It grows  on grassy places, dry hills, meadows, in deciduous and pine forests, woods, fields and roadsides, along railway lines and hedgerows, preferably in partial shade, in dry to moist sites and on clay soils, relatively rich in nitrogen, at an altitude of 0–2,000 metres (0–6,562 ft) above sea level. It also occurs in cultivated fields as a weed.


Campanula rapunculoides is native to parts of Eurasia, but is a widespread European import to North America, and it is invasive.
It is extremely difficult to remove. Mechanical removal, burning, and chemicals have varying success rates, but there is no sure method of removing the plants first try.


Campanula rapunculus, common name rampion bellflower, rampion, rover bellflower, or rapunzel, is a species of bellflower (Campanula) in the family Campanulaceae.
This species was once widely grown in Europe for its leaves, which were used like spinach, and its parsnip-like root, which was used like a radish.  The Brothers Grimm's tale Rapunzel took its name from this plant.


The genus Latin name ("campanula"), meaning  small bell, refers to the bell-shape of the flower, while the specific name ("rapunculus") is a diminutive of the Latin "rapa" (turnip) and means 'little turnip', which refers to the shape of the root.


This biennial herbaceous plant reaches on average 40–80 centimetres (16–31 in) of height, with a maximum of 100 centimetres (39 in) . The stem is erect, lightly hairy, branched on the top. The basal leaves are petiolated, ovate, slightly toothed and arranged in a rosette, while the upper leaves are sessile and narrow lanceolate. The hermaphrodite flowers are clustered in a racemose inflorescence, with a bell-shaped, light blue or violet corolla, about two centimeters long. They are arranged along the stem in a fairly narrow one-sided facing cluster. The flowering period extends from May through September. The fruit is a dehiscent capsule in the form of inverted cone with many seeds. The thick root looks like a small turnip and it is edible.


Campanula rapunculus is present in western Asia, northern Africa and in most of Europe, except Iceland, Ireland and Norway. It has been introduced in Denmark, southern Sweden and Great Britain. This species was once widely grown in Europe for its leaves, which were used like spinach, and its parsnip-like root, which was used like a radish.


This species prefers limestone soils and grows in dry meadows, cultivated beds, forests of oaks and pine trees, along roadsides and lane, at an altitude of 0–1,500 metres (0–4,921 ft) above sea level.


Campanula elatior  Hoffmanns. & Link
Campanula lusitanica f. bracteosa (Willk.) Cout.
Campanula lusitanica f. racemoso-paniculata (Willk.) Cout.
Campanula lusitanica f. verruculosa (Hoffmanns. & Link) Cout.
Campanula lusitanica var. cymoso-spicata (Willk.) Cout.
Campanula lusitanica auct.
Campanula verruculosa Hoffmanns. & Link


The  crimson-crested woodpecker (Campephilus melanoleucos) is a very large woodpecker which is a resident breeding bird from Panama south to northern border regions of Argentina, and on Trinidad.


The crimson-crested woodpecker is 33–38 cm (13–15 in) long and weighs 180–285 g (6.3–10.1 oz). It is one of the largest woodpeckers in its range, though the higher elevation powerful woodpecker is roughly the same size.
It is all black above, has a red crest and has white lines running down the sides of the black throat and shoulders, which meet in a V on the back. The underparts are white, heavily barred with black. They show white on the wings in flight. Adult males have a red line from the bill to the throat and red on the front of the crown. In adult females, these plumage features are black.
The crimson-crested woodpecker somewhat resembles the pileated woodpecker of North America, but may be confused in its own range with the lineated woodpecker. The lineated woodpecker is the only bird of similar plumage and size. In that species, the white face line is narrower, and the white shoulder lines do not meet on the back.


The habitat of this species is forests and more open woodland. A nesting hole is excavated in large dead trees. The entrance is fairly large, about 45 to 50 cm (17.5 to 19.5 in) in diameter, and oval-shaped.


Female lays 2 to 3 white eggs, sometimes four. Incubation lasts about 9 to 14 days, by both sexes. Woodpeckers have short incubation period, but at contrary, nesting period is longer than in other birds’ species. Chicks are brooded and fed by both parents, and remain at nest for 3 to 4 weeks after hatching. Young remain within the family group until next breeding season.


Crimson-crested woodpeckers chip out holes, often quite large, while searching out insects in trees. They mainly eat wood-boring insects (such as beetles) and larvae, as well as ants, termites, small vertebrates and caterpillars. The animal matter is sometimes supplemented with berries, fruits, seeds and nuts. Several of these large woodpeckers may be seen (4 or more) attracted to the same dead tree while feeding.


The call of this widespread but wary bird is a loud, ringing CHEE-sic. Both sexes drum.


Camponotus modoc or western carpenter ant is a black carpenter ant with dark red legs. Workers range in size from 7 to 13 mm (0.28 to 0.51 in).


It occurs in Western North America, where it makes nests in dead wood, including dead logs in the forests, as well as human houses.


Camponotus planatus, known generally as the compact carpenter ant or short carpenter ant, is one of three Camponotus species that is polygynous (having more than one queen), it also is a species of ant in the family Formicidae.


Camponotus planatus acaciae Emery, 1920
Camponotus planatus colombicus Forel, 1899
Camponotus planatus continentis Forel, 1901
Camponotus planatus esdras Forel, 1916
Camponotus planatus planatus Roger, 1863


The northern beardless tyrannulet (Camptostoma imberbe) is a small passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family. It breeds from southeasternmost Arizona and Texas of the United States through Mexico and Central America to northwestern Costa Rica.
This species is found in light forests, cultivation and gardens with trees.  The domed nest is made of plant fibre or leaves with a side entrance. The nest is placed by a tree fork. The typical clutch is two white eggs, which are marked with rufous and lilac mostly at the larger end. Incubation by the female is 14–15 days to hatching, with another 17 days to fledging.
The northern beardless tyrannulet is 10.2 cm (4.0 in) long, and weighs 7.5 g (0.26 oz). The head is dark brown with an erectile crest and pale supercilium. The upperparts are grey-green becoming paler on the rump. The wings are brown with yellow feather-edging and two whitish wing bars. The tail is brown, the throat grey, the breast yellowish, and the abdomen yellow. The bill is pinkish.
Sexes are similar, and this species always appears not as bright, especially with regard to the wing bars, as the closely related southern beardless tyrannulet, C. obsoletum, with which it was once considered conspecific. However, the two forms overlap without interbreeding in Costa Rica.
Northern beardless tyrannulets are active birds, feeding in a vireo or warbler-like fashion on insects, spiders and berries. The call is a loud whistled Fleeeeeerrr, sometimes broken up as a fleeer-it, or a flee-flee-flee-flee.   In courtship, or when alarmed, the crests are raised, the tail flicked, and an excited call is made.


The cactus wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus) is a species of wren endemic to the deserts of the southwestern United States and northern and central Mexico. It is the state bird of Arizona, and the largest wren in the United States. Its plumage is brown, with black and white spots as markings. It has a distinctive white eyebrow that sweeps to the nape of the neck. The chest is white, whereas the underparts are cinnamon-buff colored. Both sexes appear similar. The tail, as well as flight feathers, are barred in black and white. Their song is a loud raspy chirrup; akin in the description of some ornithologists to the sound of a car engine that will not start. It is well-adapted to its native desert environment, and the birds can meet their water needs from their diet which consists chiefly of insects, but also of some plant matter. The cactus wren is a poor flier and generally forages for food on the ground. Ornithologists generally recognize seven subspecies, with the exact taxonomy under dispute.
Its common name derives from their frequenting desert cactus plants such as the saguaro and cholla, building nests, roosting, and seeking protection from predators among them. Its bulky and globular nests are constructed of plant material and lined with feathers. They do not migrate; instead, they establish and defend the territories around their nests where they live all year-round. It lives in pairs, or as family groups from late spring through winter. Pairing among cactus wrens is monogamous; in each breeding season, the males chiefly build nests, the females incubate eggs, and both parents feed the young.
Populations have declined as the species faces threats related to human activities and habitat loss, although the species remains abundant. Habitat fragmentation and fire have been of particular concern, as the cactus wren is slow to disperse into new habitats. Introduced species have also hurt populations. Feral cats hunt many birds in urban settings, and invasive grasses take up valuable foraging space, reducing habitat size. Despite these threats, the cactus wren has proved adaptable. Cactus wrens have learned to coexist with humans effectively, using human materials and structures for nesting, and even learning to take insects from vehicle radiator grilles. The population still numbers in the millions, leading the International Union for Conservation of Nature to consider the cactus wren a species of least concern.


The wren family is a group of generally small passerine birds, found – with one exception – only in the New World. Although the cactus wren is the largest wren in the U.S., globally the title is shared between the giant wren and the bicolored wren. It was historically considered conspecific (of the same species) with the Yucatan wren and Boucard's wren, but there are numerous morphological and behavioral differences between the species. A 2007 genetic study by Barker indicated that all three were distinct species. Work on wren taxonomy in the 20th century postulated that the Yucatan, Boucard's, and cactus wrens – along with the spotted wren – might constitute a superspecies. The 2007 study showed this to be unlikely, as the cactus wren was found to be ancestral to the other species. Study of the evolution of the cactus wren suggests that it evolved in central Mexico about one million years ago and quickly spread to its modern range.
The first description of a cactus wren was in 1835 by ornithologist Frédéric de Lafresnaye. Lafresnaye was a Frenchman who never visited America; his specimen was gifted to him by ornithologist and businessman Charles Brelay. Brelay procured the specimen from a naval officer who had recently returned from California. It is likely that the bird was picked up at the port of Guaymas, in Sonora. However, Lafresnaye did not know that, and thought the specimen – which he called Picolaptes brunneicapillus – might have come from Peru (far outside the range of the wren), as the officer had stopped there on his journey. The unclear geographic origin contributed to much ensuing taxonomic confusion. Because the original description of the wren had been geographically imprecise, ornithologists described the cactus wren multiple times as different species; incorrect descriptions happened until as late as 1898. Subspecies were also incorrectly described as independent species. Matters were not helped by ornithologist John Gould, who described the cactus wren – as Thryothorus guttatus – independently in 1836 and also failed to say precisely where his specimen had come from. Lafresnaye renamed Gould's find Campylorhynchus guttatus in 1846, still not realizing they had described the same bird. Although ornithologist Spencer Baird suggested in 1864 that Lafresnaye and Gould's birds might be the same, Lafresnayes and Gould's separate descriptions continued to be used until 1945, when it was determined that they were different subspecies of the same bird. The cactus wren was placed in the genus Helodytes by the American Ornithologists' Union in 1894, but they returned it to Campylorhynchus in 1947.
The genus name Campylorhynchus is Greek, and roughly translates to 'curved beak'. The specific epithet brunneicapillus translates as 'brown hair', referring to the bird's brown head and back. The bird's common name comes from its frequent use of cacti as nesting sites, its association with cacti, as well as the use of cacti for perches, roosting, and seeking protection from predators.
The 2007 study by Barker established the relationships between the cactus wren and related wrens in the genus Campylorhynchus, including select subspecies. Those relations are summarized in the following cladogram:


Various subspecies of the cactus wren have been described, and seven are generally recognized. The exact taxonomy of the cactus wren remains under debate, and not all subspecies are universally recognized. Ornithologists Anders and Anne Anderson, in their compendium of 40 years of cactus wren research published in 1973, recognize seven subspecies and do not classify C. b. sandiegensis as an independent subspecies. The International Ornithologists' Union recognizes seven subspecies – including C. b. sandiegensis – but does not recognize C. b. purus. Below are all proposed subspecies:
C. b. brunneicapillus (Lafresnaye, 1835) – the nominate subspecies. Its range is northern Mexico in the states of Sonora and Sinaloa. Its distinction from other subspecies is enhanced by its pure white chin.
C. b. guttatus (Gould, 1836) – found in central and southern Mexico. It is duller and more gray than the nominate subspecies; its upper parts also have less noticeable white markings. Guttatus means 'speckled' in Latin.
C. b. affinis (Xántus, 1860) – found in southern Baja California. Its underparts are paler, and it has fewer black marks than the nominate subspecies. Its rectrices (tail flight feathers), excluding the middle pair, have white bars. C. b. affinis tends to lay fewer eggs than other subspecies, generally two at a time instead of the more typical three to five, and its eggs are notably paler than those of other subspecies. Affinis means 'allied' or 'related' in Latin.
C. b. couesi (Sharpe, 1882) – covers most of the cactus wren's range in the southern United States, including Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, as well as the Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua. The American Ornithological Society classifies all Californian subspecies as C. b. couesi. It is larger than the nominate subspecies and has paler underparts. It is sometimes referred to as C. b. anthonyi, but C. b. couesi takes precedence. This subspecies is named for army surgeon and ornithologist Elliott Coues.
C. b. bryanti (Anthony, 1894) – found along the western coast of Baja California, separated from the range of C. b. couesi by at least 150 mi (240 km). C. b. bryanti has notable white markings on the rump and scapulars. Its upperparts are darker and more brown than those of the nominate subspecies. It is named for Californian ornithologist Walter Pierce Bryant (1861–1905).
C. b. purus (Van Rossem, 1930) – present on the eastern and western coasts of Baja California. Its underparts are almost pure white, and its flanks are notably less cinnamon-colored than the nominate subspecies. This subspecies is a division of C. b. affinis, but this distinction is not widely recognized. Purus means 'pure' or 'clean' in Latin.
C. b. seri (Van Rossem, 1932) – found only on Tiburón Island in the Gulf of California. Its underparts are less cinnamon-colored than the nominate subspecies, and the spots on its abdomen are wider. A 2010 molecular genetics study found no difference between the genomes of C. b. seri and the mainland subspecies. The exact meaning of the subspecies name is unclear; it may be a corruption of sericeus, meaning 'silken' in Latin, or of the modern Latin serinus, meaning 'canary-yellow'.
C. b. sandiegensis (Rea, 1986) – found in Baja California and parts of southern California. This subspecies is not accepted by the American Ornithological Society, which instead believes it to be intermediate between C. b. couesi and C. b. bryanti, and classifies it as the former. However, it is accepted by the International Ornithologists Union. Its head lacks or has less of a red tinge compared to the nominate subspecies, and its eggs are darker than those of other subspecies. It is named for the city of San Diego.


The cactus wren is the largest wren in the United States. It is between 18 and 19 cm (7.1 and 7.5 in) long, and weighs between 33.4 and 46.9 g (1.18 and 1.65 oz), with an average of 38.9 g (1.37 oz). It has a thick, heavy bill that is dull black, curves slightly downwards, and is about the same length as the head. The lower mandible is grayish and pale, and the tail is long and rounded.
The cactus wren's coloration is brown with white speckles. The crown is chocolate-brown with a light red tinge. A distinctive white supercilium (eyebrow) runs from the bill to the nape of its neck, which is brown with white markings. The chin is white, while the neck has black markings on a mostly white background. Their chest is white with brown or black speckles, and the belly is generally white with some brown or black streaks. The rump and back are gray to brown with white and black streaks. Both the lower underparts and the flanks are cinnamon-buff colored.
The cactus wren's ten primary and nine secondary flight feathers are barred, alternating between black and off-white. Its twelve rectrices are barred, alternating between brownish-black and pale gray-brown. The outer rectrices are white tipped. When flying, a white band can be seen on the underside of the tail feathers. The tail is barred in alternating stripes of black, white, and brown. The legs are brown to pink-brown.
Males and females look alike; juveniles can be distinguished by their paler coloration and red-brown to muddy-gray eyes. Adults have more red-brown to red eyes. Other distinctive features of juveniles include the lack of a white nape streak, and less noticeable black chest markings. Summer often takes a harsh toll on plumage; the intense desert sun and prickly vegetation fade and damage feathers. This wear and tear can make identification of juveniles more difficult. Worn feathers are replaced by molting, which happens in adults from July through October, usually in the bird's own territory. Not all feathers will molt in a single season.
Although the cactus wren looks similar to other wrens in its genus, cactus wren identification is made easier since the habitat of Campylorhynchus wrens does not overlap. A notable difference that can assist in identification of the cactus wren is the white tail band seen in flight. The spotted wren looks similar, but is paler and has fewer markings, and its habitat is in oak woodlands (where cactus wrens do not usually live).


The main call of the cactus wren is a harsh and raspy series of jar-jar-jar, or char, notes, which increase in volume and pitch as the song goes on. Each part of the call lasts around four seconds, with four to eight seconds between calls; calls can carry up to 300 metres (1,000 ft). Cornell University ornithologists described it as sounding "like a car that just won't start". Males are the primary singers, although females can also sing – their song is weaker and higher pitched. Males begin singing before dawn and prefer to vocalize from high vantage points, such as trees, telephone poles, tall cacti, or roofs. At least eight other songs exist besides the main call. A buzz or tek is given as a warning call. Growls serve as a mating and identification call. Rack calls are used for locating an existing mate, or other wrens – this call is often the first vocalization made upon leaving the nest. A high pitched "squeal" is given only during nest building, and is heard rarely. Scri notes are let out during territorial disputes with other wrens. Chicks make various begging vocalizations, including a soft peep. A dzip call is known to be made exclusively by fledglings. The main call is made while the beak is held just slightly above horizontal, and makes the feathers on the bird's throat noticeably extend from their normal position and vibrate.


The cactus wren is a bird of arid and semi-desert regions, and generally requires spiny cacti to nest in. Its range includes the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts. The cactus wren is not migratory, and establishes a permanent territory which it defends vigorously. Territories are typically 1.3 ha (3.2 acres) to 1.9 ha (4.7 acres). The size and shape of territories change very little throughout the season. Territory is defended from other birds by fluffing tails and feathers and vocal scolding. Persistent trespassers may cause the wrens to give chase.
The cactus wren is found only in the United States and Mexico. In the U.S., it is present in California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. In California, it is found mainly as southern coastal populations existing below 600 m (2,000 ft), but some have been found up to 950 m (3,120 ft). Nevada represents the northernmost extent of its range; it is found in the southern tip of the state and the northernmost breeding population is found in Nye County, near Tonopah. In Utah, it is found only in the extreme southwest. Its range in Arizona is widespread in the southern part of the state and along the Colorado River, where it is found from sea-level up to 1,400 m (4,600 ft). Populations in New Mexico exist in the south, down to along the Rio Grande and into Mexico. Its range in both New Mexico and Texas may be expanding northward. Texas cactus wrens live between sea-level and 1,800 m (5,900 ft) throughout the Texas Panhandle, Central Texas, and as far east as Travis County. In Mexico, it is found in Sinaloa, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Hidalgo, and throughout Baja California. On the Central Mexican plateau and in New Mexico, it is found up to 2,000 m (6,600 ft). Populations may be expanding their range in Baja California, but they are not found in the mountains or interior of Baja.


Cactus wrens generally feed and live in pairs, or in family groups from late spring through winter. Flocks of cactus wrens have been reported, but seem to be extremely rare. Flocking has been observed only in areas of abundant forage and does not last longer than a few hours. As ground feeders, they spend much of their time on the ground and are not strong fliers, with any flights being somewhat erratic – switching between rapid wing flapping and gliding.


