The hooded merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) is a species of merganser. It is the only extant species in the genus Lophodytes. The genus name derives from the Greek language: lophos meaning 'crest', and dutes meaning 'diver'. The bird is striking in appearance; both sexes have crests that they can raise or lower, and the breeding plumage of the male is handsomely patterned and coloured.  The hooded merganser has a sawbill but is not classified as a typical merganser.
Hooded mergansers are the second smallest species of merganser, with only the smew of Europe and Asia being smaller, and it also is the only merganser whose native habitat is restricted to North America.
A species of fossil merganser from the Late Pleistocene of Vero Beach, Florida, was described as Querquedula floridana (a genus now included in Anas), but upon reexamination turned out to be a species closely related to the hooded merganser; it is now named Lophodytes floridanus, but the exact relationship between this bird and the modern species is unknown.


The hooded merganser was one of the many bird species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae, where it was given the binomial name Mergus cucullatus.


The hooded merganser is a sexually dimorphic species. The adult female has a greyish-brown body, with a narrow white patch over the lower breast and belly. She has a light reddish-brown crest extending from the back of the head.  During the nonbreeding season the male looks similar to the female, except that his eyes are yellow and the female's eyes are brown.
In breeding plumage the dorsal areas and the head, neck and breast of the mature male are mainly black with white markings; there are large white patches on either side of the crest, and they are particularly conspicuous when he raises his crest during courtship. His lower flanks are a rich reddish-brown or chestnut in colour, and the breast and undersides are more or less white, extending into white stripes across the crop and breast.
In both sexes there are narrow white stripes along the tertial wing feathers; when the bird is in repose they have the appearance of longitudinal white stripes along the bird's lower back, if they are visible.
First-winter birds differ from adult females in appearance in that they have a grey-brown neck and upper parts; the upper parts of adult females are much darker — nearly black. Furthermore, the young birds have narrower white edges to their tertial feathers than adults do. Females of all ages are dark-eyed, whereas in males the eyes become pale during their first winter.
Measurements:
Length: 15.8-19.3 in (40-49 cm)
Weight: 16.0-31.0 oz (453-879 g)
Wingspan: 23.6-26.0 in (60-66 cm)


Hooded mergansers are short-distance migrants, and they winter in the United States in regions where winter temperatures allow for ice-free conditions on ponds, lakes and rivers. They have two major year-round ranges. One is in the eastern United States from the southern Canada–US border along the Atlantic Coast to the Gulf Coast in the region of the Mississippi delta. A smaller year-round range extends from Washington state and southern British Columbia to northern Idaho. They also breed to some extent in regions from Missouri to southern Canada and from Nova Scotia to eastern North Dakota and Saskatchewan, migrating when necessary to avoid winter conditions. From 1966 - 2015, the hooded merganser experienced a >1.5% yearly population increase throughout its breeding range.
For preference the hooded merganser lives on small bodies of water such as ponds and small estuaries where there is ample emergent aquatic vegetation, but it also inhabits larger wetlands, impoundments, flooded timber, and rivers. They prefer fresh water but do occur on brackish water bodies as well.


Although the hooded merganser is a common species in captivity in Europe and most specimens recorded in the wild are regarded as escapes, a small number of birds have been regarded as genuinely wild vagrants. Britain's current first accepted record is a bird which was seen on North Uist in October 2000. Small numbers are seen regularly in Dublin, but these are presumed to be escapes.


The hooded merganser is a diving predator that largely hunts by sight while under water. Most studies report that its diet varies according to circumstances, usually being dominated by fish (44-81%). In addition it feeds on aquatic insects (13-20% of its diet) and other aquatic invertebrates such as crabs and crayfish (22-50%).


Males and females of the hooded merganser form monogamous pairs and they remain together until the female has selected a nesting cavity and completed laying her clutch. After that, the male leaves the female to incubate and care for the brood. Females will actively seek out cavities in dead trees or artificial nest boxes such as those provided for nesting wood ducks. They prefer cavities 4–15 feet off the ground. Breeding occurs anytime between the end of February and the end of June, depending on the region.
The female will lay a clutch of 7-15 eggs but only begins incubation when the last egg has been laid, thereby permitting synchronous hatching. All hatchlings are consequently of the same size, which facilitates efficient parental care. During incubation, the female may lose anywhere from 8% to 16% of her body weight.
Like most waterfowl, hooded merganser hatchlings are precocial and usually leave the nest within 24 hours after they hatch; this is about long enough to accommodate synchronous hatching. Once they leave the nest, the young are capable of diving and foraging, but remain with the female for warmth and protection.


Population declines in the past have been linked with large scale deforestation. Because these waterfowl are cavity nesters, they require mature trees in which suitable nesting sites are likely to be found. It has been suggested that in recent years proper timber management is increasing available habitat successfully. One priority consideration when managing wooded habitat for cavity nesting ducks, is to maintain a sufficient population of mature trees in which suitable nesting cavities would be plentiful. In addition these ducks do make use of artificial nest boxes when available.
Because of their high reliance on aquatic prey, hooded mergansers are very susceptible to harm from many types of pollution, some of which are poisons that accumulate in the food organisms, directly poisoning predators high in the food chain, and some of which simply reduce the populations of their prey.


The European crested tit, or simply crested tit (Lophophanes cristatus) (formerly Parus cristatus), is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder in coniferous forests throughout central and northern Europe and in deciduous woodland in France and the Iberian peninsula. In Great Britain, it is chiefly restricted to the ancient pinewoods of Inverness and Strathspey in Scotland, and seldom strays far from its haunts. A few vagrant crested tits have been seen in England. It is resident, and most individuals do not migrate.


This species was formerly placed in Parus, but the distinctness of Lophophanes is well supported,  and it is now recognised by the American Ornithologists' Union and the British Ornithologists' Union as a distinct genus.
The current genus name, Lophophanes, is from the Ancient Greek lophos, "crest", and
phaino, "to show". The specific cristatus is Latin for "crested".


The peyote (/peɪˈoʊti/; Lophophora williamsii /ləˈfɒfərə wɪliˈæmziaɪ/) is a small, spineless cactus which contains psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline. Peyote is a Spanish word derived from the Nahuatl peyōtl ([ˈpejoːt͡ɬ]), meaning "caterpillar cocoon", from a root peyōni, "to glisten". Peyote is native to Mexico and southwestern Texas. It is found primarily in the Sierra Madre Occidental, the Chihuahuan Desert and in the states of Nayarit, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, and San Luis Potosí among scrub. It flowers from March to May, and sometimes as late as September. The flowers are pink, with thigmotactic anthers (like Opuntia).
Known for its psychoactive properties when ingested, peyote has at least 5,500 years of entheogenic and medicinal use by indigenous North Americans.


The various species of the genus Lophophora grow low to the ground and they often form groups with numerous, crowded shoots. The blue-green, yellow-green or sometimes reddish-green shoots are mostly flattened spheres with sunken shoot tips. They can reach heights of 2 to 7 centimeters (0.79 to 2.76 in) and diameters of 4 to 12 cm (1.6 to 4.7 in). There are often significant, vertical ribs consisting of low and rounded or hump-like bumps. From the cusp areoles arises a tuft of soft, yellowish or whitish woolly hairs. Spines are absent.  Flowers are pink or white to slightly yellowish, sometimes reddish. They open during the day, are from 1 to 2.4 cm long, and reach a diameter from 1 to 2.2 cm.
The cactus produces flowers sporadically; these are followed by small edible pink fruit. The club-shaped to elongated, fleshy fruits are bare and more or less rosy colored. At maturity, they are brownish-white and dry. The fruits do not burst open on their own and they are between 1.5 and 2 cm long. They contain black, pear-shaped seeds that are 1 to 1.5 mm long and 1 mm wide. The seeds require hot and humid conditions to germinate. Peyote contains a large spectrum of phenethylamine alkaloids. The principal one is mescaline for which the content of Lophophora williamsii is about 0.4% fresh (undried) and 3–6% dried.


French botanist Charles Antoine Lemaire described the species as Echinocactus williamsii in 1845. It was placed in the new genus Lophophora in 1894 by  American botanist John Merle Coulter.


Peyote is extremely slow growing. Cultivated specimens grow considerably faster, sometimes taking less than three years to go from seedling to mature flowering adult. More rapid growth can be achieved by grafting peyote onto mature San Pedro root stock. The top of the above-ground part of the cactus, the crown, consists of disc-shaped buttons. These are cut above the roots and sometimes dried. When done properly, the top of the root forms a callus and the root does not rot. When poor harvesting techniques are used, however, the entire plant dies. Currently in South Texas, peyote grows naturally but has been over-harvested, to the point that the state has listed it as an endangered species. Cultivation is an important conservation tool for this particular species.


When used for its psychoactive properties, common doses for pure mescaline range from roughly 200 to 400 mg. This translates to a dose of roughly 10 to 20 g of dried peyote buttons of average potency; however, potency varies considerably between samples, making it difficult to measure doses accurately without first extracting the mescaline. The effects last about 10 to 12 hours. Peyote is reported to trigger rich visual or auditory effects (see synesthesia) and spiritual or philosophical insights.
In addition to psychoactive use, some Native American tribes use the plant in the belief it may have curative properties. They employ peyote for such varied ailments as toothache, pain in childbirth, fever, breast pain, skin diseases, rheumatism, diabetes, colds, and blindness.  Although uncommon, use of peyote and mescaline has been associated with clinically significant effects requiring treatment.
The US Dispensary lists peyote under the name Anhalonium, and states it can be used in various preparations for neurasthenia, hysteria, and asthma.
Peyote also contains the alkaloid called hordenine (also called peyocactin).


