Nerium oleander has a history of cultivation going back millennia, especially amongst the great ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean Basin. Some scholars believe it to be the rhodon (rose), also called the 'Rose of Jericho', mentioned in apocryphal writings (Ecclesiasticus XXIV, 13) dating back to between 450 and 180 BC.
The ancient Greeks had several names for the plant, including rhododaphne, nerion, rhododendron and rhodon. Pliny confirmed that the Romans had no Latin word for the plant, but used the Greek terms instead. Pedanius Dioscorides states in his 1st century AD pharmacopeia De Materia Medica that the Romans used the Greek rhododendron but also the Latin Oleander and Laurorosa. The Egyptians apparently called it scinphe, the North Africans rhodedaphane, and the Lucanians (a southern Italic people) icmane.
Both Pliny and Dioscorides stated that oleander was an effective antidote to venomous snake bites if mixed with rue and drunk. However, both rue and oleander are poisonous themselves, and consuming them after a venomous snake bite can accelerate the rate of mortality and increase fatalities.
A 2014 article in the medical journal Perspectives in Biology and Medicine posited that oleander was the substance used to induce hallucinations in the Pythia, the female priestess of Apollo, also known as the Oracle of Delphi in Ancient Greece. According to this theory, the symptoms of the Pythia's trances (enthusiasmos) correspond to either inhaling the smoke of or chewing small amounts of oleander leaves, often called by the generic term laurel in Ancient Greece, which led to confusion with the bay laurel that ancient authors cite.
In his book Enquiries into Plants of circa 300 BC, Theophrastus described (among plants that affect the mind) a shrub he called onotheras, which modern editors render oleander; "the root of onotheras [oleander] administered in wine", he alleges, "makes the temper gentler and more cheerful".
The plant has a leaf like that of the almond, but smaller, and the flower is red like a rose. The plant itself (which loves hilly country) forms a large bush; the root is red and large, and, if this is dried, it gives off a fragrance like wine.
In another mention, of "wild bay" (Daphne agria), Theophrastus appears to intend the same shrub.
Oleander was a very popular ornamental shrub in Roman peristyle gardens; it is one of the flora most frequently depicted on murals in Pompeii and elsewhere in Italy. These murals include the famous garden scene from the House of Livia at Prima Porta outside Rome, and those from the House of the Wedding of Alexander and the Marine Venus in Pompeii.
Carbonized fragments of oleander wood have been identified at the Villa Poppaea in Oplontis, likewise buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79. They were found to have been planted in a decorative arrangement with citron trees (Citrus medica) alongside the villa's swimming pool.
Herbaria of oleander varieties are compiled and held at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. and at Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas.


Oleander flowers are showy, profuse, and often fragrant, which makes them very attractive in many contexts. Over 400 cultivars have been named, with several additional flower colors not found in wild plants having been selected, including yellow, peach and salmon. Many cultivars, like 'Hawaii' or 'Turner's Carnival', are multi-colored, with brilliant striped corollas. The solid whites, reds and a variety of pinks are the most common. Double flowered cultivars like 'Mrs Isadore Dyer' (deep pink), 'Mathilde Ferrier' (yellow) or 'Mont Blanc' (white) are enjoyed for their large, rose-like blooms and strong fragrance. There is also a variegated form, 'Variegata', featuring leaves striped in yellow and white. Several dwarf cultivars have also been developed, offering a more compact form and size for small spaces. These include 'Little Red', 'Petite White', 'Petite Pink' and 'Petite Salmon', which grow to about 8 feet (2.4 m) at maturity.


Drugs derived from N. oleander have been investigated as a treatment for cancer, but have failed to demonstrate clinical utility. According to the American Cancer Society, the trials conducted so far have produced no evidence of benefit, while they did cause adverse side effects.


The toxicity of the plant makes it the center of an urban legend documented on several continents and over more than a century. Often told as a true and local event, typically an entire family, or in other tellings a group of scouts, succumbs after consuming hot dogs or other food roasted over a campfire using oleander sticks. Some variants tell of this happening to Napoleon's or Alexander the Great's soldiers.
There is an ancient account mentioned by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History, who described a region in Pontus in Turkey where the honey was poisoned from bees having pollinated poisonous flowers, with the honey left as a poisonous trap for an invading army. The flowers have sometimes been mis-translated as Oleander, but Oleander flowers are nectarless and therefore cannot transmit any toxins via nectar.  The actual flower referenced by Pliny was Azalea/Rhododendron, which is still used in Turkey to produce a hallucinogenic honey.
Oleander is the official flower of the city of Hiroshima, having been the first to bloom following the atomic bombing of the city in 1945.
Steely Dan's 1973 song "My Old School" contains the lines: "Oleanders growing outside her door, soon they're gonna be in bloom up in Annandale."


Oleander was part of subject matter of paintings by famous artists including:
Gustav Klimt, who painted "Two Girls with an Oleander" between 1890 and 1892.
Vincent van Gogh painted his famous "Oleanders" in Arles in 1888. Van Gogh found the flowers "joyous" and "life-affirming" because of their inexhaustible blooms and vigour.
Anglo-Dutch artist Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema incorporated oleanders into his classically inspired paintings, including "An Oleander" (1882), "Courtship", "Under the Roof of Blue Ionian Weather" and "A Roman Flower Market" (1868).
"The Terrace at Méric (Oleanders)", an 1867 Impressionist painting by Frédéric Bazille.


Nicotiana glauca is a species of flowering plant in the tobacco genus Nicotiana of the nightshade family Solanaceae. It is known by the common name tree tobacco. Its leaves are attached to the stalk by petioles (many other Nicotiana species have sessile leaves), and its leaves and stems are neither pubescent nor sticky like Nicotiana tabacum. It resembles Cestrum parqui but differs in the form of leaves and fusion of the outer floral parts. It grows to heights of more than two meters.
Tree tobacco is native to South America but it is now widespread as an introduced species on other continents. It is a common roadside weed in the southwestern United States, and an invasive plant species in California native plant habitats.


Nicotiana glauca is a small tree or shrub with many branches that normally grows to over 2 m, but can reach as high as 7 m. Its leaves are thick and rubbery and can be up to 20 cm long. It has yellow tubular flowers about 5 cm long and 1 cm wide. The plant primarily reproduces by seed.


Nicotiana glauca can pose a threat to native species by outcompeting them for resources and is classified as an invasive species in many parts of the world. In some management programmes, the beetle Malabris aculeata has been successfully deployed as a biological control agent. Every part of the plant is potentially poisonous to humans and livestock.


It is originally native to South America (including Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador), but has been naturalized globally. It is found in Australia, warmer parts of Europe, temperate Asia, Canarian Archipelago, New Zealand, USA, Mexico, Hawaii, and Sub-Saharan Africa (including Kenya and Tanzania, where it is invasive, as well as Uganda).
It grows in a wide variety of open and disturbed habitats including lakeshores and roadsides, but is mainly a problem in relatively dry areas.


The plant is commonly known in English as tree tobacco, mustard tree, tobacco bush, tobacco plant, tobacco tree, and wild tobacco. It is also known as blaugrüner Tabak ("blue-green tobacco") in German.
In Spanish and throughout Latin America, it is known by many names including: tabaco moro ("Moorish tobacco"),  palancho, and palán palán.
Its botanical name, Nicotiana glauca, was given to it in 1828 by Robert Graham. The genus is named after Jean Nicot (c.1530-1600), a French ambassador to Portugal, who sent tobacco seeds and powdered leaves from Lisbon to France.


The plant is used for a variety of medicinal purposes and smoked by Native American groups. The Cahuilla people used leaves interchangeably with other tobacco species in hunting rituals and as a poultice to treat swellings, bruises, cuts, wounds, boils, sores, inflamed throat, and swollen glands. It contains the toxic alkaloid anabasine and ingestion of the leaves can be fatal. It is being investigated for use as a biofuel.


Nicotiana obtusifolia, or desert tobacco, is a plant native to the southwestern United States (from California to Utah to Texas) and Mexico.
It is a woody perennial herb growing up to about 80 centimetres (31 in) in maximum height. The leaves have blades up to 10 centimetres (4 in) long, the lower ones borne on short petioles, the upper ones smaller and clasping the stem. The funnel-shaped flower is white or green-tinged, its tubular throat up to 2.6 centimetres (1 in) long.


The genus name, Nicrophorus, means “death carrier”; tomentosus means "covered in short hair", referring to the pronotum.


There are several characteristics that differentiate Silphidae from other families. One characteristic is that N. tomentosus is about 11.2–19.0 millimeters in length. It also has a pair of striations on its fifth abdominal tergum. They also have a very large scutellum which can sometimes be as wide as its head. The segments of its antennae are all black, clubbed at the ends, and contain olfactory organs. The flight pattern of N. tomentosus is similar to that of a bumble bee. Its elytral epipleuron is completely black except for symmetrical orange splotches. The pronotum is also covered with a thick patch of golden yellow setae which sets it apart from other nicrophorus in its genus.


N. tomentosus are found in areas where there are carcasses. Carcasses can range anywhere from dead rodents to birds. Thus, forests, woodlands, shrub land, and sandy prairies are common areas where these beetles predominately thrive. The distribution of N. tomentosus is worldwide. However, in the western hemisphere it is located in the United States excluding the southeast region, and southern Canada that is east of the Rocky Mountains. N. tomentosus are seasonal. Thus they are only found in the months May through October, primarily in the months of July and August.