Cactus wrens form permanent pair bonds, and the pairs defend a territory where they live year-round. There is a distinctive greeting ceremony between pair members, where they spread their wings and tails and give a harsh call. The same motions are used as a breeding display, but with a non-ritualized duet call. Since males and females are identical, birds recognize members of the opposite sex not by size or color but by behavioral differences. Males are more aggressive and are more frequent singers. Mating displays begin with a growl-like noise, and end in gentle pecking. Displays are much shorter than in most bird species, lasting only two to three seconds. Mating season begins in late February and runs through March.
Nests are built in cacti (commonly cholla, prickly pear, and saguaro), thorny desert trees, or yucca. Where available, jumping cholla is overwhelmingly preferred. Nests average about 1 m (3.3 ft) off the ground, and are usually less than 3.0 m (10 ft) off the ground, but have been recorded as high as 9.1 m (30 ft). Nests are prolate spheroidal – the size and shape of an American football or rugby ball –  when possible, and are pouchlike in nature. The exact shape and size of nests varies depending on the surroundings; nests are generally loose, bulky and globose, and adapted to fit the nest site. The exterior is constructed of grass, twigs, feathers, weeds and other light detritus, while it is lined with feathers and down – which may come from cactus wrens or other species. Nests built in urban settings use a much wider variety of materials, including many human made items such as paper, string, and lint. Chicken feathers are also used as nest lining in great quantities where available. Urban materials, while easily available, make for weaker and less sturdy nests. A tubelike entrance, about 15 cm (6 in) long, leads to the main nest cavity. The entrance is often oriented to take advantage of the cooling effects of prevailing winds. Nest building takes between one and six days, with Anderson and Anderson reporting an average time of 2.7 days. The nesting pair usually focuses on nest building only for the first three hours of each morning.
Multiple nests are often built. The first nest of a season may use an existing nest that has been renovated; subsequent nests will usually be built from scratch. Adult roosting nests are not usually used as breeding nests, and are less sturdily constructed. While the female lays a clutch in one nest, the male will start to build a second. As soon as the first brood fledges, the female will assist in additional nest building. Once completed, a new clutch will be laid. Up to six broods may be attempted in a year, but it is rare for more than three to survive. One or two broods is more typical.
Egg laying occurs no sooner than 18 days after copulation, with March being the height of the laying season. Under favorable conditions, eggs may be laid as early as mid January, but egg laying is delayed at higher elevations. Heavy seasonal rainfall can extend breeding: young have been recorded in nests as late as August. Cactus wrens usually lay three or four eggs (although as many as seven have been recorded) which are smooth and ovate, colored white to pale pink and covered in brown speckles. Eggs are approximately 23 mm (0.91 in) × 17 mm (0.67 in) and average 3.57 g (0.126 oz) in weight. Egg laying begins about a week after nest completion, with one egg per day being laid in the morning. Incubation takes about 16 days and is done solely by females. Wrens are known to destroy the eggs and nests of other nearby birds, but do not engage in, nor suffer from, brood parasitism.
Young hatch asynchronously over the course of about three days. Chicks have closed eyes and are mostly bald, with sparse patches of fuzzy white down. They are fed (mostly insects) by both parents. Young make begging vocalizations at least as early as two days old, with the vocalizations evolving as the chicks age. Chicks are dependent on their parents for the first three weeks after hatching. Nestlings open their eyes after between six and eight days, and grow feathers starting at eight days post hatching (although quills emerge as early as two days after hatching). Adult feather length is reached after twenty days. Nestlings reach adult weight after about 38 days, and gain independence between 30 and 50 days post-hatching. The young may remain in the parent's territory for a while after fledging, but will be driven off by the next breeding season. Juveniles that have not left may help take care of successive broods.


The cactus wren is primarily an insectivore, although it will also take seeds, fruits, nectar, and even small reptiles. They are inquisitive foragers, and will overturn leaves and other objects on the ground to find food. Though primarily ground feeders, they will also forage in larger plants. Some individuals have learned to take insects caught in vehicle radiator grills. Feeding begins in the late morning. As temperatures rise, they seek out shaded areas in order to forage in cooler environments. This is partly to conserve water and to thermoregulate, but also because their insect prey is more sluggish and thus easier to catch in cool temperatures. The cactus wren can survive as a true xerophile, existing without any free water as it receives almost all water from its diet. Eating cactus fruits is an important source of water, and individuals have been seen drinking cactus sap from wounds inflicted by Gila woodpeckers. Cactus wrens also sip nectar from saguaro blossoms and eat insects trapped within, serving as pollinators in the process. Parents feed young with whole insects, although they may first remove wings or legs. One study found that the average caloric need of a developing chick is about 15 medium-sized grasshoppers per day.


Nests built in cactus provide a degree of protection to young; yet even in a cactus, young wrens are vulnerable to predation by coachwhip snakes. When threatened, young in nests were observed to try to blend in with the nest and flattened themselves against the nest walls. Adults are preyed upon by coyotes, foxes, hawks, bald eagles, domestic cats, and greater roadrunners. Upon detection of predators, cactus wrens will usually mob the predator and vocally scold it. They may also chase ground based predators and intruders. Predator alarm calls are usually a low buzz, or sometimes a staccato tek which is repeated. In response to birds of prey, adults may attempt to move closer to the ground or leave calling spots.
Cactus wrens can live at least five years in the wild, but average lifespan is two years for males and 1.3 years for females. Year-over-year decline is high, often a result of predation. Roughly one-third of clutches laid each year are lost. Fledglings are most vulnerable to predation, and adult wrens may occasionally fail to lead all fledglings back to roosting spots. Fledglings left outside of roosts overnight face greatly increased predation. The main cause of death in fledglings seems to be starvation due to lack of foraging experience.
Numerous parasites affect the cactus wren. A study of Californian cactus wrens showed that a common parasite is Avifilaris (a type of microfilaria parasitic worm), which are spread by biting insects. Little is known about the life cycle of the worms, beyond that they are not transmissible to humans. Leucocytozoon species also affect the wren, although the prevalence and effects are not well known. The same study found that Neoschoengastia americana, the turkey chigger, affects birds during late summer and early fall. The tiny biting insects cause skin lesions, but may not cause harm to their host except in large numbers.
Cactus wrens share a similar range to the curve-billed thrasher, as well as the jumping cholla, a favored plant for both species to nest in. Because of this, interspecific conflict is frequent. Fights over food are rare, but fights to protect fledglings are heated. They will vigorously work to destroy each other's nests, although typically only roosting nests, not breeding nests, are destroyed. Despite this, broods of curve-billeds and cactus wrens may still be concurrently and successfully raised even feet away from each other. Anderson and Anderson noted a minimum nest distance of a highly unusual 20 centimetres (6 in) (neither nest was destroyed by the other throughout an entire season), although average interspecific nest distances were well over 30 metres (100 ft). Nest destruction is almost always unsuccessful, and less intense, during breeding times, as both species adamantly defend their own nests. Once mating season wanes and fledglings emerge, competition becomes more fierce.


The cactus wren is the state bird of Arizona, so designated on 16 March 1931 by the Arizona State Legislature in House Bill 128. The bill specifically designates the subspecies C. b. couesi as the state bird, and refers to the bird as both the "Cactus Wren" and "Coues' Cactus Wren". The subspecies' namesake, Elliot Coues, served as a surgeon at Fort Whipple in Arizona from 1864 until at least 1871, and again in 1880, and was involved in nature surveys of the Arizona Territory.


The cactus wren is abundant in most of its native range, although its numbers may be declining in Texas and southern California. The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies its population as "decreasing", but ranks the species's conservation status as least concern. Current population estimates put the species at about seven million individuals, with slightly more than half in Mexico, and the balance in the United States. Populations declined by 55% between 1966 and 2015. This decline was not consistent across the range: U.S. populations decreased more than Mexican ones, but locally – such as in Nevada, New Mexico, and the Chihuahuan desert – populations have increased. Populations in Texas have faced the steepest declines, followed by Arizona and California.
Coastal populations in southern California face threats due to habitat loss as a result of suburban development. Populations have been highly fragmented due to urbanization, which may lead to genetic differentiation among isolated populations and could threaten overall species viability. Similar species (such as the wrentit and Bewick's wren) that nest in coastal sage scrub (the preferred nesting habitat of coastal cactus wrens) have faced high levels of local extinction. California subspecies C. b. sandiegensis was petitioned to be listed as federally endangered in 1990, but was not due to taxonomic disputes as to whether C. b. sandiegensis was actually distinct from the rest of the cactus wren population. C. b. sandiegensis is, however, listed as a "California Species of Special Concern".
Across the cactus wren's range, habitat fragmentation is a major problem. Urban populations have faced especially steep declines. Habitat degradation at the edge of the habitat/urban interface has led to general population loss. Study has shown that fire has a large impact on cactus wrens due to their territoriality, with populations persisting only in unburned pockets. These issues are compounded by the apparently poor ability of the cactus wren to disperse: each subsequent generation will usually not travel far to establish a territory. Most young once chased out of their parents' territory, will generally establish their new territory directly adjacent to that of their parents. Other issues include invasive grasses, which take up valuable foraging space, as the wren forages in mostly open areas. Domestic cats also take a high proportion of birds in urban settings. Despite the threats it faces, the cactus wren has proved adaptable, especially to human modifications. It can survive in degraded environments as long as suitable nesting habitat, such as spiny cactus, remains.


The spotted wren (Campylorhynchus gularis) is a species of bird in the family Troglodytidae. It is endemic to Mexico.


The spotted wren has sometimes been considered conspecific with Boucard's wren (Campylorhynchus jocosus) but molecular data show that they are not closely related. The species is monotypic.


The spotted wren is 17 cm (6.7 in) long and weighs 28.3 to 31 g (1.00 to 1.09 oz). Adults of both sexes have a chestnut crown and rufescent brown shoulders and back with dull black and buffy markings. The tail is gray-brown with darker bars. They have a white supercilium and a brown eyestripe above buffy white cheeks. Their chin, throat, and chest are off-white and the sides of the chest have blackish spots. The belly and lower flanks are buffy with faint barring. The juvenile's crown is dull black, the markings on the back are fainter than the adults', and the chest is pale buff without the adults' spots.


The spotted wren is found in two areas of Mexico separated by unsuitable habitat. In the west it ranges from southeastern Sonora south to western México state and western Morelos. East of that band it ranges from southern Nuevo León, southwestern Tamaulipas, and central San Luis Potosí south to Hidalgo. It occurs in several habitat types, from dry oak and pine-oak woodlands to stands of shrubs and cactus to rocky slopes with palms. In elevation it is generally found between 800 and 2,500 m (2,600 and 8,200 ft) but ranges up to 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in Colima.


The spotted wren actively forages in small groups, usually on or near the ground but as high as 15 m (49 ft). It probes bark crevices, epiphytes, and among rocks for invertebrates. It also eats vegetable matter like cactus seeds and has been seen to prey on small lizards.


The spotted wren's breeding phenology is virtually unknown. It builds a domed nest with  side entrance like others of its genus. The clutch size appears to be two to four.


The IUCN has assessed the spotted wren as being of Least Concern. "Abundance varies; quite sparse and uncommon in some areas, and very common in suitable habitat in others."


Canavalia rosea is a species of flowering plant of the genus Canavalia in the pea family, Fabaceae, that has a pantropical distribution. Common names include beach bean, bay bean, seaside jack-bean, coastal jack-bean, and MacKenzie bean.


Coastal jack-bean is a trailing, herbaceous vine that forms mats of foliage. Stems reach a length of more than 6 m (20 ft) and 2.5 cm (0.98 in) in thickness. Each compound leaf is made up of three leaflets 5.1–7.6 cm (2.0–3.0 in) in diameter, which will fold themselves when exposed to hot sunlight. The flowers are purplish pink and 5.1 cm (2.0 in) long. The flat pods are 10.2–15.2 cm (4.0–6.0 in) long and become prominently ridged as they mature. The buoyancy of the seeds allows them to be distributed by ocean currents. The plant seems to contain L-Betonicine.


