Mentha longifolia (also known as horse mint, fillymint or St. John's horsemint; syn. M. spicata var. longifolia L., M. sylvestris L., M. tomentosa D'Urv, M. incana Willd.) is a species in the genus Mentha (mint) native to Europe excluding Britain and Ireland, western and central Asia (east to Nepal and the far west of China), and northern and southern (but not tropical) Africa.
It is a very variable herbaceous perennial plant with a peppermint-scented aroma. Like many mints, it has a creeping rhizome, with erect to creeping stems 40–120 cm tall. The leaves are oblong-elliptical to lanceolate, 5–10 cm long and 1.5–3 cm broad, thinly to densely tomentose, green to greyish-green above and white below. The flowers are 3–5 mm long, lilac, purplish, or white, produced in dense clusters (verticillasters) on tall, branched, tapering spikes; flowering in mid to late summer. It spreads via rhizomes to form clonal colonies.
Nicholas Culpeper's Complete Herbal (1653) states that "It is good for wind and colic in the stomach ... The juice, laid on warm, helps the King's evil or kernels in the throat ... The decoction or distilled water helps a stinking breath, proceeding from corruption of the teeth, and snuffed up the nose, purges the head. It helps the scurf or dandruff of the head used with vinegar." In addition, Mentha longifolia, like other Mentha species, is known to have important medicinal properties.


There are seven subspecies:
Mentha longifolia subsp. longifolia, Europe, northwest Africa
Mentha longifolia subsp. capensis (Thunb.) Briq., southern Africa
Mentha longifolia subsp. grisella (Briq.) Briq., southeastern Europe
Mentha longifolia subsp. noeana (Briq.) Briq., Turkey east to Iran
Mentha longifolia subsp. polyadena (Briq.) Briq., southern Africa
Mentha longifolia subsp. typhoides (Briq.) Harley., northeast Africa, southwest Asia
Mentha longifolia subsp. wissii (Launert) Codd., southwestern Africa
It has been widely confused with tomentose variant plants of Mentha spicata; it can be distinguished from these by the hairs being simple unbranched, in contrast to the branched hairs of M. spicata.
Like almost all mints, Mentha longifolia can be invasive. Care needs to be taken when planting it in non-controlled areas.


Mentha pulegium, commonly (European) pennyroyal, or pennyrile, also called mosquito plant and pudding grass, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae, native to Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.  Crushed pennyroyal leaves emit a very strong fragrance similar to spearmint. Pennyroyal is a traditional folk remedy, emmenagogue, abortifacient, and culinary herb, but is toxic to the liver and has caused some deaths. European pennyroyal is related to an American species, Hedeoma pulegioides. Though they differ in genera, they share similar chemical properties.


An annual to perennial plant with creeping or erect branched stems to about 40 cm in height. The stems are square in cross-section and can vary from hairless on some plants to densely hairy on others, with a green to sometimes red or purplish colour. The leaves, which grow in opposite pairs, are narrowly oval, 2–3 cm long x 1 cm wide, downy, sparsely toothed towards the tip, and taper into a short stalk. All parts of the plant are strongly scented when crushed but it does not have noticeable glands on its surface. The small (6 mm) flowers are densely packed in whorls at the nodes, widely separated, above pairs of leaf-like bracts. The calyx is a ribbed tube about 3 mm long, with 5 triangular teeth, the lower 2 being narrower and slightly longer than the upper 3; it is hairy both on the inside and the outside. The corolla has 4 mauve lobes or "petals" and is hairy only on the outside. The flowers are bisexual and have 4 long stamens, 2 (or all 4) of which project well beyond the corolla lobes. There is one long style which is forked to produce 2 stigmas, which also project from the flower. The fruits consist of a cluster of four brown, 1-seeded nutlets, each about 0.7 mm long.
The flowering period starts in June and continues into mid-summer, although in northern countries it flowers rather later, sometimes as late as September, when it can fail to set seed.
Its chromosome number is 2n = 20.


The native range of pennyroyal is thought to be around the eastern Mediterranean, where it grows in damp meadows, around pools and in stream margins. It is, however, very widely established around the world, including North and South America, throughout Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. In many places it is considered a troublesome weed of agriculture. Towards the northern edge of its range, as in Britain, it is considered to be rare and declining, except where introduced.


The habitat of pennyroyal is seasonally damp pasture, where standing water over the winter leaves bare ground in the summer, and where livestock preferentially graze other plants. An analogue of this habitat is found on roadsides, where trampling or disturbance of the ground produces similarly bare soil, particularly where there is waterlogging in winter. It is also found along watercourses, in wet woodland and in abandoned fields.
In California, where it is considered an invasive species, it occupies a similar niche, in seeps, streamsides, vernal pools and swales, marshes, and ditches. There is some speculation that it may displace native species in these areas.
Few animals eat pennyroyal. In Britain, the only insect known to feed on it is the bug Heterogaster artemisiae Schilling, which is a seed bug that normally feeds on wild thyme.
It is considered an axiophyte in many British counties, because low-intensity pasture is a rare habitat, although it has been spreading in recent decades. Its Ellenberg values in Britain are L = 8, F = 7, R = 5, N = 7, and S = 0.


Documented use of pennyroyal dates back to ancient Greek, Roman, and Medieval cultures. Its name – although of uncertain etymology – is associated with Latin pulex (flea), alluding to the manner it was used to drive away fleas when smeared on the body.  Pennyroyal was commonly incorporated as a cooking herb by the Greeks and Romans. A large number of the recipes in the Roman cookbook of Apicius called for the use of pennyroyal, often along with such herbs as lovage, oregano and coriander. Although it was commonly used for cooking also in the Middle Ages, it gradually fell out of use as a culinary herb and is seldom used as such today.
Records from Greek and Roman physicians and scholars contain information pertaining to pennyroyal's medicinal properties, as well as recipes used to prepared it. Pliny the Elder, in his encyclopedia Naturalis Historia (Natural History), described the plant as an emmenagogue, and that it also expelled a dead fetus. Galen only listed pennyroyal as an emmenagogue, as did Oribasius. Roman and Greek writers Quintus Serenus Sammonicus and Aspasia the Physician however both agreed that pennyroyal, when served in tepid water, was an effective abortive method. A medical text on gynecology attributed to Cleopatra (though it was actually written by a female Greek physician Metrodora) recommends the use of pennyroyal with wine to induce abortions.
In regard to its contraceptive properties, it was referred to in a joking manner in Aristophanes' play Peace (421 BCE). The god Hermes provides the male character Trygaios a female companion; when Trygaios asks if there would be a problem if she became pregnant, Hermes responds, "Not if you add a dose of pennyroyal." In a similar manner, in Aristophanes' comedy Lysistrata, after a pregnant female character on stage is told to withhold her body sexually from her husband, a slender female character, in comparison to the pregnant woman, is described as "a very lovely land Well croppy, and trimmed and spruced with pennyroyal."
Early settlers in colonial Virginia used dried pennyroyal to eradicate pests. Pennyroyal was such a popular herb that the Royal Society published an article on its use against rattlesnakes in the first volume of its Philosophical Transactions in 1665. 17th century apothecary and physician Nicholas Culpeper mentioned pennyroyal in his medical text The English Physitian, published in 1652. In addition to its abortive properties, Culpeper recommends its use for gastrointestinal ailments, such as constipation and hemorrhoids, as well as itching and blemishes to the skin, and even toothaches.
Pennyroyal is an essential ingredient in the North african dish, which is still eaten to the this day, called Batata fliou.
Pennyroyal continued to be used up through the 20th and 21st centuries. Its oil is still commercially available today, though little is known about the appropriate dosages for humans. Scientists therefore likely consider it unsafe for use, as it is potentially toxic.


Pennyroyal is frequently used as an insecticide and pest repellent.  As a pest repellent, it is used to keep fleas away from household animals as well as on humans to ward off gnats and mosquitos. Some flea collars for pets have pennyroyal oil or the herb can be crushed in the lining. Humans have also put crushed pennyroyal stems in their pockets or on their clothing to ward off unwanted insects. However, when using the pennyroyal plant as a pest repellent, the use of the concentrated pennyroyal oil should be avoided. Pennyroyal oil can be extremely toxic to both humans and animals, even in small quantities. With the use of pennyroyal around animals and humans comes the risk of it being absorbed through the skin and causing negative health effects. The less concentrated leaves of the plant should be used instead as an insect repellent.
Pennyroyal has historically also been used as a mint flavoring in herbal teas and foods.  Pennyroyal tea has been used for cold relief, fevers, coughs, indigestion, liver and kidney problems and headaches. The fresh or dried leaves of pennyroyal have also been used when treating influenza, abdominal cramps, to induce sweating, as well as in the treatment of diseases such as smallpox and tuberculosis. To make the tea, the leaves of the plant are boiled in hot water.  The lower concentration of toxic chemicals in these teas are less harmful than pennyroyal oil.  It is recommended that people only drink pennyroyal tea periodically, as it is taxing on the body and should not be drunk on a regular basis.  Consumption of pennyroyal tea can be fatal to infants and children.
In Italy the fresh leaves of this plant, which in Rome and the surrounding area is called menta romana, are used in the capital's cuisine to flavour lamb and tripe. In culinary use it should not be confused with lesser calamint (Clinopodium nepeta), which in Rome is used to prepare artichokes.
The pennyroyal plant has also been used as an emmenagogue or perhaps most famously as an abortifacient.  Chemicals in the pennyroyal plant cause the uterine lining to contract, causing a woman's uterine lining to shed.  Women who struggle with regulating their menstrual cycle or suffer from a cystic ovary syndrome may choose to drink pennyroyal tea.  Pennyroyal tea is subtle enough to induce menstrual flow with minimal risk of negative health effects.  More concentrated versions of the plant, such as the oil, are much more toxic and will likely force a miscarriage if ingested by a pregnant woman.  Since the U.S. Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act in October 1994 all manufactured forms of pennyroyal in the United States have carried a warning label against its use by pregnant women, but pennyroyal is not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Rennie's 1833 supplement to the pharmacopeias admitted its use as an "expectorant, diuretic, and emmenagogue" in doses of 10 grains to 1 scruple (0.6–1.3g) of the powdered dried herb, but dismissed the use of the Pennyroyal Water (Aqua Pulegii) as "popularly but erroneously supposed" to be an abortifacient [no mention is made of toxicity].
At least one study has shown pennyroyal oil to have potent acaricidal activity against house dust mites.