In 2005, researchers used radiocarbon dating and alkaloid analysis to study two specimens of peyote buttons found in archaeological digs from a site called Shumla Cave No. 5 on the Rio Grande in Texas. The results dated the specimens to between 3780 and 3660 BCE. Alkaloid extraction yielded approximately 2% of the alkaloids including mescaline in both samples. This indicates that native North Americans were likely to have used peyote since at least five-and-a-half thousand years ago.
Specimens from a burial cave in west central Coahuila, Mexico have been similarly analyzed and dated to 810 to 1070 CE.
From earliest recorded time, peyote has been used by indigenous peoples, such as the Huichol of northern Mexico and by various Native American tribes, native to or relocated to the Southern Plains states of present-day Oklahoma and Texas. Its usage was also recorded among various Southwestern Athabaskan-language tribal groups. The Tonkawa, the Mescalero, and Lipan Apache were the source or first practitioners of peyote religion in the regions north of present-day Mexico. They were also the principal group to introduce peyote to newly arrived migrants, such as the Comanche and Kiowa from the Northern Plains. The religious, ceremonial, and healing uses of peyote may date back over 2,000 years.
Under the auspices of what came to be known as the Native American Church, in the 19th century, American Indians in more widespread regions to the north began to use peyote in religious practices, as part of a revival of native spirituality. Its members refer to peyote as "the sacred medicine", and use it to combat spiritual, physical, and other social ills. Concerned about the drug's psychoactive effects, between the 1880s and 1930s, U.S. authorities attempted to ban Native American religious rituals involving peyote, including the Ghost Dance. Today the Native American Church is one among several religious organizations to use peyote as part of its religious practice. Some users claim the drug connects them to God.
Traditional Navajo belief or ceremonial practice did not mention the use of peyote before its introduction by the neighboring Utes. The Navajo Nation now has the most members of the Native American Church.
John Raleigh Briggs (1851–1907) was the first to draw scientific attention of the Western scientific world to peyote. Louis Lewin described Anhalonium lewinii in 1888. Arthur Heffter conducted self experiments on its effects in 1897. Similarly, Norwegian ethnographer Carl Sofus Lumholtz studied and wrote about the use of peyote among the Indians of Mexico. Lumholtz also reported that, lacking other intoxicants, Texas Rangers captured by Union forces during the American Civil War soaked peyote buttons in water and became "intoxicated with the liquid".


A study published in 2007 found no evidence of long-term cognitive problems related to peyote use in Native American Church ceremonies, but researchers stressed their results may not apply to those who use peyote in other contexts. A four-year large-scale study of Navajo who regularly ingested peyote found only one case where peyote was associated with a psychotic break in an otherwise healthy person; other psychotic episodes were attributed to peyote use in conjunction with pre-existing substance abuse or mental health problems. Later research found that those with pre-existing mental health issues are more likely to have adverse reactions to peyote. Peyote use does not appear to be associated with hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (a.k.a. "flashbacks") after religious use. Peyote also does not seem to be associated with physical dependence, but some users may experience psychological dependence.
Peyote can have strong emetic effects, and one death has been attributed to esophageal bleeding caused by vomiting after peyote ingestion in a Native American patient with a history of alcohol abuse. Peyote is also known to cause potentially serious variations in heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, and pupillary dilation.
Research into the huichol natives of central-western Mexico, who have taken peyote regularly for an estimated 1,500 years or more, found no evidence of chromosome damage in either men or women.


The Wixarika religion consists of four principal deities: Corn, Kayumarie (Blue Deer), Hikuri (Peyote), and the Eagle, all descended from their Sun God. Schaefer has interpreted this to mean that peyote is the soul of their religious culture and a visionary sacrament that opens a pathway to the other deities.


Mescaline is listed as a Schedule III controlled substance under the Canadian Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, but peyote is specifically exempt. Possession and use of peyote plants is legal.


Non-drug uses of peyote in religious ceremonies by the Native American Church and its members is exempt from registration. This law has been codified as a statute in the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978, and made part of the common law in Peyote Way Church of God, Inc. v. Thornburgh, (5th Cir. 1991); it is also in administrative law at the 21 CFR 1307.31 which states for "Special Exempt Persons":
Section 1307.31 Native American Church. The listing of peyote as a controlled substance in Schedule I does not apply to the nondrug use of peyote in bona fide religious ceremonies of the Native American Church, and members of the Native American Church so using peyote are exempt from registration. Any person who manufactures peyote for or distributes peyote to the Native American Church, however, is required to obtain registration annually and to comply with all other requirements of law.
U.S. v. Boyll, 774 F.Supp. 1333 (D.N.M. 1991) addresses this racial issue specifically and concludes:
For the reasons set out in this Memorandum Opinion and
Order, the Court holds that, pursuant to 21 C.F.R. § 1307.31
(1990), the classification of peyote as a Schedule I controlled
substance, see 21 U.S.C. § 812(c), Schedule I(c)(12), does not
apply to the importation, possession or use of peyote for 'bona
fide' ceremonial use by members of the Native American Church,
regardless of race.
Following the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act Amendments of 1994, United States federal law (and many state laws) protects the harvest, possession, consumption and cultivation of peyote as part of "bona fide religious ceremonies" (the federal statute is the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1996a, "Traditional Indian religious use of the peyote sacrament", exempting only use by Native American persons. US v. Boyll expanded permitted use to all persons engaged in traditional Indian religious use, regardless of race. All US states with the exception of Idaho, Utah, and Texas allow usage by non-native, non-enrolled persons in the context of ceremonies of the Native American Church. Some states such as Arizona additionally exempt any general bona fide religious activity or spiritual intent. US jurisdictions enacted these specific statutory exemptions in reaction to the US Supreme Court's decision in Employment Division v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990), which held that laws prohibiting the use of peyote that do not specifically exempt religious use nevertheless do not violate the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. Though use in Native American Church ceremonies or traditional Indian religious use, regardless of race, is legal under US federal law and additional uses are legal under some state laws, peyote is listed by the United States DEA as a Schedule I controlled substance.


Lotus corniculatus is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae, native to grasslands in temperate Eurasia and North Africa. Common names include common bird's-foot trefoil, eggs and bacon, birdsfoot deervetch, and just bird's-foot trefoil, though the latter name is often also applied to other members of the genus.
It is a perennial herbaceous plant, similar in appearance to some clovers. The name 'bird's foot' refers to the appearance of the seed pods on their stalk. Five leaflets are present, but with the central three held conspicuously above the others, hence the use of the name 'trefoil'. It is often used as forage and is widely used as food for livestock due to its nonbloating properties.


The height of the plant is variable, from 5 to 20 centimetres (2 to 8 inches), occasionally more where supported by other plants; the stems can reach up to 50 cm (20 in) long. It is typically sprawling at the height of the surrounding grassland. It can survive fairly close grazing, trampling, and mowing. It is most often found in sandy soils. It flowers from June to September. The flowers develop into small pea-like pods or legumes.
The plant had many common English names in Britain, which are now mostly out of use. These names were often connected with the yellow and orange colour of the flowers, e.g. 'butter and eggs'. One name that is still used is eggs and bacon (or bacon and eggs).


The following subspecies are accepted:
Lotus corniculatus subsp. afghanicus Chrtková
Lotus corniculatus subsp. corniculatus
Lotus corniculatus subsp. delortii (Timb.-Lagr.) Nyman
Lotus corniculatus subsp. fruticosus Chrtková
Lotus corniculatus subsp. preslii (Ten.) P.Fourn.


Lotus corniculatus has a broad distribution worldwide. It is common everywhere in Britain and Ireland. Habitats include old fields, grassy places, and roadsides.


It is used in agriculture as a forage plant, grown for pasture, hay, and silage. It is a high quality forage that does not cause bloat in ruminants. Taller-growing cultivars have been developed for this. It may be used as an alternative to alfalfa in poor soils.
A double-flowered variety is grown as an ornamental plant. It is regularly included as a component of wildflower mixes in Europe. It can also prevent soil erosion and provide a good habitat for wildlife.
Fresh bird's-foot trefoil contains cyanogenic glycosides, which release small amounts of hydrogen cyanide when macerated. This is not normally poisonous to humans, though, as the dose is very low, and the metabolization of cyanide is relatively quick. Condensed tannins are also present in L. corniculatus.
In the traditional medicine of the Sannio regio of Italy, the diluted infusions were used for anxiety, insomnia, and exhaustion.


The flowers are mostly visited by bumblebees. In the Chicago Region, mostly non-native bees have been observed visiting the flowers, including Andrena wilkella, Anthidium oblongatum, Apis mellifera and Megachile rotundata. The native bees Bombus impatiens and Megachile relativa have also been observed visiting birdsfoot trefoil flowers, though the latter only rarely.
The plant is an important nectar source for many insects and is also used as a larval food plant by many species of Lepidoptera such as six-spot burnet and the silver-studded blue. It is a host plant for the wood white butterfly, Leptidea sinapis.


Birdsfoot trefoil is an invasive species in many parts of North America and Australia. It has been commonly planted along roadsides for erosion control or pastures for forage and then spreads into natural areas. Once it has established in an area, it can outcompete native species. The use of prescribed fire is not an effective management tool against Lotus corniculatus and herbicide is recommended instead to control it.


Lotus pedunculatus (formerly Lotus uliginosus), the big trefoil, greater bird's-foot-trefoil or marsh bird's-foot trefoil, is a member of the pea family (Fabaceae).
It is a herbaceous perennial growing throughout Europe in damp, open locations. As one common name suggests, it is a larger plant than related Lotus species, growing 20–80 cm (8–30 in) tall, with leaflets 10–25 mm (0.4–1 in) long and 10–20 mm (0.4–0.8 in) broad. Five to twelve golden-yellow flowers 10–18 mm (0.4–0.7 in) long are borne in an umbel at the tip of the upright stem.
Unlike related species, the stem is always hollow, and the sepals turn back at their tips – these sepal tips form a characteristic "green star" at the end of the flower bud. The peak flowering period in the United Kingdom is June and July.
Lotus pedunculatus occurs in a wide range of neutral, damp, open habitats, including certain fen-meadow plant associations such as Juncus subnodulosus-Cirsium palustre fen-meadow habitat.
Lotus pedunculatus is also a host plant for ovipositioning of the wood white butterfly, Leptidea sinapis.