C. rosea inhabits upper beaches, cliffs, and dunes throughout the world's coastal tropics. It is highly salt-tolerant and prefers sandy soils.


Canotia holacantha, also known as crucifixion thorn or simply canotia, is a flowering shrub / small tree in the family Celastraceae. It is the only species in the genus Canotia.


The plant is native to the higher elevation deserts of the Southwestern United States in Arizona and southeastern California, and of Northwest Mexico in isolated locales in Baja California and Sonora).
Canotia grows in desert scrub environments, primarily on slopes or in washes. It is found in the higher Sonoran Desert across central Arizona, reaching to the Mojave Desert of California and northwest Arizona, and into the lower reaches of the Grand Canyon.


The prehistoric distribution of Canotia holacantha has been analyzed with pollen records in certain locations. One of the most detailed studies has been conducted in the Waterman Mountains of Arizona, where C. holacantha has been documented to have occurred during the Late Wisconsin glacial period, along with dominant trees Juniperus osteosperma and Pinus monophylla.


Canotia holacantha reaches a height of 10–15 feet (3.0–4.6 m). However, one specimen located in the eastern Mojave Desert near Wikieup, Arizona is known to exceed 30 feet (9.1 m) in height.  It is usually a scrubby species, with gray-green branches tipped with sharp thorns.
This species handles photosynthesis with its twigs, rather than the short-lived leaves, like the unrelated Foothill palo verde (Parkinsonia microphylla) which it closely resembles.   Its leaves are insignificant scales which are quickly shed and rarely seen; more easily seen are its seed pods, which are persistent clusters of reddish-brown seed capsules which hang in groups of five.


Other common names for this species include chaparro amargosa, corona-de-cristo, and rosario; all such names are in reference to its thorny twigs, which are likened to the Crown of Thorns. The name "crucifixion thorn" is also applied to several unrelated species, some of which canotia shares its range with, including Castela emoryi in the family Simaroubaceae and Koeberlinia spinosa (allthorn) in the family Koeberliniaceae.
The World War II Ailanthus-class net laying ship USS Canotia (AN-47) was named after this tree.
Canotia is grown in cultivation by seeds.


Cantharellus cinnabarinus, the red chanterelle, is a fungus native to eastern North America. It is a member of the genus Cantharellus along with other chanterelles.  It is named after its red color, which is imparted by the carotenoid canthaxanthin.  It is edible and good, fruiting in association with hardwood trees in the summer and fall.


Cantharellus cinnabarinus is recognized by its distinctive flamingo-pink or bright orange and red colors (imparted by the carotenoid canthaxanthin) and the presence of false gills underneath the cap.


Widely distributed in Eastern Northern America; found mostly on the ground in broadleaf and mixed broadleaf/conifer forests; usually scattered or occurring in small groups; forms mycorrhizal associations with forest trees in the summer and fall; shows preference for acid soils.


In central Europe, the adult beetles appears between May and July. Larvae are active from late summer until early spring and in March and April they pupate.


According to GBIF records, Cantharis rustica occurs in Europe from as north as Scandinavia to the shores of the Mediterranean and from the Atlantic Ocean to central Russia.


This beetle species has a preference for arable land.


Capnoides sempervirens, the harlequin corydalis, rock harlequin, pale corydalis or pink corydalis, is an annual or biennial plant native to rocky woodland and burned or disturbed places in northern North America. Capnoides sempervirens is the only species in the genus Capnoides.
Name(s) brought to synonymy
Capnoides elegans Kuntze, a synonym for Corydalis elegans


Plants are 20–80 cm (7.9–31.5 in) tall. Both stems and leaves are glaucous. Leaves are 1–3 cm (0.39–1.18 in) in length, twice pinnately divided, usually segmented into 3 lobes and sometimes 4. Flowers are tubular, pink with a yellow tip, 1–1.7 cm (0.39–0.67 in) long, grouped into dangling clusters. Seeds are black and shiny, about 1 mm (0.039 in) wide, held tightly together in long thin cylindrical pods.
Flowers bloom from May to September. Often growing out of areas disturbed by fire. Native from Newfoundland to Alaska and south into the eastern United States.


The European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus), common goatsucker, Eurasian nightjar or just nightjar, is a crepuscular and nocturnal bird in the nightjar family that breeds across most of Europe and the Palearctic to Mongolia and Northwestern China. The Latin generic name refers to the old myth that the nocturnal nightjar suckled from goats, causing them to cease to give milk. The six subspecies differ clinally, the birds becoming smaller and paler towards the east of the range. All populations are migratory, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa. Their densely patterned grey and brown plumage makes individuals difficult to see in the daytime when they rest on the ground or perch motionless along a branch, although the male shows white patches in the wings and tail as he flies at night.
The preferred habitat is dry, open country with some trees and small bushes, such as heaths, forest clearings or newly planted woodland. The male European nightjar occupies a territory in spring and advertises his presence with a distinctive sustained churring trill from a perch. He patrols his territory with wings held in a V and tail fanned, chasing intruders while wing-clapping and calling. Wing clapping also occurs when the male chases the female in a spiralling display flight. The European nightjar does not build a nest, and its two grey and brown blotched eggs are laid directly on the ground; they hatch after about 17–21 days and the downy chicks fledge in another 16–17 days.
The European nightjar feeds on a wide variety of flying insects, which it seizes in flight, often fly-catching from a perch. It hunts by sight, silhouetting its prey against the night sky. Its eyes are relatively large, each with a reflective layer, which improves night vision. It appears not to rely on its hearing to find insects and does not echolocate. Drinking and bathing take place during flight. Although it suffers a degree of predation and parasitism, the main threats to the species are habitat loss, disturbance and a reduction of its insect prey through pesticide use. Despite population decreases, its large numbers and huge breeding range mean that it is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being of least concern.


The nightjars, Caprimulgidae, are a large family of mostly nocturnal insect-eating birds. The largest and most widespread genus is Caprimulgus, characterised by stiff bristles around the mouth, long pointed wings, a comb-like middle claw and patterned plumage. The males, and sometimes females, often have white markings in the wing or tail. Within the genus, the European nightjar forms a superspecies with the rufous-cheeked nightjar and the sombre nightjar, African species with similar songs. It is replaced further east in Asia by the jungle nightjar which occupies similar habitat.
The European nightjar was described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae under its current scientific name. Caprimulgus is derived from the Latin capra, "nanny goat", and mulgere, "to milk", referring to an old myth that nightjars suck milk from goats, and the species name, europaeus is Latin for "European". The common name "nightjar", first recorded in 1630, refers to the nocturnal habits of the bird, the second part of the name deriving from the distinctive churring song. Old or local names refer to the song, "churn owl", habitat, "fern owl", or diet, "dor hawk" and "moth hawk".


There are six recognised subspecies, although the differences are mainly clinal; birds become smaller and paler in the east of the range and the males have larger white wing spots. Birds of intermediate appearance occur where the subspecies' ranges overlap.
The fossil record is deficient, but it is likely that these poorly defined subspecies diverged as global temperature rose over the last 10,000 years or so. Only one record of the species possibly dates back to the late Eocene.


The European nightjar is 24.5–28 cm (9.6–11.0 in) long, with a 52–59 cm (20–23 in) wingspan. The male weighs 51–101 g (1.8–3.6 oz) and the female 67–95 g (2.4–3.4 oz). The adult of the nominate subspecies has greyish-brown upperparts with dark streaking, a pale buff hindneck collar and a white moustachial line. The closed wing is grey with buff spotting, and the underparts are greyish-brown, with brown barring and buff spots. The bill is blackish, the iris is dark brown and the legs and feet are brown.
The flight on long pointed wings is noiseless, due to their soft plumage, and very buoyant. Flying birds can be sexed since the male has a white wing patch across three primary feathers and white tips to the two outer tail feathers, whereas females do not show any white in flight. Chicks have downy brown and buff plumage, and the fledged young are similar in appearance to the adult female. Adults moult their body feathers from June onwards after breeding, suspend the process while migrating, and replace the tail and flight feathers on the wintering grounds. Moult is completed between January and March. Immature birds follow a similar moult strategy to the adults unless they are from late broods, in which case the entire moult may take place in Africa.
Other nightjar species occur in parts of the breeding and wintering ranges. The red-necked nightjar breeds in Iberia and northwest Africa; it is larger, greyer and longer winged than the European nightjar, and has a broad buff collar and more conspicuous white markings on the wings and tail. Wintering European nightjars in Africa may overlap with the related rufous-cheeked and sombre nightjars. Both have a more prominent buff hind-neck collar and more spotting on the wing coverts. The sombre nightjar is also much darker than its European cousin. Given their nocturnal habits, cryptic plumage and difficulty of observation, nightjar observation "is as much a matter of fortune as effort or knowledge".


The male European nightjar's song is a sustained churring trill, given continuously for up to 10 minutes with occasional shifts of speed or pitch. It is delivered from a perch, and the male may move around its territory using different song posts. Singing is more frequent at dawn and dusk than during the night, and is reduced in poor weather. The song may end with a bubbling trill and wing-clapping, perhaps indicating the approach of a female. Migrating or wintering birds sometimes sing. Individual male nightjars can be identified by analysing the rate and length of the pulses in their songs. Even a singing male may be hard to locate; the perched bird is difficult to spot in low light conditions, and the song has a ventriloquial quality as the singer turns his head. The song is easily audible at 200 m (660 ft), and can be heard at 600 m (2,000 ft) in good conditions; it can be confused with the very similar sound of the European mole cricket.
The female does not sing, but when on the wing, both sexes give a short cuick, cuick call, also used when chasing predators. Other calls include variations on a sharp chuck when alarmed, hisses given by adults when handled or chicks when disturbed, and an assortment of wuk, wuk, wuk, muffled oak, oak and murmurs given at the nest. Large young have a threat display with the mouth opened wide while hissing loudly.
Despite the name, wing-clapping does not involve contact between the two wing tips over the bird's back as was once thought. The sound is produced in a whiplash-like way as each wing cracks down.


