. Kuenzler's hedgehog cactus differs from other varieties of the species by having large flowers, reaching 11 centimeters long and magenta in color, and white spines.


Echinocereus pectinatusi is a species of hedgehog cactus. It was first described by Engelm in 1848. It is found in the south-western US (New Mexico and Texas) and northern Mexico (Chihuahua and Sonora).


Echinocereus pentalophus, with the common name ladyfinger cactus, is a species of Echinocereus cactus, in the tribe Echinocereeae Tribe. It is native to North America.


The cactus species is found from San Luis Potosí state, through Northeastern Mexico, and into the southern Rio Grande Valley in southeastern Texas.


Echinocereus reichenbachii (commonly known as lace or hedgehog cactus) is a perennial plant and shrub in the cactus family. The species is native to the Chihuahuan Desert and parts of northern Mexico and the southern United States, where they grow at elevations up to 1,500 meters (4,900 ft). This cactus earned the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
E. reichenbachii is one of the smaller Echinocereus species. They reach 7.5 to 30 centimetres (3.0 to 11.8 in) tall and 4 to 10 centimetres (1.6 to 3.9 in) wide. Plants are solitary or clustered in as many as 12, with erect stems that have 10 to 19 ribs. The stems are dark green and often obscured by the spines, which range from tan, brown, black, or pink, and the tips are usually darker than the shaft. The areoles are elliptical or oval, with seven to 36 spines each. The purple or pink flowers bloom in early May to late June, growing to approximately 4.5 to 8 centimetres (1.8 to 3.1 in) by 5 to 10 centimetres (2.0 to 3.9 in). E. reichenbachii are cold and heat tolerant, and prefer dry, well-drained soils near rock outcroppings.


The scientific name, Echinocereus, comes from the Greek ekhinos, meaning hedgehog, and cereus, the Latin term for wax paper. The specific epithet honors the German botanist Ludwig Reichenbach. Common names include Lace hedgehog cactus, Lace cactus, Lace hedgehog, Purple candle, and Órgano-pequeño de colores.
In 1843, German botanist Carl Adolf Terscheck named a specimen of cactus collected in Mexico Echinocactus reichenbachii, but his description was incomplete and proved unhelpful to later scholars. During the years 1848 to 1856, George Engelmann made extensive studies of a plant he named Echinocereus caespitosus. Prior to this Joseph zu Salm-Reifferscheidt-Dyck referred to plants in European collections as Echinopsis pectinate var. reichenbachiana, and he later discussed the possibility with Engelmann that these two plants were one and the same.
Despite the early indication of a naming error, Engelmann's binomial was used to describe the plant until 1893, when F.A. Haage Jr. changed Terscheck's Echinocactus reichenbachii to Echinocereus reichenbachii, which Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose later adopted. This broke with the long-standing botanical tradition to use the earliest known name, but because Terscheck's description was lacking and possibly referred to as many as a dozen species, his binomial was supplanted by Haage's.


Echinocereus reichenbachii is a perennial plant and shrub. It is one of the smaller Echinocereus species. Immature specimens are spherical, and as they grow they become cylindrical. Plants are solitary or multi-branched in clusters of as many as twelve, with erect stems with 10 to 19 slightly undulate ribs. They reach 7.5 to 30 centimetres (3.0 to 11.8 in) tall and 4 to 10 centimetres (1.6 to 3.9 in) wide. The stems are dark green and obscured by the spines, especially when the plant is dehydrated. Areoles are elliptical or oval. They are spaced 1 to 6 millimetres (0.039 to 0.236 in) apart, with 15 to 36 spines each. The spines are tan, to brown, black, purplish black, or pink, and the tips are usually darker than the shaft. The central spines tend to be the darkest. There are up to 7 central spines per areole; they are 1 to 6 millimetres (0.039 to 0.236 in) long.
Plants flower in early May and late June, and they fruit 6 to 10 weeks after flowering. Flowers open for just one day, but anthesis is usually staggered so plants have blooming flowers for a full week; buds are covered in white wool that hides the fruit as it develops. The flower's inner tepals are silvery pink or magenta; the outer portions are white, crimson, green, or multicolored. They are approximately 4.5 to 8 centimetres (1.8 to 3.1 in) by 5 to 10 centimetres (2.0 to 3.9 in), and the flower tubes are 22 to 40 millimetres (0.87 to 1.57 in) by 10 to 30 millimetres (0.39 to 1.18 in). The tube hairs are 5 to 15 millimetres (0.20 to 0.59 in) long, and the nectar chamber is 2 to 5 millimetres (0.079 to 0.197 in) deep. Flowers have 30 to 50 petals each, which are ragged or notched. Pistils are multi-lobed and green, and stamens are cream-colored or yellow. Fruits are various shades of green and 15 to 28 millimetres (0.59 to 1.10 in) long.


E. reichenbachii's native habitat includes the entirety of the Chihuahuan Desert and its nearby grasslands, as well as in woodlands of oak and juniper. They grown at elevations up to 1,500 meters (4,900 ft). In the United States, E. reichenbachii is native to Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, and Nebraska. They are also found in Kansas and Oklahoma. The variety found in Oklahoma, E. reichenbachii baileyi, have especially long "bristlelike" spines. E. reichenbachii is native to the northern Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas.


E. reichenbachii prefer full sun and require little water. They thrive in dry, well-drained, gravelly, clay, and loam soils, and near rock outcroppings. They are cold and heat tolerant, and grow well under glass. They are drought resistant, but susceptible to mealybugs and scale insects.
Propagation is facilitated by seeds collected as the fruits begin to dry. The species is used in commercial landscaping as ornamental features, particularly in desert environments. Plants are considered deer resistant. E. reichenbachii earned the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Echinocereus stramineus is a species of cactus in which stramineus means made of straw. There are various common names such as strawberry cactus, porcupine hedgehog cactus, straw-color hedgehog, and pitaya.  The straw-colored spines make this particular plant distinguished from other Echinocereus. The aged spines may turn to white color and are very fragile.


Echinocereus stramineus is natively found in the United States (New Mexico and southwest Texas) and Mexico (Coahuila, Chihuahua, and Nuevo León). It prefers a similar living environment to other cactus such as desert, river and higher mountains.  There are certain specific areas in Mexico and United States where the plants occur. For example, United States; southern Trans-Pecos and the Big Bend region, Terrell Co. and lower Pecos River, Val Verde Co.(2,500–5000 ft). The region of the east side of Upton Co. to the Pecos River. South-central NM, Doña Ana, Otero, and Eddy counties. Mexico; Coahuila, East Chihuahua, West edges of Nuevo León, north Zacatecas, Northeast Durango, and N San Luis potosí.