Lucanus elaphus, the giant stag beetle, is a beetle of the family Lucanidae native to eastern North America. They are sometimes kept as pets.


Elaphus in Greek means "good".  Though probably this stag beetle was named after the Red Deer (Cervus elaphus).


Lucidota atra, the black firefly or woodland lucy, is a diurnal species of firefly — a member of the Lampyridae family of beetles (order Coleoptera).


Lucidota atra are found in eastern North America, excluding Mexico.  Their range extends west to Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.


Adult body length is up to 12 millimetres (0.47 in).  This firefly has segmented, conspicuous, black antennae that are serrate.  The pronotum extends over the head and is usually red and yellow with a medial black stripe or patch, but may be dark overall in some individuals.  The compound eyes are smaller than those of nocturnal species like Photinus pyralis.  The elytra are black or brown-black and have granulated texture.  The light organ is greatly reduced and difficult to discern in the adult.


This is a firefly that flies actively in daylight.  Its flightless larvae live in moist environments, especially decaying wood, and prey on invertebrates with soft bodies, such as snails and slugs.  In eastern Canada, larvae eclose beginning in late May, and adult numbers peak in late June to mid-July.  Male Lucidota atra can identify female mating partners by sensing the female's pheromones with their antennae. Lucidota atra express a characteristic set of odorant receptor genes in their antennae.


The defining characteristic of L. sericata and the one most used when identifying the adult fly is the presence of three bristles on the dorsal mesothorax, located on the middle of the back of the fly. L. sericata is almost identical to its conspecific, L. cuprina, and identification between them requires microscopic examination of two main distinguishing characteristics. L. sericata is blue-black, as opposed to L. cuprina, which has a metallic green femoral joint in the first pair of legs. Also, when looking at the occipital setae, L. sericata has one to nine bristles on each side, while L. cuprina has three or less. Additionally, the eyes of L. sericata are more smaller, with the frontal stripe also being thinner than the ones of L. cuprina.


Lucilia sericata is common all over the temperate and tropical regions of the planet, including Europe, Africa, and Australia. It prefers warm and moist climates, so is especially common in coastal regions, but can also be found in arid areas. The female lays her eggs in carrion of all kinds, sometimes in the skin or hair of live animals, causing myiasis. The larvae feed on decaying organic tissue. The fly favours host species of the genus Ovis, domestic sheep in particular, and sometimes lays eggs in the wet wool of living sheep. This can lead to blowfly strike, causing problems for sheep farmers. L. sericata has been known to prefer lower elevations relative to other Calliphoridae species, such as Calliphora vomitoria.


The lifecycle of L. sericata is typical of flies in the family Calliphoridae. After the female deposits the egg, it hatches into a larva that passes through three instars as it grows, then enters prepupal and pupal stages (which can eclose quickly or overwinter depending on temperature) before emerging into the adult stage or imago. To start, the female lays a mass of eggs in carrion. The eggs hatch between nine hours and three days after being deposited on the host, with eggs laid in warmer weather hatching more quickly than those in cooler weather. In this, they differ from the more opportunistic Sarcophagidae, which lay hatching eggs or completely hatched larvae into carrion and eliminate the time needed for the eggs to hatch. The flies are extremely prolific; a single female L. sericata typically lays 150−200 eggs per clutch and may produce 2,000 to 3,000 eggs in her lifetime. The pale yellow or grayish conical larvae, like those of most blow flies, have two posterior spiracles through which they respire. The larvae are moderately sized, ranging from 10 to 14 millimeters long.
The larva feeds on dead or necrotic tissue for 3 to 10 days, depending on temperature and the quality of the food. During this period the larva passes through three larval instars. At a temperature of 16 °C (61 °F), the first larval instar lasts about 53 hours, the second about 42 hours and the third about 98 hours. At higher temperatures, say 27 °C (81 °F), the first larval instar lasts about 31 hours, the second about 12 hours, and the third about 40 hours. Third-instar larvae enter a "wandering" stage and drop off the host to find an appropriate location with soft enough soil, where they bury themselves to enter a pupal stage, which usually lasts from 6 to 14 days. Burial allows the pupa to more reliably avoid desiccation or predation. The larger the larva, the farther it is able to travel to find a suitable location to pupate; L. sericata is noted to be remarkably active and can travel over 100 feet before pupating. If the temperature is suitably low, however, a pupa might overwinter in the soil until the temperature rises. After emerging from the pupa, the adult feeds opportunistically on nectar, pollen, feces, or carrion while it matures. Adults usually lay eggs about 2 weeks after they emerge. Their complete lifecycle typically ranges from 2 to 3 weeks, but this varies with seasonal and other environmental circumstances. L. sericata usually completes three or four generations each year in cold, temperate climates, and more in warmer regions.


The larvae of L. sericata feed exclusively on dead organic tissue; as the eggs are laid directly into carrion, they are able to feed on the corpse on which they hatch until they are ready to pupate. The adults are more varied in their diets, eating carrion and feces, as well as pollen and nectar, as they are important pollinators in their native range and important agents of decomposition. The pollen (which the flies can digest, perhaps with the assistance of bacteria in their digestive tracts) may be used as an alternative protein source, especially for gravid females who need large amounts of protein and cannot reliably find carrion. Notably, gravid flies are particularly attracted to sapromyophilous flowers that exude a carrion-like odor, such as the dead horse arum lily. These flowers are tricking the flies into pollinating them by mimicking the scent of a corpse, but the flies also frequently visit myophilous flowers such as the oxeye daisy, and are attracted to the color yellow, as well as to the scent of flowers. This indicates that the flies are attracted to flowers not only because they smell like carrion (in the case of the arum lily), but specifically for the pollen offered by the flower (in the case of myophilous flowers).


Lucilia sericata females lay their eggs on fresh carrion, avoiding older carrion because it can be detrimental to offspring (possibly due to bacterial activity or other factors). Like many blowflies, females of L. sericata perform aggregated oviposition, laying their egg masses in  carcasses in which other flies are also ovipositing.  The presence of female flies eating or ovipositing on a carcass may attract other female flies to do the same, perhaps through chemical cues. Females exhibit preference for certain oviposition conditions over others; they attempt to maximize the survival potential of their offspring by laying eggs in only the best places. They often select natural orifices or wet fur, though they do not tend to oviposit in wounds, as is mistakenly thought by many. Gravid L. sericata females prefer warm temperatures for their offspring, since this decreases development time, so increases survival, and they oviposit faster and with more eggs in warmer carrion. Egg load peaks at 30 °C. Sulfur compounds and indole likely are the major factors attracting gravid flies to carrion, raising the possibility that these compounds could be used to attract flies to traps to control them in agricultural settings.


The complex courtship process of L. sericata consists of several stages of display on the part of the male. First, the male identifies a potential mate and pushes her with his head; he then taps her with his fore leg multiple times. The male then mounts the female and attempts copulation, continuing to tap his fore leg on her body. If the female is receptive, copulation proceeds, genital contact is achieved, and when the process is over, both individuals move away. If she is not receptive, the female kicks at the male with her hind legs, but this is not usually successful at dismounting the male, and the mating proceeds, nevertheless. Some males are left-biased and some males are right-biased in their fore leg tapping, but this bias does not appear to have an effect on their mating success.


Lucilia sericata is an important species to forensic entomologists. Like most calliphorids, L. sericata has been heavily studied and its lifecycle and habits are well documented. Accordingly, the stage of its development on a corpse is used to calculate a minimum post mortem interval, so that it can be used to aid in determining the time of death of the victim. The presence or absence of L. sericata can provide information about the conditions of the corpse. If the insects seem to be on the path of their normal development, the corpse likely has been undisturbed. Signs of a disturbed lifecycle, or their absence from a decaying body suggests post mortem tampering with the body. Because L. sericata is one of the first insects to colonize a corpse, it is preferred to many other species in determining an approximate time of colonization,  thus time of death of the victim. Developmental progress is determined with relative accuracy by measuring the length and weight of larvae at various instars while taking into account the temperature, which can affect development time to a large extent.


Many blow flies have an impact in veterinary science, and L. sericata is no exception. In places such as the UK and Australia, L. sericata is commonly referred to as the "sheep blowfly", since sheep are its primary host in those regions. Although it affects mainly sheep, L. sericata is not host-specific.
In Northern Europe, the fly often lays its eggs in sheep wool. The larvae then migrate down the wool, where they feed directly on the skin surface in a process called myiasis. This can cause massive lesions and secondary bacterial infections, in turn causing serious problems for sheep farmers. In the UK, blowfly strike affects an estimated 1 million sheep, and 80% of sheep farms each year. This causes a huge economic impact in regions affected by blowfly strike. Not only does it cost money to treat infected animals, but measures also must be taken to control L. sericata.
A simple and effective way to reduce the incidence of such infection is to shear ewes regularly and to dock their tails, removing areas where thick wool can stay damp for long periods of time. Enacting simple sanitary measures can reduce blowfly strike. For example, timely and proper disposal of carcasses and proper removal of feces are effective measures. Moving sheep from warm, humid, and sheltered areas to more open areas can also help to reduce blowfly strike, for this eliminates conditions conducive to fly development. Trapping systems such as sticky paper may be used to control fly numbers. Treating a flock with chemical agents can be costly, but can aid greatly in maintaining the resistance of the flock to L. sericata. For instance, plunge dipping in diazinon can directly kill the fly on contact. This method works from 3 to 8 weeks in controlling the fly. An alternative chemical method is a pyrethroid pour-on, which lasts 6 to 10 weeks depending on the type of pyrethroid used. Cryomazine and dicylanil, which are insect growth regulators, are also effective and last from 10 to 16 weeks. Chemical treatment is not ideal, though it can be very effective, because it is costly, tedious, and time consuming.