Pennyroyal is toxic to humans and has differing effects dependent on the volume and concentration ingested.  The most concentrated and toxic form of the pennyroyal plant is pennyroyal oil.  The oil contains 80% to 92% of cyclohexanone pulegone.  Pulegone, the molecule in highest concentration in the pennyroyal plant, causes a variety of ailments in those who ingest it and is what causes the plant to have its peppermint flavor.
Symptoms that may persist after ingesting a small dose (<10 mL) of pennyroyal oil are nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and dizziness.  Larger volumes may result in multiorgan failure that could lead to death. There are no current toxicokinetics studies performed on humans for the effects of pulegone, but there are some studies performed on other mammals. When pulegone is ingested, it is broken down by the liver and reacts to form multiple toxic metabolites that can wreak havoc in the body.  Some identified metabolites are menthofuran, piperitenone, piperitone, and menthone.


The active chemical in pennyroyal is pulegone.  Pulegone is a ketone and on the cellular level, ketones can act as enzyme inhibitors.  The carbonyl center of the pulegone structure acts as a strong electrophile, causing active sites on enzymes to bind with pulegone instead of the target protein.
The exocyclic double bond found in pulegone is vital to the activation and binding mechanism of the molecule and causes it to be an effective hepatotoxin.  When ingested, pulegone targets the liver and kidney, among other organs.  Studies have been conducted on rats show that one of the main effects is the inhibition of contractile activity in the myometrium and death by kidney failure.  Also found in the study, long term exposure to pennyroyal increased incidences of urinary bladder tumors.


The exact mechanism of action by which pennyroyal induces menses and abortions in humans is still unknown. Studies using animal models speculate the source of liver toxicity is due to one of the many constituents the plant contains: pulegone, a monoterpene. Pulegone is metabolized by cytochrome P450 (CYP 1A2 and 2E1) and converted to several toxins. Both in vitro and in vivo studies have found the pulegone metabolite menthofuran to be an inhibitor of CYP2A6, accounting for a significant degree of pennyroyal's hepatotoxicity.
The exact pathway pulegone undergoes to be converted to menthofuran is unknown, but one study strongly suggested it included allylic oxidation of a methyl group (from CYP450), intramolecular cyclization to form a hemiketal, and subsequent dehydration to form the furan. Additionally, pulegone and menthofuran may deplete glutathione levels, leaving hepatocytes vulnerable to free radical damage.


There is no known antidote for pennyroyal toxicity. Case studies involving pennyroyal poisonings have reported the use of gastric lavages and administration of emetics or vomiting inducing agents, or absorbents like activated charcoal. As glutathione depletion has been shown to regulate liver toxification, administration of N-acetylcysteine in similar doses as given for acetaminophen toxicity have been given to patients.
A study testing pulegone toxicity found inhibitors of cytochrome P450, such as cobaltous chloride or piperonyl butoxide, blocked toxicity. Such testing has not been expanded to humans, however, as the pennyroyal mechanism of toxicity is still not entirely understood.


Mentzelia hispida is a species of flowering plant in the family Loasaceae known by the common name pega ropa, or "sticks to clothing" in Spanish. It is native to Mexico where it grows in scrub and woodland habitats.


Mentzelia laevicaulis is a showy wildflower native to western North America. Its common names include giant blazingstar and smoothstem blazingstar.
This is a widespread plant which can be found in sandy, rocky, and disturbed areas, such as roadsides.


It grows a weedy-looking, branched stem which may reach a yard in height. The whitish-green stem and its lateral branches bear the occasional triangular sawtoothed leaf. The plant bears capsule fruits containing winged seeds.
At the tip of each branch blooms a spectacular yellow flower. The star-shaped flower has five narrow, pointed petals with shiny yellow surfaces, each up to 3 inches long. Between the petals are long, thin yellow sepals. The center of the open-faced flower is filled with a great many whiskery yellow stamens. Beneath the petals are long, curling bracts.


The superb lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae) is an Australian songbird, one of two species from the family Menuridae. It is one of the world's largest songbirds, and is renowned for its elaborate tail and courtship displays, and its excellent mimicry. The species is endemic to Australia and is found in forest in the southeast of the country. According to David Attenborough, the superb lyrebird displays the most sophisticated voice skills within the animal kingdom—"the most elaborate, the most complex, and the most beautiful".


The superb lyrebird was first illustrated and described scientifically as Menura superba by Major-General Thomas Davies on 4 November 1800 to the Linnean Society of London. Superb lyrebirds are passerine birds within the family Menuridae, being one of the two species of lyrebirds forming the genus Menura, with the other being the much rarer Albert's lyrebird. The superb lyrebird can be distinguished from Albert's lyrebird by its slightly larger size, less reddish colour and more ornate tail feathers. The generic name Menura derives from Ancient Greek mēnē 'moon' and oura 'tail', referring to the numerous transparent lunules in the inner webs of the outer tail-feathers (as described by John Latham in 1801). The specific epithet derives from Modern Latin Nova Hollandia 'New Holland', the name given by early Dutch explorers to Western Australia.


Lyrebirds are ancient Australian animals. The Australian Museum contains fossils of lyrebirds dating back to about 15 million years ago. The prehistoric Menura tyawanoides has been described from early Miocene fossils found at the famous Riversleigh site. The superb lyrebird is found in the forests of southeastern Australia, ranging from southern Victoria to southeastern Queensland.
The bird was introduced to southern Tasmania in 1934–54, amid ill-founded fears the species was becoming threatened with extinction in its mainland populations. The Tasmania population is thriving and even growing. Across the rest of its large range, the lyrebird is common, and is evaluated as being of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
This range of the superb lyrebird includes a variety of biomes, including subtropical and temperate rainforest, and wet and dry sclerophyll forest. The preferred habitat of the bird is in wet forest and rainforest, where there is an open ground layer of moist leaf litter shaded by vegetation. In favourable seasons, the lyrebird range is often extended into drier areas further from water sources.


The superb lyrebird is a large, pheasant-sized terrestrial passerine, ranging in length from 860 mm (34 in) for the female to 1 m (39 in) for the male. Females weigh around 0.9 kg (2.0 lb), and males weigh around 1.1 kg (2.4 lb). The plumage colour is mainly dark brown on the upper body, with greyish-brown underparts and red-tinged flight feathers. The wings are short and round, and are only capable of weak flight, being mainly used for balance or for gliding from trees to the ground. The legs are powerful, capable of running quickly, and the feet are strong enough to move branches up to 10 cm in diameter.
Lyrebirds are renowned for their ornate tails. Adult males have tails up to 70 cm (28 in) long, consisting of sixteen feathers. The outer two feathers, the lyrates, are broad S-shaped feathers, originally named for their resemblance to the shape of a lyre, and have brown and buff coloured patterning. Between the lyrates are twelve filamentaries, feathers of flexible silvery barbs. In the centre of the tail are two silvery median feathers. The tail of the female is less ornate, with shorter lyrates and plain, broad feathers in place of the filamentaries. In both sexes, juveniles have no ornamental tail feathers. The tail plumage develops into that of the mature bird through a series of annual moults, with feathers undergoing change in structure and patterning. The male superb lyrebird reaches maturity in 7–9 years, and the female in 6–7 years.


The diet of the superb lyrebird consists primarily of invertebrates such as earthworms and insects found on the forest floor. There is also evidence that the birds are mycophagists, meaning that they eat fungi.
Superb lyrebirds forage by scratching vigorously in the upper soil layers, disturbing the topsoil and leaf litter. The birds are most likely to forage in damp rainforest vegetation relative to drier areas, and in areas where the bottom vegetation strata is open and low in complexity, allowing good access to food sources in the leaf litter.


Superb lyrebirds exhibit polygyny, with a single male mating with several females. A male's territory can overlap with up to six female territories. Within his territory, the male will construct several circular mounds of bare dirt on the forest floor, for the purpose of conducting courtship displays. These mounds are defended vigorously from other males. There is strong sexual selection in lyrebirds, with females visiting the territories of several different males and choosing the most desirable males with which to copulate. When a male encounters a female lyrebird, he performs an elaborate courtship display on the nearest mound. This display incorporates both song and dance elements. The male fans out his tail horizontally to cover his entire body and head. The tail feathers are vibrated, and the lyrebird beats his wings against his body and struts around the mound. He also sings loudly, incorporating his own vocalisations with mimicry of other bird calls. After mating, the male performs an ornate postcopulatory display shaking his tail while producing a soft clicking sound. Throughout, he faces the female and often will walk backwards. A study has found evidence that the lyrebirds’ ‘dance choreography’ is highly coordinated to different types of song repertoire. Coordination of movement with acoustic signals is a trait previously thought to be unique to humans, and indicates high cognitive ability.
Females are the sole providers of parental care. They build large domed nests out of sticks on raised earth platforms. Nests are most likely to be located in wetter areas with deep leaf litter and high understory vegetation complexity, reflecting the requirements of food availability and protection from predators.
The female breeds once per year in winter, usually laying a single egg. Eggs are laid in a deep bed of lyrebird feathers within the nest, and are then incubated by the female for up to 7 weeks. Post-fledging parental care lasts several months, with the female exerting significant energy in feeding and brooding the nestling.


The superb lyrebird is renowned for its elaborate vocal mimicry, with an estimated 70-80% of the male's vocalisations consisting of imitations of other species, mostly other birds but occasionally marsupials. Females also sing, regularly producing both lyrebird-specific song and vocal mimicry. Both sexes can intersperse vocal mimicry with lyrebird-specific vocalisations including songs and alarm calls.
The mimicry of the superb lyrebird is highly accurate, with even the model species at times unable to distinguish between model song and mimicked song. For example, one study found that strike-thrushes did not respond any differently to hearing their own songs than to hearing imitations by lyrebirds.
Generally, juveniles initially learn mimetic items through transmission by older lyrebirds, rather than from the model species themselves. This is reflected in the vocalisations of lyrebirds in the Sherbrooke Forest in Victoria, which were observed to frequently mimic the song of pilotbirds, a species that had not been recorded in the area for over 10 years. During the winter when the nestlings hatch, adults more frequently mimic model species that are less active during this time, again suggesting that mimetic items are initially learnt from other lyrebirds.
The quality of mimetic song increases with age, with adult superb lyrebirds having both greater accuracy and a more diverse repertoire of mimetic songs when compared to subadult birds. Subadult lyrebirds produce recognisable imitations, which fall short of adult versions in terms of frequency range, consistency and acoustic purity, for example in imitations of the complex whipbird call.
Like many passerine species, there are significant differences in lyrebird song in different populations over its geographic range. These include differences in repertoire and vocalisation characteristics, and may be due to differences in local bird species assemblages, which provide different options for model selection. It could also be due to differences in the acoustic environment mediated by vegetation structure, with lyrebirds more likely to mimic fragments of bird songs that are most acoustically prominent.