Echinocereus stramineus has various stems from which a sexual mature plant can have a number of stems from 10–50 to 100–350. The largest stem reported was 1 meter in diameter with up to 500 stems. The most unusual feature of this plant is the number of ribs per stem. Normally, it has 11–17 ribs per stem and the average ribs per stem is 12 so it is easier to distinguish this from other Echinocereus. In E. stramineus, the areoles are circular in shape and normally 7–15 mm apart. Each areole contains average 2–4 central spines and 7–10 radial spines in which radial spines are acicular and 2–3 cm in length.


Echinocereus stramineus flowers in late March to May and flowers are average 8.5 to 12.5 cm in diameter and length, the color of inner tepals is deep red compared to the outer portion of the tepals. The filaments are 0.8–1 cm long and are reddish, anthers are yellow in color. (Filament and anther are the male structures). The green stigma lobes (usually 10–13 lobes and average 8 mm long) are supported by reddish style (usually 2.7 cm long and 2.5 mm thick). There are also rare individuals reported by Big Bend National Park where pure white flowers are found instead of red color as usual. Fruits are globular shape with 5–6 cm in diameter and the color will turn into reddish brown when ripe, and the areoles on fruit can be easily removed.


Echinocystis is a monotypic genus in the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae. The sole species is E. lobata, commonly called wild cucumber, prickly cucumber or bur cucumber. It is an annual, sprawling plant that is native to North America.


Echinocystis lobata is an annual vine that produces stems that can be as long as 8 m (26 ft) and which climb, with the help of coiling, branched tendrils, over shrubs and fences or trail across the ground. The stems are angular and furrowed. The leaves are alternate with long petioles, five palmate lobes and no stipules. The flowers are monoecious, with separate male and female blooms on the same plant. The male flowers are in long-stemmed, upright panicles. Each flower has a white, or greenish-yellow, corolla with six slender lobes. The male flower has a single central stamen with a yellow anther. The female flower has a single stigma and is borne on a short stalk at the base of the flower panicle, with the spiky globular inferior ovary being immediately beneath. The fruit is a prickly, inflated capsule up to 5 cm (2 in) long with two pores and four seeds. It resembles a tiny spiny water melon, or cucumber, but is inedible (hence the name "bur cucumber"). It persists all winter and then opens at the bottom, liberating the seeds. This species can be distinguished from the oneseed bur cucumber (Sicyos angulatus) by the six-lobed corolla and the lack of the clustered fruits that that plant bears. It also appears similar to Marah macrocarpa (also known as wild cucumber) which has a six-lobed corolla as well and is found in Southern California chaparral where E. lobata is not.


The native range across North America includes forty U.S. states (excluding Nevada, Hawaii, Alaska, and most of the far Southeastern states); and nine Canadian provinces.  It has also been reported as an uncommon invasive species in the Örség Landscape Protection Area of Hungary near the Austrian-Slovenian border.  Similarly it is reported as an adventive alien species that grew in wetland, grassland and human-affected areas of the Carei Plain natural protected area, western Romania.


This vine has been reported as a food source and host plant for the leaf-footed bug Anasa repetita, which feeds along the entire length of the stem and at the developing roots.  Specimens collected in September 2006 from a E. lobata in Grant County, Wisconsin were the first recording of the bug in that state.  Additionally, the pentatomid species Euschistus servus euschistoides is recorded as feeding on developing E. lobata fruit.  Robertson in 1928 reported that 2 different species of parasitoid hymenopterans had been collected from E. lobata flowers in central Illinois. Both the scoliid wasp Scolia bicincta and the tiphid wasp Myzinum quinquecinctum nectared on the flowers, along with a number of other flower species.  The beetle species Chauliognathus pensylvanicus is listed as visiting the wild flowers growing in Wisconsin.


The plant has been used medicinally by native Americans. The Taos Pueblo of New Mexico used it to treat rheumatism, while the Menominee of Wisconsin made a bitter extract from the roots for use as a love potion and as an analgesic. The powdered root has been used to prepare a poultice to relieve headaches and the seeds have been used as beads.


Echinops ritro, the southern globethistle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to southern and eastern Europe (from Spain east to Turkey, Ukraine, and Belarus), and western Asia. The species is sparingly naturalized in scattered locations in Canada and the United States.
Echinops ritro is a compact, bushy herbaceous perennial thistle, growing to 60 cm (24 in) tall, with broad prickly leaves and bearing globes of steel-blue flowers 2.5 cm - 4.5 cm in diameter, in late summer.
Echinops ritro  and the subspecies E. ritro subsp. ruthenicus have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Subspecies
Echinops ritro subsp. meyeri (DC.) Kožuharov
Echinops ritro subsp. ritro
Echinops ritro subsp. ruthenicus (M.Bieb.) Nyman
Echinops ritro subsp. sartorianus (Boiss. & Heldr.) Kožuharov
Echinops ritro subsp. siculus (Strobl) Greuter
Echinops ritro subsp. thracicus (Velen.) Kožuharov


Echinops sphaerocephalus, known by the common names glandular globe-thistle, great globe-thistle or pale globe-thistle, is a Eurasian species of globe-thistle belonging to the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae.


Echinops sphaerocephalus is a glandular, woolly perennial herbaceous plant with an average height of 50–100 centimetres (20–39 in), occasionally reaching 200 cm (80 inches).
Its erect branching, gray, slightly wrinkled and hairy stems bear the occasional large, soft, sharply toothed, sharp-lobed pointed green leaves. They are sticky hairy above, and white woolly below.
Atop each stem is an almost perfectly spherical inflorescence up to 6 cm in diameter, packed with white or blue-gray disc florets. It flowers from June until September.
The flowers are pollinated by insects (usually bees, wasps and butterflies) (entomogamy) and are hermaphrodite (self fertilization or autogamy). The fruits are hairy cylindrical achenes about 7 to 8 mm long. They ripen from September through October. The seeds are dispersed by wind (anemochory).


This species is widespread across much of Eurasia but it lives on other continents where it was introduced, including North America where it is a widespread weed. It is very common in the mountains of southern France and southern and central Europe.