Lucilia sericata has been of medical importance since 1826, when Meigen removed larvae from the eyes and facial cavities of a human patient. L. sericata has shown promise in three separate clinical approaches. First, larvae have been shown to debride wounds with extremely low probability of myiasis upon clinical application. Larval secretions have been shown to help in tissue regeneration. L. sericata has also been shown to lower bacteremia levels in patients infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Essentially, L. sericata larvae can be used as biosurgery agents in cases where antibiotics and surgery are impractical.
Larval secretions in vitro enhance fibroblast migration to the wound site, improving wound closure. Larval therapy of L. sericata is highly recommended for the treatment of wounds infected with Gram-positive bacteria, yet is not as effective for wounds infected with Gram-negative bacteria. Also, bacteria from the genus Vagococcus were resistant to the maggot excreta/secreta. Attempts are currently ongoing to extract or synthesize the chymotrypsins found in larval secretions to destroy MRSA without application of the larvae.
Myiasis by L. sericata has been reported, including a case of a dual genital infestation of a married couple wherein the larvae were transmitted from the wife's vagina to the husband's penis through sexual intercourse.


Ludwigia octovalvis is a species of flowering plant in the Onagraceae family known by the common name Mexican primrose-willow. Its native distribution is unclear, but can be found in Central America, Australia, South-East Asia, Tamilnadu (IND) ,the Middle East, the Central-West African regions and spreads easily to become naturalized. It is also cultivated as an aquatic plant. The plant is known for its anti-aging properties. The species is sometimes regarded as an invasive species and is classified by IUCN as of Least Concern with stable populations. An adult plant is one meter tall on average but is able to grow taller. It spreads to form mats on the mud, rooting at nodes in contact with the substrate, or floats ascending in the water. Its flowers are yellow in appearance. They are made up of green and red stems. They yield small capsular fruits containing many minute seeds.


The stem is up to half a meter (20 in) long and spreads to form mats on the mud, rooting at nodes in contact with the substrate, or floats ascending in the water. The leaves are oppositely arranged and green to red or purple in color. Solitary flowers appear in leaf axils. They are made up of tiny green sepals and no petals. They yield small capsular fruits containing many minute seeds.


Its native distribution is unclear, but includes parts of the Americas; it can be found on most continents and spreads easily to become naturalized. It is also cultivated as an aquarium plant. It was identified in England in 1827.


Ludwigia peploides is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common names floating primrose-willow and creeping water primrose. It is native to Australia, New Zealand, North America, and South America, but it can be found on many continents and spreads easily to become naturalized. It is well known as a troublesome aquatic noxious weed that invades water ecosystems and can clog waterways. This is perennial herb which grows in moist to wet to flooded areas. The stem can creep over 2 meters long, sometimes branching. It spreads to form mats on the mud, or floats ascending in the water. The leaves are several centimeters long and are borne in alternately arranged clusters along the stem. The flower has 5 to 6 lance-shaped sepals beneath a corolla of 5 or 6 bright yellow petals up to 2.4 centimeters long. The fruit is a hard, cylindrical capsule.


Ludwigia peploides is native to Australia, New Zealand, North America, and South America.


In the US it lives predominately along east and south west coast. States between Nevada, Washington, Michigan and all states north of New York do have a native species of L. peploides nor are they invasive.


A country that is having a serious problem with the L. peploides are the French. It is considered the most invasive alien aquatic plants in France. They have spread all across the country at such alarming rates that it has been assigned to the German Black List of invasive species. Other counties are also wary of this incredibly invasive species so there has  been a ban on the trade of L. peploides in France, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium and the UK. These species cause serious problems in area where they have been introduced and a ban on trade will hopefully prevent any further damage.


The genus Ludwigia is present worldwide. There are 23 sections consisting of 82 species in total. They can be both woody, herbaceous and aquatic. They have very high levels of reproduction and efficient dispersal capacity which is a large factor in its amazing ability to take over habitats all across the world. First their reproduction. It is divided into four steps that coincide with the changing seasons. During the spring, new shoots form buds. If in shallow water, it is formed in an erect position, but if in a drained environment, they will adopt a creeping form. The stems will eventually rise to the waters surface and will then form rosettes and small round leaves. The next step occurs over the summer where apical and branches begin to form whether the species formed in an erect or creeping form. After an overall lateral extension of 50 cm flowers can begin to emerge. Between late June to early October, yellow flowers are produced and reproduction can occur. Unfortunately, the sexual reproduction of these plants are relatively unknown due to lack of research and can vary from species to species.  In autumn, from August to November fruiting occurs. For the rest of the year, the winter months, the species will break up, dry out and decay but it has been seen that there are cases where it can survive.
The reason these plants are scattered all over the globe is because Ludwigia can be generated during all seasons just from fragments of stems or rhizomes. They can be broken as easily by wind, water flow or animals. Lugwigia Peploides have the ability to double their biomass from their broken particles between 15 and 90 days. This also allows this species to continue to thrive in habitat and regions where sexual reproduction cannot occur.
The Ludwigia occur predominantly in wetlands and in the transition areas between aquatic and terrestrial environments. As a result of their high plasticity lugwigia can colonize pretty much anywhere in slow flowing waters, river banks and wet meadows. They do prefer slow flowing water over water with a higher velocity. Most Lugwigia species where present in stagnant water, from .06 to 1 metre deep. Great depths became a constraint on their development but shoots were still able to form flower buds. If they are in a low nutrient condition, Ludwigia double their biomass. The only true weakness of this species is intense levels of salinity in the water they inhabit.


In Europe, Ludwigia peploides  is included since 2016 in the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (the Union list). This implies that this species cannot be imported, cultivated, transported, commercialized, planted, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union.


Ludwigia peploides is an herbaceous perennial wetland plant usually common along mud or a water surface. L. Peploides sprawl flat along the mud or waters surface. It is very similar to the Ludwigia Hexapetala and very difficult to tell apart. The leaves are arranged in clusters and vary in size. The average leaf is approximately 3.5 inches long and can be egg shaped to lance-shaped. They are hairless and each leaf's base tappers off to a stalk that ranges from 1 to 1.5 inches. The stem can grow as long as 9 feet and can be hairless or slightly hairy but are always have a fleshy texture.


Ludwigia peploides flowers start from the stem which are floating or lying on the ground. Each flower has five yellow petals 1 to 1.5 cm in length. Each occur on long stalks that on each leaf axils. The fruits and seeds do not have extensive research done so the details are unclear but there are capsules that contain many seeds. Each seed is approximately 1 mm in size.


The Ludwigia species cause dense mats which form a perfect protective habitat for mosquitoes. This causes higher rates of the West Nile Virus and other diseases that mosquitoes commonly spread. They are also a serious nuisance for human activity. Leisure activities such as hunting, fishing, and boating can be extremely difficult. Flood risk increases due to the decrease in channel carry capacity. The rapid and uncontrolled growth of water primrose dominates native populations and can damage irrigation and drainage networks of water bodies. Fish can have a hard time moving through these dense Ludwigia populations, which then in turn effect the habitat of surface animals such as birds.


Luwigia peploides are not commonly ingested. They were traded originally for ornamental purposes.


Ludwigia peploides are both melliferous and polliniferous. Numerous compounds which have medicinal properties are produced by the Ludwigia species such as saponins, tannins, polyphenols, alkaloids, linoleic acids, flavonoids, starch grains and calcium oxalate crystals. There are also three medical compounds which contribute to antioxidant activities. Lastly, there is a potential for water waste management in agriculture. Because the plant can accumulate high concentrations of nitrogen in can decrease level of ammonia and nitrates in soil. Sadly, all of these are only potential uses of the plant since there has been close to no investigation of its use. Further research is required for their medicinal and agricultural benefits to be harnessed.


Ludwigia peruviana, with the common names Peruvian primrose-willow or Peruvian water primrose, is an aquatic, sometimes deciduous species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family. It can grow to approximately 12 feet (3.7 m) in height. While native to Peru, it has been introduced in many other countries for its attractive simple yellow flowers, it is now a common weed in swampy areas around the world.


The Peruvian primrose-willow forms dense colonies along the shore, then creeps into the water where it impedes navigation, damages structures, and competes with native vegetation. This species is classified as a category I invasive species by the United States state of Florida, where it clogs numerous lakes and rivers, and as a noxious weed by the government of Australia.


Luetkea is a genus of herbaceous plants in the family Rosaceae. One species is accepted. Luetkea pectinata (partridgefoot or luetkea)  is a mat-forming semi-shrub. It is endemic to the cold portions of western North America occurring in subarctic Alaska, Yukon, western Northwest Territories, and subalpine to alpine regions of British Columbia, southwestern Alberta, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, northern California and western Montana.
The inflorescence of L. pectinata is a dense and erect terminal cluster 10 to 150 mm high with several to many short-stalked flowers. The leaves are 7 to 20 mm long and two or three times three-dissected. The last segments are linear or lanceolate. The fruit is a follicle with several seeds.
Partridge-foot is the only member of the genus Luetkea, which commemorates Count Luetke, a Russian captain and explorer of the early 1800s who mapped the coastline of Alaska.


"Luetkea pectinata". WTU Herbarium Image Collection. Burke Museum, University of Washington. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
"Plant of the week Partridge-foot". United States Forest Service. Retrieved 2016-08-07.


The woodlark or wood lark (Lullula arborea) is the only extant species in the lark genus Lullula. It is found across most of Europe, the Middle East, western Asia and the mountains of north Africa. It is mainly resident (non-migratory) in the west of its range, but eastern populations of this passerine bird are more migratory, moving further south in winter.
There are two subspecies of woodlark, L. a. arborea and L. a. pallida. The former is native to northern regions of Europe, while the latter can be found in the south of the woodlark's range. Their diet is mostly composed of seeds but also includes insects during the breeding period. A comparatively small bird, the woodlark is between 13.5 and 15 centimetres long and roughly 20% shorter than the skylark. It is a brown bird with a pale underside and has a white-tipped tail.


The woodlark was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae and given the binomial name Alauda arborea. This binomial name is identical to the Latin name used in 1676 by English ornithologist Francis Willughby in his Ornithologiae libri tres. The woodlark is now placed in the genus Lullula that was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1829. The current genus name is onomatopoeic from French “Lulu”, the name given to the bird by de Buffon. The French name, Alouette lulu, and the scientific name, Lullula arborea, are derived from the sound of its song. The specific arborea is from Latin arbor, arboris, "tree".