The mating of the male and female N. tomentosus can begin anytime after a food source is found and buried. Mating is not particular to the carcass and can take place anywhere around it. When the eggs are laid they are then deposited into the nearby soil at a time at least twelve hours from the discovery of the carcass. Once the eggs hatch, after about four days, the larvae move towards the carcass to a feeding hole that was made by the parents. Both parents then feed the larvae regurgitated food for about six to eight days when the larvae are fully developed. The fully developed N. tomentosus then repeat the cycle after locating a new carcass and mate.
Recently, N. tomentosus was found to be one of at least two burying beetles which can breed in the forest canopy.


The basic anatomy of the N. tomentosus is broken up into three separate functional body regions: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen. The entire body wall of N. tomentosus is called the exoskeleton. This tough outer layer provides strong protection and different areas where muscles can attach and provide movement. Their harder outer layer is made of cuticle yet the skin is broken up into many different hardened plates that are separated by sutures. This allows flexible movement and doesn’t cause it to move rigidly.
The head houses the brain, eyes, antennae, and mouth parts. The eyes are compound eyes which are lens-like in appearance and have a pixel-like reception. They are made up of thousands of little receptors called ommatidia. The antennae are covered with many chemical receptors and act as sensory organs. N. tomentosus has a mandible for chewing its food.
The thorax is the center of movement. It is separated into three different regions: the prothorax, the mesothorax, and the metathorax. It is heavily scleratized which provides extra support and acts as an anchor for moving parts. It is also divided into three different sections. The notum is the top most or dorsal area, the sternum is the lower or ventral side, and the pleuron is the sides where the legs are attached. The thorax is also the location of the wings. The N. tomentosus has a special hard shell like outer wings that protects and covers the delicate membranous hind wings that only emerge during flight. The thorax also houses the dorsal brain and ventral nervous system.
The abdomen is the last body region or the posterior area on the N. tomentosus. It houses the respiratory, circulatory, digestive, and reproductive systems. The spiracles, which are external openings that allow the N. tomentosus to breathe, are also found along the sides on the abdomen and are divided up into each segment.


This burying beetle exudes a very striking color pattern and displays very interesting behavior patterns. The behavior that these beetles are most noted for is the way they bury small vertebrate carcasses. This is done to ensure the survival of their offspring. These beetles put much time into their parental care. The males are just as involved as the females. The adult beetles stay and protect their eggs until they pupate and if the female dies the male will step in and pick up the extra workload. Another interesting feature of the burying beetles is the presence of a club. A club is an end segment of their antennae that is enlarged and flattened. This aids in the detection of odors emitted from decaying carcasses. When a suitable carcass is found the adult beetles will spread antibiotic secretions over it to remove bacteria and fungi. Also is if the carcass is large then sharing will occur between two male or female pairs or uneven numbers of females and males.


There have been several studies performed on N. tomemtosus in relation to its breeding habits. One major study was carried out to see how competition between flies and N. tomentosus would affect the brood size. What was discovered from these studies was that the existence or lack of oviposition by flies had an effect on the brood size of N. tomentosus present on the carcass. The fewer number of flies present on a decaying carcass the larger the brood size raised by the N. tomentosus beetles. Also the number of adult beetles present affected the brood size. The more female beetles present, the larger the number of young reared. Female beetles have a constraint on how many eggs they can lay due to timing however, male beetles do not have such a constraint and can impregnate several females. The one thing that wasn’t affected by the presence or absence of flies on a carcass was the amount of parental care administered.


Nigella damascena, love-in-a-mist,  or devil in the bush, is an annual garden flowering plant, belonging to the buttercup family Ranunculaceae.
It is native to southern Europe (but adventive in more northern countries of Europe), north Africa and southwest Asia, where it is found on neglected, damp patches of land.
The specific epithet damascena relates to Damascus in Syria. The plant's common name "love-in-a-mist" comes from the flower being nestled in a ring of multifid, lacy bracts.


It grows to 20–50 cm (8–20 in) tall, with pinnately divided, thread-like,  alternate leaves. The flowers, blooming in early summer, are most commonly different shades of blue, but can be white, pink, or pale purple, with 5 to 25 sepals. The actual petals are located at the base of the stamens and are minute and clawed. The sepals are the only colored part of the perianth. The four to five carpels of the compound pistil have each an erect style.
The fruit is a large and inflated capsule, growing from a compound ovary, and is  composed of several united follicles, each containing numerous seeds. This is rather exceptional for a member of the buttercup family. The capsule becomes brown in late summer. The plant self-seeds, growing on the same spot year after year.


This easily  grown plant has been a familiar subject in English cottage gardens since Elizabethan times, admired for its ferny foliage, spiky flowers and bulbous seed-heads.  It is now widely cultivated throughout the temperate world, and numerous cultivars have been developed for garden use. 'Persian Jewels' is a mixture of white, pink, lavender and blue flowers. 'Persian Rose' is pale pink. Other cultivars are 'Albion', 'Blue Midget', 'Cambridge Blue', 'Mulberry Rose', and 'Oxford Blue'. 'Dwarf Moody Blue' is around 15 cm (6 in) high. The pale blue ‘Miss Jekyll’ and the double white-flowered 'Miss Jekyll Alba' have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Damascenine is a toxic alkaloid found in Nigella damascena seed.
However, an in vivo study in mice and in vitro assessment on human cell lines has not shown any toxicity


The morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae), also called the ruru or Tasmanian spotted owl, is a small brown owl found throughout New Zealand and Tasmania. Described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788, it was for many years considered to be the same species as the Australian boobook of mainland Australia until 1999. Its name is derived from its two-tone call. Four subspecies of the morepork are recognized, one of which is extinct and another that exists only as a hybrid population. The bird has almost 20 alternative common names, including mopoke and boobook—many of these names are onomatopoeic, as they emulate the bird's distinctive two-pitched call.
It has dark brown plumage with prominent pale spots, and golden-yellow eyes. It is generally nocturnal, though sometimes active at dawn and dusk, retiring to roost in secluded spots in the foliage of trees. The morepork feeds on insects and small vertebrates, hunting by pouncing on them from tree perches. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed the morepork as being of least concern on account of its large range and apparently stable population.


English naturalist John Latham wrote of the New Zealand owl in his 1782 work A General Synopsis of Birds, but did not give it a binomial name. German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin described the morepork in 1788.
"Morepork" has been designated the official name by the International Ornithological Committee.
Both Gerlof Fokko Mees and Ernst Mayr regarded the taxonomy of the boobook owl as extremely challenging, the latter remarking in 1943 that it was "one of the most difficult problems I have ever encountered". In his 1968 book Nightwatchmen of the Bush and Plain, Australian naturalist David Fleay observed that the boobooks from Tasmania more closely resembled those of New Zealand than those from mainland Australia, though he followed Mees in treating them as a single species.
Janette Norman and colleagues tested the cytochrome b DNA of three subspecies (as well as the powerful and rufous owls) to ascertain whether the closest relative was used in breeding with the last surviving female of the Norfolk boobook. They discovered that although the Norfolk boobook was similar in plumage to the Tasmanian boobook, it was genetically much closer to the New Zealand subspecies. In fact, the two were so close genetically that they considered whether the Norfolk boobook should be recognised as a separate taxon at all, although they conceded the two were easily distinguishable in appearance, so maintained the three as subspecies; the Tasmanian boobook only diverged by 2.7% from the other two, while the powerful and rufous owls diverged by 4.4% from each other. Leading from this, the Australian boobook was split from the Tasmanian boobook and morepork in volume 5 of the Handbook of the Birds of the World; however, several authors, including Les Christidis and Walter Boles, contested that the data had been misinterpreted from the Norman study, which had not sampled any Australian mainland boobooks at all. They treated the three taxa (southern, Tasmanian boobooks, and moreporks) as a single species.
Examining both morphological and genetic (cytochrome b) characters, Michael Wink and colleagues concluded that the Australian boobook was distinct from the morepork, as was the Tasmanian boobook, which should be raised to species status as Ninox leucopsis.


Four subspecies of Ninox novaeseelandiae are recognised by the IOC, two of which are extinct:
N. n. albaria, the Lord Howe boobook, vanished from Lord Howe Island in the 1950s.
N. n. leucopsis, the Tasmanian boobook, is found across Tasmania.
N. n. novaeseelandiae, the nominate subspecies, is found in the North and South Islands of New Zealand.
N. n. undulata, the Norfolk boobook, exists only as a small hybrid population after the last surviving female disappeared in 1996. It was paired with introduced moreporks from New Zealand while it lived.


The morepork is 26 to 29 cm (10 to 11.5 in) long, with the female slightly larger than the male. Females are slightly heavier at 170–216 g (6.0–7.6 oz) compared with the male's 140–156 g (4.9–5.5 oz). The morepork has generally dark brown head and upperparts, with pale brown spots on head and neck and white markings on the rest of the upperparts, with a pale yellow-white supercilium (eyebrow), dark brown ear coverts, and buff cheeks. The eyes are yellow to golden-yellow. The feathers of the chin and throat are buff with dark brown shafts. The feathers of the underparts are mostly dark brown with buff and white spots and streaks, with the larger markings on the belly making it look paler overall. The upper tail is dark brown with lighter brown bars. The cere and bill is pale blue-grey with a black cutting edge. The feet are orange or yellow with blackish claws.
Young moreporks do not attain adult plumage properly until their third or fourth year. The tips of juvenile's feathers are white and fluffy, remnants of the nestlings' down. These are worn away over time, persisting longest on the head. The feathers of the head, neck, and underparts are fluffier overall. Their plumage is a darker and more greyish brown overall than that of adults.