It grows in sunny, rocky or brushy places in more or less mineral rich soils at an altitude of 0–400 metres (0–1,312 ft) above sea level.
Subspecies
Echinops sphaerocephalus subsp. albidus (Boiss. et Spruner) Kozu.
Echinops sphaerocephalus subsp. sphaerocephalus
Echinops sphaerocephalus subsp. taygeteus (Boiss. & Heldr.) Kožuharov


Echium plantagineum, commonly known as purple viper's-bugloss or Patterson's curse, is a species of the genus' 'Echium native to western and southern Europe (from southern England south to Iberia and east to the Crimea), northern Africa, and southwestern Asia (east to Georgia). It has also been introduced to Australia, South Africa and United States, where it is an invasive weed. Due to a high concentration of pyrrolizidine alkaloids, it is poisonous to grazing livestock, especially those with very simple digestive systems, like horses.


Echium plantagineum is a winter annual plant growing to 20–60 cm tall, with rough, hairy, lanceolate leaves up to 14 cm long. The flowers are purple, 15–20 mm long, with all the stamens protruding, and borne on a branched spike.


The Latin genus name comes from the Greek word 'ekhis' which means viper (a type of snake). Some sources say that this is due to the seeds resembling a viper's head. Others claim that the forking at the end of the thin flower style resembles a viper's tongue. It is also claimed that the plant roots when eaten with wine could provide a folk cure for a snake bite.
The Latin specific epithet plantagineum then refers to the leaves of the plant which are similar to those of a plantain.


Echnium plantagineum has become an invasive species in Australia, where it is also known as Salvation Jane (particularly in South Australia), blueweed, Lady Campbell weed, Paterson's Curse and Riverina bluebell.
In the United States, the species has become naturalised in parts of California, Oregon, and some eastern states and areas such as northern Michigan. In Oregon it has been declared a noxious weed.


Echium plantagineum contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids and is poisonous. When eaten in large quantities, it causes reduced livestock weight, and death in severe cases, due to liver damage. Paterson's curse can also kill horses, and irritate the udders of dairy cows and the skin of humans. After the 2003 Canberra bushfires, a large bloom of the plant occurred on the burned land, and many horses became ill and died from grazing on it. Because the alkaloids can also be found in the nectar of Paterson's curse, the honey made from it should be blended with other honeys to dilute the toxins.


The little blue heron (Egretta caerulea) is a small heron belonging to the family Ardeidae.


This species is about 64–76 cm (25–30 in) long, with a 102 cm (40 in) wingspan, and weighs 325 g (11.5 oz).
It is a medium-large, long-legged heron with a long pointed pale blue or greyish bill with a darker or black tip. The body is more elongated than in Snowy Egret.
Breeding adult birds have blue-grey plumage except for the head and neck, which are purplish and have long blue filamentous plumes. The legs and feet are dark blue/green or greenish. The sexes are similar. Non-breeding adults have dark blue head and neck plumage and paler legs. Young birds are all white in their first year, except for dark wing tips and have dull greenish legs. In their first spring or first summer they gradually acquire the adults' dark plumage.
This species is rather similar to the much larger and bigger-billed Reddish Egret. Immature little blues are similar to immature Snowy Egrets.


These herons prefer freshwater swamps and lagoons in the South, while on islands in the North they inhabit coastal thickets. They breed in sub-tropical and tropical swamps with mangrove vegetation, wetlands (bogs, fens, peatlands, etc.) and marine intertidal salt marshes.
The little blue heron nests in colonies, often with other herons, usually on platforms of sticks in trees or shrubs. Three to seven light blue eggs are laid. The little blue heron stalks its prey methodically in shallow water, often running as it does so. It eats fish (such as killifish, darters, anchovies, gobies, etc.), frogs, other amphibians, lizards, snakes, turtles, spiders, crustaceans (such as fiddler crabs, crayfish and shrimp), other invertebrates, small rodents and insects. It eats more insects than the larger herons. Adults usually forage alone, while immatures usually feed in groups.
White little blue herons often mingle with snowy egrets. The snowy egret tolerates their presence more than little blue herons in adult plumage. These young birds actually catch more fish when in the presence of the snowy egret and also gain a measure of protection from predators when they mix into flocks of white herons. It is plausible that because of these advantages, they remain white for their first year.


The little egret (Egretta garzetta) is a species of small heron in the family Ardeidae. It is a white bird with a slender black beak, long black legs and, in the western race, yellow feet. As an aquatic bird, it feeds in shallow water and on land, consuming a variety of small creatures. It breeds colonially, often with other species of water birds, making a platform nest of sticks in a tree, bush or reed bed. A clutch of three to  five bluish-green eggs is laid and incubated by both parents for about three weeks. The young fledge at about six weeks of age.
Its breeding distribution is in wetlands in warm temperate to tropical parts of Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. A successful colonist, its range has gradually expanded north, with stable and self-sustaining populations now present in the United Kingdom.
In warmer locations, most birds are permanent residents; northern populations, including many European birds, migrate to Africa and southern Asia to over-winter there. The birds may also wander north in late summer after the breeding season, and their tendency to disperse may have assisted in the recent expansion of the bird's range. At one time common in Western Europe, it was hunted extensively in the 19th century to provide plumes for the decoration of hats and became locally extinct in northwestern Europe and scarce in the south. Around 1950, conservation laws were introduced in southern Europe to protect the species and their numbers began to increase.  By the beginning of the 21st century the bird was breeding again in France, the Netherlands, Ireland and Britain. Its range is continuing to expand westward, and the species has begun to colonise the New World; it was first seen in Barbados in 1954 and first bred there in 1994. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed the bird's global conservation status as being of "least concern".


The little egret was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Ardea garzetta. It is now placed with 12 other species in the genus Egretta that was introduced in 1817 by the German naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster with the little egret as the type species. The genus name comes from the Provençal French Aigrette, "egret", a diminutive of Aigron, "heron". The species epithet garzetta is from the Italian name for this bird, garzetta or sgarzetta.
Two subspecies are recognised:
E. g. garzetta (Linnaeus, 1766) – nominate, found in Europe, Africa, and most of Asia except the south-east
E. g. nigripes (Temminck, 1840) – found in the Sunda Islands, Australia and New Zealand
Three other egret taxa have at times been classified as subspecies of the little egret in the past but are now regarded as two separate species. These are the western reef heron Egretta gularis which occurs on the coastline of West Africa (Egretta gularis gularis) and from the Red Sea to India (Egretta gularis schistacea), and the dimorphic egret (Egretta dimorpha), found in East Africa, Madagascar, the Comoros and the Aldabra Islands.