There are two subspecies of woodlark:
Northern woodlark (L. a. arborea) - (Linnaeus, 1758): Found from northern, western and central Europe to western Russia and Ukraine
Southern woodlark (L. a. pallida) - Zarudny, 1902: Found from southern Europe and north-western Africa through the Middle East to Iran and Turkmenistan, Crimea and Caucasus.


This is a 13.5- to 15-cm-long bird, slightly smaller than the skylark being roughly 20% shorter.  The woodlark is mainly brown above and pale below, but with a distinctive white superciliar meeting on the nape. It has a crest which is quite small and at most times inconspicuous. In flight it shows a short tail and short broad wings. The tail is tipped with white, but unlike the skylark, the tail sides and the rear edge of the wings are not edged with white.
A songbird, the woodlark has a melodious, warbling song often described onomatopoeically as a lu-lu-lu- or, more precisely, as a "serial lū-lū-lū-lū-lū-", toolooeet toolooeet toolooeet.


Found mainly in Europe, the mountains of northern Africa and western Asia, the woodlark is present across much of its range. In Europe, the bird seems most at home in the sandy heaths of Belgium, where its density was 7.5 pairs per square kilometre (km²) in 1988. In the same year, densities in East Germany ranged from 0.29 to 5.0 pairs per km² and between 0.1 and 0.25 pairs per km² in southern England, with more optimal habitats being more densely populated. However, populations fluctuated across Europe in the 1990s and 2000s and more up-to-date density figures are unavailable. The extent of the woodlark's range is England in the west, parts of northern Egypt to the south, Iran and Turkmenistan to the east and the Scandinavian Peninsula in the north. Declining populations have resulted in the woodlark's range contracting, for example in Britain it once bred in Wales and central England but is now found only in southern England. Within its range it is mainly resident in the west, with eastern populations migrating south in the winter.
The woodlark's natural habitat is heathland and open spaces sparsely populated with trees. They prefer clearings in pine forests and heathland and like newly planted areas with pine saplings. Experimental work showed that annual ground‐disturbance can increase Woodlark abundance within lowland grass‐heaths. The bird can also be found more rarely in urban areas. For example, in 1950 a pair were recorded on a main road near Putney Heath, London.


The male woodlark has a song flight similar to that of the Eurasian skylark but flutters more as he rises and spirals upwards, circling the ground as he sings at a fairly constant height. Both male and female birds will also sing from the ground or a perch. Birds start singing early in the season, usually around February in Britain.


As with many of the birds in the lark family, the woodlark is primarily vegetarian as an adult but during the breeding season will also eat medium-sized insects. The diet is mainly composed of seeds and such insects as beetles, flies and moths. During the breeding season, the female incubates the eggs in spells of approximately 45 minutes and intervals of eight minutes feeding.


Populations of woodlark across Europe have been in decline and ranges have been contracting in recent years. Habitat loss is thought to be a major contributor to this, with dry grassland, fallow land, lowland heathland and pasture being lost to agriculture, abandonment and development across Northern Europe. Recent wildfires in England are also thought to have damaged the population, with some protected woodlark habitats having been destroyed.


The woodlark is commemorated in the works of two major poets. "The Woodlark", written by Gerard Manley Hopkins, departs from the standard tradition of British nature poetry by trying to transliterate the bird's song into made-up words.
The Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote of the bird's "melting art" in his poem "To the Woodlark". As there are currently no woodlarks in Scotland, and Burns never travelled south of Carlisle, many have speculated that Burns never came in contact with the bird and was in fact writing about the tree pipit, which was commonly referred to as the woodlark in Scotland. The woodlark's song is also thought to be melodious while Burns' poem has an "underlying sense of grief" which may be attributed to the languishing notes at the end of the tree pipit's song. However, the woodlark has been spotted in Scotland on occasion and it is possible that Burns was writing about this bird. This is backed up by the entry of a minister from Clinic, Perthshire in the Old Statistical Account, which reads "The notes of the wood-lark are heard, delightful along the banks of the Lunan in spring and autumn; its nocturnal song has a dying cadence peculiarly melodious and has often been mistaken for the song of the Philomel [nightingale]."


In Europe in 2004, the breeding population of woodlarks was estimated to number 1.3 million to 3.3 million breeding pairs. Europe accounts for 75-94% of the global population, meaning between 4.15 million and 13.2 million individuals in its world range. Populations of woodlark have fluctuated across Europe, with specific figures available for Britain showing these fluctuations. An estimated 400 breeding pairs were present in England in 1981. A series of systematic national surveys found 241 pairs in 1986, which increased to 1633 pairs in 1997 followed by an 88% increase to 3064 pairs in 2007.  The woodlark has been categorised by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as being of least concern, meaning that it is not currently threatened with extinction.


Lunaria annua, called honesty or annual honesty in English, is a species of flowering plant in the cabbage and mustard family Brassicaceae. It is native to the Balkans and south west Asia, and cultivated throughout the temperate world.


It is an annual or biennial growing to 90 cm (35 in) tall by 30 cm (12 in) broad, with large, coarse, pointed oval leaves with marked serrations. The leaves are hairy, the lower ones long-stalked, the upper ones stalkless. In spring and summer it bears terminal racemes of white or violet flowers, followed by showy, green through light brown, translucent, disc-shaped silicles (not true botanical seedpods).  When a silicle is ripe and dry, a valve on each of its sides readily falls off, and its seeds fall off a central membrane which has a silvery sheen, 3–8 cm (1–3 in) in diameter; the membrane can persist on a plant throughout a winter depending on the weather. These silicles are much used in dry floral arrangements.


The Latin name lunaria means "moon-shaped" and refers to the shape and appearance of this species' silicles. The common name "honesty" arose in the 16th century, and may also relate to the translucence of its silicle membranes. In South East Asia, it is called the "money plant"  and in the United States it is commonly known as "silver dollars", "Chinese money", or "Chinese coins" because its silicle membranes have the appearance of silvery coins. For the same reason, in French it is known as monnaie du pape ("Pope's money").  In Denmark it is known as judaspenge and in Dutch-speaking countries as judaspenning (both meaning "coins of Judas"), an allusion to the story of Judas Iscariot and the thirty pieces of silver he was paid for betraying Christ.


In the language of flowers, the plant represents honesty, money, and sincerity. In witchcraft, the honesty plant is considered protective, being thought to keep away monsters. The plant is also used in spells for prosperity, the flat pods (when ripe and silvery) resembling coins and therefore being seen as symbolising promises of wealth. In the earliest surviving recipe for a flying ointment (recorded by Bavarian physician Johannes Hartlieb circa 1440), Lunaria is included as the herbal ingredient corresponding astrologically to the moon and therefore to be picked on the lunar day of Monday.


This plant is easy to grow from seed and tends to naturalize. It is usually grown as a biennial, being sown one year to flower the next. It is suitable for cultivation in a shady or dappled area, or in a wildflower garden, and the flowers and dried silicles are often seen in flower arrangements. Numerous varieties and cultivars are available, of which the white-flowered L. annua var. albiflora and the variegated white L. alba var. albiflora 'Alba Variegata' have won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Lunaria rediviva, known as perennial honesty, is a species of plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae. This hairy-stemmed herbaceous perennial is found throughout Europe. It often grows in damp woods on lime substrates. Growing up to 1 m (3.3 ft)  tall, it has large, pointed oval leaves with marked serrations. Clusters of fragrant, pale pink flowers are borne in spring, followed by translucent oval seedheads, often used in flower arranging. It is cultivated as a garden plant, and has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
The Latin specific epithet rediviva means "growing again", "reviving", in reference to its perennial habit, which distinguishes it from its biennial or annual cousin, Lunaria annua.


Lunularia cruciata, the crescent-cup liverwort,  is a liverwort of the order Marchantiales (until recently included in the order  Lunulariales), and the only species in the genus Lunularia and family Lunulariaceae. The name, from Latin luna, moon, refers to the moon-shaped gemma cups.


L. cruciata is distributed across the world, found in continents including Europe, Australasia, Asia, the Americas, and Africa. It occurs commonly in western Europe, and is native to the Mediterranean region, where the morphological forms from sexual reproduction are more frequently found there. It is also common in California, where it now grows "wild", and is known as an introduced weed in gardens and greenhouses in Australia. Ella Orr Campbell believed that L. cruciata was introduced into New Zealand sometime after 1867. The sporophytes of L. cruciata are rare, but has been found in European regions, as well as in South Africa, Argentina, California, India, Japan and New Zealand.


L. cruciata grows in damp, shaded and disturbed habitats such as path and wall edges. It can act as a nutrient indicator because it often grows in alkaline and eutrophic to highly eutrophic soil. Other habitats include loam, boulders, concrete, exposed tree roots, soil covered logs and in the gaps between sidewalk stones. L. cruciata also grows as a horticultural weed in gardens, greenhouses and parks. L. cruciata is sensitive to frost, and is often found near water, where its gemmae are washed ashore.


L. cruciata grows large, dichotomously branched green thalli with crescent shaped gemma cups containing disc like gemmae. This is a unique morphological characteristic not possessed by other thalloid liverworts. Its thallus surface is shiny, faintly lined, and is dotted with tiny air pores. When dried the thallus turns yellowish in color and its margin rolls inward.


As in other liverworts, the main plant body or thallus is a haploid gametophyte. The antheridia of L. cruciata develops in early spring, the archegonia develops in spring and sporophytes develop in late summer. However, records of sporophyte developments and sexual reproduction are rare and scattered. This was suspected to have been the result of the anthropogenic spreading of this species, causing a disjunctive distribution of antheridia and archegonia. When reproducing sexually, the four archegonia is arranged in a cross-shaped head (hence the specific name cruciata) bearing diploid sporophyte plantlets. When reproducing asexually, the disc-shaped gemmae are readily dislodged from the cups by splashes of rainwater. They can then quickly "take root" and start to grow in suitably damp places, which is why they are so successful in greenhouses.