They are usually seen singly, in pairs, or in small family groups of an adult pair and up to three young.
Swamp harriers could feasibly prey on young moreporks.
During the day, moreporks sleep in roosts. Although mainly nocturnal, they are sometimes active at dawn and dusk. The main hunting times are evenings and mornings, with brief bursts of activity through the night. On dark nights, they often perch through the middle hours, and particularly if the weather is bad, may hunt by daylight, instead.


Moreporks nest anywhere the trees are large enough to have hollows.


A widespread and generally common species, morepork is listed as being a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, on account of its large range and stable population, with no evidence of any significant decline. Like most species of owl, the morepork is protected under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) meaning the international import and export of the species (including parts and derivatives) is regulated.


The changeable hawk-eagle or crested hawk-eagle (Nisaetus cirrhatus) is a large bird of prey species of the family Accipitridae. More informal or antiquated English common names include the marsh hawk-eagle or Indian crested hawk-eagle. It is a member of the subfamily Aquilinae, with signature feathers, absent in tropical raptors from outside this subfamily, covering the tarsus. It was formerly placed in the genus Spizaetus, but studies pointed to the group being paraphyletic resulting in the Old World members being placed in Nisaetus (Hodgson, 1836) and separated from the New World species. It is a typical “hawk-eagle” in that it is an agile forest-dwelling predator and like many such eagles readily varies its prey selection between birds, mammals or reptiles as well as other vertebrates. Among the members of its genus, the changeable hawk-eagle stands out as the most widely distributed, adaptable and abundant species. Birds show a wide range of variation in plumage from pale to dark, varying with moult and age giving rise to the name "changeable".


The taxonomy of the wide-ranging changeable hawk-eagle is complex and confusing, with few authorities agreeing on whether the species in fact houses a species complex. Gamauf et al. (2005) analyzed mtDNA cytochrome b and control region sequence data of a considerable number of specimens of the crested hawk-eagle and some relatives. Despite the large sample, even the most conspicuous dichotomy - that between the crested and crestless groups - was not as well resolved as it might have been expected to be. At least one widely accepted genetic study has resulted in a recent revision to the recognition of a new species, as the Flores hawk-eagle has traditionally been treated as a subspecies of the changeable hawk-eagle, but it is now often treated as a separate species, N. floris. The Flores and changeable hawk-eagles are regarded as sister species.  The three small-island taxa (N. c. andamanensis, N. c. vanheurni, and N. floris) as a whole each appear as monophyletic lineages. Their placement is even more unresolved, with N. floris being apparently a very ancient lineage. The other two seem quite certainly to derive from N. c. limnaeetus. The latter taxon has a confusing phylogeny. Different lineages exist that are apparently not stable in space and time, are best described as polytomy, from which the similar island taxa derive. Obviously, N. c. limnaeetus does not represent a monophyletic lineage. Neither the biological nor the phylogenetic species concepts, nor phylogenetic systematics can be applied to satisfaction. The crested group apparently is close to becoming a distinct species. The island taxa derived from N. c. limnaeetus appear to have undergone founder effects, which has restricted their genetic diversity. In the continental population, genetic diversity is considerable, and the evolutionary pattern of the two studied genes did not agree, and neither did the origin of specimens show clear structures. N. c. limnaeetus thus is best considered a metapopulation.
Gamauf et al. (2005) therefore suggest the island taxa which are obviously at higher risk of extinction are, for conservation considered evolutionary significant units regardless of their systematic status. This case also demonstrates that a too-rigid interpretation of cladistics and the desire for monophyletic taxa, as well as universal application of single-species concept to all birds will undermine correct understanding of evolutionary relationships. It would even not be inconceivable to find mainland lineages to group closely with the western island taxa, if little genetic drift had occurred in the initial population. nonetheless, the divergence of this species' lineages seems to have taken place too recently to award them species status, as compared to the level of genetic divergence at which clades are usually considered distinct species. N. c. limnaeetus appears for all that can be said with reasonable certainty basal pool of lineages in the crestless group that, despite not being monophyletic, should be considered a valid taxon as long as gene flow is possible through its range. In addition, as ancient DNA from museum specimens was used extensively, the possibility of ghost lineages must be considered. If it is assumed that all or most of the ancient lineages still exist today, considerable recombination must have taken place as the two genes' phylogenies do not agree much, indicating a healthy level of gene flow. Whether this still holds true today remains to be determined.
Two distinct groups exist in the changeable hawk-eagle; one with crests and one without or with hardly visible crests. Dark morphs exist for some populations.


The changeable hawk-eagle is a largish but slender eagle. They fall near the middle of sizes among the currently accepted species in the genus Nisaetus. As in most birds of prey, females are larger than males with an average overall size difference of 7% but this can individually range to an 18-22% difference, with island races apparently thought to be less dimorphic on average.  Size is quite variable and total length has been reported in the past to vary from 51 to 82 cm (20 to 32 in) and wingspan from 100 to 160 cm (39 to 63 in), however these figures appear to include the much more massive hawk-eagles from Flores that are currently considered their own separate species by modern authorities. Nonetheless, total lengths of up to 77 cm (30 in) have been listed for N. c. limnaeetus in Nepal. Ali & Ripley (1978) estimated these average total lengths for the following subspecies: N. c. cirrhatus at 72 cm (28 in), N. c. limnaeetus at 70 cm (28 in) and N. c. andamanensis at 61 cm (24 in). Legge (1880) measured the length of Sri Lankan changeable hawk-eagles (N. c. ceylanensis) without including the beak as 55 to 60 cm (22 to 24 in). The average length of birds from the Philippines (N. c. limnaeetus) was measured as 58.4 cm (23.0 in) in males and 64.9 cm (25.6 in) in females. Weights in this species have been reported from 1.2 to 1.9 kg (2.6 to 4.2 lb) but the source of this is unclear and it probably underrepresents the size variation known to occur in the species.  The only precise body masses known for the species are derived from the Philippine population, where males were found to average 1.36 kg (3.0 lb) while females averaged 1.6 kg (3.5 lb) but they could weigh in excess of 1.81 kg (4.0 lb).
Adult changeable hawk-eagles are typically dark brown above and boldly streaked below with a strong bill, a variably sized, often floppy crest or no crest, rather short wings, a quite long, thinly-barred tail and long feathered legs. This species tends to perch “bolt” upright, and may perch in various places from somewhat secluded spots to also quite open area as well. When perched, their wings reach only about one-third to halfway down tail. Pale morph adults are mainly dark brown above with very faint paler edges (usually only conspicuous on the wing-coverts). They tend to have an evenly black-streaked and somewhat rufous-tinged head and neck, with a blackish crest (if present). The tail tends to be paler brown than the back with a thin whitish tip, a broad, blackish subterminal band (both the whitish tip and the subterminal band are also visible from tail underside) and 3 to 4 narrower, brown and often rather obscure bars. On the pale morph hawk-eagle's underside, the base colour is white to buff overlaid with bold black to dark brown streaking; the streaking tends to be more subtle on abdomen but more obvious on the legs. Beyond the typical pale morph, some subspecies but especially N. c. liminaeetus tend to have a further intermediate and a dark morph. The intermediate morph is somewhat similar to pale morph adults but is heavily grey-brown below with little to no paler base colour showing and more obscure streaking, with the area from belly down to the crissum usually being unpatterned. Meanwhile, the dark morph adult can range from all dark chocolate brown to almost pure black with variable browner edges, relieved only by the greyish inner half of tail as well as some greyish tail bars. Most juvenile changeable hawk-eagles are dark brown above but with far more conspicuous white edges on mantle and wings than the adults, in some cases, the median coverts are largely white and greater and even lesser coverts are largely scaled with white. The juvenile has a light brown tail with about seven thin dark bars and a whitish tip. The young hawk-eagle's head varies from buff with white-tipped black crest (as is the case in peninsular India and Sri Lanka) through entirely whitish, but almost always the young birds are spotted and streaked with black or dark brown about the rear crown and nape. As is the head, the underparts are variable with juveniles in much of India and in Sri Lanka showing thin brown streaks on chest or small spots on breast, with obscure tawny barring on thigh, legs and crissum. Juveniles elsewhere are often nearly all pure whitish below. By the time the young hawk-eagles reaches their 2nd to 3rd year, they tend to show less white above and more brown or black below. Their tail starts to molt to resemble that of adults in the 3rd year but in the 2nd year in N. c. limnaeetus (or at least in Philippines). Changeable hawk-eagles may attempt to breed at 3 years of age but full adult plumage is not obtained until the 4th year. Adults have yellow to orange yellow eyes, while those of the juvenile are grey-brown to pale greenish. Adult have a cere that's grey to pale greenish yellow and juveniles’ ceres are dull greyish, while all ages have yellow feet.
In flight, the changeable hawk-eagles is a large raptor with a prominent head, rather short rounded and broad wings, longish squarish or rounded tail, but has somewhat slenderer wings and straighter trailing edges than sympatric species of hawk-eagles. The species tends to fly with a fast agile flight, showing powerful shallow beats interspersed with glides on flat or bowed wings with their carpals well forward (above level of bill) and primaries swept back. When soaring, the wings are gently lowered or sometimes held level, with the carpals again well forward. In pale morph adults in flight, their hand in flight may be variously dark brownish buff (as in peninsular India) to a much paler buff or whitish. On the flight feathers, the area from wingtips extending to the primary and secondary feathers often have blackish barring, forming ragged lines from the carpals to rear axillaries with variable other dark marks elsewhere. Adult intermediate morph hawk-eagles have similar flight feathers but have grey-brown underparts with a less distinct, contrasting underpattern. Meanwhile, in both juvenile and adult dark morph, the blackish-brown colour of the body extends to the hand but the base of their tail, their primaries and, less so, their secondaries are a much paler, contrasting grey with streaking similar to other changeable hawk-eagles. Typical juveniles show large areas of whitish streaking or mottling seen from above in flight. Juveniles from much of India and Sri Lanka show extensive darker tawny but obscure barring above and below, while other races are much whiter. Much like adult, the juvenile has dark tips to primary and greater coverts produce thin ragged diagonal bars but the barring tends to be thinner.