The adult little egret is 55–65 cm (22–26 in) long with an 88–106 cm (35–42 in) wingspan, and weighs 350–550 g (12–19 oz). Its plumage is normally entirely white, although there are dark forms with largely bluish-grey plumage. In the breeding season, the adult has two long plumes on the nape that form a crest. These plumes are about 150 mm (6 in) and are pointed and very narrow. There are similar feathers on the breast, but the barbs are more widely spread. There are also several elongated scapular feathers that have long loose barbs and may be 200 mm (8 in) long. During the winter the plumage is similar but the scapulars are shorter and more normal in appearance. The bill is long and slender and it and the lores are black. There is an area of greenish-grey bare skin at the base of the lower mandible and around the eye which has a yellow iris. The legs are black and the feet yellow. Juveniles are similar to non-breeding adults but have greenish-black legs and duller yellow feet, and may have a certain proportion of greyish or brownish feathers.  The subspecies nigripes differs in having yellow skin between the bill and eye, and blackish feet. During the height of courtship, the lores turn red and the feet of the yellow-footed races turn red.
Little egrets are mostly silent but make various croaking and bubbling calls at their breeding colonies and produce a harsh alarm call when disturbed. To the human ear, the sounds are indistinguishable from the black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) and the cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) with which it sometimes associates.


The breeding range of the western race (E. g. garzetta) includes southern Europe, the Middle East, much of Africa and southern Asia. Northern European populations are migratory, mostly travelling to Africa although some remain in southern Europe, while some Asian populations migrate to the Philippines. The eastern race, (E. g. nigripes), is resident in Indonesia and New Guinea, while E. g. immaculata inhabits Australia and New Zealand, but does not breed in the latter. During the late twentieth century, the range of the little egret expanded northwards in Europe and into the New World, where a breeding population was established on Barbados in 1994. The birds have since spread elsewhere in the Caribbean region and on the Atlantic coast of the United States.
The little egret's habitat varies widely, and includes the shores of lakes, rivers, canals, ponds, lagoons, marshes and flooded land, the bird preferring open locations to dense cover. On the coast it inhabits mangrove areas, swamps, mudflats, sandy beaches and reefs. Rice fields are an important habitat in Italy, and coastal and mangrove areas are important in Africa. The bird often moves about among cattle or other hoofed mammals.


Little egrets are sociable birds and are often seen in small flocks. Nevertheless, individual birds do not tolerate others coming too close to their chosen feeding site, though this depends on the abundance of prey.


They use a variety of methods to procure their food; they stalk their prey in shallow water, often running with raised wings or shuffling their feet to disturb small fish, or may stand still and wait to ambush prey. They make use of opportunities provided by cormorants disturbing fish or humans attracting fish by throwing bread into water. On land they walk or run while chasing their prey, feed on creatures disturbed by grazing livestock and ticks on the livestock, and even scavenge. Their diet is mainly fish, but amphibians, small reptiles, mammals and birds are also eaten, as well as crustaceans, molluscs, insects, spiders and worms.


Little egrets nest in colonies, often with other wading birds. On the coasts of western India these colonies may be in urban areas, and associated birds include cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis), black-crowned night herons (Nycticorax nycticorax) and black-headed ibises (Threskiornis melanocephalus). In Europe, associated species may be squacco herons (Ardeola ralloides), cattle egrets, black-crowned night herons and glossy ibises (Plegadis falcinellus). The nests are usually platforms of sticks built in trees or shrubs, or in reed beds or bamboo groves. In some locations such as the Cape Verde Islands, the birds nest on cliffs. Pairs defend a small breeding territory, usually extending around 3 to 4 m (10 to 13 ft) from the nest. The three to five eggs are incubated by both adults for 21 to 25 days before hatching. They are oval in shape and have a pale, non-glossy, blue-green shell colour. The young birds are covered in white down feathers, are cared for by both parents and fledge after 40 to 45 days.


Globally, the little egret is not listed as a threatened species and has in fact expanded its range over the last few decades. The International Union for Conservation of Nature states that their wide distribution and large total population means that they are a species that cause them "least concern".


Historical research has shown that the little egret was once present, and probably common, in Ireland and Great Britain, but became extinct there through a combination of over-hunting in the late medieval period and climate change at the start of the Little Ice Age. The inclusion of 1,000 egrets (among numerous other birds) in the banquet to celebrate the enthronement of George Neville as Archbishop of York at Cawood Castle in 1465 indicates the presence of a sizable population in northern England at the time, and they are also listed in the coronation feast of King Henry VI in 1429. They had become scarce by the mid-16th century, when William Gowreley, "yeoman purveyor to the Kinges mowthe", "had to send further south" for egrets. In 1804 Thomas Bewick commented that if it were the same bird as listed in Neville's bill of fare "No wonder this species has become nearly extinct in this country!"
Further declines occurred throughout Europe as the plumes of the little egret and other egrets were in demand for decorating hats. They had been used in the plume trade since at least the 17th century but in the 19th century it became a major craze and the number of egret skins passing through dealers reached into the millions. Complete statistics do not exist, but in the first three months of 1885, 750,000 egret skins were sold in London, while in 1887 one London dealer sold 2 million egret skins. Egret farms were set up where the birds could be plucked without being killed but most of the supply of so-called "Osprey plumes" was obtained by hunting, which reduced the population of the species to dangerously low levels and stimulated the establishment of Britain's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in 1889.
By the 1950s, the little egret had become restricted to southern Europe, and conservation laws protecting the species were introduced. This allowed the population to rebound strongly; over the next few decades it became increasingly common in western France and later on the north coast. It bred in the Netherlands in 1979 with further breeding from the 1990s onward. About 22,700 pairs are thought to breed in Europe, with populations stable or increasing in Spain, France and Italy but decreasing in Greece.
In Britain it was a rare vagrant from its 16th-century disappearance until the late 20th century, and did not breed. It has however recently become a regular breeding species and is commonly present, often in large numbers, at favoured coastal sites. The first recent breeding record in England was on Brownsea Island in Dorset in 1996, and the species bred in Wales for the first time in 2002. The population increase has been rapid subsequently, with over 750 pairs breeding in nearly 70 colonies in 2008, and a post-breeding total of 4,540 birds in September 2008. The first record of breeding in Scotland happened in 2020 in Dumfries & Galloway. In Ireland, the species bred for the first time in 1997 at a site in County Cork and the population has also expanded rapidly since, breeding in most Irish counties by 2010. Severe winter weather in 2010–2012 proved to be only a temporary setback, and the species continues to spread.