Like many other liverwort species, L. cruciata produces a dihydrostilbenoid growth hormone, lunularic acid, that is reported to be a growth inhibitor of liverworts. Cadmium in this liverwort also inhibits gemma germination and apical thallus growth, as well as altering cell and chloroplast structure. Acetone extracts from L. cruciata were tested and showed antibacterial properties, but had no effects against fungal activity.


Lupinus albifrons, silver lupine, white-leaf bush lupine, or evergreen lupine, is a species of lupine (lupin). It is native to California and Oregon, where it grows along the coast and in dry and open meadows, prairies and forest clearings.  It is a member of several plant communities, including coastal sage scrub, chaparral, northern coastal scrub, foothill woodland, and yellow pine forest.


Lupinus albifrons is a perennial shrub, taking up about 2 ft (0.61 m) of space and reaching 5 ft (1.5 m). It has a light blue to violet flower on 3–12 inches (7.6–30.5 cm) stalks. The leaves are silver with a feathery texture. It grows in sandy to rocky places below 5,000 feet (1,500 m).


This plant grows as a wildflower in the hills and valleys of California.  It requires good drainage and needs little water once the roots are established.


The plant is deer-resistant due to the presence of the bitter-tasting alkaloid toxins anagyrine and lupinine. Because of these toxins lupines can negatively affect livestock, causing birth defects and decreasing weight especially in young, inexperienced cattle. When cows are under stress from lactating, especially in times of low forage availability, they will consume more lupine than usual.


The federally endangered mission blue butterfly requires either Lupinus albifrons, Lupinus formosus and Lupinus variicolor, on which their larvae feed. The butterfly becomes toxic itself when it feeds on the plant, leaving it with a bitter taste to deter predators.
Due to its potential danger to livestock, this lupine is removed from rangeland when possible, eliminating a crucial food plant from the butterfly's range.


Lupinus albifrons has five different varieties, three of which occur only in California, the other two occur in both California and Oregon:
Lupinus albifrons var. albifrons, silver lupine
Lupinus albifrons var. collinus, silver lupine
Lupinus albifrons var. douglasii, Douglas' silver lupine
 Lupinus albifrons var. eminens, silver lupine
Lupinus albifrons var. flumineus, silver lupine.


Lupinus angustifolius is a species of lupin known by many common names, including narrowleaf lupin, narrow-leaved lupin and blue lupin. It is native to Eurasia and northern Africa and naturalized in parts of Australia and North America. It has been cultivated for over 6000 years as a food crop for its edible legume seeds, as a fodder for livestock and for green manure.


Like other legumes, the narrow-leaved lupin fixes nitrogen in a symbiotic interaction with different bacteria in the rhizosphere. Bacteria living in this rhizosphere include Bradyrhizobium lupinii or the newly discovered species Kribbella lupini.

The narrow-leaved lupin is an erect, branching herb sometimes exceeding one meter. There are reduced-branching cultivars. Each palmate leaf is divided into 5 to 9 linear leaflets under 4 centimeters long. The herbage is slightly hairy in some areas. The inflorescence bears many flowers in shades of blue, violet, pink, or white. The fruit is a legume pod containing seeds of varying colors from dark gray to brown to white, or speckled or mottled.
Lupinus angustifolius has a high content of alkaloids, e.g. lupanin or angustifolin. However, cultivars with a low alkaloid content have been bred. These low alkaloid cultivars are called sweet lupins, such as the Australian Sweet Lupin.


The narrow-leaved lupin is sown as early as possible in the spring, to have the growing season as long as possible. Another reason for early sowing is its sensitivity to high temperature in spring. Lupins react with a higher yield loss, when they are sown late, than other crops (e.g. cereals) do. The optimum seed density depends on the site yield potential  and is generally higher in non-branching cultivars than in branching ones. The variance is high, 14 to 138 plants per m²  are an optimal plant density, depending on the yield potential of the site. On most grounds, a plant density around 80 plants per m² would be the optimum.
Lupins are usually sown with technique used for cereals in a depth of about 5 cm.
The narrow-leaved lupin needs to be harvested as soon as the grain reaches a moisture of about 12%. The straw usually isn't ripened at this point, but further delay of harvest would increase losses from shattering of the pods and lodging. The harvest is done with machinery used for cereals. Swathing is not widely applied. However, it can be a good  alternative to reduce harvest losses in case harvest is delayed.
The disease and weed spectrum of the narrow-leaved lupin is different from most major crops and it is able to improve the soil (see Use). Therefore, it is a valuable partner in intensive crop rotations.


The plant is used as a green manure or as a grain legume for animal feed or human consumption. Through its ability to fix nitrogen and its low nutrient requirement this plant is suitable to be planted on exhausted fields as a soil improver. Additionally, lupins have strong roots, that can reduce the compaction of a soil.
The whole plant, including the seeds, is widely used as a fodder for livestock, due to its high protein and energy content. Lupins contain high levels of fermentable carbohydrates and low levels of starch and are, therefore, an adequate ruminant feed. But lupins are a valuable feed for monogastric animals as well, because of the high digestibility of the lupin nitrogen and the low level of protease inhibitors.
Lupins are mainly consumed as fermented foods, bread and pasta products, milk products or sprouts. As of 2020, only 4% of lupin were consumed by humans, with the majority used as stock feed. Lupin beans are growing in use as a plant-based protein source in the world marketplace.


This species of lupin had its genome sequenced in May 2013.  It was sequenced due to the interest in low alkaloid mutants as a food crop. L. angustifolius has a protein content of 35-40% in the seeds thus for providing protein to people of the world it is of high interest. Currently lupin is grown in Australia and sold under the name "Australian sweet lupin". The objective was to figure out how agronomic traits, low alkaloid traits, and protein content are manifested in the genome. The genome was sequenced in two cultivars, the poorly adapted tanjil and the better adapted unicrop. The genome was sequenced as such; whole genome shotgun sequencing dataset for this species with 26.9x (average amount of overlapping scaffolds) coverage of the genome, then NGS-based RAD-sequencing technology was used to obtain 8,244 sequence-defined markers. A total of 4,214 scaffolds from the genome sequence was assembled and aligned with the genetic map.


Lupinus arboreus, the yellow bush lupine (US) or tree lupin (UK), is a species of flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae.


Lupinus arboreus is an evergreen shrub growing to 2 m (7 ft) tall (hence the alternative common name, tree lupine) in sheltered situations, but more typically 1–1.5 m (3–5 ft) tall. It is capable of tolerating temperatures down to −12 °C and living for up to seven years.
It has green to gray-green palmate leaves, with 5–12 leaflets per leaf. The leaflets are 2–6 centimetres (0.79–2.36 in) long, often sparsely covered with fine silky hairs.
In spring it bears many racemes, 30 cm (12 in) long, of fragrant, soft yellow, pea-like flowers. Both yellow and lilac to purple flowering forms are known. However, the yellow form is more common, except in the north of the species' range.


The shrub is indigenous to California, US,  where it is widely distributed among coastal sage scrub and sand dunes. Because it has been widely introduced in the state, there is some uncertainty about its native range. It is thought to be native from Point Reyes National Seashore south to San Luis Obispo County.


It has escaped from cultivation to become an invasive species in many areas. Outside of its native range in central and northern coastal California, it can become invasive southwards in Southern California and Baja California, and northwards in the coastal Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. It is an introduced species in western Europe, Australia (a potential noxious weed), New Zealand, the Turkish Anatolian Aegean Region, and southern South America including the Falkland Islands.
Like many members of the Fabaceae, it is an effective fixer of nitrogen in the soil. Where it has been introduced, it changes the chemistry of the soil, and therefore allows other exotics to establish themselves, to the detriment of native plants adapted to low nitrogen levels. It also hybridizes with other lupine species outside its range, such as Lupinus littoralis (seashore lupin) and Lupinus rivularis (riverbank lupin), further endangering the survival of those native ecosystem integrated species.


The yellow-flowering form of Lupinus arboreus is widely grown as an ornamental plant, for its attractive flowers in traditional, native plant, and wildlife gardens. It is also used to bind drifting sand dunes. It can be seen growing in cracks in vertical stone walls, due to the sharp drainage.
It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Lupinus arcticus is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names Arctic lupine or subalpine lupine. It is native to northwestern North America, where it occurs from Oregon north to Alaska and east to Nunavut. It is a common wildflower in British Columbia.
This is a perennial herb growing from a taproot and producing an erect stem up to 50 centimeters tall. The dark green, hairy leaves are borne upon rough, hairy petioles up to 17 centimeters long. The leaves are palmately compound, made up of 3 to 9 leaflets each measuring up to 6 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a raceme up to 15 centimeters long bearing up to 30 flowers. The flowers are usually blue, sometimes purple, and occasionally white. The banners of the pealike flowers may be tinged with pink. The fruit is a hairy, greenish to blackish legume pod 2 or 3 centimeters long. It contains up to 10 white-speckled black seeds each about half a centimeter long. The plant may hybridize with other Lupine species when they grow together.
This plant grows in several types of habitat, including fields of sedge and moss, alpine regions, and the hills of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. It grows on tundra and in moist and wet substrates.
This species has been the topic of some biological research. In 1967 it caused a stir when the seeds of this species were discovered in ancient lemming burrows dating back to the Pleistocene; the seeds were germinated and they produced plants, causing them to be declared the oldest viable seeds ever discovered. In 2009 a follow-up article detailed how radiocarbon dating was used to determine that the seeds were, in fact, just a few years old at the time of their discovery, and had probably fallen into the burrows not long before.
The plant contains a neurotoxin called sparteine, possibly as a deterrent to herbivores such as the snowshoe hare. The levels of sparteine in the leaves cycle, becoming higher at night, when herbivory is more likely to occur. In addition to the hare, species of ground squirrel have been known to feed on the plant.