The breeding range of the European nightjar comprises Europe north to around latitude 64°N and Asia north to about 60°N and east to Lake Baikal and eastern Mongolia. The southern limits are northwestern Africa, Iraq, Iran and the northwestern Himalayas. This nightjar formerly bred in Syria and Lebanon.
All populations are migratory, and most birds winter in Africa south of the Sahara, with just a few records from Pakistan, Morocco and Israel. Migration is mainly at night, singly or in loose groups of up to twenty birds. European breeders cross the Mediterranean and North Africa, whereas eastern populations move through the Middle East and East Africa. Some Asian birds may therefore cross 100° of longitude on their travels. Most birds start their migration at the time of a full moon.
Most birds winter in eastern or southeastern Africa, although individuals of the nominate race have been recently discovered wintering in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; records elsewhere in West Africa may be wintering birds of this subspecies or C. e. meridionalis. Most autumn migration takes place from August to September, and the birds return to the breeding grounds by May. Recent tracking data has revealed that European nightjars have a loop migration from Western Europe to sub-equatorial Africa where they have to cross several ecological barriers (the Mediterranean Sea, the Sahara and the Central African Tropical Rainforest). Individuals use similar stop-over sites as do other European migrants. Vagrants have occurred in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, the Seychelles, the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands.
The European nightjar is a bird of dry, open country with some trees and small bushes, such as heaths, commons, moorland, forest clearings or felled or newly planted woodland. When breeding, it avoids treeless or heavily wooded areas, cities, mountains, and farmland, but it often feeds over wetlands, cultivation or gardens. In winter it uses a wider range of open habitats including acacia steppe, sandy country and highlands. It has been recorded at altitudes of 2,800 m (9,200 ft) on the breeding grounds and 5,000 m (16,000 ft) in the wintering areas.


The European nightjar is crepuscular and nocturnal. During the day it rests on the ground, often in a partly shaded location, or perches motionless lengthwise along an open branch or a similar low perch. The cryptic plumage makes it difficult to see in the daytime, and birds on the ground, if they are not already in shade, will turn occasionally to face the sun thereby minimising their shadow. If it feels threatened, the nightjar flattens itself to the ground with eyes almost closed, flying only when the intruder is 2–5 m (7–16 ft) away. It may call or wing clap as it goes, and land as far as 40 m (130 ft) from where it was flushed. In the wintering area it often roosts on the ground but also uses tree branches up to 20 m (66 ft) high. Roost sites at both the breeding and wintering grounds are used regularly if they are undisturbed, sometimes for weeks at a time.
Like other nightjars, it will sit on roads or paths during the night and hover to investigate large intruders such as deer or humans. It may be mobbed by birds while there is still light, and by bats, other nightjar species or Eurasian woodcocks during the night. Owls and other predators such as red foxes will be mobbed by both male and female European nightjars. Like other aerial birds, such as swifts and swallows, nightjars make a quick plunge into water to wash. They have a unique serrated comb-like structure on the middle claw, which is used to preen and perhaps to remove parasites.
In cold or inclement weather, several nightjar species can slow their metabolism and go into torpor, notably the common poorwill, which will maintain that state for weeks. The European nightjar has been observed in captivity to be able to maintain a state of torpor for at least eight days without harm, but the relevance of this to wild birds is unknown.


Breeding is normally from late May to August, but may be significantly earlier in northwest Africa or western Pakistan. Returning males arrive about two weeks before the females and establish territories which they patrol with wings held in a V-shape and tail fanned, chasing intruders while wing-clapping and calling. Fights may take place in flight or on the ground. The male's display flight involves a similar wing and tail position with frequent wing clapping as he follows the female in a rising spiral. If she lands, he continues to display with bobbing and fluttering until the female spreads her wings and tail for copulation. Mating occasionally takes place on a raised perch instead of the ground. In good habitat, there may be 20 pairs per square kilometre (50 per square mile).
The European nightjar is normally monogamous. There is no nest, and the eggs are laid on the ground among plants or tree roots, or beneath a bush or tree. The site may be bare ground, leaf litter or pine needles, and is used for a number of years. The clutch is usually one or two whitish eggs, rarely unmarked, but normally blotched with browns and greys. The eggs average 32 mm × 22 mm (1.26 in × 0.87 in) and weigh 8.4 g (0.30 oz), of which 6% is shell.
Several nightjar species are known to be more likely to lay in the two weeks before the full moon than the during the waning moon, possibly because insect food may be easier to catch as the moon waxes. A study specifically looking at the European nightjar showed that the phase of the moon is a factor for birds laying in June, but not for earlier breeders. This strategy means that a second brood in July would also have a favourable lunar aspect.
Eggs are laid 36–48 hours apart, and incubation, mainly by the female, starts with the first egg. The male may incubate for short periods, especially around dawn or dusk, but spends the day roosting, sometimes outside his territory or close to other males. If the female is disturbed while breeding, she runs or flutters along the ground feigning injury until she has drawn the intruder away. She may also move the eggs a short distance with her bill. Each egg hatches after about 17–21 days. The semi-precocial downy chicks are mobile when hatched, but are brooded to keep them warm. They fledge in 16–17 days and become independent of the adults around 32 days after hatching. A second brood may be raised by early nesting pairs, in which case the female leaves the first brood a few days before they fledge; the male then cares for the first brood and assists with the second. Both adults feed the young with balls of insects which are either regurgitated into the chick's mouth or pecked by the chick from the adult's open bill.
Broods that fail tend to do so during incubation. One English study showed that only 14.5% of eggs survived to hatching, but once that stage was reached the chances of fledging successfully were high. European nightjars breed when aged one year, and typically live four years. The adult annual survival rate is 70%, but that for juveniles is unknown. The maximum known age in the wild is just over 12 years.


The European nightjar feeds on a wide variety of flying insects, including moths, beetles, mantises, dragonflies, cockroaches and flies. It will pick glowworms off vegetation. It consumes grit to aid with digesting its prey, but any plant material and non-flying invertebrates consumed are taken inadvertently while hunting other food items. Young chicks have been known to eat their own faeces.
Birds hunt over open habitats and woodland clearings and edges, and may be attracted to insects concentrating around artificial lights, near farm animals or over stagnant ponds. They usually feed at night, but occasionally venture out on overcast days. Nightjars pursue insects with a light twisting flight, or flycatch from a perch; they may rarely take prey off the ground. They drink by dipping to the water surface as they fly. Breeding European nightjars travel on average 3.1 km (3,400 yd) from their nests to feed. Migrating birds live off their fat reserves.
European nightjars hunt by sight, silhouetting their prey against the night sky. They tend to flycatch from a perch on moonlit nights, but fly continuously on darker nights when prey is harder to see; Tracking experiments show that feeding activity more than doubles on moonlit nights. Hunting frequency reduces in the middle of the night. Although they have very small bills, the mouth can be opened very wide as they catch insects. They have long sensitive bristles around the mouth, which may help to locate or funnel prey into the mouth. Indigestible parts of insects, such as the chitin exoskeleton, are regurgitated as pellets. They often hunt around herds, especially herds of livestock including goats, sheep and cattle. These animals attract huge amounts of haematophagous insects.
Nightjars have relatively large eyes, each with a tapetum lucidum (reflective layer behind the retina) that makes the eyes shine in torchlight and improves light detection at dusk, dawn and in moonlight. The retinas of nocturnal birds, including nightjars, are adapted for sight in low-light areas and have a higher density of rod cells and far fewer cone cells compared to those of most diurnal birds. These adaptations favour good night vision at the expense of colour discrimination In many day-flying species, light passes through coloured oil droplets within the cone cells to improve colour vision. In contrast, nightjars have a limited number of cone cells, either lacking or having only a few oil droplets. The nocturnal eyesight of nightjars is probably equivalent to that of owls. Although they have good hearing, European nightjars appear not to rely on sound to find insects, and nightjars do not echolocate.


The eggs and chicks of this ground-nesting bird are vulnerable to predation by red foxes, pine martens, European hedgehogs, least weasels and domestic dogs, and by birds including crows, Eurasian magpies, Eurasian jays and owls. Snakes, such as common adders, may also rob the nest. Adults may be caught by birds of prey including northern goshawks, hen harriers, Eurasian sparrowhawks, common buzzards, peregrines and sooty falcons.
Parasites recorded on the European nightjar include a single species of biting louse found on the wings, and a feather mite that occurs only on the white wing markings. Avian malaria has also been recorded. The leucocytozoon blood parasite L. caprimulgi is rare in the European nightjar. Its scarcity and the fact that it is the only one of its genus found in nightjars support the suggestion that it has crossed over from close relatives that normally infect owls.


The global population of the European nightjar in 2020 was estimated at 3–6 million birds, and estimates of the European population ranged from 290,000 to 830,000 individuals. Although there appeared to be a fall in numbers, it is not rapid enough to trigger the vulnerability criteria. The huge breeding range and population mean that this species is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being of least concern.
The largest breeding populations as of 2012 were in Russia (up to 500,000 pairs), Spain (112,000 pairs) and Belarus (60,000 pairs). There have been declines in much of the range, but especially in northwestern Europe. The loss of insect prey through pesticide use, coupled with disturbance, collision with vehicles and habitat loss have contributed to the falling population. As ground-nesting birds, they are adversely affected by disturbance, especially by domestic dogs, which may destroy the nest or advertise its presence to crows or predatory mammals. Breeding success is higher in areas with no public access; where access is permitted, and particularly where dog owners allow their pets to run loose, successful nests tend to be far from footpaths or human habitation.
In Britain and elsewhere, commercial forestry has created new habitat which has increased numbers, but these gains are likely to be temporary as the woodland develops and becomes unsuitable for nightjars. In the United Kingdom, it is red-listed as a cause for concern, and in Ireland it was close to extinction as of 2012.