Historically, there has been far more research on the mimetic abilities of male lyrebirds. This is primarily due to the assumption that the evolution of song in passerines resulted primarily from the selection on males in attracting mates or deterring rivals. However, a study found that females also produced mimetic vocalisations while foraging and during nest defence, suggesting that mimicry has a function in deterring predators and conspecific rivals.


In David Attenborough's Life of Birds (ep. 6), the superb lyrebird is described as able to imitate twenty bird species' calls, and a male is shown mimicking a car alarm, chainsaw, and various camera shutters. However, two of the three lyrebirds featured were captive birds. One of the three was observed imitating a laughing kookaburra with such close similarity that a nearby kookaburra began responding to the lyrebird and calling back.
A recording of a superb lyrebird mimicking sounds of an electronic shooting game, workmen, and chainsaws was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia registry in 2013. The vocalizations of some superb lyrebirds in the New England area of New South Wales are said to possess a flute-like timbre.


The foraging behaviour of the superb lyrebird has a major effect on the structure of the forest floor. A lyrebird can move and bury up to 200 tonnes per hectare of leaf litter and soil every year, disturbing the soil to a greater extent than virtually any other animal. This soil disturbance hastens the decomposition of the leaf litter, and increases the rate of nutrient cycling in the ecosystem. The lyrebirds’ clearing of bare patches also reduces the amount of fuel available for forest fires, which in turn reduces the extent and intensity of wildfires.


Superb lyrebirds are vulnerable to native predatory birds such as the collared sparrowhawk, gray goshawk, and currawongs. Nests are particularly vulnerable to predation, but adults are also vulnerable due to their loud calls. It has been observed that males suffer higher degrees of mortality, suggesting that their courtship displays render them highly vulnerable. Methods utilised by superb lyrebirds to reduce predation risk include selection of protected areas for nest sites, mimicking calls of other predatory birds, and adopting solitary and timid behaviours.
As the superb lyrebird is a poor flyer, when alarmed it will tend to run away, sometimes incorporating short gliding flights to lower perches or downhill.
Human factors also pose threats to superb lyrebirds. Because they are ground-dwelling, superb lyrebirds are particularly threatened by vehicle collisions. The presence of roads and infrastructure also pose edge effects, for example disturbance from domestic animals and predation by introduced species such as the red fox, which is often associated with urban areas.


An instantly recognisable bird, the superb lyrebird has been featured as an emblem many times. Notable examples of this include a male superb lyrebird being featured on the reverse side of the Australian 10-cent coin, and as the emblem of the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service.


John Gould's historic painting of a male and female pair of superb lyrebirds has the tail feathers of the male incorrectly displayed, with the lyrates in the centre of the plume surrounded by the filamentaries. This happened when a superb lyrebird specimen was prepared for display at the British Museum by a taxidermist who had never seen a live lyrebird, and Gould later painted his artwork from this incorrect presentation.
A specimen of a male superb lyrebird, at the American Museum of Natural History, also has the tail feathers displayed incorrectly.


Menyanthes is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Menyanthaceae containing the single species Menyanthes trifoliata. The North American form is often referred to as M. trifoliata var. minor Michx. It is known in English by the common names bogbean and buckbean.


Menyanthes trifoliata has a horizontal rhizome with alternate, trifoliate leaves. The inflorescence is an erect raceme of white flowers.
The species occurs in fens and bogs in Asia, Europe, and North America. In eastern North America, it is considered to be a diagnostic fen species. It sometimes creates big quagmires with its thick roots.


The species is protected in the United States.


The rootstock can be ground into an unpalatable flour for emergency use.
The plant has a characteristic strong and bitter taste, which can be used in schnapps.
In China, the plant is known as "Sleeping herbs 睡菜" or "Herbs that calm consciousness 暝菜".
Guangdong Xing Yu (1678), a Qing dynasty book by Chiu-Da-Jun, records: "Eat [Menyanthes trifoliata;] makes people sleep well."
The Compendium of Materia Medica records: "[Treats] insomnia, restlessness".


Mercurialis annua is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family Euphorbiaceae known by the common name annual mercury or (rarely) French mercury. It is native to Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East but it is known on many other continents as an introduced species.


This is an annual herb growing 10 to 70 centimeters tall with oppositely arranged, stipulate oval leaves each a few centimeters long. The male flowers are borne in spikelike clusters sprouting from leaf axils, and female flowers grow at leaf axils in clusters of 2 or 3. The fruit is a bristly schizocarp 2 or 3 millimeters wide containing shiny, pitted seeds.
The species is monoecious or androdioecious.
A plant of Mercurialis annua can produce up to 135 million pollen grains.


Mercurialis annua grows in many types of open habitat, including disturbed areas, from sea level to 1400 m.


Mercurialis perennis, commonly known as dog's mercury, is a poisonous woodland plant found in much of Europe as well as in Algeria, Iran, Turkey, and the Caucasus, but almost absent from Ireland, Orkney and Shetland. A member of the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae), it is a herbaceous, downy perennial with erect stems bearing simple, serrate leaves. The dioecious inflorescences are green, bearing inconspicuous flowers from February to April.  It characteristically forms dense, extensive carpets on the floor of woodlands and beneath hedgerows.


Mercurialis perennis is a herbaceous plant. It usually grows in dense masses often in the ground flora of beech, oak, ash, elm and other types of woodlands in Europe. It also grows under the shade of hedgerows and scrub. It has a preference for moderately shady to densely shady habitats. It is able to colonize new deciduous woods on dry, calcareous soils at an annual rate of a meter or more. Under such conditions, the plants, especially the females, often display a darker green color. Its period of reproductive activity depends upon a number of factors such as illumination, soil reaction, soil moisture, etc. These factors also affect the duration of reproductive activity.
Dog's mercury favors alkaline (basic) soils and can be found in abundance in suitable habitats in limestone regions. It also occurs widely on neutral soils but is absent from acidic ones. Spreading by underground rhizomes, where its dense growth may shade out other woodland flowers such as oxlip, fly orchid, and even young ash seedlings, but in the open, it eventually gives way to other plants.
Mercurialis perennis extends from sea level to the mountain range. The ultimate height attained in different mountainous regions, e.g. in Scotland, England, Germany, and Switzerland, naturally varies with the latitude and other geographical factors. Existing colonies in some parts of Britain (including some in woods on boulder clay in East Anglia), are expanding and showing increased vigor, perhaps as a result of deeper shade in woodlands where coppicing has ceased.


The plant's common name derives from the plant's resemblance to the unrelated Chenopodium bonus-henricus (Good King Henry, also known as mercury, markry, markery, Lincolnshire spinach). Since Mercurialis perennis is highly poisonous, it was named "dog's" mercury (in the sense of "false" or "bad"). It has also been known as boggard posy.


There are separate male and female plants (the species is dioecious). the plants are born at the base of the leaves similar to nettles. The flower spikes (about 1-1.5 inches long) appear between February and May. The catkin-like male flowers have a yellow color (due to yellow stamens) and female flowers have 3 tepals (petals and sepals are combined or indistinguishable).


Dog's mercury is one of the characteristic plants of several woodland types, in particular:
W8 Fraxinus excelsior - Acer campestre - Mercurialis perennis woodland
W9 Fraxinus excelsior - Sorbus aucuparia - Mercurialis perennis woodland
W12 Fagus sylvatica - Mercurialis perennis woodland


M. perennis has variation in its morphological characters. This is noticeable in the outline, shape, and hairiness of its leaves, in the size of the lower leaves, in the number of stamens, and in the size of the seeds and fruits.
M. perennis possesses three distinct varieties are:
M. perennis L. var. genuina Miiller-Aarg
M. perennis L. var. Salisburyana Mukerji (Mukerji, 1927).
M. perennis L. var. leiocarpa Mukerji (syn. M. leiocarpa Sieb. et Zucc.)
Note:- M. perennis L. var. Salisburyana Mukerji (Mukerji, 1927) was discovered in March 1926 at Staplehurst (Kent). It differs from M. perennis L. var. genuina Miiller-Aarg  in the following respects:
serrated leaf margin
shorter petiole
darker green color
more hispid character
shorter and upwardly directed stigmas


Besides those three variations of M. perennis there are six habitat forms in nature:
f. silvatica (Hoppe s. str.). Leaves elongated, elliptic-lanceolate, pointed. Mid-nerve and veins of the leaves usually are thicker.
f. ovatifolia (Hausskn.). Leaves ovate to ovate-lanceolate, the upper part of the stem above the middle region generally hangs down.  This form grows on sunny slopes in bushes and thickets or on entirely exposed dry situations.
f. angustifolia (Murr.). Grows, like the preceding, in sunny situations, but the leaves are comparatively narrow and lanceolate, more hairy and thicker.
f. robusta (Gross). Leaves unusually large, 10–15 cm. long, and over 5 cm. broad. Seeds 4–5 mm. long. Plants very much taller and more robust, sometimes attaining a height of about 60–65 cm. Generally found under old oak or beech in fairly damp and shady localities.
f. saxicola (Beck.). Leaves elongate-elliptic, 4-5 times as long as broad, gradually tapering towards the apex. Both the upper and lower faces of the leaves hairier. Generally on exposed chalky hills.
f. variegata (Mukerji). Its leaves possess beautiful mottled patches of yellow and white, and by continued cultivation, this may be further improved.


All parts of the dog's mercury are highly poisonous.  Methylamine (mercurialine) and trimethylamine are thought to be present, together with a volatile basic oil, mercurialine, and saponins.
The scent of the plant is often described as 'foetid' due to the presence of trimethylamine which often gives off a rotting fish smell. Mercurialine is thought to be one of the active principle parts that are responsible for the toxicity of the herb. It is known to induce hemorrhagic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract and kidneys. There is apparently some narcotic action, which induces drowsiness, and mild muscular spasms.
One hypothesized mechanism of toxicity was discovered in 1900s. A researcher induced toxicity with dog's mercury, frozen at different stages of growth and fed it to sheep. Based on this experiment, these effects may be due to different toxic factors that are developed at different growth stages.  Another hypothesis is that one toxin might be culpable for the symptoms and illness.


Symptoms of poisoning appear within a few hours; they can include vomiting, pain, gastric and kidney inflammation, and sometimes inflammation of the cheeks and jaw ("malar erythema") and drowsiness. Larger doses cause lethargy, jaundice, painful urination, apparently by making the urine acid, and coma before death.