Lupinus argenteus is a species of lupine known by the common name silvery lupine. It is native to much of western North America from the southwestern Canadian provinces to the southwestern and midwestern United States, where it grows in several types of habitat, including sagebrush, grassland, and forests. This is a perennial herb growing erect to heights anywhere between 10 centimetres (3.9 in) and 1.5 metres (4.9 ft). It is sometimes silvery-hairy in texture and sometimes nearly hairless. Each palmate leaf is made up of 5 to 9 leaflets each up to 6 centimetres long. They are narrow and linear in shape, under a centimetre wide. The inflorescence bears many flowers, sometimes arranged in whorls. The flower is 5 millimetres (0.20 in) to 14 millimetres (0.55 in)  long and purple, blue, or whitish in color. The banner, or upper petal, of the flower may have a patch of white or yellow. The fruit is a hairy legume pod up to 3 centimeters long containing several beanlike seeds. The plant is an important food source for butterflies. It also attracts birds and hummingbirds.


Lupinus arizonicus, the Arizona lupine, is a flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae, native to the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of North America, where it can be found growing in open places and sandy washes below 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) elevation. It is common around Joshua Tree National Park and Death Valley National Park in California.
It is an annual plant growing to 10–50 centimetres (3.9–19.7 in) in height. The leaves are palmately compound with 6–10 leaflets, each leaflet 1–4 centimetres (0.39–1.57 in) long and 5–10 millimetres (0.20–0.39 in) broad, on a 2.5–7 centimetres (0.98–2.76 in) long petiole. The flowers are magenta to dark pink, 7–10 mm long, with 20–50 or more flowers in a tall spike.


Lupinus bicolor is a species of lupine known as the miniature lupine, Lindley's annual lupine, pigmy-leaved lupine, or bicolor lupine.
It is a showy flowering annual or perennial plant native to western North America, from northwestern Baja California, throughout California, and north to British Columbia. It is found in diverse habitats below 3,000 feet (910 m), including: grasslands; chaparral; oak, mixed conifer and Joshua tree woodlands; coastal sage scrub; and open conifer forests. It often shares habitats with other prolifically blooming spring and early summer wildflowers, including the California poppy.


Lupinus bicolor  has a short, hairy stem and thin, palmately-arranged leaves.
The inflorescence is short for a lupine, at up to 8 centimetres (3.1 in) tall. As its name suggests the flowers are usually two colors, with one often a deep blue. The other color is often white and sometimes a light purple or magenta. There are sometimes small speckles or spots on the petals.
The plant's hairy pods are quite small, only a couple of centimeters long and very thin, and they contain tiny brownish peas.


This plant can be variable in appearance, and there are several varieties/subspecies whose relationships are as yet unclear. Varieties include:
Lupinus bicolor var. rostratus — endemic to California.
Lupinus bicolor var. tridentatus — endemic to California.
Lupinus bicolor var. trifidus — endemic to California.
Lupinus bicolor var. umbellatus — endemic to California.


Lupinus bicolor is cultivated as an ornamental plant, from seed sown in native plant, drought tolerant, and wildlife gardens, and in natural landscaping and habitat restoration projects.
The plants are of value to pollinators, including native bees and bumble bees. At a local spatial scale, Lupinus bicolor was found to increase the abundance of the native Yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) at restoration sites in Santa Barbara, CA.


Lupinus concinnus is a species of lupine known by the common name Bajada lupine. It is native to the southwestern United States from California to Texas, and northern Mexico, where it is known from many types of habitat. This is a hairy erect or decumbent annual herb with a stem growing 10 to 30 centimeters long. Each small palmate leaf is made up of 5 to 9 leaflets up to 3 centimeters long and under a centimeter wide, sometimes narrow and linear in shape. The inflorescence is a dense spiral of flowers, with some flowers also appearing in leaf axils lower on the plant. Each flower is 5 to 12 millimeters long and purple, pink, or nearly white in color. The fruit is a hairy legume pod around a centimeter long.


Lupinus lepidus, the Pacific lupine, prairie lupine or dwarf lupine is a perennial herbaceous plant in the pea family (Fabaceae) endemic to western North America. Many varieties have been described, several of which are considered separate species by some authorities.


In western North America,  Lupinus lepidus may be found in open areas from low prairie, open montane forest, to the alpine. Although rare in British Columbia, its range extends south from Alaska to southern California and eastward to the Rocky Mountains. In California, it is mainly a species of meadows and areas that are moist during the spring growing season in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, from 4,900 to 9,800 feet (1,500 to 3,000 m).


Lupinus lepidus is a small hairy perennial that reaches 4 to 24 inches (10 to 61 cm). Palmately compound leaves extend up the stem, but most are basal.  The inflorescence is a dense spike-like raceme, with pink, purple, or blue flowers that often have a yellowish spot. The plant blooms from mid-April through August, depending on elevation and habitat.  The fruit is a pod containing multiple seeds.


Lupinus polyphyllus, the large-leaved lupine, big-leaved lupine, many-leaved lupine, blue-pod lupine, or, primarily in cultivation, garden lupin, is a species of lupine (lupin) native to western North America from southern Alaska and British Columbia east to Quebec, and western Wyoming, and south to Utah and California. It commonly grows along streams and creeks, preferring moist habitats.
It is a perennial herbaceous plant with stout stems growing to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) tall. The leaves are palmately compound with (5-) 9-17 leaflets 3–15 centimetres (1.2–5.9 in) long. The flowers are produced on a tall spike, each flower 1–1.5 centimetres (0.39–0.59 in) long, most commonly blue to purple in wild plants. The flowers are mostly visited by bumblebees. The polyphyllus variety in particular make up a great number of the hybrids which are generally grown as garden lupines, which can vary dramatically in colours. The majority of lupines do not thrive in rich heavy soils, and often only live for a matter of years if grown in such places, because crown contact with manure or rich organic matter encourages rotting.
This lupine may represent a significant threat to the survival of the endangered Karner blue butterfly, due to its ease of hybridization with the Karner's food plant, Lupinus perennis, the sundial lupine. Some sources argue that much commercial sundial lupine seed is already questionable for the Karner due to hybridization. Additionally, incompatible lupines continue to be introduced by humans into places where the Karner lives or once lived.
There are five varieties:
Lupinus polyphyllus var. burkei – Interior northwestern United States
Lupinus polyphyllus var. humicola – Interior western North America
Lupinus polyphyllus var. pallidipes – Western Oregon and Washington (Willamette Valley)
Lupinus polyphyllus var. polyphyllus – Coastal western North America
Lupinus polyphyllus var. prunophilus – Interior western North America
The species epithet polyphyllus means "many-leaved", from Ancient Greek πολύς (polús) "many" and φύλλον (phúllon) "leaf".


The herbaceous lupin Lupinus polyphyllus arrived in Britain from North America in the 1820s, brought over by David Douglas. Almost a century later, George Russell, a horticulturist from York, UK, started to breed the (later famous) Russell hybrids (Lupinus × russellii hort). Lupinus polphyllus were originally of basic colours and had large gaps in the flowering spike. Without the use of modern-day plant breeding techniques, Russell took to ruthlessly pulling out any plants which he deemed to be unacceptable in growth or display. He spent two decades single-handedly trying to breed the perfect lupin, crossing L. polyphyllus with L. arboreus, L. sulphureus and one or more annual species (maybe L. nootkatensis).
Over the decades, the plants he selected developed flower spikes that were denser, larger, and more colourful than the original Lupinus polyphyllus. His work may have gone unrecognised if he had not been encouraged by nurseryman James Baker to show the plants to the public. It is understood the pair worked together for several years to perfect the Russell Hybrid, before they were displayed at the Royal Horticultural Society's June show in 1937, where their brightly coloured, tightly packed spires won awards. Russell was later awarded an MBE, and the Royal Horticultural Society awarded him the Veitch Memorial Medal for a lifetime's achievement in horticulture. Baker later secured Russell's entire stock; in their heyday, Bakers Nurseries Ltd. of Codsall, Wolverhamton attracted 80,000 visitors in June to see 40 acres (16 ha) of lupines in flower.
Russell disliked the blue colours, as they reflected too closely the original plants imported from America almost a 100 years previously. The blue colouring is a recessive allele, and so although Russell might have worked hard to suppress it, lupines left unchecked over several generations will eventually revert to the old blues. Almost all garden lupines today are hybrids of the true Russell hybrids due to their ease of cross pollinating with one another, and with no special interest in lupine cultivating until recent years it has meant the plants have created a large pool of genetic diversity and variation from the original Russells.
There is strong concern that Russell lupine DNA significantly contaminates large percentages of commercially-available Sundial Lupine, Lupinus perennis, seed, making it potentially unsuitable for the larvae of the endangered Karner Blue, Plebejus melissa samuelis, butterfly. The Karner cannot feed upon Russell lupines, nor can it feed upon the base Lupinus polyphyllus species. Those who wish to protect the Karner should prevent the introduction of Lupinus polyphyllus and Russell lupines into the remaining areas where the butterfly continues to exist, to prevent the toxic lupine hybridization.
The templates created by Russell are still used by other specialist lupine horticulturalists today, e.g., Maurice and Brian Woodfield, nurserymen from Stratford-upon-Avon, who received the RHS Veitch Memorial Medal for their work on lupines in 2000. The Woodfields created more complex plants with more varied and vivid bi-coloured spikes, the red and yellow, and red and purple flowers are particular highlights of the "Woodfield" lupine variety. In 2009, Sarah Conibear who runs the Westcountry Nurseries, displayed several new varieties including the ‘Beefeater', about which the RHS writer Graham Rice commented "[the beefeater] has what looks to be the best red lupine we've seen so far."