The extensive range of the changeable hawk-eagle includes much of the Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia. Their distribution includes nations and areas such as Sri Lanka, Himalayan foothills (Garhwal to Assam), southern Nepal and Bhutan east through Myanmar, Burma, western Laos, southern Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and peninsular Malaysia. In India, they may found almost continuously from the peninsular tip north to Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha. Its island distribution includes the Andamans, Sumatra (including Simeulue and Mentawai off the west side and Riau, Bangka and Belitung off of the east), Java, Borneo and the western and southern Philippines (including Palawan, Calamians, Lubang, Mindoro, Mindanao and apparently recently Bohol). Like most tropical raptors, the changeable hawk-eagle is largely residential, but stragglers from peninsular India have roamed to northeastern Burma and southeastern Thailand and some records in the Lesser Sunda Islands (Bali, Palau and Lombok) may be from vagrants from Java. The species may live in savannah woodland, cultivation with trees, timbered watercourses, tea plantations, forest villages and even suburban edge. Beyond these often degraded haunts they range as well as any of the more forest-clinging Nisaetus into fairly open or less dense parts of undisturbed vast evergreen (including tropical rainforest) or deciduous forests (their deciduous ranges mainly occurring in India and the Sunda islands), but also second growth and wetlands. In elevation, they may be found anywhere from sea level to 2,200 m (7,200 ft) but mainly live below 1,500 m (4,900 ft). It is not uncommon in foothills of Sri Lanka but again does not usually exceed 1,500 m (4,900 ft) elevation there.


The habitat selection and overall distribution of the changeable hawk-eagle is largely concurrent with other largish raptors such as the crested serpent eagle and the crested honey buzzard, apparently the three species are largely tolerant and non-aggressive towards each other, perhaps surprisingly given the otherwise aggressive habits of hawk-eagles. Unsurprisingly, these species have quite discrepant ecological niches, especially in terms of their dietary habits. Although nest predators are probably profuse, parent changeable hawk-eagles are likely to aggressive displace most potential threats. No verified accounts of predation are known in the wild and the species often likely fulfills the role of an apex predator. They are presumably able to persist alongside larger cousins such as mountain hawk-eagles and with Legge's hawk-eagle by focusing more so on reptiles and birds rather than the mammalian prey likely preferred by the larger species (as well as perhaps focusing primarily on a smaller class of prey), although it is somewhat more adaptable in habitat than both other species. They are also found living alongside the much larger Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) and are likely to similarly take smaller prey and avoid direct encounters with the much less numerous giant eagle. In turn, changeable hawk-eagles are likely avoided in encounters with smaller forest raptors such as other, smaller Nisaetus species, which often focus slightly less on birds than the changeable, and Accipiter hawks, which all subsist largely on rather smaller classes of prey. Apparently, changeable hawk-eagle are considered likely predators (on fledglings?) of the slightly smaller Indian spotted eagles (Clanga hastata). However, on the contrary, one case of predation was reported in captivity when a barred eagle-owl (Bubo sumatranus), which is found in the wild with changeable hawk-eagles in southeast Asia, killed a changeable hawk-eagle in an aviary.


The changeable hawk-eagle is, like many raptorial birds, a largely solitary bird otherwise but during breeding, stays in a dedicated pairs that often mate for life. Each pair engages in a territorial display over the fringes of their home range. This aerial display is usually engaged in by a male but sometimes the female or both members of the pair will engage in displays, often starting with their wings and tail arched upwards in exaggerated poises. During the display, the shoot up vertically and nose-diving or stooping, if the rival hawk-eagle continues to engage the defending individual, they will fly at each other at "lightening speed" doing a complete loop-the-loop turn in air. They often call loudly throughout the display. The breeding season of changeable hawk-eagles falls from November to May in southern India, peaking January–March, while it is more confined to January–April in the more temperate climate of the Himalayan foothills. The breeding season from India is comparable in Sri Lanka but is slightly more prolonged in the latter country, continuing at times into June. However, peak laying dates fall earlier, around January–February, in Sri Lanka. In the equatorial Greater Sunda islands, eggs have been recorded in 8 different months at any time from December to October with peak activity falling usually between February and August. Apparently, the highest volume of eggs laid here fall in two separate periods, February–March and July–August. Thus, the breeding season is more elastic in tropical forests areas but in northern part of range the breeding season centers around the cooler dry season.  This species builds a largish stick nest. Typical dimensions of their nest is 95 to 105 cm (37 to 41 in) across while nest depth can range from 35 to 120 cm (14 to 47 in) the latter after repeated uses and additions. Some nests are very large relative to the size of these eagles. One nest reached an diameter on the inside of 1.3 m (4.3 ft) and a circumference of 3.45 m (11.3 ft). Active nests are lined with green leaves. Both members of the pair participate in building new nests and take part in repairs. Nests are often solidly built and resilient, more so than those of other medium-sized eagles, against high winds and monsoons. Nest height is often from 6 to 50 m (20 to 164 ft) in the crown or high fork of a large tree, but is usually not less than 12 m (39 ft) off the ground. Nest height in the Indian subcontinent was typically around 12 to 25 m (39 to 82 ft), averaging 17 m (56 ft) in the Shoolpaneshwar Wildlife Sanctuary and 19 m (62 ft) in the Indo-Gangetic Plain, and could be in a wide diversity of trees. Nesting sites are often near a stream, or otherwise perhaps near a ravine with wide view but sometimes varies from deep forest to isolated trees on village edges. In the peri-urban green spaces of Singapore, changeable hawk-eagles nested mostly on Albizia trees, which are among the fastest-growing and tallest trees in these secondary forests. The parents tend to allow closer approach by humans when living in vicinity of villages.
Only one egg is known to be laid by changeable hawk-eagles. The egg tends to be coarse and glossless, largely white but sparely and faintly speckled or blotched with light reddish. Egg sizes were reportedly measured in the nominate subspecies (sample of 40) as ranging from 65.3 to 73 mm (2.57 to 2.87 in) in height with an average of 68 mm (2.7 in) by a diameter of 49.9 to 53.3 mm (1.96 to 2.10 in) with an average of 52 mm (2.0 in). In the race N. c. ceylanensis, a sample of 24 eggs averaged 61.3 mm × 49.8 mm (2.41 in × 1.96 in). In N. c. limnaeetus from northern India, 18 eggs averaged 69.8 mm × 51.6 mm (2.75 in × 2.03 in). In the same subspecies, eggs from Java and Borneo ranged from 61 to 68.8 mm (2.40 to 2.71 in) in height and from 50 to 54 mm (2.0 to 2.1 in) in diameter. In the race N. c. andamanensis, the average was reportedly 62.2 mm × 50.1 mm (2.45 in × 1.97 in) but the sample size is unknown. Apparently, the female alone incubates, for a period estimated at 40 days. After the nestling hatches, the female will brood intensively for about 25 days. An Indian nestling was found to weigh 300 g (0.66 lb) at 14 days and grew to 450 g (0.99 lb) by 20 days, having developed a vocabulary of cheep notes to express hunger and alarm. The eaglet may be preening, standing more and wing flapping by 4 to 5 weeks old, and may also be encouraged to eat at by its mother, however consuming a single food item may take up to 6 hours at this point. At 35 days, the nestling may be brooded progressively less and feather and body size growth accelerates. Within a couple of weeks, prey is delivered (often by both parents at this stage) to nearby branches rather than directly to the nest with the parents calling as they approach, apparently encouraging the young eaglet to venture out of the nest. By 52 days of age, the eaglet is fully-grown but does not fledge until about 60–68 days. The total nest dependency was recorded as 81 days in India. However, the total breeding cycle was recorded as lasting about 112 days in West Java.


It can exceed 2 m (6+1⁄2 ft) in height, its inflorescence reaching 4 m (13 ft). The trunk is up to 60 cm (24 in) in diameter. The leaves are borne in dense rosettes, each with up to 220 stiff linear leaves up to 140 cm (55 in) long and 2–4 cm (1–1+1⁄2 in) broad. It is dioecious, with separate male and female plants; the flowers are white, about 6 mm (1⁄4 in) wide, produced on the 60 cm (24 in) tall plume-like inflorescence from April to June.


Native to Baja California, southern California and Arizona, the species can be found in deserts and mountains at altitudes of up to 2,100 m (6,900 ft).


Native Americans consumed the young stems and wove the leaves into baskets.