The first-known account of this phenomenon probably dates from 1693, when a family of five became seriously ill as a result of eating the plant (after boiling and frying it); one of the children died some days later as a result.
Apart from Chenopodium bonus-henricus and some other edible members of the Chenopodiaceae (also known as mercuries), the most similar-looking species is probably Mercurialis annua, annual mercury, which is also thought to be poisonous. Dog's mercury has been eaten in mistake for brooklime.
In 1983, a couple was reported of having eaten a large quantity of leaves after washing and boiling the plant after mistaking it for brooklime. Both patients were hospitalized complaining of nausea, vomiting, and severe bilateral colicky loin pain and present signs of malar erythema but no signs of cardiovascular/respiratory disorders. They presented signs similar to an allergic reaction. They suffered severe gastrointestinal complications which led to dehydration. Once the toxin was identified, they were given sodium bicarbonate four times a day to neutralize the acidity of the urine. They recovered after two days of rest and continuous observation and monitoring.
An outbreak of fatal mercurialis poisoning in the Welsh mountain ewes was reported which included hemolytic anemia without marrow suppression and acute oedematous gastroenteritis with hepatic centrilobular necrosis.


The dog's mercury is poisonous by itself but with a thorough drying/heating, one is able to destroy its poisonous quality. The juice of the plant is emetic, ophthalmic and purgative. It can be used externally to treat menstrual pain, ear, and eye problems, warts, and sores. A lotion can be made from the plant for antiseptic external dressing due to its ability to soften and moisturize the skin.
A fine blue dye can be obtained from the leaves although it is able to be turned red by acids and destroyed by alkalis. It is often permanent and colouration is similar to indigo. A yellow dye can be obtained from the leaves. The seeds are also a good source of drying oil.


Mergellus is a genus of duck. The smew (Mergellus albellus) is the only living species, but an extinct species known as Mergellus mochanovi has also been described from Late Pleistocene deposits in the Yakutia region of Russia.


Mermiria bivittata, known generally as two-striped mermiria, is a species of slant-faced grasshopper in the family Acrididae. Other common names include the two-striped slantface grasshopper and mermiria grasshopper. It is found in Central America and North America.


These two subspecies belong to the species Mermiria bivittata:
Mermiria bivittata bivittata
Mermiria bivittata maculipennis


Merodon equestris (Narcissus bulb fly, greater bulb fly, large bulb fly, large Narcissus fly) is a Holarctic species of hoverfly (Family Syrphidae).

Like many other hoverflies it displays a colouration pattern similar to a stinging insect (a bumblebee in this case) as an evolutionary defense mechanism. Other syrphid bee mimics are Mallota, Arctophila, Criorhina, Pocota and Brachypalpus. Merodon species are distinguished from these by the very strong hind femora, which bear a large triangular projection on the underside near the tip. It flies in low vegetation while the other bumblebee mimics prefer higher vegetation layers.


A stout fly with a small head. The tergites are black, without the dust spots or blue-purple sheen of other Merodon species. The thorax and abdomen are hidden by dense, long, erect hairs of variable colouration. Tibia 3 of the male has 2 spurs at the apex. The larva is described and figured by Hodson (1932)  and it is illustrated in colour by Rotheray (1993).


In the Palearctic it is found from Fennoscandia south to Iberia and the Mediterranean basin, and Ireland east through Europe into Russia and Japan. In the Nearctic it is found from British Columbia south to California. It has been introduced to New Zealand.


Habitat: Open areas in deciduous forest up into the subalpine zone but significantly synanthropic, occurring  in suburban parks and gardens and on horticultural land. The adult flies low in April to July with a fast zig-zag flight, among ground vegetation  frequently settling on bare ground. Adult M. equestris feed on pollen and nectar. They visit a large variety of flowers for nectar, while the larvae feed internally in tissues of bulbs of Amaryllidaceae, and they are regarded as a horticultural pest, especially of Narcissus. A bibliography of the literature on the biology of M.equestris is given by Barkemeyer (1994)


The blue-cheeked bee-eater (Merops persicus) is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family, Meropidae. The genus name Merops is Ancient Greek for "bee-eater", and persicus is Latin for "Persian".
It breeds in Northern Africa, and the Middle East from eastern Turkey to Kazakhstan and India. It is generally strongly migratory, wintering in tropical Africa, although some populations breed and live year-round in the Sahel.  This species occurs as a rare vagrant north of its breeding range, with most vagrants occurring in Italy and Greece.


Two subspecies are recognized:
Merops persicus persicus - Breeds in Asia, winters in East and Southern Africa.
Merops persicus chrysocercus - Breeds in North Africa, winters in West Africa.
This species is closely related to blue-tailed bee-eater, M. philippinus of East Asia, and the olive bee-eater of Africa, and has been treated as being the same species (conspecific).


The blue-tailed bee-eater (Merops philippinus) is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae. It is widely distributed across South and Southeast Asia where many populations are strongly migratory, and seen seasonally in many parts but breeding colonially in small areas across their range, mostly in river valleys, where the nest by tunneling into loamy sand banks. They are seen mostly in open habitats close to water.


This species, like other bee-eaters, is a richly coloured, slender bird. It is predominantly green; its face has a narrow blue patch with a black eye stripe, and a yellow and brown throat; the tail is blue and the beak is black. The three outer toes are united around their bases. It can reach a length of 23–26 cm, including the two elongated central tail feathers which can be just two inches more than the remaining ten feathers. Sexes are alike. This species is usually found near water and like other bee-eaters it predominantly eats flying insects, especially bees (as large as the Xylocopa sp.), wasps and hornets, which are caught in the air by sorties from an open perch. They may also forage in flight over estuaries, backwaters and even over the sea but not far from the coast. This species probably takes bees and dragonflies in roughly equal numbers. The insects that are caught are beaten on the perch to kill and break the exoskeleton. This habit is seen in many other members of the order Coraciiformes. They call mainly in flight with a rolling chirping whistling teerp.
The only confusable species within its range is the blue-cheeked bee-eater which however tends to be found in drier areas. The blue-tailed differs in having the rump and tail blue rather than green and black. The undertail feathers are bluish rather than green in the blue-cheeked. The blue cheek patch is much smaller while the chestnut on the throat and breast darker and covering a larger area.
They breed in April to May in India nesting colonially with closely placed nest holes in a vertical mudbank or even burrowing into gently sloping land. They tend to choose sandy and sandy clay loams but avoid heavier clay loams. They also prefer clear mud banks without any vegetation cover. In Sri Lanka, they have been noted to breed in artificial sand dunes created by dredging of sea sand. The nest tunnel can run nearly 2 metres deep. About 5 to 7 near spherical eggs are laid. Both the male and the female take care of the eggs. The parents guard the nest to prevent intraspecific brood parasitism and extra pair copulation. These birds also feed and roost communally. One or two helpers may join the breeding pair after incubation begins. Although males and females appear similar to the human eye, males tend to have longer central tail feather extensions and UV reflectance studies demonstrate that healthy males had darker chestnut throats and brighter green body plumage while females showed brighter blue rumps and yellow chins.


Based on the presence of spores of Nosema ceranae in the droppings of blue-tailed bee-eaters, it has been suggested that they may be capable of distributing the parasite to bees across a wide geographic range. A species of feather louse, Brueelia superciliosa has been described from hosts of this species in Thailand.


The species has a patchy breeding distribution across India, Myanmar, and parts of Southeast Asia. In India they are known to breed in several of the river valleys including those of the Godavari, Kaveri, Tunga Badra and Krishna rivers. They also nest in the eastern parts of Sri Lanka.
Blue-tailed bee-eaters are seasonal in many parts of their range and are known to migrate diurnally en masse at some places like Tanjung Tuan (W. Malaysia) and Promsri Hill (southern Thailand). They are winter visitors in parts of Malaysia and peninsular India. The non-breeding ranges of the blue-cheeked bee-eater and blue-tailed overlap in some parts of Gujarat and western peninsular India.


The Blue-tailed bee-eater is listed as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.


Mertensia ciliata is a species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common names tall fringed bluebells, mountain bluebells, and streamside bluebells.


It is native to the western United States, in California, Nevada, Utah, and Oregon. It often grows in moist habitat, such as subalpine meadows and creeksides. It often carpets large areas of meadow and hillside with blue-green foliage and sweet-scented bluebell blooms.


Mertensia ciliata is a perennial herb producing a cluster of erect stems from a thick, branching caudex. The leafy stems reach well over a meter in maximum height. The veiny leaves are oval to lance-shaped and pointed.
The inflorescence is an open array of many clustered blue bell-shaped flowers each between 1 and 2 centimeters long. The hanging, fragrant flower is tubular, expanding into a wider, lobed mouth. As the individual flowers progress in age they change in color from blue to pink-red.
The flowers bear poricidal anthers and are fertilized via buzz-pollination by several Bombus species. Primary Nectar robbing by Bombus species, including Bombus occidentalis is common in some populations.


The flowers, young stems and leaves are edible raw; older leaves (when the plant tends to be hairy) should be cooked. The plant contains alkaloids so should not be eaten in high quantities.


Mertensia maritima is a species of flowering plant in the borage family, and is known by the common names oyster leaf in North America, oyster plant in the British Isles, and sea bluebells.
It is restricted to gravelly sea shores, usually within reach of the highest winter tides in the Northern Hemisphere, reaching north to the northern parts of Canada, Greenland and Svalbard.
It is a perennial herb producing a stem approaching 50 centimeters in maximum length. The inflorescence forms a cluster of flowers which are first reddish, and later bright blue.


Mertensia maritima is known as the oyster leaf or oyster plant because it gives off a faint smell of mushrooms and when eaten it tastes vaguely of oysters. It is native to Britain and Northern Europe; however, populations in the British Isles are decreasing. There are two other varieties that exist:
M. maritima var. tenella is found in Canada and Spitzbergen
M. maritima var. asiatica is found in Alaska and Northeastern Asia
This plant grows on sand or shingle beaches where the ground can be siliceous or calcareous, and contains humus from decaying seaweed. It mainly grows in a sub-Arctic climate and is exposed to very cold temperatures, waves that crash on the shore and strong winds. Since the plant grows in a cold climate, the seeds remain dormant. Skarpaas and Stabbetorp noted that a cold period (about 2 °C (36 °F)) was needed to break this dormancy.


Mertensia virginica (common names Virginia bluebells, Virginia cowslip, lungwort oysterleaf, Roanoke bells) is a spring ephemeral plant with bell-shaped sky-blue flowers, native to eastern North America.