It is commonly used in gardens for its attractiveness to bees, ability to improve poor sandy soils with their nitrogen fixing ability and flowers; numerous cultivars have been selected for differing flower colour, including red, pink, white, blue, and multicoloured with different colours on different petals. Often hybrids between L. polyphyllus and L. arboreus are used, and sold under hybrid names such as Rainbow Lupins, Lupin Tutti Fruitti, and Band of Nobles (mixed), Chandelier (yellow), My Castle (red), Noble Maiden (white), The Chatelaine (pink), and The Governor (blue). They are very hardy plants, surviving extreme temperatures withstanding frost to at least −25 °C (−13 °F) and the wild varieties can easily become invasive and hard to dispose of unless kept in check on a regular basis. They need a reasonable level of sun to survive, and do best in light soils, suffering in heavy and clay types. Once fully established they are extremely resilient and may be divided. Seeds taken from the mother plant will never be a true replica of the original even if they produce similar colourings.
Low alkaloidal or sweet cultivars of this lupine suitable for fodder crops have been bred. To avoid restoration of alkaloid synthesis in cross-pollinated species of lupine, a new approach has been developed on the basis of specific crossing. Only compatible forms are involved in hybridization, with their low alkaloid content controlled by one and the same genetic system. These approaches have allowed transforming this bitter weed into a valuable fodder crop. In the conditions of Northwest Russia positive results from the use of the sweet commercial cultivar "Pervenec" (first sweet variety), which is included in the State Catalogue of selection achievements of Russia. Breeding of sweet lupine is carried out also in Finland. The newer garden hybrids of today are highly poisonous because they are full of toxic alkaloids and should never be eaten.
The species is also toxic to livestock.


In New Zealand, where it is known as the Russell lupin, Lupinus polyphyllus is classed as an invasive species and covers large areas next to roadsides, pastures and riverbeds, especially in the Canterbury region. It is documented as being first naturalised in 1958 and it has been suggested that tour bus drivers deliberately spread seeds of the plant to promote colourful roadside vegetation in areas which some tourists may consider to be rather drab. The plant threatens indigenous species especially when it invades the braided river beds in the South Island.
It is also classed as an invasive species in Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Argentina, the Czech Republic, Finland, Lithuania, and Ukraine.


Lupinus texensis, the  Texas bluebonnet or Texas lupine  is a species of lupine found in Texas, and the Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas. With other related species of lupines also called bluebonnets, it is the state flower of Texas.
It is an annual which begins its life as a small, gravel-like seed. The seed has a hard seed coat that must be penetrated by wind, rain, and weather over the course of a few months (but sometimes several years). In the fall, the bluebonnets emerge as small seedlings with two cotyledons, and later a rosette of leaves that are palmately compound, with five to seven leaflets 3–10 cm long, green with a faint white edge and hair. Growth continues over the mild winter, and then in the spring takes off, rapidly grow larger, before sending up a 20– to 50-cm-tall plume of blue flowers (with bits of white and occasionally a tinge of pinkish-red). The scent of these blossoms has been diversely described; many people say they give off no scent at all, while a few have described the scent as 'sickly sweet'.
Bluebonnet seeds have a hard outer shell to protect from dry conditions as the plant grows better in moist years. Seeds may be scarified - a process to weaken the seed casing to encourage germination - before being stored. If scarified and stored at twenty-two degrees Celsius, the seeds face no reduction in germinability one year after being harvested and treated.
It has been found in the wild with isolated mutations in other colors, most notably all-white flowers, pink, and the maroon 'Alamo Fire' variation. These mutations have since been selectively bred to produce different color strains that are available commercially.
Texas recognizes all native lupine species occurring in the state as the official state flower. That fact leads to other species such as L. subcarnosus and L. havardii also being referred to as bluebonnets, but distinctions are seen among the species that differentiate them from L. texensis.


The thrush nightingale (Luscinia luscinia), also known as the sprosser, is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae. It, and similar small European species, are often called chats.
It is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in forests in Europe and the Palearctic and overwintering in Africa. The distribution is more northerly than the very closely related common nightingale, Luscinia megarhynchos, which it closely resembles in appearance. It nests near the ground in dense undergrowth.
The thrush nightingale is similar in size to the European robin. It is plain greyish-brown above and white and greyish-brown below. Its greyer tones, giving a cloudy appearance to the underside, and lack of the common nightingale's obvious rufous tail side patches are the clearest plumage differences from that species. Sexes are similar. It has a similar but more powerful song than that of the nightingale.


An adult thrush nightingale is about 16 centimetres (6.3 in) long with a wingspan of approximately 18 centimetres (7.1 in). The head, nape and the whole of the upper parts of the thrush nightingale are dark brown with a slight olive tinge. The colour is much deeper than that of the nightingale and is not at all rufous. The upper tail-coverts are less olivaceous and the tail feathers are dark rufous-brown. The lores and ear-coverts are brownish-black and the chin and throat are pale buff or whitish, mottled with brown, and are paler in colour than the nightingale. The sides of the throat are spotted brown and the pale feathers of the breast have brown central bands giving the breast a mottled appearance. The under tail-coverts are buff, sometimes barred or marked with brown. The wing feathers and wing-coverts are dark brown and less rufous than the nightingale. The beak, legs and feet are brown and the irises are dark brown. The sexes are similar to each other in appearance and the juveniles are darker and more mottled. There is a single moult in July and August at the end of the breeding season.


The thrush nightingale is a migrant species. It breeds in eastern Europe and the western part of temperate Asia. Its northern limit of its summer range extends to Denmark, southern Finland, Norway and Sweden, the Baltic States, the Republic of Karelia, Kostroma, Vologda, Perm, Kazakhstan, Turkestan and Altai. The southern limit extends from Austria and the Czech Republic, through Romania, Bulgaria, southern Russia, Ukraine, the Crimea and northern Caucasus. It overwinters in Africa south of the Sahara. It is an occasional visitor to the British Isles.
In its breeding range, the thrush nightingale is found in damp deciduous woodland typically with alder and birch. It favours thick undergrowth with brambles, dense shrubs and tangled vegetation in swampy places and near water. In its winter quarters it is found in dense patches of thorn bush, especially in valley bottoms near water courses, and sometimes in thick vegetation at the edge of woodland.
The bird is a host of the acanthocephalan intestinal parasite Apororhynchus silesiacus.


The thrush nightingale feeds chiefly on the ground taking earthworms, spiders and the adults, larvae and pupae of insects such as beetles, small moths, ants and flies. In the autumn, the berries of currants (Ribes spp.) and elders (Sambucus spp.) are also eaten. Before crossing the Sahara on its migration, thrush nightingales build up their fat reserves. It has been found experimentally that magnetic cues may stimulate the birds to do this. A simulation of the magnetic field found in northern Egypt encouraged birds preparing to migrate from Sweden to further build up their body fat.
The thrush nightingale breeds in damp forests, nesting on the ground, often in the middle of a bed of stinging nettles (Urtica dioica). The nest rests on a platform of dead leaves and is composed of dead grass stalks, bents (Agrostis spp.), sedges and stems, lined with finer material. It is built by the female which lays four or five (occasionally six) eggs. These are a milky-blue colour, usually plain but sometimes with a slight speckling of rusty-brown and measure an average of 21.7 by 16.2 millimetres (0.85 in × 0.64 in). The hen incubates the eggs which hatch in about thirteen days. The young are fed by both parents and fledge when about eleven days old, but are not fully independent for another twelve days or so.


BirdLife International estimates that there are between 11 and 20 million thrush nightingales in Europe and that, as Europe forms somewhere between 50% and 74% of the bird's global range, the total world population may be between 15 and 41 million individuals. In Europe, the population seems to be increasingly slightly. The bird is considered to be of Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN.


The common nightingale, rufous nightingale or simply nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos), is a small passerine bird best known for its powerful and beautiful song. It was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae. It belongs to a group of more terrestrial species, often called chats.


The common nightingale is slightly larger than the European robin, at 15–16.5 cm (5.9–6.5 in) length. It is plain brown above except for the reddish tail. It is buff to white below. The sexes are similar. The eastern subspecies (L. m. golzi) and the Caucasian subspecies (L. m. africana) have paler upper parts and a stronger face-pattern, including a pale supercilium. The song of the nightingale has been described as one of the most beautiful sounds in nature, inspiring songs, fairy tales, opera, books, and a great deal of poetry.


It is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in forest and scrub in Europe and the Palearctic, and wintering in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is not found naturally in the Americas. The distribution is more southerly than the very closely related thrush nightingale Luscinia luscinia. It nests on or near the ground in dense vegetation. Research in Germany found that favoured breeding habitat of nightingales was defined by a number of geographical factors.
less than 400 m (1,300 ft) above mean sea level
mean air temperature during the growing season above 14 °C (57 °F)
more than 20 days/year on which temperatures exceed 25 °C (77 °F)
annual precipitation less than 750 millimetres (30 in)
aridity index lower than 0.35
no closed canopy
In the U.K., the bird is at the northern limit of its range which has contracted in recent years, placing it on the red list for conservation. Despite local efforts to safeguard its favoured coppice and scrub habitat, numbers fell by 53 percent between 1995 and 2008. A survey conducted by the British Trust for Ornithology in 2012 and 2013 recorded some 3,300 territories, with most of these clustered in a few counties in the southeast of England, notably Kent, Essex, Suffolk, and East and West Sussex.
By contrast, the European breeding population is estimated at between 3.2 and 7 million pairs, giving it green conservation status (least concern).


Common nightingales are so named because they frequently sing at night as well as during the day. The name has been used for more than 1,000 years, being highly recognisable even in its Old English form nihtegale, which means "night songstress". Early writers assumed the female sang when it is in fact the male. The song is loud, with an impressive range of whistles, trills and gurgles. Its song is particularly noticeable at night because few other birds are singing. This is why its name includes "night" in several languages. Only unpaired males sing regularly at night, and nocturnal song probably serves to attract a mate. Singing at dawn, during the hour before sunrise, is assumed to be important in defending the bird's territory. Nightingales sing even more loudly in urban or near-urban environments, in order to overcome the background noise. The most characteristic feature of the song is a loud whistling crescendo, absent from the song of thrush nightingale. It has a frog-like alarm call.
The bird is a host of the acanthocephalan intestinal parasite Apororhynchus silesiacus.