The orange threadtail or ochre threadtail (Nososticta solida) is an Australian damselfly in the family Platycnemididae.
They are medium-sized with a length of around 35mm. Orange threadtails can be found near semi-shaded running water, and usually rest on plants at the water's edge. Orange threadtails may be seen all year round. In Victoria they occur at lower altitudes during summer, though further north they can be seen in spring and autumn. When at rest, Nososticta damselflies hold their wings closely folded up vertically over their thorax. The male threadtails have an orange-yellow thorax with black patterns. Their abdomen is narrow, black in colour with yellow strips. There is a brown yellow colour at the base of their wings. Females are the same size as the males. They are pale brown in colour and have the same black patterns as the males.


Orange threadtails are found in eastern Australian States: Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria.


Nothofagus solandri var. cliffortioides, commonly called mountain beech (Māori: tawhai rauriki), is a species of Southern beech tree and is endemic to New Zealand. Mountain beech grows in mountainous regions at high altitudes. In New Zealand the taxon is called Fuscospora cliffortioides. Nothofagus solandri var. cliffortioides occupies a wider range of habitat than any other New Zealand tree species and it shows a corresponding range of life form, seeding habits, regenerative patterns, growth habits, growth rates, stand replacement and mortality patterns.
Mountain beech grows to around 20 metres (66 ft)  but near the treeline forms a "goblin forest" where the trees are no more than 2 m (6 ft 7 in) tall. It also has leaves that are elongated and have a pointed end.


Mountain beech is known to hybridise with black beech (Nothofagus solandri var. solandri) where the two species co-exist, and in some places the hybrids may form complex introgressive hybrid swarms.
Mountain beech also hybridises with red beech (Nothofagus fusca) to form the hybrid species Nothofagus × blairii.


Notholithocarpus densiflorus, commonly known as the tanoak or tanbark-oak, is a broadleaf tree in the family Fagaceae, and the type species of the genus Notholithocarpus. It is native to the far western United States, particularly Oregon and California. It ranges from 15–40 meters (49–131 feet) in height, with a trunk diameter of 60–190 centimeters (24–75 inches).


It can reach 40 meters (130 feet) tall in the California Coast Ranges, though 15–25 m (49–82 ft) is more usual, and can have a trunk diameter of 60–190 centimeters (24–75 inches). The bark is fissured, and ranges from gray to brown.
The leaves are alternate, 8–13 cm (3–5 in), with toothed margins and a hard, leathery texture, and persist for three to four years. At first they are covered in dense orange-brown scurfy hairs on both sides, but those on the upper surface soon wear off; those on the under surface persist longer but eventually wear off too.
The seed is an acorn 2–3 cm (3⁄4–1+1⁄4 in) long and 2 cm in diameter, very similar to an oak acorn, but with a very hard, woody nut shell more like a hazel nut. The nut sits in a cup during its 18-month maturation; the outside surface of the cup is rough with short spines. The nuts are produced in clusters of a few together on a single stem.
Currently, the largest known tanoak specimen is on private timberland near the town of Ophir, Oregon. It has a circumference of 7.9 m (26 ft), is about 2.51 m (8 ft 3 in) in diameter at breast height, and is 37 m (121 ft) tall with an average crown spread of 17 m (56 ft).


Members of populations in interior California (in the northern Sierra Nevada) and the Klamath Mountains into southwest Oregon are smaller, rarely exceeding 3 m (9 ft 10 in) in height and often shrubby, with smaller leaves, 4–7 cm (1+1⁄2–2+3⁄4 in) long; these are separated as "dwarf tanoak", Notholithocarpus densiflorus var. echinoides. The variety intergrades with the type in northwest California and southwest Oregon. Tanoak grows as a shrub on serpentine soils.


By 2008, the species was moved into a new genus, Notholithocarpus (from Lithocarpus), based on multiple lines of evidence. It is most closely related to the north temperate oaks (Quercus) and not as closely related to the Asian tropical stone oaks (Lithocarpus, where it was previously placed), but instead is an example of convergent morphological evolution.
While related to oaks (as well as chestnuts), the name is written as 'tanoak' because it is not a true oak.


Tanoak is shade tolerant and benefits from disturbances. It is susceptible to wildfire, wounds from which are exploited by rot fungi. It one of the species most seriously affected by "sudden oak death" (Phytophthora ramorum), with high mortality reported over much of the species' range.
Fine hairs on the young leaves and twigs discourage deer from eating them. Various animals, including squirrels, deer and bears, eat the nuts.


The nut kernel is very bitter, and is inedible for people without extensive leaching. Some California Native Americans prefer this nut to those of many oak acorns because it stores well due to the comparatively high tannin content. The Concow tribe call the nut hä’-hä (Konkow language). The Hupa people use the acorns to make meal, from which they would make mush, bread, biscuits, pancakes, and cakes. They also roast the acorns and eat them. Roasted, the seeds can be used as a coffee substitute.
The name tanoak refers to its tannin-rich bark, a type of tanbark, used in the past for tanning leather before the use of modern synthetic tannins.  By 1907, the use of tanoak for tannin was subsiding due to the scarcity of large tanoak trees. There were not enough trees around for a worthwhile economic return. By the early 1960s, there were only a few natural tannin operations left in California. The industry was beginning to switch to a synthetic alternative.
Tanoak tannin has been used as an astringent.
A mulch made from the leaves of the plant can repel grubs and slugs.
The wood is strong and sometimes used as lumber, but suitable trees are usually inaccessible. It is also used as firewood.


Nothoscordum bivalve is a species of flowering plant in the Amaryllidaceae known by the common names crowpoison and false garlic. It is native to the eastern United States from Texas to Florida up to Nebraska and Ohio, as well as Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, northeastern Argentina and central Chile.
Nothoscordum bivalve is a perennial herb growing from a bulb about a centimeter wide. It produces one erect stem, or occasionally two. They grow up to 40 centimetres (16 in) tall. There are one to four narrow leaves up to 30 centimetres (12 in) long. The inflorescence is an umbel of 3 to 6 flowers, or sometimes up to 10. There are two bracts at the base of the umbel. The flower has six whitish tepals, each of which usually has a dark reddish midvein. The flower has no scent. The fruit is a capsule.
This is a common plant which grows in parks and on roadsides, and soils which are not too dry or too wet; it grows well in lawns. It is a favorite nectar source for small butterflies such as the falcate orangetip.


Notocrypta curvifascia, the restricted demon, is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae. N. curvifascia is commonly found in many regions of temperate and tropical East Asia, Indonesia, and the Indian subcontinent.
Among butterflies, it is relatively small, at approximately 4 cm long (adult). Its wings are dark brown to black, with a white eyespot near the trailing end.


The larval host plants include members of the Zingiberaceae and Musaceae families such as Alpinia japonica, Alpinia zerumbet, Curcuma decipiens, Costus speciosus, Curcuma longa, Globba marantina, Musa acuminata × balbisiana, Zingiber casumunar, Zingiber odoriferum, Zingiber officinale. Other plants include Hedychium species and Zingiber zerumbet.


Male and Female. Very similar to Notocrypta feisthamelii, the wings somewhat shorter and broader, the post-medial white band of the forewing very similar both above and below, but there is a small white spot opposite the cell end, towards the outer margin, and there are no sub-apical dots, and on the underside of the hindwing there is a small white spot inside the end of the cell and another below it, nearly half way between it and the outer margin, and there is a white mark on each side of the face.
— Charles Swinhoe, Lepidoptera Indica. Vol. X


The Eurasian whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across much of subarctic Asia and Europe as far south as Scotland. This species and the Hudsonian whimbrel have recently been split, although some taxonomic authorities still consider them to be conspecific.


The Eurasian whimbrel was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Scolopax phaeopus. It is now placed with the curlews in the genus Numenius that was introduced by the French ornithologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The genus name Numenius is from Ancient Greek noumenios, a bird mentioned by Hesychius. It is associated with the curlews because it appears to be derived from neos, "new" and mene "moon", referring to the crescent-shaped bill. The specific epithet phaeopus is the Medieval Latin name for the bird, from Ancient Greek phaios, "dusky" and pous, "foot". The English name "whimbrel" is imitative of the bird's call.
Five subspecies are recognised:
N. p. islandicus Brehm, C.L., 1831 – breeds mainly in Iceland, but also in Greenland, Faroe Islands, and Scotland; winters mainly in West Africa, but ranges from southwestern Europe to Benin and Togo
N. p. phaeopus (European whimbrel ) (Linnaeus, 1758) – nominate, breeds from Norway to north central Siberia; winters in Africa and south and southeast Asia
N. p. alboaxillaris Lowe, 1921 – breeds from western Kazakhstan to southwestern Siberia (rare, endangered); winters in south and east Asia
N. p. rogachevae Tomkovich, 2008 – breeds in north central Siberia; winters in east Africa and west India
N. p. variegatus (Scopoli, 1786) – breeds in northeastern Siberia; winters in India to Australia
The Hudsonian curlew (Numenius hudsonicus) was formerly considered to be conspecific. The two species were split based on genetic and plumage differences.


The Eurasian whimbrel is a fairly large wader, though mid-sized as a member of the curlew genus. It is 37–47 cm (15–19 in) in length, 75–90 cm (30–35 in) in wingspan, and 270–493 g (9.5–17.4 oz; 0.595–1.087 lb) in weight. It is mainly greyish brown, with a white back and rump (subspecies N. p. phaeopus and N. p. alboaxillaris only), and a long curved beak with a kink rather than a smooth curve. The usual call is a rippling whistle, prolonged into a trill for the song. The only similar common species over most of this bird's range are larger curlews. The whimbrel is smaller, has a shorter, decurved bill and has a central crown stripe and strong supercilia.