Virginia bluebells have rounded and gray-green leaves, borne on stems up to 24 in (60 cm) tall. They are petiolate at the bottom of the flower stem and sessile at the top.
Flowerbuds are pink. Flowers have five petals fused into a tube, five stamens, and a central pistil (carpel). They are borne in mid-spring in nodding spiral-shaped cymes at the end of arched stems. Flowers are usually blue, but white or pink flowers occur rarely.
The stamens and stigma are spaced too far apart for self-fertilization. The flower can be pollinated by bumblebees but, due to its funnel shape bumblebees must hover, making the bumblebee a rare pollinator. Butterflies are the most common pollinators because they can easily perch on the edges and still enjoy the nectar.
In early summer, each fertilized flower produces four seeds within wrinkled nuts, and the plant goes dormant till the next spring.
Plants are hardy to hardiness zone 3: −40 °C (−40 °F).
In cultivation, M. virginica has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Virginia bluebells had several uses in traditional Native American medicine, including as a pulmonary aid, tuberculosis treatment, and treatment for whooping cough (Cherokee,) root infusion antidote for treating poison, and root decoction venereal to treat venereal issues (Iroquois.) . Native Americans believed a tonic made from this plant could help heal those who were under-the-weather. According to St. Olaf College in Minnesota, uses of Virginia bluebells have been studied but offer no scientific proof that this plant can be used for medicinal purposes.
Mertensia virginica is edible, including the flowers.


Mertensia virginica is the type species for the genus Mertensia and was first described by Linnaeus in 1753 as Pulmonaria virginica. The genus Pulmonaria is today restricted to 19 species in the tribe Boragineae. When Albrecht Wilhelm Roth erected the genus Mertensia in 1797, he named the Virginia bluebell as Mertensia pulmonarioides, apparently unaware that Linnaeus had already named it in his Species Plantarum. Roth's name is a superfluous synonym and has been used in recent literature.


The green ibis (Mesembrinibis cayennensis), also known as the Cayenne ibis, is a wading bird in the ibis family Threskiornithidae. It is the only member of the genus Mesembrinibis.
This is a resident breeder from Honduras through Nicaragua, Costa Rica and western Panama, and South America to northern Argentina. It undertakes some local seasonal movements in the dry season.


When he first described the green ibis in 1789, from a specimen collected in Cayenne, French Guiana, Johann Friedrich Gmelin gave it the scientific name Tantalus cayennensis, assigning it to the same genus as a number of Old World ibis species. In 1930, James Lee Peters moved it to the monotypic genus Mesembrinibis; it has no subspecies. DNA–DNA hybridization studies show that the species falls squarely into the New World ibis clade, with its closest relatives being the sharp-tailed ibis, the American white ibis and the buff-necked ibis.
The genus name Mesembrinibis is a combination of the Greek word mesēmbrinos, meaning "southern" (from mesēmbria, meaning
"south") and ibis. The specific epithet cayennensis means "of Cayenne or French Guiana", and refers to the collection site for the type specimen. The species is also sometimes known as Cayenne Ibis.


The green ibis is a medium-sized ibis, with short legs and a long, slender, decurved bill. It measures 45–60 cm (18–24 in) in length and ranges from 700 to 890 g (1.5 to 2.0 lb) in mass. The sexes, which are identical in plumage, overlap somewhat in measurements, though the largest birds are male. Breeding adults have glossy greenish-black bodies, pale green legs and bill, and grey bare facial skin patches. Juveniles are much duller, but can be distinguished from the similar glossy ibis by their bulkier shape, shorter legs and broader wings. This species, like other ibises,  flies with neck outstretched. Its flight is heavy, with fewer glides and jerkier wingbeats than its relatives.


If seen in good light, the green ibis is distinctively dark, and unlikely to be confused with any other ibis. In poor light, however, it might be confused with the glossy ibis; the latter (which is bronzy-maroon in color) has longer legs and a slimmer build.


The green ibis is found from Costa Rica south to northern Argentina and Paraguay. However, there have been sightings from as far north as Honduras, and fossil records show the species formerly occurred as far north as Kansas in the United States. It is found in a variety of forested wetland habitats, particularly swamps and along the edges of rivers and lakes, at altitudes up to 500 m (1,600 ft).


The green ibis is largely crepuscular. Less gregarious than its relatives, it is usually seen alone or in pairs. When it does forage in mixed-species flocks, it tends to remain on the fringes, usually among other green ibises. It regularly perches in trees.


Its nest is a flimsy platform of twigs built high in a tree. It has been recorded harassing sunbitterns nesting in the same tree.


Because of its huge range and large population, the green ibis is rated as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature; however, its numbers do appear to be decreasing. It is at least occasionally hunted (and eaten) by residents of Central and South American countries.
The crested caracara is known to prey on green ibis, with a pair observed chasing and attacking one in flight, driving it to the ground. They killed it by pecking it repeatedly on the head. The green ibis is the type host of a species of bird louse, Plegadiphalus cayennensis.


Mesembryanthemum cordifolium formerly known as Aptenia cordifolia is a species of succulent plant in the iceplant family. It is a creeping plant that forms a carpet of flat-growing perennial herbs in groups on the ground from a base. Genus name means middle-embryo flower in reference to the position of the ovary in the flower. The specific epithet is derived from Latin for heart-shaped leaves.


This is a succulent, creeping, short-lived, mat-forming perennial herb growing in flat clumps on the ground from a woody base. Plants only rise to about 10 centimetres (3.9 in) tall but prostrate stems reach up to about 60 centimetres (24 in) long.  The stems are green and stalk-round. The fleshy, small leaves are opposite, ovate to cordate, about 2.5 centimetres (0.98 in) long and covered with fine papillae. Bright pink to purplish solitary flowers appear in the leaf axils, open during the day but close up at night and remain closed on cloudy days. These colored whorls are not petals, but non-functional modified stamens. Normal stamens are yellow. Flowers bloom primarily from spring to fall. The fruit is a capsule of little more than one centimeter in length with millimeter brown tuberose seeds. There is a variegated form.


The common names of the plant include baby sun rose, heart-leaf, red aptenia or aptenia in English, as well as rooi brakvygie or brakvygie in Afrikaans, and umjuluka, ibohlololo, or uncolozi omncane in isiZulu in South Africa. It is known as heartleaf iceplant in the USA British names may be heart-leaved aptenia or heart-leaved midday flower because, like many other representatives of the Aizoaceae, it opens its flowers only during the sunshine of the day.


Mesembryanthemum cordifolium is an accepted name according to "The Plant List"  database, the primary source for the modern APG taxonomy of flowering plants. Formerly placed in the genus Aptenia and known as A. cordifolia, it was included in Mesembryanthemum in 2007 when the whole genus Aptenia was reduced to synonymy.
Perhaps the most common plant seen under this name in gardens is actually Mesembryanthemum 'Red Apple', a hybrid with more vigorous growth, red flowers and bright green leaves, whose parents are M. cordifolium and M. haeckelianum. The true species of M. cordifolium has magenta-purple flowers and more heart-shaped, mid-green, textured leaves.


Native to the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, this species has become widely known as an ornamental plant. Today it can be found growing in Australia, escaped gardens and naturalized in some parts of California, Oregon and Florida, in the Mediterranean region of the Europe and in central Mexico. The plant was recently determined to be invasive in California and was listed as a wildland weed red alert.


The primary use of the plant is ornamental. The locals of the region of origin use the plant for its anti-inflammatory properties.
M. cordifolium (A. cordifolia) contains the serotonin reuptake inhibitor and monoamine releasing agent alkaloid mesembrine and demethylmesembrenol. It was found to contain the second highest levels of mesembrine in an analysis of 21 different plants. These alkaloids can also be found in Kanna (Sceletium tortuosum). Mesembrine likely plays a dominant role in the antidepressant effects of Seclectium tortuosum


Mesembryanthemum cordifolium can be planted as a fast-growing, not hardy, groundcover in flower boxes and around traffic lights. The plant needs a sunny spot and well drained soil. This plant is also ideal for covering walls, rockeries and areas bare of grass. Due to its quick growth, it is useful to prevent the growth of weeds in the field where it is planted. It can also survive without problems in a pot, where it is grown in hanging baskets so the long trailing branches can hang down with their leaves spaced out. Over-wintering should take place in a frost-free, sunny place at approximately 5 to 8 °C (41 to 46 °F). No serious insect or disease problems are known. In addition to the species and the hybrid 'Red Apple', one also encounters the variety A. x. 'Mezoo', a mutant of 'Red Apple' whose variegated leaves have creamy white edges, and rarely on a white-flowering form.


It easily reproduces from cuttings of the developed stems, roots, seeds of its capsular fruit, and even from its own buried leaves. Seeds must be sowed in summer and cuttings can be done in early spring in cooler climates. For cuttings, the plant can be divided and runners can be planted directly into the ground. The garden bed must be readied by digging over the soil. Compost and a slow-release fertilizer may be added to ensure healthy growth. With regard to risks, it is very resistant to drought, but with moist soil it grows rapidly. It is convenient that the farmland has good drainage. It cannot withstand frost, where it freezes below −5 °C (23 °F).


Mesembryanthemum crystallinum is a prostrate succulent plant native to Africa, Sinai and southern Europe, and naturalized in the New World. The plant is covered with large, glistening bladder cells or water vesicles, reflected in its common names of common ice plant, crystalline ice plant or ice plant.


Mesembryanthemum crystallinum grows creeping stems, from 20–60 centimetres (8–23+1⁄2 inches) in length. The leaves are 2–10 cm (3⁄4–4 in) long.
It flowers from March to October. The many-petalled flowers, 2.5 cm (1 in) across, open in the morning and close at night, and are pollinated by insects.
The species is covered with enlarged epidermal cells, called "bladder cells", the main function of which is to reserve water.
The plant can be annual, biennial or perennial, but its life cycle is usually completed within several months, depending on environmental conditions.


The plant usually uses C3 carbon fixation, but when it becomes water- or salt-stressed, it is able to switch to Crassulacean acid metabolism. Like many salt-tolerant plants, M. crystallinum accumulates salt throughout its life, in a gradient from the roots to the shoots, with the highest concentration stored in epidermal bladder cells. The salt is released by leaching once the plant dies, resulting in a detrimental osmotic environment preventing the growth of other, non-salt-tolerant species while allowing M. crystallinum seeds to germinate.
In M. crystallinum, the number of seeds produced depends on whether CAM has been activated (C3 metabolism is more efficient) and the size the plant has grown to in its juvenile growth phase. Older portions of the plant progressively die off and dry out during seed production. The developing seed capsules continue to sequester salt and produce viable seeds. Seeds at the top of the capsule generally germinate immediately on imbibation, while seeds at the base may remain dormant for longer than four weeks.


Mesembryanthemum crystallinum is native to Africa, Sinai and southern Europe, and naturalized in the Southwest of North America, as well as in South America and Australia. It is found on a wide range of soil types, from well-drained sandy soils (including sand dunes), to loamy and clay soils. It can tolerate nutritionally poor or saline soils (halophile), and grows well in disturbed sites such as roadsides, rubbish dumps and homestead yards.