Poets sometimes use the nightjar as an indicator of warm summer nights, as in George Meredith's "Love in the Valley";
Lone on the fir-branch, his rattle-notes unvaried

Brooding o'er the gloom, spins the brown eve-jar
Wordsworth's "Calm is the fragrant air":
The busy dor-hawk chases the white moth

With burring note.
or Dylan Thomas's "Fern Hill":
and all the night long I heard, blessed among stables, the nightjars

flying with the ricks
Nightjars sing only when perched, and Thomas Hardy referenced the eerie silence of a hunting bird in "Afterwards":
If it be in the dusk when, like an eyelid's soundless blink

The dewfall-hawk comes crossing the shades to alight

Upon the wind-warped upland thorn.
In the final track on Divers, Time, As a Symptom, Joanna Newsom rounds out the album with a litany of:
No time, no flock, no chime, no clock, no end

White star, white ship, Nightjar, transmit, transcend (joy)

White star, white ship, Nightjar, transmit, transcend (we go down)

White star, white ship, Nightjar, transmit, transcend

White star, white ship, Nightjar, transmit, tran- [birdsong]
Caprimulgus and the old name "goatsucker" both refer to the myth, old even in the time of Aristotle, that nightjars suckled from nanny goats, which subsequently ceased to give milk or went blind. This ancient belief is reflected in nightjar names in other European languages, such as German Ziegenmelker, Polish kozodój and Italian succiacapre, which also mean goatsucker, but despite its antiquity, it has no equivalents in Arab, Chinese or Hindu traditions. The birds are attracted by insects around domestic animals and, as unusual nocturnal creatures, were then blamed for any misfortune that befell the beast. Another old name, "puckeridge", was used to refer to both the bird and a disease of farm animals, the latter actually caused by botfly larvae under the skin. "Lich fowl" (corpse bird) is an old name which reflects the superstitions that surrounded this strange nocturnal bird. Like "gabble ratchet" (corpse hound), it may refer to the belief that the souls of unbaptised children were doomed to wander in nightjar form until Judgement Day.


Capsella bursa-pastoris, known as shepherd's purse because of its triangular flat fruits, which are purse-like, is a small annual and ruderal flowering plant in the mustard family (Brassicaceae). It is native to eastern Europe and Asia minor, but is naturalized and considered a common weed in many parts of the world, especially in colder climates, including British Isles, where it is regarded as an archaeophyte, North America and China, but also in the Mediterranean and North Africa. C. bursa-pastoris is the second-most prolific wild plant in the world, and is common on cultivated ground and waysides and meadows.
Scientists have referred to this species as a 'protocarnivore', since it has been found that its seeds attract and kill nematodes as a means to locally enrich the soil.


Capsella bursa-pastoris plants grow from a rosette of lobed leaves at the base. From the base emerges a stem about 0.2–0.5 m (0.66–1.64 ft) tall, which bears a few pointed leaves which partly grasp the stem. The flowers, which appear in any month of the year in the British Isles, are white and small, 2.5 mm (0.098 in) in diameter, with four petals and six stamens. They are borne in loose racemes, and produce flattened, two-chambered seed pods known as silicles, which are triangular to heart-shaped, each containing several seeds.
Like a number of other plants in several plant families, its seeds contain a substance known as mucilage, a condition known as myxospermy. Recently, this has been demonstrated experimentally to perform the function of trapping nematodes, as a form of 'protocarnivory'.
Capsella bursa-pastoris is closely related to the model organism such as Arabidopsis thaliana and is also used as a model organism, due to the variety of genes expressed throughout its life cycle that can be compared to genes that are well studied in A. thaliana. Unlike most flowering plants, it flowers almost all year round. Like other annual ruderals exploiting disturbed ground, C. bursa-pastoris reproduces entirely from seed, has a long soil seed bank, and short generation time, and is capable of producing several generations each year.


It was formally described by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in his seminal publication Species Plantarum in 1753, and then published by Friedrich Kasimir Medikus in Pflanzen-Gattungen (Pfl.-Gatt.) on page 85 in 1792.
Capsella bursa-pastoris subsp. thracicus (Velen.) Stoj. & Stef. is the only known subspecies.
William Coles wrote in his book, Adam in Eden (1657), "It is called Shepherd's purse or Scrip (wallet) from the likeness of the seed hath with that kind of leathearne bag, wherein Shepherds carry their Victualls [food and drink] into the field."
In England and Scotland, it was once commonly called 'mother's heart', from which was derived a child's game/trick of picking the seed pod, which then would burst and the child would be accused of 'breaking his mother's heart'.


Capsella bursa-pastoris gathered from the wild or cultivated has many uses, including for food, to supplement animal feed, for cosmetics, and in traditional medicine—reportedly to stop bleeding. The plant can be eaten raw; the leaves are best when gathered young. Native Americans ground it into a meal and made a beverage from it.


It is cultivated as a commercial food crop in Asia.  In China, where it is known as jìcài (荠菜; 薺菜) it is commonly used in food in Shanghai and the surrounding Jiangnan region. The savory leaf is stir-fried with rice cakes and other ingredients or as part of the filling in wontons. It is one of the ingredients of the symbolic dish consumed in the Japanese spring-time festival, Nanakusa-no-sekku. In Korea, it is known as naengi (냉이) and used as a root vegetable in the characteristic Korean dish, namul (fresh greens and wild vegetables).
Shepherd's purse was used as a pepper substitute in colonial New England.


Capsicum annuum is a species of the plant genus Capsicum native to southern North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. This species is the most common and extensively cultivated of the five domesticated capsicums. The species encompasses a wide variety of shapes and sizes of peppers, both mild and hot, such as bell peppers, jalapeños, New Mexico chile, and cayenne peppers. Cultivars descended from the wild American bird pepper are still found in warmer regions of the Americas. In the past, some woody forms of this species have been called C. frutescens, but the features that were used to distinguish those forms appear in many populations of C. annuum and are not consistently recognizable features in C. frutescens species.


Although the species name annuum means 'annual' (from the Latin annus "year"), the plant is not an annual but is frost tender. In the absence of winter frosts it can survive several seasons and grow into a large, shrubby perennial herb. The single flowers are an off-white (sometimes purplish) color while the stem is densely branched and up to 60 cm (24 in) tall. The fruits are peppers that may be green, yellow, orange or red when ripe. While the species can tolerate most frost-free climates, C. annuum is especially productive in warm and dry climates.


While generally self-pollinating, insect visitation is known to increase the fruit size and speed of ripening, as well as to ensure symmetrical development. Pepper flowers have nectaries at the base of the corolla, which helps to attract pollinators. The anthers do not release pollen except via buzz pollination, such as provided by bumble bees.


The species is a source of popular sweet peppers and hot chiles with numerous varieties cultivated all around the world, and is the source of popular spices such as cayenne, chile, and paprika powders, as well as pimiento (pimento).
Common naming in English falls generally in line with the flavor and size of the variant. Larger, sweeter variants are called "capsicums" in Australia and New Zealand, "peppers" in the United Kingdom and Canada, and "bell peppers" in the United States. The smaller, hotter varieties are called chiles, chilies, chillies, chile, or chili peppers, or in parts of the US, "peppers".
Capsinoid chemicals provide the distinctive tastes in C. annuum variants. In particular, capsaicin creates a burning sensation ("hotness"), which in extreme cases can last for several hours after ingestion. A measurement called the Scoville scale has been created to describe the hotness of peppers and other foods.


Hot peppers are used in traditional medicine as well as food in Africa. English botanist John Lindley described C. annuum in his 1838 Flora Medica thus:
It is employed in medicine, in combination with Cinchona in intermittent and lethargic affections, and also in atonic gout, dyspepsia accompanied by flatulence, tympanitis, paralysis etc. Its most valuable application appears however to be in cynanche maligna (acute diphtheria) and scarlatina maligna (malignant Scarlet fever, used either as a gargle or administered internally.)
In Ayurveda, C. annuum is classified as follows:
Guna (properties) – ruksha (dry), laghu (light) and tikshna (sharp)
Rasa (taste) – katu (pungent)
Virya (potency) – ushna (hot)


Carabus granulatus is a species of beetle. It is found across the Palearctic from Ireland  to the Russian Far East and has been introduced to North America.It is widespread in Europe. C.  granulatus lives in fields, prairies, taiga and in forests. Also along river margins, in fens, lakeshores, and upland peat. It is occasional in gardens.


It is a small Carabus (length between 14 and 20 mm), winged and characterized by an elongated body which is  not very convex and an enlarged thorax. The antennae and the legs are black, the upper part of the animal shiny, predominantly greenish  bronze, green or occasionally black. The elytra are subparallel with "chain link" (longitudinal grooves with granules).


Carabus  granulatus is one of the very few species of ground beetles that have not completely lost their ability to fly, only the mountain forms are short-winged.  Nevertheless, the nocturnal animals generally remain on the ground, where they prey on insects, worms and snails. During the day they hide under tree trunks or stones. From autumn to spring, the animals often spend the winter together in tree stumps. The females lay about forty eggs. The larvae moult three times before pupating in the ground. The adult  beetles hatch in autumn.


Carabus nemoralis is a beneficial predator as it eats the agricultural pest Deroceras reticulatum slug in its young stage and also its eggs. Use of Carabus nemoralis as a biocontrol agent for multiple pests in large scale farming operations have been tested in recent years.


It is known that some Carabus nemoralis populations will regurgitate foul-smelling brownish-red liquid as a defense mechanism.


Carabus nemoralis typically has one breeding period in the spring with eggs hatching in autumn of the same year. )


Caragana arborescens, the Siberian peashrub, Siberian pea-tree, or caragana, is a species of legume native to Siberia and parts of China (Heilongjiang, Xinjiang) and neighboring Mongolia and Kazakhstan. It was taken to the United States by Eurasian immigrants, who used it as a food source while travelling west. In some areas of the United States it is considered an invasive species.  Introduced on the Canadian prairies in the 1880's, the hardy caragana provided shelter-belts, wildlife habitat, nitrogen fixation, and wind-breaks to prevent soil erosion and snow drifting.


It is a perennial shrub or small tree growing 2–6 m (6 ft 7 in – 19 ft 8 in) tall. Typically, it has a moderate to fast growth rate, being able to grow one to three feet during the first year after trimming.
The leaves vary from light green to dark green, and are alternate and compound with many small leaflets. Fragrant yellow flowers bloom in May or June. The fruits are legumes which contain many seeds, and ripen in July. As the seed pods dry they have a tendency to twist and pop open, releasing the seeds.


Caragana arborescens can be grown as an ornamental plant and bonsai. It has an extensive root system, and can be used in erosion control. The fragrant flowers attract bees.
The seeds are edible, but should be cooked before being eaten. Caragana arborescens contains the non proteinogenic amino acid L-canavanine and may store from nearly 6 to 13% L-canavanine by dry weight. There have been no verified cases of poisoning from consuming the seeds. The flowers are also edible, and can be used in salads.
It is recommended for planting in the outer rows of multi-row plantings. It can be used to neutralize soil to prepare for further planting. As a legume, C. arborescens fixes nitrogen. It is suitable for planting in single-row field windbreaks where a dense, short barrier is desired.
C. arborescens is used for nesting by several songbirds. The seeds are occasionally eaten by a few songbirds. The plant is not a preferred food for browsing animals, but its fragrant flowers attract many pollen-consuming animals.


Carcharodus alceae, the mallow skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae.