The whimbrel is a migratory bird wintering on coasts in Africa, and South Asia into Australasia. It is also a coastal bird during migration. It is fairly gregarious outside the breeding season. It is found in Ireland and the United Kingdom, and it breeds in Scotland, particularly around Shetland, Orkney, the Outer Hebrides as well as the mainland at Sutherland and Caithness.


The whimbrel is listed in the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds. Near the end of the 19th century, hunting on the Eurasian whimbrel's migration routes took a heavy toll on its population, which has since recovered. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and has been negatively impacted by climate change, habitat destruction and outbreaks of Avian flu to which it is susceptible.
The whimbrel and the Hudsonian curlew are considered to be conspecific.


The helmeted guineafowl (Numida meleagris) is the best known of the guineafowl bird family, Numididae, and the only member of the genus Numida. It is native to Africa, mainly south of the Sahara, and has been widely introduced, as a domesticated species, into the West Indies, North America, Australia and Europe.


The helmeted guineafowl was formally described by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Phasianus meleagris. In 1764, Linnaeus moved the helmeted guineafowl to the new genus Numida. The genus name Numida is Latin for "North African".
In the early days of the European colonisation of North America, the native wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) was confused with this species. The word meleagris, Greek for guineafowl, is also shared in the scientific names of the two species, though for the guineafowl it is the species name, whereas for the turkey, it is the name of the genus and (in inflected form) the family.


The helmeted guineafowl is a large, 53 to 58 cm (21 to 23 in) bird with a round body and small head. They weigh about 1.3 kg (2.9 lb). The body plumage is gray-black spangled with white. Like other guineafowl, this species has an unfeathered head, which in this species is decorated with a dull yellow or reddish bony knob, and bare skin with red, blue, or black hues. The wings are short and rounded, and the tail is likewise short. Various subspecies are proposed, differences in appearance being mostly a large variation in shape, size, and colour of the casque and facial wattles.


This is a gregarious species, forming flocks outside the breeding season typically of about 25 birds that also roost communally.  Guineafowl are particularly well-suited to consuming massive quantities of ticks, which might otherwise spread Lyme disease. These birds are terrestrial, and prone to run rather than fly when alarmed. Like most gallinaceous birds, they have a short-lived, explosive flight and rely on gliding to cover extended distances. Helmeted guineafowl can walk 10 km and more in a day. Their bodies are well-suited for running and they are remarkably successful in maintaining dynamic stability over rough terrain at speed. They make loud harsh calls when disturbed.
Their diet consists of a variety of animal and plant foods. During the nonbreeding season, N. meleagris consumes corns, tubers, and seeds, particularly of agricultural weeds, as well as various agricultural crop spillage. During the breeding season, more than 80% of their diet may be invertebrates, particularly arthropods such as beetles. Guineafowl are equipped with strong claws and scratch in loose soil for food much like domestic chickens, although they seldom uproot growing plants in so doing. As with all of the Numididae, they have no spurs. They may live for up to 12 years in the wild.
Males often show aggression towards each other, and partake in aggressive fighting, which may leave other males bloodied and otherwise injured. They  attempt to make themselves look more fearsome by raising their wings upwards from their sides and bristling their feathers across the length of their bodies, and they may also rush towards their opponent with a gaping beak. The nest is a well-hidden, generally unlined scrape, and a clutch is normally some 6 to 12 eggs, which the female incubates for 26 to 28 days. Nests containing larger numbers of eggs are generally believed to be the result of more than one hen using the nest; eggs are large, and an incubating bird could not realistically cover significantly more than a normal clutch.
Domesticated birds, at least, are notable for producing very thick-shelled eggs that are reduced to fragments as the young birds (known as keets among bird breeders) hatch, rather than leaving two large sections and small chips where the keet has removed the end of the egg. Domesticated guinea hens are not the best of mothers, and often abandon their nests. The keets are cryptically coloured, and rapid wing growth enables them to flutter onto low branches barely a week after hatching.


Helmeted guineafowl are often domesticated, and it is this species that is sold in Western supermarkets. Feral populations descended from domestic flocks are now widely distributed and occur in the West Indies, North America, Australia and Europe.


It reproduces by both seed and rhizome. Seeds are generally gathered from mid August to early October. The rhizomes are underground stems that are thick and fleshy. These rhizomes are hard to pry since they are submerged in mud and are difficult to dig. The leaves float on the water surface, and have an external waxy coating which makes the leaf waterproof and thus allows the leaf stomata to breathe freely; they are glossy green, oval, 10–45 cm long and 7–30 cm wide, with a notch at one side to the leaf stem. The leaves provide shelter for fish. The rhizomes (underground stems) are round and submerged in mud.


The flowers are 5–10 cm diameter, and have 6 to 12 (most often 9) bright yellow petal-like sepals; the true petals are small, hidden near the stamens. Inside the flower from top view anthers can be seen as red and true petals are wedge-shaped and are hidden by the stamens. The fruit is an ovoid green to yellowish capsule 4–6 cm (rarely 9 cm) long 3.5–6 cm wide.


Nyctemera adversata, the marbled white moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae first described by Johann Gottlieb Schaller in 1788. It is found in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Myanmar, China territories like Tibet, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangdong, Hong Kong, Hainan, Guangxi, Hunan, Henan, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Taiwan, Japan (northern part of Honshu Island), Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia (Sumatra, Java and Borneo) Philippines.
Nyctemera adversata is a day-flying species.
The larvae feed on Erechtites, Erigeron, Gynura, Picris, and Senecio species.


Nyctemera amicus, the senecio moth, magpie moth or cineraria moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Adam White in 1841. It is found in South-east Asia, Oceania, and most of Australia. It can also be found in New Zealand.
The larvae feed on Senecio species including S. linearifolius, S. quadridentatus, S. mikanioides, S. cruentus, and S. scandens. These food plants contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids, making the larvae unpleasant to taste and poisonous to birds.


The nankeen night heron (Nycticorax caledonicus) is a heron that belongs to the genus Nycticorax and the family Ardeidae. Due to its distinctive reddish-brown colour, it is also commonly referred to as the rufous night heron. It is primarily nocturnal and is observed in a broad range of habitats, including forests, meadows, shores, reefs, marshes, grasslands, and swamps. The species is 55 to 65 cm in length, with rich cinnamon upperparts and white underparts. The nankeen night heron has a stable population size, and is classified as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).


It grows in water that is 30–150 cm (12–59 in) deep and likes large ponds and lakes.
The leaves can be up to 30 cm (12 in) in diameter and take up a spread of 150 cm (59 in) per plant. The flowers are white and they have many small stamens inside.


It was first published and described by Carl Linnaeus in his book 'Species Plantarum', on page 510 in 1753.
The red variety (Nymphaea alba f. rosea) is cultivated from lake Fagertärn ("Fair tarn") in the forest of Tiveden, Sweden, where it was discovered in the early 19th century. The  discovery led to large-scale exploitation which nearly made it extinct in the wild before it was protected.
Nymphaea candida J. Presl is sometimes considered a subspecies of N. alba (N. alba L. subsp. candida (J. Presl) Korsh.).


It is found all over Europe and in parts of North Africa and the Middle East in fresh water.
In Africa, it is found in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. In temperate Asia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Siberia, Iran, Iraq, Israel and Turkey. It is found in tropical Asia, within the Indian provinces of Jammu and Kashmir. Lastly, within Europe, it is found in Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russian Federation, Ukraine,
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, France, Portugal and Spain.


It contains the active alkaloids nupharine and nymphaeine, and is a sedative and an aphrodisiac/anaphrodisiac depending on sources. Although roots and stalks are used in traditional herbal medicine along with the flower, the petals and other flower parts are the most potent. Alcohol can be used to extract the active alkaloids, and it also boosts the sedative effects. The root of the plant was used by monks and nuns for hundreds of years as an anaphrodisiac, being crushed and mixed with wine. In the earliest printed medical textbooks, authors  maintained this use, though warning against consuming large and frequent doses.


Nymphaea nouchali, often known by its synonym Nymphaea stellata, or by common names blue lotus, star lotus, red water lily, dwarf aquarium lily, blue water lily, blue star water lily or manel flower, is a water lily of genus Nymphaea. It is native to southern and eastern parts of Asia, and is the national flower of Bangladesh and  Sri Lanka. In Sanskrit, it is utpala. This species is usually considered to include the blue Egyptian lotus N. nouchali var. caerulea. In the past, taxonomic confusion has occurred, with the name Nymphaea nouchali incorrectly applied to Nymphaea pubescens.


This aquatic plant is native in a broad region from Afghanistan, the Indian subcontinent, to Taiwan, southeast Asia and Australia. It has been long valued as a garden flower in Thailand and Myanmar to decorate ponds and gardens. In its natural state, N. nouchali is found in static or slow-flowing aquatic habitats of low to moderate depth.


N. nouchali is a day-blooming nonviviparous plant with submerged roots and stems. Part of the leaves are submerged, while others rise slightly above the surface. The leaves are round and green on top; they usually have a darker underside. The floating leaves have undulating edges that give them a crenellated appearance. Their size is about 20–23 cm and their spread is up to 1.5 m from the rhizome.
This water lily has a beautiful flower which is usually violet blue in color with reddish edges. Some varieties have white, purple, mauve, or fuchsia-colored flowers, hence its name red and blue water lily. The flower has four or five sepals and 13-15 petals that have an angular appearance, making the flower look star-shaped from above. The cup-like calyx has a diameter of 4-15 cm.
The leaves of the lily can be affected by a water-born fungi, Doassansiopsis nymphaea.