The leaves are edible, as with some other members of the family Aizoaceae. The plant was once promoted in the United States and Europe as a vegetable similar to spinach, but failed to gain popularity. In southern Africa, the leaves and stems are gathered from the wild and pickled. In Japan, the plant has become a common vegetable sold in supermarkets after Saga University succeeded in hydroponic cultivation of a commercial quantity in 2009; the vegetable goes by the names ice plant (アイスプラント), salt leaf (ソルトリーフ) and barafu (バラフ). The seeds are also edible.
The crushed leaves can be used as a soap substitute and have medicinal uses. Ice plants are also used in South Africa as a way of deterring fires, or "firescaping" gardens. It is also cultivated for ornamentation. Due to its salt accumulation, M. crystallinum may be useful for bioremediation.


Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum is a species of succulent plant in the genus Mesembryanthemum known by the common name slenderleaf iceplant. It is the type species for the genus. It is native to coastal areas of the Mediterranean Basin, Macaronesia, and Middle East but it is known in many other places as an introduced species and sometimes an invasive weed, including several regions of Australia, parts of the western United States and adjacent Mexico, and some Atlantic islands.
M. nodiflorum is a usually annual herb forming a mostly prostrate clump or mat of stems up to a maximum of about 20 centimeters in length. The small stem branches are lined with knob-like cylindrical fleshy leaves up to 2 centimeters long. The herbage is green to bright red and visibly bumpy with shiny, bubble-like papillae. Flowers are solitary or borne in loose clusters. Each is about half a centimeter wide with many narrow to thready white or pale yellow petals. The fruit is a capsule which opens when it becomes wet, releasing seeds.


Metalasia muricata, commonly known as white bristle bush or blombos, is a hardy virgate or twiggy shrub with honey-scented flowers usually 2–4 m tall, woody with a rounded crown, and an important component of the coastal and mountain fynbos regions of Southern Africa. It is encountered in a number of forms in its extended distribution, some of which are tolerant of frost, wind and poor sandy soils. A member of the Asteraceae or daisy family, Metalasia has some 54 species in South Africa, many of them found in the Western Cape. The name of the genus Metalasia is derived from 'meta' which can have many meanings, but in this case is intended as 'reverse', and 'lasios' meaning 'woolly', an allusion to the woolly reverse sides of the leaves; 'muricata' means warty with short, sharp points like the shell of the Murex. Metalasia is also found in KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Eastern Cape and Lesotho.
The leaves of Metalasia muricata are some 6 mm long, in tufts or fascicled, closely packed about the stem, acicular or needle-like, sharp-tipped, greenish-grey and may be either glabrous or woolly. Flowers range from white to pink or purple, are bisexual, and produce fruits or cypselae which in this genus are ribbed nutlets with bristly pappi. The greyish bark is slightly striated. This is one of the first plant species to reappear after a fire, and offers shelter to less resilient plants when they emerge after being burnt.  It is occasionally used with Marram grass and Chrysanthemoides monilifera to stabilise coastal dunes.


Metalectra discalis, the common fungus moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1876. It is found in North America from Wisconsin to Quebec and Maine, south to Florida, west to Texas and Missouri, north to Ontario.
The wingspan is 20–29 mm. Adults are on wing from May to September in the south and from June to August in the north. There are probably two or more generations per year.
Larvae have been recorded on bracket fungi and probably feed on other persistent fungi as well.


Metanema inatomaria, the pale metanema or yellow-lined thorn, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Achille Guenée in 1857. It is found from east-central British Columbia and southern Northwest Territories and Yukon, east to Nova Scotia, south to Mississippi, Texas and Arizona.
The wingspan is 25–36 mm. Adults are on wing from late May to mid July.
The larvae mainly feed on Populus and occasionally Salix species.


Metcalfa pruinosa, the citrus flatid planthopper, is a species of insect in the Flatidae family of planthoppers first described by Thomas Say in 1830.


The species is native to North America (Nearctic realm), but it is today found throughout Europe (Austria, Britain, France, Italy, Romania, Slovenia, Poland, Switzerland, and Moldova), in the Neotropical realm and in South Korea.


Adults of Metcalfa pruinosa can reach a length of 5.5–8 millimetres (7⁄32–5⁄16 in) and a width of 2–3 millimetres (5⁄64–1⁄8 in) at the widest point. They are initially whitish. The color of adults may vary from brown to gray, in connection with the presence of a bluish white epicuticular wax, covering especially the nymphs. The large and prominent compound eyes are yellow. The mouthparts are adapted for piercing and sucking. The trapezoidal forewings are held vertically, wrapping the body when the insect is at rest. The front wings have veined costal cell and several characteristic whitish spots. The hind tibiae usually have two lateral spines in addition to the other spines at the apex.
Nymphs may reach a length of about 3.2 millimetres (1⁄8 in). Color varies from whitish to light green, with relative large tufts of white wax on the abdomen.


The species is univoltine, producing one generation per year. Adults mate in fall during the night. The females lay about 100 eggs, usually in the bark of host plants. Eggs overwinter, hatching the following spring. The adults are seen mainly in summer and fall, when they feed gregariously on sap. When they feed on sap, they eject excess sugar in the form of honeydew. This attracts bees, which convert it to honey.
As it feeds, it causes serious damages to field crops and ornamental plants. It is polyphagous, feeding on a variety of plant taxa. Host plants include maples, dogwoods, hawthorns, willows, elms, privet, black locust, and elder. It lives on crop plants such as grape, citrus, apricot, peach, blackberry, and raspberry.


Metrosideros polymorpha, the ʻōhiʻa lehua, is a species of flowering evergreen tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that is endemic to the six largest islands of Hawaiʻi. It is a highly variable tree, being 20–25 m (66–82 ft) tall in favorable situations, and a much smaller prostrate shrub when growing in boggy soils or directly on basalt. It produces a brilliant display of flowers, made up of a mass of stamens, which can range from fiery red to yellow. Many native Hawaiian traditions refer to the tree and the forests it forms as sacred to Pele, the volcano goddess, and to Laka, the goddess of hula. ʻŌhiʻa trees grow easily on lava, and are usually the first plants to grow on new lava flows.
It is a common misconception that the word ʻōhiʻa is used to refer to the tree and that the word lehua refers only to its flowers.  The Hawaiian Dictionary (Pukui and Elbert 1986: 199) defines lehua with these words: "The flower of the ʻōhiʻa tree... also the tree itself [emphasis added]."  Thus the Metrosideros polymorpha may be referred to correctly as a lehua tree, or as an ʻōhiʻa lehua, or simply an ʻōhiʻa.


Metrosideros polymorpha is the most common native tree in the Hawaiian Islands, tolerating a wide range of soil conditions, temperature, and rainfall. It grows from sea level right up to the tree line at elevations of 2,500 m (8,200 ft) and is commonly found in moist and dry forests, high shrublands, and is a colonizer of recent lava flows. It is relatively slow growing. Dominant in cloud forests above 400 m (1,300 ft), the tree is also common in seasonally wet forests, where it may be dominant or form mixtures with the native Acacia koa.


Metrosideros polymorpha may occur as a tall tree or a prostrate shrub, and everything in between. Preferred soils are acidic to neutral (pH 3.6-7.4) and either a Histosol, Mollisol, Podsol, Oxisol, Ultisol, or Alfisol.  Rainfall of 1,000–3,000 mm (39–118 in) per year is favored, but ʻōhiʻa can grow in dry forests that receive as little as 400 mm (16 in) or bogs that get more than 10,000 mm (390 in) of rain. On moist, deep soils, ʻōhiʻa grows to 20–25 m (66–82 ft) high. Specimens reaching 30 m (98 ft) high are on record. The trunk varies in form. In some trees, it is straight and smooth; in others, it is twisted and prominently fluted. Trees growing in forests often have stilt roots, having germinated on logs or the stems of fallen hāpuʻu (Cibotium tree ferns), which have long decayed away when the tree has reached maturity. Some trees have fibrous aerial roots to gather moisture. At high elevations, and in areas with poor soils or little rainfall, shrub forms are the norm. Flowers are usually bright to medium red but orange-red, salmon, pink, yellow, or orange forms are also found. The flowers appear in clusters on the terminal ends of the branches. Masses of stamens extend from the flower and give the blossoms their characteristic pom-pom shape. The stomata of the leaves are able to close up in the presence of harmful gases, which gives it an advantage over many non-native trees.


The reddish brown heartwood of M. polymorpha is very hard, fine textured, and has a specific gravity of 0.7.  In native Hawaiian society, it is used in house and heiau construction, as well as to make papa kuʻi ʻai (poi boards), weapons, tool handles, hohoa  (round kapa beaters), and kiʻi (statues and idols). Although the trunk of ʻōhiʻa is not used to make the kaʻele (hull) of waʻa (outrigger canoes), it was used for their nohona waʻa (seats), pale (gunwales), and pola (decking). Wae (spreaders) were made from the curved stilt roots of ʻōhiʻa. Pā (fencing) was made from the wood due to its availability; kauila (Colubrina oppositifolia or Alphitonia ponderosa), more durable woods when in contact with soil, was rarer. As the wood burns hot and cleanly, it is excellent wahie (firewood).  The lehua (flowers) and  liko lehua (leaf buds) are used in making lei. The flowers were used medicinally to treat pain experienced during childbirth.
ʻŌhiʻa lehua is one of the few honey plants that is native to the Hawaiian Islands.


There are about 50 species in the genus Metrosideros in Southeast Asia and the Pacific and as well one species in South Africa.  The Hawaiian Islands are home to five species of Metrosideros that are endemic to the islands, meaning they are found nowhere else in the world.  These are: Metrosideros polymorpha, M. macropus, M. rugosa, M. tremuloides, and M. waialealae.  The species are readily distinguished from one another by the characteristics of their leaves.
Metrosideros kermadecensis, from the Kermadec Islands north of New Zealand, has recently become naturalized on Maui and may become a pest species. Several cultivars of M. excelsa, the pohutukawa tree of New Zealand, have been sometimes planted as ornamentals in Hawaiʻi but are not reported to have naturalized.  Metrosideros polymorpha was originally classified as a variety of M. collina, native to Rarotonga, Tahiti, and other islands of Polynesia, but now is generally accepted as a distinct Hawaiian endemic species.


Metrosideros polymorpha forests in Hawaiʻi have been invaded by myriad alien species. In the wet forests these include the strawberry guava (Psidium littorale), albizia (Falcataria moluccana), and "purple plague" (Miconia calvescens). In drier areas, problematic invaders include faya tree (Myrica faya) and Christmasberry (Schinus terebinthifolius). Alien grasses such as meadow ricegrass (Ehrharta stipoides) may form an understory that prevents or inhibits natural regeneration of the forests. In drier areas, M. polymorpha has to compete with silk oak (Grevillea robusta) and fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum).