In Australia, its status varies from state to state. It is listed as "Threatened" on the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988. Under this act, an Action Statement for the recovery and future management of this species has been prepared. On the 2007 advisory list of threatened vertebrate fauna in Victoria, the little egret is listed as endangered.


With its range continuing to expand, the little egret has now started to colonise the New World. The first record there was on Barbados in April 1954. The bird began breeding on the island in 1994 and now also breeds in the Bahamas. Ringed birds from Spain provide a clue to the birds' origin. The birds are very similar in appearance to the snowy egret and share colonial nesting sites with these birds in Barbados, where they are both recent arrivals. The little egrets are larger, have more varied foraging strategies and exert dominance over feeding sites.
Little egrets are seen with increasing regularity over a wider area and have been observed from Suriname and Brazil in the south to Newfoundland, Quebec and Ontario in the north. Birds on the east coast of North America are thought to have moved north with snowy egrets from the Caribbean. In June 2011, a little egret was spotted in Maine, in the Scarborough Marsh, near the Audubon Center.


The snowy egret (Egretta thula) is a small white heron. The genus name comes from Provençal French for the little egret, aigrette, which is a diminutive of aigron, 'heron'. The species name thula is the Araucano term for the black-necked swan, applied to this species in error by Chilean naturalist Juan Ignacio Molina in 1782.
The snowy egret is the American counterpart to the very similar Old World little egret, which has become established in the Bahamas. At one time, the plumes of the snowy egret were in great demand as decorations for women's hats. They were hunted for these plumes and this reduced the population of the species to dangerously low levels. Now protected in the United States by law, under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, this bird's population has rebounded.


Adult snowy egrets are entirely white apart from the yellow lores between the long black bill and the eye, black legs, and bright yellow feet. The nape and neck bear long, shaggy plumes known as aigrettes. Immature snowy egrets have duller, greenish legs.
Measurements:
Length: 22.1–26.0 in (56–66 cm)
Weight: 13.1 oz (370 g)
Wingspan: 39.4 inches (100 cm)


The snowy egret is native to North, Central and South America. It is present all year round in South America, ranging as far south as Chile and Argentina. It also occurs throughout the year in the West Indies, Florida and coastal regions of North and Central America. Elsewhere, in the southern part of the United States, it is migratory, breeding in California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. It is found in wetlands of many types; marshes, riverbanks, lakesides, pools, salt marshes and estuaries. It is not found at high altitudes nor generally on the coast.
The snowy egret has occurred as a vagrant in Europe, in Iceland, Scotland and the Azores. It has also been recorded in South Africa.


The birds eat fish, crustaceans (such as crabs, shrimp and crayfish), insects, small reptiles (such as lizards and snakes), snails, frogs, toads and worms (especially earthworms and other annelids). They stalk prey in shallow water, often running or shuffling their feet, flushing prey into view by swaying their heads, flicking their wings or vibrating their bills. They may also hover, or "dip-fish" by flying with their feet just above the water surface. Snowy egrets may also stand still and wait to ambush prey, or hunt for insects stirred up by domestic animals in open fields. They sometimes forage in mixed species groups.


Snowy egrets breed in mixed colonies, which may include great egrets, night herons, tricolored herons, little blue herons, cattle egrets, glossy ibises and roseate spoonbills. The male establishes a territory and starts building the nest in a tree, vines or thick undergrowth. He then attracts a mate with an elaborate courtship display which includes dipping up and down, bill raising, aerial displays, diving, tumbling and calling. The immediate vicinity of the nest is defended from other birds and the female finishes the construction of the nest with materials brought by the male. It is constructed from twigs, rushes, sedges, grasses, Spanish moss and similar materials and may be 15 in (38 cm) across. Up to six pale bluish-green eggs are laid which hatch after about 24 days. The young are altricial and covered with white down when first hatched. They leave the nest after about 22 days.


Fossils of the snowy egret have been reported from the Talara tar seeps of Peru and in Bradenton in Manatee County and Haile XIB in Alachua County in Florida, United States. The deposits were dated to the Late Pleistocene.


In the early twentieth century, the snowy egret was hunted extensively for their long breeding plumes that fashionable ladies wore on their hats. This trade was ended in 1910 in North America but continued for some time in Central and South America. Since then populations have recovered. The bird has a very wide range and the total population is large. No particular threats have been recognised and the population trend seems to be upwards, so the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern".


The tricolored heron (Egretta tricolor), formerly known as the Louisiana heron, is a small species of heron native to coastal parts of the Americas; in the Atlantic region, it ranges from the northeastern United States, south along the coast, through the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, to northern South America as far south as Brazil. In the Pacific region, it ranges from Peru to California, but it is only a nonbreeding visitor to the far north.


Tricolored herons breed in swamps and other coastal habitats. They nest in colonies, often with other herons, usually on platforms of sticks in trees or shrubs. In each clutch,  three to seven eggs are typically laid.


This species measures from 56 to 76 cm (22 to 30 in) long and has a typical wingspan of 96 cm (38 in). The slightly larger male heron weighs 415 g (14.6 oz) on average, while the female averages 334 g (11.8 oz). It is a medium-large, long-legged, long-necked heron with a long, pointed, yellowish or greyish bill with a black tip. Its legs and feet are dark.
Adults have a blue-grey head, neck, back, and upper wings, with a white line along the neck. The belly is white. In breeding plumage, they have long, blue, filamentous plumes on their heads and necks, and buff ones on their backs.


The tricolored heron stalks its prey in shallow or deeper water, often running as it does so. It eats fish, amphibians, crustaceans, gastropods, leeches, worms, spiders, reptiles, and insects.


Ehrendorferia chrysantha (syn. Dicentra chrysantha), with the common name golden eardrops, is a biennial to perennial plant in the family Papaveraceae.
It is native to dry, brushy areas prone to wildfire in diverse regions of California, and in Baja California.


Dicentra chrysantha has a taproot. Its leaves are blue-green, with many lobed leaflets.
Flowers are yellow and aromatic, with the tips of two outer petals curved outward from two central petals, borne in panicles at the top of branched stems 1.5 m tall.
Seeds are borne in a capsule 1–2 cm long. They usually do not germinate unless exposed to fire.