N. nouchali is used as an ornamental plant because of its spectacular flowers, and is most commonly used for the traditional and cultural  festivals in Sri Lanka. It is also popular as an aquarium plant under the name "dwarf lily" or "dwarf red lily". Sometimes, it is grown for its flowers, while other aquarists prefer to trim the lily pads, and just have the underwater foliage.
N. nouchali is considered a medicinal plant in Indian Ayurvedic medicine under the name ambal; it was mainly used to treat indigestion.
Like all water lilies, its pear-shaped, brown cottony-covered, potato-sized rhizomes, leaves and most of the plant are poisonous, and contain an alkaloid called nupharin. Unlike European species, this can (and must) be neutralised in the rhizomes of this species by boiling. In India these have been eaten as a famine food or as a medicinal. In Vietnam it was eaten roasted. In Sri Lanka it was formerly eaten as a type of medicine and its price was too high to serve as a normal meal, but in the 1940s some villagers began to cultivate the water lilies in the paddy fields left uncultivated during the monsoon season (Yala season), and the price dropped. It is eaten boiled and in curries. The tubers of this species are completely edible, during the dry season they consist almost entirely of starch, and were eaten in West Africa, usually boiled or roasted.
The dried plant is collected from ponds, tanks, and marshes during the dry season and used in India as animal forage.


Nymphaea odorata, also known as the American white waterlily, fragrant water-lily, beaver root, fragrant white water lily, white water lily, sweet-scented white water lily, and sweet-scented water lily, is an aquatic plant belonging to the genus Nymphaea. It can commonly be found in shallow lakes, ponds, and permanent slow moving waters throughout North America where it ranges from Central America to northern Canada. It is also reported from Brazil and Guyana.


This plant is rooted from a branched rhizomes which gives rise to long petioles which terminate in smooth floating leaves. Since the leaves are subject to tearing by water and waves, they are round with a waxy upper coating that is water-repellent. The flowers also float. They are radially symmetric with prominent yellow stamens and many white petals. The flowers open each day and close again each night and are very fragrant. Once the flowers are pollinated, the developing fruit is pulled back under water for maturation.
Plant systematists often use it as a typical member of Nymphaeaceae, which (other than Amborella) is the most basal of the flowering plants.
It is cultivated in aquatic gardens as an ornamental plant.


The lignans nymphaeoside A and icariside E, and the flavonols kaempferol 3-O-alpha-l-rhamnopyranoside (afzelin), quercetin 3-O-alpha-l-rhamnopyranoside (quercitrin), myricetin 3-O-alpha-l-rhamnopyranoside (myricitrin), quercetin 3-O-(6'-O-acetyl)-beta-d-galactopyranoside, myricetin 3-O-beta-d-galactopyranoside and myricetin 3-O-(6'-O-acetyl)-beta-d-galactopyranoside can be found in N. odorata.


The fragrant water-lily has both medicinal and edible parts. The seeds, flowers and rhizomes can all be eaten raw or cooked. The root can be boiled to produce a liquid which can be gargled to treat sore throats or drunk to treat diarrhea. The rhizomes were also used by Native Americans to treat coughs and colds. The stem can be placed directly on teeth to treat a toothache.
The muck-submerged stems are eaten by muskrats.


The California tortoiseshell (Nymphalis californica) is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae.
The wings of the California tortoiseshell have ragged edges. The upper sides of the wings are orange with black spots and a wide black margin. The undersides of the wings are a mottled dark brown. Its wingspan varies from 3.2 to 7 cm (1+1⁄4–2+3⁄4 inches).
Caterpillars are black with white spots and hairs. Each segment of the body has seven spines. They eat various species of Ceanothus.
This butterfly is known for having irregular population explosions. Ravens commonly prey on California tortoiseshells in population explosions during outbreak years.


The large tortoiseshell or blackleg tortoiseshell (Nymphalis polychloros) is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae.


Nymphalis polychloros has a wingspan of 68–72 millimetres (2.7–2.8 in) in males, of 72–75 millimetres (2.8–3.0 in) in females. These medium to large butterflies have orange to red wings with black and yellow patches. Both wings with yellowish submarginal lunules, upon which follows a black band which is likewise composed of lunules and bears on the hindwing small blue spots. The underside of the wings is smoky brown with darker shades and black transverse pencilling. There is no sexual dimorphism.
This species looks very similar to the small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae), but it is more closely related to the Camberwell beauty and Nymphalis xanthomelas It differs from the small tortoiseshell by its larger size (45–62 mm. wingspan in Aglais urticae)  and by the more orange ground colour of the upper surface of its wings and the orange base of its hindwings. The forewing is orange-brown, with 3 costal black blotches, 3 large black spots in the disc posteriorly and a narrow blackish terminal band – less bright than those of A. urticae, and lacking the apical white spot and the marginal blue dots of that species. Compared to the yellow-legged tortoiseshell it has yellower interspaces between the black blotches on the costal edges of its forewings and the dark marginal band is narrower. The surest way to recognize it, however, is by its dark haired tarsi yellow-legged tortoiseshell's tarsal hairs are light-coloured.


Nymphoides indica is an aquatic plant in the  Menyanthaceae, native to tropical areas around the world. It is sometimes cultivated, and has become a minor weed in Florida, where it resembles the native Nymphoides aquatica. Common names include banana plant, robust marshwort, and water snowflake; {In Bengali: চাঁদমালা (Chandmala)}.


Nymphoides indica spreads by rhizomes, forming clusters of leaves, with clustered white flowers about 1 cm across. The flowers are sometimes described as having five petals, but can have more.


The Voynich Manuscript is a mysterious book written in code from Medieval times. It features various flora throughout the book. On page 6, a Nymphoides indica takes up most of the page.


Obolaria virginica, commonly known as Virginia pennywort, is a species of flowering plant in the gentian family. It is monotypic, with no other species in the genus Obolaria.
It is native to the eastern United States, where it is found in nutrient-rich forests. It is believed to be mycoheterotrophic, getting much of its nutrients though a symbiotic relationship with fungi, instead of through its small purplish-green leaves.
It is a perennial that produces white flowers in the spring. It is often difficult to locate due to its small stature, and tendency to be buried under leaf litter.


Ochlodes sylvanoides, the woodland skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in North America from British Columbia south to southern California, east to Montana, Colorado and Arizona.
The wingspan is 25–32 mm. The upperside is orange with toothed brown borders. The forewing of the males has a black stigma, while females have or a black diagonal band. There is a large reddish patch on the hindwings. The underside is variable in colour, ranging from yellow to reddish to brown. The hindwing varies from unmarked to having a distinct band of cream to yellow spots. Adults feed on flower nectar.
The larvae feed on various Poaceae species, including Cynodon dactylon, Phalaris, Elymus and  Agropyron species.


Ochlodes sylvanoides sylvanoides (California, Mexico)
Ochlodes sylvanoides pratincola (Boisduval, 1852)
Ochlodes sylvanoides napa (Edwards, 1865)
Ochlodes sylvanoides bonnevilla Scott, 1981 (Nevada) – Bonneville skipper
Ochlodes sylvanoides orecoasta Scott, 1981 (Oregon) – Oregon coast skipper
Ochlodes sylvanoides santacruza Scott, 1981 (northern California)
Ochlodes sylvanoides omnigena Austin, 1998 (Nevada, Great Basin)
Ochlodes sylvanoides catalina Emmel & Emmel, 1998


Oclemena acuminata, commonly known as whorled wood aster, is a plant native to eastern North America. Its range extends from Newfoundland to Georgia.


The patent-leather beetle or horned passalus (Odontotaenius disjunctus) is a saproxylic beetle in the family Passalidae (bess beetles) which can grow to just over an inch-and-a-half long, weigh 1-2 grams and are capable of pulling 50 times their own weight. They have been used to study several aspects of general family characteristics since the early 1900s but remain a relatively unknown species within the diverse Coleoptera order.


O. disjunctus is most commonly found in climates with higher humidity, mainly in the warmer parts of both hemispheres, and also widely distributed in temperate North American forests. O. disjunctus beetles are usually found under, or inside, old logs or stumps and are rarely observed outside of their wooden habitats.


These beetles can be found in rotting logs, especially of oak and hickory. This specific locale offers unique benefits in regards to protection from predators and external abiotic factors such temperature and precipitation. There is a level of stability with the two factors mentioned, the water retention in the wood helps to keep temperatures stable while aiding in further decomposition of the log itself. The regulation of this environment allows for both day and night activity. Larvae can reach adulthood in as little as 3 months due to a rich food source, with the average lifespan of an adulthood being up to one year. Adults are only found outside of their log when they are searching for a new mate, or a new log in which to burrow. Daily movements tend to be limited to within their log, any movements outside of the log are not as predictable and occur much less frequently.