The genus name Metrosideros is derived from the Greek words metra, meaning 'heartwood', and sideron, meaning 'iron', and refers to the hard wood of the trees in this genus.  The specific epithet polymorpha, meaning 'many forms', is very appropriate, since individuals of this species exhibit many different morphologies and inhabit a broad range of ecological situations.  The Hawaiian language word ʻōhiʻa is thought to have been derived from the ancestral Proto-Oceanic word, *kafika.  Throughout Oceania, there are many similar-sounding words that were also derived from the same ancestral protoform and, in most cases, they are names for the "mountain apple", or "Malay apple" tree, Syzygium malaccense. In the Hawaiian Islands, however, the word ʻōhiʻa is not only used to refer to Syzygium malaccense, but also to other species of Syzygium and Metrosideros that occur there.
The derivation of the word lehua is more obscure, and while there are many opinions regarding its origin, there has been, to date, no historical linguistic study of the word to provide convincing evidence for any particular etymology.


Friday, J. B.; Darrell A. Herbert (April 2006). "Metrosideros polymorpha (ʻōhiʻa lehua)" (PDF). The Traditional Tree Initiative.
"World Checklist of Selected Plant Families".
Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel Hoyt Elbert (2003). "lookup of  ʻōhiʻa". in Hawaiian Dictionary. Ulukau, the Hawaiian Electronic Library, University of Hawaii Press.; Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel Hoyt Elbert (2003). "lookup of  lehua". in Hawaiian Dictionary. Ulukau, the Hawaiian Electronic Library, University of Hawaii Press.
Wagner, Warren Lambert; Herbst, D.R.; Sohmer, S.H. (1990). Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawaiʻi. [Honolulu]: University of Hawaii Press. pp. 967–969. ISBN 9780824821661.
"Trees". Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. National Park Service. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
Allen, James A. (2003-01-01). "Metrosideros polymorpha Gaudich" (PDF). Reforestation, Nurseries and Genetics Resources. Archived from the original on 2012-05-19. Retrieved 2013-02-11.
Medeiros, A. C.; C.F. Davenport; C.G. Chimera (1998). "Auwahi: Ethnobotany of a Hawaiian Dryland Forest" (PDF). Cooperative National Park Resources Studies Unit, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
"ohia lehua, lehua, ohia". Hawaiian Ethnobotany Online Database. Bernice P. Bishop Museum. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
Roddy, Kevin M.; Lorna Arita-Tsutsumi (1997). "A History of Honeybees in the Hawaiian Islands" (PDF). Journal of Hawaiian and Pacific Agriculture. 8: 61.
"RAPID ʻŌHIʻA DEATH". College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. University of Hawaii. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
"Two new species of fungi that kill ʻōhiʻa trees get Hawaiian names". University of Hawaiʻi System News. 2018-04-17. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
Bernardo, Rosemarie (2018-05-11). "Ohia fungus found on Kauai". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
"Pollex Online". pollex.shh.mpg.de. Retrieved 2019-04-12.
"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-06-09. Retrieved 2009-07-21.
"Pele: Goddess of the Volcano (Hawaii)". www.goddessgift.com. Retrieved 2019-04-12.
"ʻŌhiʻa". Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. National Park Service. Retrieved 26 January 2021.


Metrosideros robusta, the northern rata, is a forest tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows up to 25 metres (82 ft) or taller, and usually begins its life as a hemiepiphyte high in the branches of a mature forest tree; over centuries the young tree sends descending and girdling roots down and around the trunk of its host, eventually forming a massive, frequently hollow pseudotrunk composed of fused roots. In disturbed ground, or where there are gaps in the forest cover, northern rata will grow on the ground with a normal but short trunk.


Northern rata is found in the North Island from Te Paki in the north to Wellington in the south. Formerly widespread, it is now uncommon over large parts of its former range, and is apparently absent from all but the south-east of Hawkes Bay. In the South Island, northern rata is common from Nelson to Greymouth and Hokitika. It reaches its southern limit near Lake Mahinapua at 42°4′ South latitude. The natural habitat is forest along the coasts and in the lowlands. In some parts of its range northern rata occurs in montane forest. Formerly, with rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum) it was a dominant tree in a forest type known as rimu/rata forest.


Northern rata is a massive tree, easily distinguished from other Metrosideros species by its small, leathery, dark green leaves that are 25–50mm long by 15–25mm wide, and have a distinct notch at the tip. Young growth is generally pink and covered in fine rust-coloured hairs that are gradually shed as the foliage ages but tend to persist at the midrib and in the vicinity of the leaf base. The flowers, borne in sprays on the tips of branches, are a mass of dark scarlet stamens. Flowering peaks between November and January, and seeds take a year or slightly more to ripen. The bark is usually brown or grey-brown and rather corky and provides an ideal stratum for the roots of epiphytic plants such as Astelia species and Freycinetia banksii (kiekie). The wood is reddish brown, and the manner of its growth results in a twisted grain.


Northern rata often begins life as hemi-epiphyte, and the resultant tree has a hollow trunk up to 4 m in diameter made up of interlocking roots that enclose the space left by the former host tree.
 The host tree of epiphytic northern rata is usually rimu. In former times, the tree was described as a 'strangler', however it may be that rata can only establish in trees that are already in decline. Northern rata usually occurs in hardwood, podocarp, and southern beech forests. It is often associated with such species as rewarewa, tawa, hīnau, kānuka, kahikatea, kāmahi, kohekohe, pukatea and māhoe.


The greatest threat to northern rata is browsing by introduced possums (Trichosurus vulpecula), which cause severe damage by eating the leaves, buds, flowers and young shoots of the tree. In severe cases this can lead to the death of the tree within two years. In some districts, this has resulted in the local loss of the species. The situation of the species has been improved through the efforts of Project Crimson. Hybridisation with pohutukawa is another threat to the survival of northern rata. Pohutukawa has naturalised in areas south of its natural range, and poses a problem in localities where the northern or southern rata species are present. Other threats include cutting for firewood, and forest clearance for roading or construction.


Northern rata may be propagated readily from fresh seed. Viability of the seed drops quickly after a few weeks or if it is allowed to dry out. Cuttings do not strike readily, but better results can be obtained from using water shoots.
At least three cultivars of northern rata have been released. There are also known cultivars of hybrids between northern rata and pohutukawa (known as Metrosideros ×sub-tomentosa), and between northern rata and southern rata. Known cultivars include:
∞ Hybrid of northern rata and southern rata

¤ Hybrid of northern rata and pohutukawa


Metrosideros umbellata, the southern rata, is a tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows up to 15 metres (49 ft) or more tall with a trunk up to 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) or more in diameter. It produces masses of red flowers in summer. Unlike its relative, northern rata, this species rarely grows as an epiphyte.


The flowers of southern rata are scarlet, with stamens about 2 centimetres (0.79 in) long. White or yellow flowers are also known. Flowering usually occurs between December and February, but this depends on local conditions. Leaves are from 3 centimetres (1.2 in) to 6 centimetres (2.4 in) long, and are sharply pointed. The wood is hard, dense, and very strong. The bark is rough and flaky and provides an ideal stratum for the roots of epiphytic plants such as Astelia species and Freycinetia banksii (Kiekie). Southern rata is a major source of honey on the West Coast of the South Island. Kaka, tui, and bellbirds visit rata to take advantage of the abundant nectar.


It prefers cooler regions with high rainfall and is particularly common along the west coast of the South Island where its nectar is the main source of a locally produced rata honey. Southern rata is the most widespread of the New Zealand tree rata species. It is locally present in the North Island from latitude 36° southwards, is more common in western parts of the South Island but absent from much of the east, and is common on Stewart Island (47°S) and in the Auckland Islands, where it reaches its southern limit at just over 50°S.


Although southern rata is not regarded as threatened, it is rather uncommon in the North Island, and in certain areas it is threatened by possum browse. In the Tararua range, southern rata populations appear to have been replaced by a population consisting of hybrids between northern and southern rata.
Project Crimson is a charitable trust that promotes conservation of rata as well as the related pohutukawa.


Southern rata is a beautiful specimen tree, but growth can be slow unless it is grown in ideal conditions with moist soil. It is easily grown from fresh seed. While it is possible to grow the tree from softwood or semi-hardwood cuttings, these often prove reluctant to strike roots. It is ideal for coastal environments because it has a good resistance to wind and salt.
At least 16 cultivars of southern rata have been released. There are also known cultivars of hybrids between southern rata and pohutukawa, and between northern rata and southern rata. Known cultivars include:
∞ Hybrid of southern rata and northern rata

¤ Hybrid of southern rata and pohutukawa


Micranthes californica  (syn: Saxifraga californica), known by the common name California saxifrage, is a species of flowering plants.
It is native to much of California west and north of the desert regions, as well as adjacent sections of southern Oregon and northern Baja California. It grows in many types of moist habitat from the coast to the mountains.


Micranthes californica is a perennial herb producing a small gray-green basal rosette of thick toothed oval leaves up to 10 centimeters long.
The inflorescence arises on a peduncle up to 35 centimeters tall bearing clusters of flowers, sometimes all on one side. Each flower has five green to reddish sepals, five small white petals, and ten stamens at the center.


Micranthes ferruginea is a species of flowering plant known by the common names russethair saxifrage and rusty saxifrage. It is native to western North America from Alaska and northwestern Canada to northern California to Wyoming, where it can be found in moist, rocky habitat in mountainous areas. It is a perennial herb growing from a caudex and rhizome system and producing a basal rosette of leaves. Each leaf is up to 6 centimeters long, thick and fleshy with large teeth along the edges. The inflorescence arises on a slender, hairy peduncle up to 40 centimeters tall. Thin branches bear flowers and reproductive bulbils. Each flower has spade-shaped white petals, the upper ones dotted with gold.


Micranthes virginiensis, the early saxifrage, or Virginia saxifrage, is a wildflower native to eastern and central North America.


It is a herbaceous plant, which can reach 30 cm (12 in) tall. This species flowers in the spring and is usually found growing on rocks, cliffs, or logs. The pubescent stem is thought to deter ground insects from reaching its flowers, which would be less effective for pollination than flying insects.


"Saxifraga virginiensis Michx". The Plant List.
"Saxifraga virginiensis". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
Saxifraga virginiensis at Connecticut Botanical Society
Saxifraga virginiensis at USDA PLANTS Database
Saxifraga virginiensis at 2bnTheWild plant database


Micrathena mitrata, the white micrathena, is a species of orb weaver in the spider family Araneidae. It is found in a range from the United States to Brazil.