Carcharodus alceae has a wingspan of 28–32 mm. The background colour of the forewings is pinkish brown, with approximately square brown markings, short, white transverse stripes running from the edge and clear patches on the discal area. Hindwings are brownish or grey-brown, with some prominent brighter spots on the underside. Males are without hair tuft on forewings underside. Antennae have cherry brown tips.
The eggs are yellowish and hemispherical and the surface is covered with elongated warts, connected each other with low ribs. The egg has a prickly appearance. In the course of the development they turn red. The caterpillars can reach a length of about 23 millimetres (0.91 in). They are dark gray, covered with small white dots and short, white hairs. The head is black with yellow spots, separated by black stripes.
This species is very similar to the Marbled skipper (Carcharodus lavatherae) and almost indistinguishable from the False mallow skipper (Carcharodus tripolinus). Distinguishing features of Carcharodus alceae are the toothed hind wing edge and the small "glass spots" (unscaled areas) on the forewings with a black-brown basic color. The male of Carcharodus alceae has no tufts of hair on the underside of the forewings and can therefore be safely distinguished from Carcharodus flocciferus.


This widespread and common species can be found from Western Europe to Central Asia e.g. in most of southern and central Europe, in northern Africa (Morocco east to Tunisia and Libya), in the Middle East, in Asia Minor, the Caucasus, in northern India, in the Middle and Central Asia, in the western Himalayas and in the south of Western Siberia. In Europe, the species occurs mainly in the Mediterranean area. In Germany, the regular distribution extends to Central Germany (north to the Kyffhäuser Mountains). Evidence in previously unpopulated areas of Central Europe clearly indicates that C. alceae is currently in a phase of spreading.


These quite common butterflies prefer dry warm and stony areas, wasteland, warm ruderals and gardens at an elevation up to 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) above sea level. The altitudinal distribution of Carcharodus alceae in Bavaria extends from about 100 m to 600 m, the focus is in the Colline zone with an altitude distribution between 200 m and 500 m.
A wide range of grassland habitats and ruderal meadows with occurrences of mallow species serve as habitat for Carcharodus alceae. In Middle and Southern Franconian Jura, these are imperfections in limestone and sandy grasslands or ruderal embankments as well as other thermophilic ruderal meadows. Other habitats include fallow land, especially industrial wasteland, roadsides and arable fields that have been sown with seed mixtures, and oviposition also take place regularly in gardens and on the edge of vineyards. In limestone grasslands, especially locations with patchy and disturbed vegetation, such as limestone rubble areas, seams or marginal transition structures to fields are used. Numerous observations have been made in the last few years in freshly cleared limestone grasslands over open bare ground. At the latter there is temporarily an increased settlement of mallow species.
The powerfully flying imagos can evidently colonize newly created habitats very quickly. Often a single mallow plant is enough. In the Neumarkt / Oberpfalz district in Germany, for example, it has been possible to detect the species both as a butterfly and as a caterpillar in almost all of the larger grassland areas over the past ten years, albeit mostly only in low density. Although the imagos are very capable of flying and thus spreading rapidly, they are mostly observed in the vicinity of their larval habitats.


The easily recognizable, folded and spun leaves (leaf bags) are an unmistakable indication of caterpillars of the species. In addition to their appearance in gardens, they have led to the fact that the way of life of the larva of C. alceae was already known to Maria Sibylla Merian in the 17th century. Often several caterpillars can be found on one plant at the same time. Mallow skippers lay their eggs on top of the leaves of different species of mallow (hence the common name of the species). The larvae mainly feed on Malva alcea', Malva sylvestris, Malva moschata, Althaea officinalis, Lavatera thuringiaca and Hibiscus species. The preferred regional use of these species mostly depends on their distribution and frequency. At arid locations in the Middle Jura as well as on the edges of vineyards in the Steigerwald, oviposition on Malva neglecta has been demonstrated. On the embankments of the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal, Lavatera thuringiaca, which is spread here in large numbers, is accepted as a food plant. Further observations have been made on Althaea officinalis and Alcea rosea.
Caterpillars are found in Bavaria from May 12th until September 23rd. They reach their peak occurrence in the second half of August and, with the exception of the last decade of June and the first and last decade of July, are almost continuously documented.The fully grown caterpillar overwinters and pupates in spring without any further food intake. Wintering does not take place on the food plants, but it is apparently still unknown where exactly the caterpillars spend the cold season (presumably in the litter).
The imagos get nectar from various herbaceous plants. Various tall herbs serve as nectar plants, especially the mallow species themselves. The moths often suckle in damp places on unpaved roads.
The butterfly flies from April to October depending on the location. In Central Europe usually, this species has two generations (April–May and July), while in southern areas three or more generations are present. Their flight time is heavily dependent on the annual weather conditions and ranges from mid-April to early September. First generation individuals are mainly observed in May. The transition from the first to the second generation is fluid in the overall view of all years, with the number of butterfly finds declining significantly in early / mid-June. From the beginning / middle of July, more individuals of the second generation appear, which are usually much more numerous. From the middle of August, the finds of butterflies will decrease.


The larger grazed limestone grass complexes with regular dynamic processes play a key role in the protection of this species. Mowing areas or meadows, on the other hand, are hardly colonizable for the species. In an increasing number of areas, cultivated mallows and hollyhocks are offering a new habitat in gardens. The increasing withdrawal of set-aside land could lead to regional declines of this species again in the medium term, despite increasing heat sums. An increased creation of field margins or diverse fallow areas, on the other hand, could have a positive effect on the population. Carcharodus alceae can be promoted comparatively easily by planting full sun hollyhocks and mallows in private gardens, especially since these host plants already have a long tradition as garden plants.


Subspecies include:
Carcharodus alceae alceae (Europe, North Africa)
Carcharodus alceae swinhoei Watson, 1893 (Afghanistan, north-western India)
Carcharodus alceae wissmanni Warnecke, 1934 (Yemen)
Synonyms: Papilio malvarum Hoffmannsegg, 1804


Cardamine bulbosa, commonly called bulbous bittercress or spring cress, is a perennial plant in the mustard family. It is native to a widespread area of eastern North America, in both Canada and the United States. Its natural habitat is moist soils of bottomland forests and swamps, often in calcareous areas.
In late spring and early summer, white flowers are produced well above the foliage. Its leaves are edible, and have a peppery taste.


Cardamine californica, or milkmaids, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae, native to western North America from Washington to California and Baja California. It is common in a variety of habitats including shady slopes, open woodlands, chaparral and grasslands in the winter and early spring. In the San Francisco Bay Area, it is one of the first wildflowers to bloom, with blossoms from January to May.


Cardamine californica is an herbaceous perennial plant growing to about 1 foot tall. The flowers are borne on a raceme inflorescence, each flower about 1/2 inch in diameter with four white to pink petals. The flower closes its petals in late afternoon as the sun goes down and nods its pedicel before a rain, protecting the pollen.
Hand pollination of two milkmaids populations in the San Francisco Presidio improved seed set from 8% to 85%, with seeds ripening in about 53 days.


Cardamine diphylla (broadleaf toothwort, crinkle root, crinkle-root, crinkleroot, pepper root, twin-leaved toothwort, twoleaf toothwort, toothwort) is a plant native to North America.
Cardamine diphylla is a spring woodland plant that is found in most of eastern North America.


A member of the mustard family, it is typified by a four petal flower which blooms in a cluster on a single stalk above a single pair of toothed stem leaves each divided into three broad leaflets. After flowering, narrow seedpods appear just below the flower cluster. It grows approximately 30 cm (12 in) tall.


Its habitat ranges from Georgia north to Ontario and from the Atlantic to Wisconsin. It is found in moist woodlands usually in edge habitats and blooms from April to June.


The West Virginia white butterfly (Pieris virginiensis) lays its eggs on this plant as well as C. laciniata. The larvae also feed on this plant. As with Pieris oleracea, Pieris virginiensis mistakes garlic mustard for its host plants, making eradication of it important for their continued survival. Garlic mustard also competes with the plants for space and nutrients.


The ground root is mixed with vinegar by the Algonquin people of Quebec and used as a relish. They also give an infusion to children to treat fevers, and use an infusion of the plant and sweet flag root to treat heart disease. The Cherokee use a poultice of the root for headaches, chew the root for colds and gargle an infusion for sore throats. The Lenape use the roots as a stomach medicine, and use an infusion of the roots combined with other plants as a treatment for scrofula and venereal disease. The Delaware Nation of Oklahoma use a compound containing the root as a stomach remedy, for scrofula, and for venereal disease.
The Iroquois take an infusion of the whole plant to strengthen the breasts. They also chew the raw root for stomach gas, apply a poultice of roots to swellings, take a cold infusion of the plant for fever and for "summer complaint, drink a cold infusion of the roots for "when love is too strong", and use an infusion of the roots when  "heart jumps and the head goes wrong." They also use a compound for chest pains. They also take an infusion of the plant at the beginning of tuberculosis. The Malecite use an infusion of the roots as a tonic, and chew green or dried roots for hoarseness. The Micmac use the root as a sedative, to clear the throat and for hoarseness, and use the root as a tonic.


The Abenaki use it as a condiment. The Cherokee parboil and rinse the stems and leaves, add hot grease, salt & water & boiled them until they are soft as potherbs. They also use the leaves in salads, and smoke the plant. The Iroquois eat the roots raw with salt or boiled. The Ojibwa mix the roots with salt, vinegar, or sugar and use them as a condiment.