Ehretia anacua is medium-sized tree found in eastern Mexico and southern Texas in the United States. It is a member of the borage family, Boraginaceae.  One of its common names, anacua, is derived from the Mexican Spanish word anacahuite, as is that of the related Cordia boissieri, the anacahuita.  That word in turn is derived from the Nahuatl words āmatl, meaning "paper," and cuahuitl, meaning "tree," possibly referring to the bark. It is also known as knockaway, a corruption of anacua, and sandpaper tree. Alternate spellings are anaqua and anachua.


Anacua reaches a height of 20–45 ft (6.1–13.7 m) and a diameter of 0.3 m (0.98 ft), often producing suckers or multiple trunks. The bark is reddish-brown to gray with narrow furrows and peeling scales. The dark green leaves are 3–8 cm (1.2–3.1 in) and 2–4 cm (0.79–1.57 in) wide and elliptical or ovate. Their upper surfaces are remarkably rough, feeling like low-grade sandpaper. Anacua is a partial evergreen, replacing some of the leaves in early spring. Abundant white flowers form in panicles or cymes 5–7.5 cm (2.0–3.0 in) in length at the ends of twigs, making trees appear to be covered in snow when in bloom from spring to summer. Flowers are 8 mm (0.31 in) wide and have 5 corolla lobes. The fruits are spherical drupes 8 mm in diameter and yellowish-orange.  The drupes contain two stones, each with two seeds.  In addition to being edible by humans, the drupes are eaten by mammals and birds such as the clay-colored thrush. The lifespan of an Anacua is at least 50 years.


Anacua is found on dry hillsides as a shrub, but reaches tree size in the moist soils of riparian zones and floodplains.  It can be found at elevations from sea level to 1,000 ft (300 m).


The leaves of E. anacua are the sole food source of the Texas tortoise beetle (Coptocycla texana).


The common footman (Manulea lurideola) is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Johann Leopold Theodor Friedrich Zincken in 1817. It is distributed throughout Europe and east through the Palearctic to Lake Baikal.
This species has a wingspan of 31–38 mm. The forewings are grey with a yellowish-buff streak along the costa. The hindwings are a uniform cream colour. Like other footmen, it rests with its wings wrapped around its body. (The common name footman comes from a supposed resemblance to the uniform of a footman.)


Wittia sororcula, the orange footman, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1766. It is found in Europe, Anatolia and further east across the Palearctic to southern Siberia and the Amur basin to China.


The orange footman was previously placed in the genus Eilema, but was transferred to the genus Wittia by Vladimir Viktorovitch Dubatolov in 2011.


Elaeagnus angustifolia, commonly called Russian olive, silver berry, oleaster, or wild olive, is a species of Elaeagnus, native to western and central Asia, Iran, from southern Russia and Kazakhstan to Turkey, parts of Pakistan and parts of India. As of 2020, it is widely established in North America as an introduced species.


Elaeagnus angustifolia is a usually thorny shrub or small tree growing to 5–7 metres (16–23 feet) in height. Its stems, buds, and leaves have a dense covering of silvery to rusty scales. The leaves are alternate, lanceolate, 4–9 centimetres (1+1⁄2–3+1⁄2 inches) long and 1–2.5 cm (3⁄8–1 in) broad, with a smooth margin. The plants begin to flower and fruit from 3 years old. The highly aromatic flowers, produced in clusters of one to three, are 1 cm long with a four-lobed creamy yellow calyx; they appear in early summer and are followed by clusters of fruit, a small cherry-like drupe 1–1.7 cm (3⁄8–5⁄8 in) long, orange-red covered in silvery scales. The fruits are about 1 cm wide and sweet, though with a dryish, mealy texture.
The species is established and reproduced primarily by seed, with some vegetative propagation also occurring. The branches have thorns that can be 2–7 cm (3⁄4–2+3⁄4 in) long.


The species was described as Zizyphus cappadocica by John Gerard, and was grown by John Parkinson by 1633. Its common name comes from its similarity in appearance to the olive (Olea europaea), in a different botanical family, the Oleaceae.


The species was introduced into North America by the late 19th century, and was both planted and spread through the consumption of its fruits (which seldom ripen in England), by birds, which disperse the seeds. Russian olive is considered to be an invasive species in many places in the United States because it thrives on poor soil, has high seedling survival rates, matures in a few years, and out-competes the native vegetation. It often invades riparian habitats where the canopy of cottonwood trees has died. Its quick-spreading root system can make it pest-like.


It is widely grown across southern and central Europe as a drought and cold-resistant ornamental plant for its scented flowers, edible fruit, attractive yellow foliage and black bark.
In Iran, the dried powder of the fruit is used mixed with milk for rheumatoid arthritis and joint pains. There is evidence supporting beneficial effects of aqueous extract of Persian olive in reducing the symptoms of osteoarthritis with an efficacy comparable to that of acetaminophen and ibuprofen.
It is one of the seven items used in Haft-sin, a traditional table setting of Nowruz, the traditional Persian spring celebration. The dried fruit, known locally as senjed, is one of seven served in its own syrup in a fruit salad eaten during Nowruz in Afghanistan.


Elaeagnus commutata, the silverberry or wolf-willow, is a species of Elaeagnus native to western and boreal North America, from southern Alaska through British Columbia east to Quebec, south to Utah, and across the upper Midwestern United States to South Dakota and western Minnesota. It typically grows on dry to moist sandy and gravel soils in steppes, meadows or woodland edges.


These plants are shrubs or small trees growing to 1–4 m tall. The leaves are broad lanceolate, 2–7 cm long, silvery on both sides with dense small white scales. The fragrant flowers are yellow, with a four-lobed corolla 6–14 mm long. The fruits are ovoid drupes 9–12 mm long, also covered in silvery scales. The fruit pulp is floury in texture, and surrounds the single seed.


The species is cultivated as an ornamental plant for its silvery foliage.
Both the  fruit and seeds of this plant are edible either cooked or raw.  The fruit is very astringent unless it is fully ripe.  The fruit is a very rich source of vitamins and minerals especially A, C and E.  As well it is a fairly good source of essential fatty acids.  These fats are rarely found in fruits.
This plant, like legumes, is able to fix nitrogen.  When grown in orchards as a companion plant, it has been documented to increase fruit production by ten percent.  Traditionally the fibrous  bark of this tree has been twisted to make strong ropes, and woven into clothing and blankets
Sharp tailed grouse and songbirds eat the fruits. This plant is a food source for sharp tailed grouse in the winter.  Silverberry is an important food for wildlife and it provides over one quarter of the diet for moose during winter in Montana. It also provides food for deer and elk.  It provides cover and nesting sites for mallards and many passerine birds in North Dakota  "In rough fescue grasslands, silverberry at 1,000 stems
per acre increases forage production."