The little pied cormorant, little shag or kawaupaka (Microcarbo melanoleucos) is a common Australasian waterbird, found around the coasts, islands, estuaries, and inland waters of Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Thailand, Myanmar, Singapore, Brunei, Timor Leste, and Indonesia, and around the islands of the south-western Pacific and the subantarctic. It is a small short-billed cormorant usually black above and white below with a yellow bill and small crest, although a mostly black white-throated form predominates in New Zealand. Three subspecies are recognised. Until recently most authorities referred to this species as Phalacrocorax melanoleucos.


The species is known as the little pied cormorant in Australia, and as the little shag or by the Māori name of kawaupaka in New Zealand. The term white-throated shag is also reserved for the melanistic form there.
The little pied cormorant was originally described by French naturalist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1817. In 1931, American ornithologist James Lee Peters was the first to consider this in a separate genus along with the pygmy cormorant (M. pygmaeus), little cormorant (M. niger), and the long-tailed cormorant (M. africanus). Since then, molecular work by Sibley and Ahlquist showed the little pied and long-tailed cormorants formed a group which had diverged early on from other cormorants. This group of "micro-cormorants" assumed the genus name Microcarbo, initially described by French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1855. The generic name is derived from the Ancient Greek mikros "small", and Latin carbo "black". However, most older authorities refer to this species as Phalacrocorax melanoleucus.
In the now-extinct Waray language spoken along the Adelaide River in North Arnhem Land, the species was known as mawa.
Three subspecies are commonly recognised:
M. m. melanoleucos. Resident throughout the species range except in New Zealand and the sub-Antarctic islands
M. m. brevicauda Mayr 1931. Endemic to Rennell Island, in the Solomon Islands
M. m. brevirostris Gould 1837 (little shag). Resident throughout New Zealand and regularly seen on sub-Antarctic islands; has bred on Campbell Island. Some authorities treat this form as a distinct species, P. brevirostris.


The little pied cormorant is a small cormorant measuring 56–58 cm (22–23 in) with a shorter 3 cm (1.2 in) bill and longer tail than the little black cormorant; it has a small black crest. It is found in two morphs in New Zealand. Subspecies melanoleucos and brevicauda are found only in a pied morph, black (with a slight green tinge) above and white beneath. This is also found in subspecies brevirostris, but in this form the melanistic morph is much more common. In this form the entire plumage is black with a greenish tinge except for the sides of the head, chin, throat and upper neck; the bill is yellow with black on top. Intermediate forms are also found.
The pied form is glossy black above with white face, underparts and thighs. The bill and bare skin around the face are yellow. In both forms the legs and feet are black. The pied form is rare in New Zealand, and is most common there in Northland, where it makes up one in every four birds or so.
Chicks have dark brown down, with pied morph having patches of paler down. Immature birds are a dull blackish brown, with pied morph birds having paler underparts.
The little pied cormorant makes a low cooing during courtship.
Similar species include the black-faced cormorant (slightly larger) and the Australian pied cormorant (substantially larger).


The species ranges across New Zealand, from Stewart Island to Northland, and across mainland Australia (although not in the arid interior of the west of the country) and Tasmania and Indonesia. Widespread and common, it lives near bodies of water such as swamps, lakes, lagoons, estuaries and the coastline.


The little pied cormorant is a benthic feeder, i.e. it finds its prey on the sea floor. It is a solitary feeder, normally diving in relatively shallow water, often near the shore. Dive times are short, around 15 to 20 seconds, with recovery times on the surface of 5 to 10 seconds unless prey are being swallowed. It takes a variety of fish prey but an unusually high proportion (nearly 30% by weight on average, and up to 80% in some individuals) of crustaceans. In New Zealand waters it is most often seen preying on the local flounder and other small flatfish. Eels and insect larvae are also consumed. These are brought to the surface to be swallowed: the bird will sometimes put a fish down on the surface of the water in order to re-orient it and swallow it head first. Because of this habit, they suffer some kleptoparasitism from red-billed gulls.


Breeding occurs once a year in spring or early summer in southern areas of its range (southern Australia and New Zealand), and after the monsoon in tropical regions. The nest is a platform built of branches and sticks, often still green with leaves in the forks of trees, usually eucalypts that are standing in water. Nests are often located near other waterbirds such as other cormorants, herons, ibises or spoonbills. Four or five pale blue oval eggs measuring 46 x 31 mm are laid. The eggs are covered with a thin layer of lime, giving them a matte white coated appearance. They become increasingly stained with faeces, as does the nest, over the duration of the breeding season.


Microcentrum rhombifolium is a species in the family Tettigoniidae ("katydids"), in the order Orthoptera ("grasshoppers, crickets, katydids"). Common names are "greater angle-wing katydid" and "broad-winged katydid".Microcentrum rhombifolium is found in North America.


Microcrambus elegans, the elegant grass-veneer moth, is a moth of the family Crambidae. It is found from Ontario, Quebec and Maine to Florida, west to Texas, north to Kansas and Illinois.
The wingspan is 12–15 mm. Adults are on wing from June to August in the north and from March to October in the south. There is one generation per year in the north and multiple in the south.
The larvae feed on Poaceae species.


Its wingspan is 42–50 mm. Head, thorax, and abdomen white with a fuscous tinge. Wings white, closely striated with fuscous; somewhat ill-defined antemedial, medial, and postmedial fuscous oblique bands; a fine marginal line and black spot at base of tail of hindwing. Underside white or fuscous. Palpi are porrect, slender and rather long. Antennae thickened and flattened.
Fore wing with the acute costa arched towards apex. However, the outer margin is straight.


Micropus californicus is a plant in the family Asteraceae which is known by the common name slender cottonweed. Its flowerheads resemble very small cotton balls, often rounded with cottony white hairs forming the pappus of each seed. The individual plants are known more informally as Q-tips due to their resemblance to the cotton swabs. It is found mostly in California, and into Oregon and northern Baja California. This plant is a resident of the vernal pool plant community.


Zealandia pustulata, synonym Microsorum pustulatum, (kangaroo fern or hound's tongue, in Māori: kōwaowao, pāraharaha) is a species of fern within the family Polypodiaceae.


This species occurs widely in New Zealand and also in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania in Australia. An example occurrence in the North Island of New Zealand is in the Hamilton Ecological District where it is associated with a number of other ferns including Icarus filiforme and Lomaria discolor.


Dendroconche scandens, synonym Microsorum scandens, commonly called fragrant fern, is a species of fern within the family Polypodiaceae. This species is native to parts of New Zealand and Australia, as well as some offshore islands (Chatham Island, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island). It has been introduced to South Africa and Zimbabwe. An example occurrence in New Zealand's North Island is in the Hamilton Ecological District where it is associated with a number of other ferns including Icarus filiforme and Lomaria discolor.


Mikania micrantha is a tropical plant in the family Asteraceae; known as bitter vine, climbing hemp vine, or American rope. It is also sometimes called mile-a-minute vine (a moniker also used for the unrelated Persicaria perfoliata).
It is known as Japani lota (জাপানী লতা) in Assam.
It is a vigorously growing perennial creeper that grows best in areas in high humidity, light and soil fertility, though it can adapt in less fertile soils.  The featherlike seeds are dispersed by wind. A single stalk can produce between 20 and 40 thousand seeds a season.
The species is native to the sub-tropical zones of North, Central, and South America.


Mikania micrantha has ribbed stems that grow up to 6 metres (20 ft) in length with 4–13-centimetre (1.6–5.1 in) long leaves that have a heart-shaped base and a pointed apex.  4.5–6.0-millimetre (0.18–0.24 in) white flowers grow in clusters.


Mikania micrantha is a widespread weed in the tropics. It grows very quickly (as fast as 80 to 90 millimetres (3.1 to 3.5 in) in 24 hours for a young plant) and covers other plants, shrubs and even trees.
Mikania is a problem in Nepal, covering more than 20% of the Chitwan National Park.
Various control measures against Mikania have been tried in many countries. It is moderately susceptible to the herbicides 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T and paraquat. Cuscuta, a parasitic plant, has been used in Assam and Sri Lanka to suppress the spread of Mikania from waste land to tea plantations.  Other control measures include the rust fungus Puccinia spegazzinii and the thrips species Liothrips mikaniae.
An example of its success can be seen in Hong Kong where first recorded in 1884, it has now spread throughout the region and invades its country parks.
Economic gains due to Mikania are meager compared to the loss due to its infestation in various ecosystems. It is used as a fodder in many countries. Sheep preferentially grazed Mikania in Malaysia and other cattle also relish it. In Kerala, India, the weed is utilized as a fodder in some parts of the state, especially during summer when the availability of grass is scarce. However, Mikania is known to cause hepatotoxicity and liver damage in dairy cattle. The antibacterial effect of Mikania and its efficacy in wound healing has been reported. In Assam (NE India), Kabi tribes use the leaf juice of Mikania as an antidote for insect bite and scorpion sting. The leaves are also used for treating stomachache. Use of juice of Mikania as a curative agent for itches is reported from Malaysia. However, in all such cases, therapeutic evidence are scarce or lacking. In Africa, Mikania leaves are used as a vegetable for making soups. The weed is used as a cover crop in rubber plantations in Malaysia. It is also planted on slopes to prevent soil erosion. Mikania green manure has been reported to increase the yield of rice in Mizoram, India. Recent studies have shown that Mikania is not suitable for mulching and composting due to its high water content. http://www.fao.org/forestry/13376-05d702161c15b1e3defa6bf9c8e6c4f82.pdf


Extracts from M. micrantha slow the germination and growth of a variety of plant species.  At least three sesquiterpenoids have been identified which produce this effect.


Mikania micrantha is affected by a virus called Mikania micrantha wilt virus (MMWV), which is a Fabavirus.


It is used to heal cuts and stop minor external bleeding in Fiji but its medicinal properties are still yet to be fully discovered. It is also a very popular local antiseptic medicine in Mizoram State of India, it is known locally as Japan Hlo. Its use has also been reported in the state of Arunachal Pradesh; fresh leaves are pounded and then applied over lacerations to stop bleeding and subsequent healing. In Bangladesh used to treat gastric ulcer and as a local antiseptic.


Miltochrista miniata, the rosy footman, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Johann Reinhold Forster in 1771. It is found in the temperate parts of the Palearctic realm – Europe, Asia Minor, Caucasus, northern Kazakhstan, southern Siberia, Amur, Primorye, Sakhalin, southern Kuriles, Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Sichuan, Korea and Japan, but may be replaced by Miltochrista rosaria in the eastern Palearctic.