"Cardamine diphylla (Broad-leaved Toothwort, Crinkleroot, Pepper root, Toothroot, Twin-leaved Toothwort, Two-leaf Toothwort) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox". plants.ces.ncsu.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
"Butterflies and Moths of North America". Archived from the original on 2007-02-05. Retrieved 2007-05-13.
Becker, R., Gerber E., Hinz H., Katovich E., Panke B., Reardon R., Renz R., Van Riper L., 2013. Biology and Biological Control of Garlic Mustard. The Forest Technology Enterprise Team. https://www.fs.fed.us/foresthealth/technology/pdfs/FS_garlicmustard.pdf
Black, Meredith Jean 1980 Algonquin Ethnobotany: An Interpretation of Aboriginal Adaptation in South Western Quebec. Ottawa. National Museums of Canada. Mercury Series Number 65 (p. 86)
Black, p.173
Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey 1975 Cherokee Plants and Their Uses -- A 400 Year History. Sylva, N.C. Herald Publishing Co. (p. 59)
Tantaquidgeon, Gladys 1972 Folk Medicine of the Delaware and Related Algonkian Indians. Harrisburg. Pennsylvania Historical Commission Anthropological Papers #3 (p. 37)
Tantaquidgeon, p.34
Tantaquidgeon, p.31, 76
Rousseau, Jacques 1945 Le Folklore Botanique De Caughnawaga. Contributions de l'Institut botanique l'Université de Montréal 55:7-72 (p. 45)
Herrick, James William 1977 Iroquois Medical Botany. State University of New York, Albany, PhD Thesis (p. 341)
Herrick, p.341
Rousseau, Jacques 1945 Le Folklore Botanique De Caughnawaga. Contributions de l'Institut botanique l'Université de Montréal 55:7-72 (p. 45)
Mechling, W.H. 1959 The Malecite Indians With Notes on the Micmacs. Anthropologica 8:239-263 (p. 252)
Mechling p.247, 252
Chandler, R. Frank, Lois Freeman and Shirley N. Hooper 1979 Herbal Remedies of the Maritime Indians. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 1:49-68 (p. 56)
Rousseau, Jacques 1947 Ethnobotanique Abénakise. Archives de Folklore 11:145-182 (p. 152)
Perry, Myra Jean 1975 Food Use of "Wild" Plants by Cherokee Indians. The University of Tennessee, M.S. Thesis (p. 37)
Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey 1975 Cherokee Plants and Their Uses -- A 400 Year History. Sylva, N.C. Herald Publishing Co. (p. 59)
Waugh, F. W. 1916 Iroquois Foods and Food Preparation. Ottawa. Canada Department of Mines (p. 120)
Arnason, Thor, Richard J. Hebda and Timothy Johns 1981 Use of Plants for Food and Medicine by Native Peoples of Eastern Canada. Canadian Journal of Botany 59(11):2189-2325 (p. 2207)


Cardamine douglassii, the limestone bittercress or purple cress, is a perennial forb native to the eastern and central United States as well as the province of Ontario in Canada, that produces white to pink or purple flowers in early spring.


Cardamine douglassii has an erect unbranched stem which is 10 to 25 centimeters tall, and sparsely to densely hairy. The basal leaves are simple, heart shaped or round, 5 to 15 centimeters, borne on 4 to 12 centimeter long petioles. There are 3 to 8 oblong to lanceolate leaves on the stem, which are 2 to 5 centimeters long and 5 to 25 millimeters wide. The margins may be smooth or coarsely toothed. The flowers are borne in a raceme. The petals are 7 to 15 millimeters long and 3 to 5 millimeters wide. The fruit is linear, 1.5 to 4 centimeters long and 1.5 to 2 millimeters wide.


Cardamine douglassii is widely distributed in Ontario and the eastern and central United States, although local distribution may be spotty. It ranges from Massachusetts west to Ontario, Minnesota, and Missouri south as far as Arkansas, Alabama, and the Carolinas. Cardamine douglassii is listed as an endangered species by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and as a species of special concern by the State of Connecticut. In Virginia, it grows in habitats such as swamps and forests, generally with base rich soils. The presence of this species is dependent on appropriate habitat, and it may be eliminated from an area by development, changes in land use, or competition with invasive species.


Cardamine hirsuta, commonly called hairy bittercress, is an annual or biennial species of plant in the family Brassicaceae, and is edible as a salad green. It is common in moist areas around the world.


Depending on the climate C. hirsuta may complete two generations in a year, one in the spring and one in the fall; also depending on the climate, the seeds may germinate in the fall and the plants may remain green throughout the winter before flowering in the spring. It often grows a rosette of leaves at the base of the stem, while there may be leaves on the upright stem, most of the leaves will be part of the basal rosette. The leaves in this rosette are pinnately divided into 8–15 leaflets which have short stems connecting them to the petiole. These basal leaves are often 3.5–15 cm long. The leaflets are round to ovate in shape and may have smooth or dentate edges. The leaflet at the tip of the leaf (terminal leaflet) will be larger than the other leaflets and round to reniform in shape. The cauline (attached to the upright stem) leaves are also pinnately divided, with fewer leaflets, and generally smaller than the basal leaves; these leaves will be borne on a petiole and are 1.2–5.5 cm long. The stems, petioles, and upper surfaces of the cauline leaves are sparsely hairy.
Plants of this species are usually erect and grow to no more than about 30 centimetres (12 in) from a stem which is either unbranched or branched near the base. The small white flowers are borne in a raceme without any bracts, soon followed by the seeds and often continuing to flower as the first seeds ripen. The flowers have (4) white petals (which may be lacking but are mostly present) which are 1.5–4.5 mm long and spatulate shaped. The flowers also and have (4) stamens of equal height instead of the 6 which are found in most closely related plants. Pollens are elongated, approximately 32 microns in length.
 Below the flowers there are 4 sepals which are oblong shaped and 1.5–2.5 mm long and .3–.7 mm wide. The seeds are borne in upright pointing siliquae which are straight and 1.5–2.5 cm long and 1–1.4mm in diameter. When the fruit is ripe the valves on the siliquae will coil tightly from the bottom to the top after being touched and burst explosively, sending the seeds flying far from the parent plant. This seed dispersal strategy is referred to as ballochory and is a type of rapid plant movement.
Hairy bittercress is very similar to Cardamine flexuosa. Some differences are that the stems are hairless and the leaves do not clasp the stems, as in C.flexuosa. It has only 4 stamens, C. flexuosa has 6 stamens, and the fruits overtop the flowers. In C. flexuosa the fruits do not overtop the younger flowers. The fruits grow in a thin pod arranged as a single row.


It is commonly found in damp, recently disturbed soil, open ground, turf and wasteplaces and native to Europe as far east as the Caucasus, and to North Africa. These conditions are prevalent in nursery or garden centre plants, and hairy bittercress seeds may be introduced with those plants. Once established, it is difficult to eradicate. The tiny flowers are attractive to a few early butterflies, including (in the United States) spring azure (Celastrina ladon) and falcate orange-tip (Anthocharis midea).
It is native to Eurasia but has been introduced in many countries across the world. Its range includes but is not limited to: Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Gabon, Great Britain, India, Japan, Laos, Madagascar, Mexico, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkmenistan, United States, Venezuela, and Vietnam.
The 1889 book 'The Useful Native Plants of Australia' records that it was also called "Lady's Smock" and that "This and other species afford excellent pot-herbs when luxuriant and flaccid. The present one is a common weed almost throughout the world."


Binomial etymology
Cardamine is Dioscorides' name for cress. It is derived from Greek.
Hirsuta means "hairy" or "hirsute".
Common names
Other common or country names include lamb's cress, land cress, hoary bitter cress, spring cress, flick weed, and shot weed (or lambscress, landcress, hoary bittercress, springcress, flickweed, and shotweed). Some of these common names may be shared with other plants in the family Brassicaceae and are therefore of limited usefulness since they may be shared. As Old English stune, the plant is cited as one of the herbs invoked in the pagan Anglo-Saxon Nine Herbs Charm, recorded in the 10th century.


The leaves are edible raw and other tender parts of the plant can be cooked.


Cardamine nuttallii is a species of cardamine known by the common name Nuttall's toothwort. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California, where it grows in moist mountain habitats.


Cardamine nuttallii is a perennial herb growing from a small, white rhizome. It produces a thin, unbranching stem under 20 centimeters tall. The leaves are smooth or lobed along the edges and sometimes divided into a few smaller leaflets. The inflorescence bears generally more than one pale purple, pink, or occasionally white flowers with petals each over a centimeter long. The fruit is a silique up to 4 centimeters long.


There are four varieties of this plant. The rare Cardamine nuttallii var. gemmata is endemic to the Sequoia sempervirens redwood forests of northern California and southern Oregon.


The northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) is a bird in the genus Cardinalis; it is also known colloquially as the redbird, common cardinal, red cardinal, or just cardinal (which was its name prior to 1985). It can be found in southeastern Canada, through the eastern United States from Maine to Minnesota to Texas, New Mexico, southern Arizona, southern California, and south through Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala. It is also an introduced species in a few locations such as Bermuda and Hawaii. Its habitat includes woodlands, gardens, shrublands, and wetlands.
The northern cardinal is a mid-sized songbird with a body length of 21–23 cm (8.3–9.1 in). It has a distinctive crest on the head and a mask on the face which is black in the male and gray in the female. The male is a vibrant red, while the female is a reddish olive color. The northern cardinal is mainly granivorous, but also feeds on insects and fruit. The male behaves territorially, marking out his territory with song. During courtship, the male feeds seed to the female beak-to-beak. A clutch of three to four eggs is laid, and two to four clutches are produced each year. It was once prized as a pet, but its sale as a cage bird was banned in the United States by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.


The northern cardinal is one of three birds in the genus Cardinalis and is included in the family Cardinalidae, which is made up of passerine birds found in North and South America. The northern cardinal was one of the many species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It was initially included in the genus Loxia (as Loxia cardinalis), which now contains only crossbills. In 1838, it was placed in the genus Cardinalis and given the scientific name Cardinalis virginianus, which means "Virginia cardinal". In 1918, the scientific name was changed to Richmondena cardinalis to honor Charles Wallace Richmond, an American ornithologist. In 1983, the scientific name was changed again to Cardinalis cardinalis and the common name was changed to "northern cardinal", to avoid confusion with the several other species also termed cardinals.
The common name, as well as the scientific name, of the northern cardinal refers to the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church, who wear distinctive red robes and caps. The term "northern" in the common name refers to its range, as it is the northernmost cardinal species.


There are 19 subspecies:
C. c. cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758)
C. c. affinis Nelson, 1899
C. c. canicaudus Chapman, 1891
C. c. carneus (Lesson, 1842)
C. c. clintoni (Banks, 1963)
C. c. coccineus Ridgway, 1873
C. c. flammiger J.L. Peters, 1913
C. c. floridanus Ridgway, 1896
C. c. igneus S.F. Baird, 1860
C. c. littoralis Nelson, 1897
C. c. magnirostris Bangs, 1903
C. c. mariae Nelson, 1898
C. c. phillipsi Parkes, 1997
C. c. saturatus Ridgway, 1885
C. c. seftoni (Huey, 1940)
C. c. sinaloensis Nelson, 1899
C. c. superbus Ridgway, 1885
C. c. townsendi (van Rossem, 1932)
C. c. yucatanicus Ridgway, 1887