Elaeagnus pungens is a species of flowering plant in the family Elaeagnaceae, known by the common names thorny olive, spiny oleaster and silverthorn; also by the family name "oleaster". It is native to Asia, including China and Japan. It is present in the southeastern United States as an introduced species, a common landscaping and ornamental plant, and sometimes an invasive species.


Elaeagnus pungens is a dense, branching shrub which can reach over 7 metres (23 ft) tall by 4 metres (13 ft) wide. It sprouts prolifically from its stem, spreading out and twining into adjacent vegetation. Parts of the stem are covered in thorns which can be up to 8 centimetres (3.1 in) long. The evergreen, alternately-arranged leaves are up to 10 centimetres (3.9 in) long but under 5 centimetres (2.0 in) wide. The undersides are silvery white with brown flecks. Tubular flowers are borne in clusters of up to three. The flowers are yellowish or white and are sweet-scented. The fruit is a drupe up to 1.5 centimetres (0.59 in) long which contains one seed. It is reddish with silver scales. Blooming occurs in the autumn and fruit develops during the spring. The plant grows quickly, with shoots growing over one meter per season. The growth has been described as "aggressive", with shoots extending many meters into neighboring treetops. The seeds are dispersed by birds.


In China this plant occurs on hillsides and in thickets. In Japan it grows in scrub dominated by Quercus phillyraeoides and Pittosporum tobira. This plant was introduced to the United States from Asia in 1830. It has been used extensively as a landscaping plant. Its densely packed, spreading form has proved useful along roadsides and highway medians. It was also used to revegetate abandoned mining sites in Kentucky and other areas. It took hold easily and still persists in these places. It also spread into the wild, having escaped cultivation. In North Carolina it has been reported from longleaf pine forests, urban and maritime forests, and oak-hickory woodlands. In Alabama it grows in urban areas and in protected, natural habitats as a weed. The South Carolina Southern Weed Science Society places it as an invasive species in their local area.


Despite its invasive potential, E. pungens is widely cultivated as a garden plant in temperate regions. It tolerates varied environmental conditions, including heat, cold, wind, coastal conditions, shade, and full sun. It is very drought-tolerant. It can grow in varied soil types, including those found at mine spoils. Numerous cultivars have been developed, especially for variegated foliage effects. Commercially available cultivars include 'Maculata', which has gold coloration on the leaves, as well as 'Fruitlandii', 'Hosoba-Fukurin' and 'Goldrim'.
Elaeagnus × submacrophylla, formerly known as E. × ebbingei, is a hybrid between E. macrophylla and E. pungens. The hybrid and its cultivars are also grown in gardens as ornamental plants.


Many birds feed on the fruits of the shrub.  Birds are most attracted to the plants that produce the most fruit. Studies have found that cedar waxwings attracted to roadside plantings of the shrub are susceptible to automobile-related mortality. In Brazos County, Texas between 8 March and 5 April 1981, researchers counted 298 cedar waxwings that had been killed while trying to get fruits from thorny-olive shrubs growing along one highway.


Elaeagnus umbellata is known as Japanese silverberry, umbellata oleaster, autumn olive, autumn elaeagnus, or spreading oleaster. The species is indigenous to eastern Asia and ranges from the Himalayas eastwards to Japan. It is a hardy, aggressive invasive species able to readily colonize barren land, becoming a troublesome plant in the central and northeastern United States and Europe.


Elaeagnus umbellata grows as a deciduous shrub or small tree, typically up to 3.5 metres (11 ft) tall, with a dense crown. It commonly bears sharp thorns in the form of spur branches. Flowers are fragrant and occur in clusters of white to yellow, 8–9 mm in length and 7 mm in diameter, and have four lobes.
The leaves are alternate, 4–10 cm long and 2–4 cm wide with wavy margins. The leaves are covered with minute silvery scales when they emerge early in spring, but turn greener above as the scales wear off during the summer. The underside is more intensely covered in the silvery scales, differing from the related E. angustifolia, which remains silvery until it sheds its leaves in the fall.


The flowers are borne in the leaf axils in clusters of 1-7. They are pale yellowish-white, fragrant, (often heavily fragrant) and have a four-lobed corolla 1 cm long. They are an important source of nectar for pollinators such as bees.


The fruit is a small round drupe 1/4 to 1/3 inches (0.65 to 0.85 cm) in diameter. The unripe fruit is silvery-scaled and yellow. It ripens to red, dotted with silver or brown. The ripe fruits are pulpy, juicy and sweet, 3–9 mm in length, 5 mm in diameter, and average 137 milligrams in weight, with a thin skin covering the whole fruit. Having a sweet and tart flavor, the berries can be eaten fresh or processed for jam, condiments, flavoring, or used as a substitute for tomato. When mature, the red berries contain carotenoids, including considerable amounts of lycopene.


In its origin regions of tropical and temperate Asia, E. umbellata is not considered to be an invasive species, but in many world regions, it has become invasive across wild and cultivated areas, particularly in the eastern United States. In the early 19th century, E. umbellata was purposely introduced to the United States and the United Kingdom for shelter belts, erosion control, wasteland reclamation, wildlife habitat, and for gardens as an ornamental. By the late 20th century, the shrub became a noxious weed and invasive species in many US states from the east coast to the central prairies, and spread widely across Europe.
Due to its substantial seed production and avid germination potential, E. umbellata rapidly invades new areas where it can resprout readily after burning or cutting. Because E. umbellata stands are habitats for wildlife, such as providing forage and shelter for deer, nesting sites for birds, and berries as food for several species, it has been planted for wildlife management in parts of the United States.
In Europe, E. umbellata has spread to the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, and Italy, but has been cultivated in the Netherlands and Scotland. In some parts of North America where it has become naturalized, E. umbellata is considered a noxious weed, particularly in the central and northeastern United States. In Canada, it is a "prohibited noxious weed" under the Alberta Weed Control Act 2010.
Because it fixes atmospheric nitrogen in its roots, E. umbellata may grow vigorously and sometimes competitively in infertile soils. It can enrich soils and benefit nearby plants, and when grown in orchards, it can increase yields of adjacent fruit trees up to 10%.


The yellow-bellied elaenia (Elaenia flavogaster) is a small bird of the tyrant flycatcher family. It breeds from southern Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula through Central and South America as far as northern Argentina, and on Trinidad and Tobago.


Four subspecies are recognized:
Elaenia flavogaster subpagana – Sclater, PL, 1860: found from southeastern Mexico to Costa Rica and on Coiba Island, Panama
Elaenia flavogaster pallididorsalis – Aldrich, 1937: found in Panama
Elaenia flavogaster flavogaster – (Thunberg, 1822): nominate, found in Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad, and the southern Lesser Antilles, the Guianas, Brazil except western and central Amazonas, southeastern Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay and northeastern Argentina
Elaenia flavogaster semipagana – Sclater, PL, 1862: found in southwestern Colombia, western and southern Ecuador and northwestern Peru


This is a common bird in semi-open woodland, scrub, gardens and cultivation. The yellow-bellied elaenia is a noisy and conspicuous bird which feeds on berries and insects. The latter are usually caught from mid-air after the bird sallies from a perch, and sometimes picked up from plants. The species will also join mixed-species feeding flocks on occasion, typically staying quite some distance up in the trees.
It makes a cup nest and lays two cream eggs with reddish blotches at the larger end. The female incubates for 16 days, with about the same period to fledging. Omnivorous mammals as small as the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) will eagerly plunder yellow-bellied elaenia nests in the undergrowth—perhaps more often during the dry season when fruits are scarce—despite the birds' attempts to defend their offspring.


The yellow-bellied elaenia is a common and wide-ranging bird, not considered threatened by the IUCN.


Elaeocarpus hookerianus, commonly known as pokaka (Māori: pōkākā), is a native forest tree of New Zealand. A cold tolerant plant, E. hookerianus can be found from valley floors to mountainous areas.
Like many other New Zealand trees it has a distinctive juvenile form where its branches are interlaced and have tiny leaves.


The species is 50 to 68 cm (20 to 27 in) in length, with a wingspan of approximately 1.12–1.36 m (3.7–4.5 ft). Male and female individuals appear similar. The body weight is 310–600 g (11–21 oz). The body is a contrasting deep black and white. The flight feathers, tail, feet, bill are all black. Another characteristic is the elongated, forked tail at 27.5–37 centimetres (10.8–14.6 in) long, hence the name swallow-tailed. The wings are also relatively elongated, as the wing chord measures 39–45 cm (15–18 in). The tarsus is fairly short for the size of the bird at 3.3 cm (1.3 in).
50 to 68 cm in length, with a wingspan of 1.12–1.36 m with a wing chord measuring 39–45 cm. The body is a contrasting deep black and white. The upper side of the wings is black along with the, tail, feet, and bill. The underside of the wings is partly black and partly white. The forked tail is 27.5–37 centimeters long.
Young swallow-tailed kites are duller in color than the adults, and the tail is not as deeply forked.


The black-shouldered kite (Elanus axillaris), also known as the Australian black-shouldered kite, is a small raptor found in open habitat throughout Australia. It resembles similar species found in Africa, Eurasia and North America, including the black-winged kite, a species that has in the past also been called "black-shouldered kite". Measuring around 35 cm (14 in) in length with a wingspan of 80–100 cm (31–39 in), the adult black-shouldered kite has predominantly grey-white plumage and prominent black markings above its red eyes. It gains its name from the black patches on its wings. The primary call is a clear whistle, uttered in flight and while hovering. It can be confused with the related letter-winged kite in Australia, which is distinguished by the striking black markings under its wings.
The species forms monogamous pairs, breeding between August and January. The birds engage in aerial courtship displays which involve high circling flight and ritualised feeding mid-air. Three or four eggs are laid and incubated for around thirty days. Chicks are fully fledged within five weeks of hatching and can hunt for mice within a week of leaving the nest. Juveniles disperse widely from the home territory. The black-shouldered kite hunts in open grasslands, searching for its prey by hovering and systematically scanning the ground. It mainly eats small rodents, particularly the introduced house mouse, and has benefitted from the modification of the Australian landscape by agriculture. It is rated as least concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Red List of "Endangered species."


The black-shouldered kite was first described by English ornithologist John Latham in 1801, as Falco axillaris. Its specific name is derived from the Latin axilla, meaning "armpit", relating to the dark patches under the wings. He reported the description came from a bird that had been kept for two months in the early colony.
The species description was based on one of four paintings by Australian painter Thomas Watling of a bird in the Sydney district in the 1790s.
English naturalist John Gould described the same species as Elanus notatus in 1838 from a specimen from New South Wales, apparently unaware of Latham's description. English zoologist George Robert Gray followed Latham using the binomial Elanus axillaris in 1849. Gould conceded Latham's name was valid and hence had precedence, and E. notatus was reduced to synonymy. Australian ornithologist Gregory Mathews argued that Latham's description mentioned black axillaries and hence must have referred to the letter-winged kite, and that Watling's drawings were inconclusive. He promoted the use of E. notatus over E. axillaris in 1916. This was followed for many years. But in 1980 Australian taxonomists Richard Schodde and Ian J. Mason refuted Mathews' claim that the original description of E. axillaris was ambiguous and reinstated the name. This has been followed by subsequent authorities. The black-shouldered kite is monotypic; no subspecies are recognised.
"Black-shouldered kite" has been designated the official name by the International Ornithologists' Union (IOC). It has also been called the Australian black-shouldered kite to distinguish it from the Eurasian black-winged kite (E. caeruleus) and American white-tailed kite (E. leucurus)—both formerly known as "black-shouldered kite". Watling had recorded the Dharug term Geo-ga-rack.
In 1959, American ornithologist Kenneth C. Parkes noted that the plumage of the black-shouldered kite is similar to that of the black-winged and white-tailed kites, and proposed that all three were subspecies of a single cosmopolitan species E. caeruleus—much like the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus). Researchers William S. Clark and Richard C. Banks disputed this, pointing out the differences in anatomical proportions such as wing shape and tail length, and hunting behavior (E. caeruleus rarely hunts by hovering, unlike the other two species) and proposed the species be separated again in 1992. They are regarded as distinct in the IOC World Bird List.
Molecular evidence shows that the black-shouldered kite and its relatives belong to a subfamily Elaninae that is an early offshoot within the raptor family Accipitridae. There is some evidence they are more divergent from other raptors and better placed in their own family.