These beetles are shiny black, and have many long grooves on their elytra. They have a small horn between their eyes, and clubbed antennae. Females and males are difficult to distinguish based on external appearances alone. There appears to be little to no sexual dimorphism between the two sexes, both tend to be equal in size and overall strength capabilities. Their large size may be in part a result of exploiting a niche that provides an unlimited food source of rotting wood material. Although flight is possible, these beetles predominantly walk as their main form of locomotion, they will walk long distances rather than flying. Parasitic infections are common but not well known, external and internal parasites have been documented. A nematode parasite, Chondronema passali, inhabits the abdominal cavity has been shown to effect stress responses in these beetles, although the results are relatively small, they do show that O. disjunctus is not only infected by parasites but are negatively impacted by them. Males will often compete for females and territory  like most beetle species, using their horn-like structure to flip and overturn their opponents. The strength of these beetles also tends to increase in times of stress, however, even in times without stimulation male beetles will exert an impressive amount of force onto a target.


Patent-leather beetles like to eat logs of certain trees, in which the wood is dead and decaying. They eat deciduous trees, such as oaks and elm. Wood inhabited by these beetles is usually well decomposed and falls apart readily. This unique food source prevents competition as these beetles have chosen a food source that is not highly sought after by other organisms due to the material being indigestible for most. Adults feed primarily on wood, while larvae stages eat materials composed of fungi, wood and parental secretions. Burrowing within rotting logs offers the triturated wood that is a staple in the diet of these beetles, this wood is consumed widely by the males and then further broken down through the digestive tract, and eventually expelled for the eventual re- consumption by all family members.


When disturbed, adults can produce a squeaking sound by rubbing their wings on the abdomen. This is called stridulation, and is often easy to hear, both adult and larvae are capable of producing these sounds. This is used for communication within the colony, to communicate danger, courtship, disturbance and solo activities. These four general categories can be further examined into more specific signals and patterns. The acoustic repertoire of O. disjunctus can be broken down into bars, pulses and phonatomes, these are used to identify intra- and interspecific variations. These sounds are produced specifically from when areas of the sixth abdominal tergite rasp against an area on the ventral side of each folded metathoracic wing.
Many patent-leather beetles may live together in a colony in the same log and several colonies may be found within the same rotting log depending on the size. However, only one pair of beetles is typically found in a single tunnel/burrow system, but a single large log may offer space for multiple pairs to be present.


These beetles make tunnels in the wood; inside the galleries, the beetles will mate, lay eggs, and watch over their offspring. The adults feed the larvae a chewed-up mixture of wood chips and feces. The larvae cannot feed themselves and take a year to develop. Being presocial beetles, the larvae are typically taken care of by the parents and young offspring. This cooperative brood care is beneficial to all individuals involved, larvae receive optimal care and young adults are able remain in the burrow to increase fitness and wait for favorable conditions before exiting the log.
Offspring rely heavily on parental care for protection and nourishment, food is mixed with secretions by the parent before the larvae can feed. Reproduction appears to be affected by seasonality, with summer months being the time in which females lay majority of their eggs. O. disjunctus remain in monogamous pairs, during the breeding season (early spring until late summer) they will repeatedly copulate and produce anywhere from 20-35 eggs over the time period. Offspring remain in the parental tunnel for the rest of the year, overwinter, and then disperse in the following late spring. Infanticidal behavior has been observed, and is most likely to occur in the event of a burrow take over by a male or female that has not yet had the chance to mate due to limited access to an empty burrow.


The patent-leather beetle is considered beneficial in its activities to decompose dead wood, and is harmless to humans. The increase in habitat loss due to deforestation for agriculture has caused a decline in populations as they do not react well to fragmentation. Studies reveal that a decrease in suitable habitat and increased open areas between forests have been the two leading causes of population decline and potential extirpation of some areas. Shrinking habitat would also cause an increase in competition and infanticidal behaviors, further straining reproductive success.


Oecanthus nigricornis is a "common tree cricket" in the subfamily Oecanthinae ("tree crickets"). A common name for O. nigricornis is black-horned tree cricket.
It is found in North America.


Oecanthus niveus, known generally as the narrow-winged tree cricket or snowy tree cricket, is a species of tree cricket in the family Gryllidae, which includes all crickets. First noted by Swedish Entomologist Charles de Geer in 1773 by a Pennsylvanian Specimen, it is found primarily in Eastern North America south of Canada, and also in the Caribbean.


Adult O. niveus are typically 13-16mm in length. They are a pale green with a pale orange head, and feature a dark streak running medially along the pronotum. On top of the head is an orange cap.


O. niveus can be found on broad-leaved trees, herbaceous plants, shrubbery, and in man-made orchards.


Like other members of the genus Oecanthus, the song of the male narrow-winged tree cricket varies in pitch and beats per minute depending the temperature, with warmer temperatures resulting in more rapid calling at a higher pitch. At 25°C, the pulse rate averages 71/sec at a frequency of 3.0 kHz. Songs are most often heard at night in late summer and autumn.


The male of Oedemera nobilis, as in most Oedemera species, possesses the hind femora very swollen, whereas in female the femora are thin; the elytra are strongly narrowed towards the apexes, not hiding the membranous hind wings. It is bright green, frequently with a golden or coppery shine; some individuals are blue or violaceous. It can only be confused with Oedemera flavipes (which does not live in the British Isles), from which it differs by its colour, as well as by the long white pubescence on the head, pronotum and hind tibiae of males.


Oedemera nobilis is abundant in spring on several flower species; the males are very conspicuous by their swollen femora and bright green colour. It feeds on pollen and nectar of Asteraceae, Cyperaceae, Convolvulaceae, Cruciferae, Dipsacaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Poaceae, Papaveraceae, Plantaginaceae, Rosaceae, Rubiaceae and Apiaceae. The larvae develop on dry stems of Spartium and Cirsium.


Western and southern Europe, from the Iberian Peninsula to Greece; it is absolutely common in Mediterranean countries and penetrates in Central Europe to middle of Germany and British Isles; it has reached Denmark, where it is rare and sporadic. It is also recorded from the Maghreb. It is absent from alpine countries and Eastern Europe.
In England and Wales, it is presently in a markedly expansive and consolidational phase, which commenced during 1995.


Oenanthe aquatica, fine-leaved water-dropwort is an aquatic flowering plant in the carrot family. It is widely distributed from the Atlantic coast of Europe to central Asia.


Fine-leaved water-dropwort is a hairless, annual to perennial herb about 150 cm tall. Young plants have tubers, which disappear by mid-summer. The stem is hollow and striated, normally about 1 cm in diameter but exceptionally reaching 8 cm, erect or sprawling, rooting at the nodes of any submerged sections. Very large sprawling plants have been found to have stems up to 2 m long.
The upper (aerial) leaves are 2- to 3-pinnate, finely divided into lanceolate (sword-shaped) to ovate leaflets up to 5 mm long; the lower leaves are 3–4 pinnate, with very narrow (thread-like) leaflets under water, but flat, ovate leaf segments if emergent. The leaf stalks form a sheath around the stem at the base.
It flowers between June and September in northern Europe, the inflorescence arising from the leaf axils or at the tip of the stem. It consists of a compound umbel of 6–16 smaller rounded umbels about 1–2 cm in diameter, each of which has numerous white flowers. There are no bracts on the main umbel and 4–8 small, lanceolate bracteoles at the base of each of the secondary umbels. Plants are monoecious, with bisexual and male flowers in most umbels. Each flower has 5 sepals, 5 unequal petals with the outer ones slightly larger, 5 stamens and 2 styles. After flowering, the rays (stalks of the individual umbels) and pedicels (stalks to the individual flowers) do not thicken, and the umbels do not become flat-topped in fruit.
The fruits are 3–5.5 mm long, ovoid, with prominent ridges. On maturity, each fruit splits into two (1-seeded) mericarps.
Reproduction is entirely by seed; well-grown plants have been found to produce as many as 40,000 seeds.


The basis for the modern classification of the Apaiceae was developed by Artedius in the early 18th century and his name for fine-leaved water-dropwort (the basionym), Phellandrium aquaticum, was published after his death by Linnaeus in Species Plantarum in 1753. However, in 1798 it was placed in the genus Oenanthe (as O. aquatique) by Jean Louis Marie Poiret in the 4th volume of Lamarck's Encyclopédie méthodique Botanique, and it has stayed there ever since.
It has several synonyms (i.e. other authors have named the same plant, but Poiret's name for it stands), including Ligusticum phellandrium (Lam.) Crantz. (1762), Phellandrium divaricatum Gray (1851) and Selinum phellandrium (Lam.) E.H.L. Krause (1904). A full list can be found in the Synonymic Checklists of the Plants of the World.
A couple of varieties have been named but are not widely used. It is not known to hybridise with any other species.
Its chromosome number is 2n = 22 (based on British specimens).
The specific epithet "aquatica" is the feminine form (nominative, singular) of the Latin word aquaticus, meaning "of water".


When compared to other water-dropworts in Britain, fine-leaved water-dropwort does have particularly finely divided leaves, up to 4-pinnate, with small, lobed leaflets. The plant it is most likely to be confused with is river water-dropwort, which for a long time was thought to be the same species. Under water, they are not at all alike (river water-dropwort grows fully submerged in running water, with diamond-shaped leaflets), but the emergent plants are very similar. The best way to separate them is by the fruits, which are ovoid and no more than 4.5 mm long in aquatica vs. cylindrical and greater than 5 mm long in fluviatilis.


The native range is from Ireland in the west, eastwards to central Siberia and from the more southerly parts of Scandinavia southwards to the Mediterranean basin. It is rarely found as an introduction outside this area, but there are records of it in Washington, D.C. and New Zealand, where it is not considered to be invasive. Although it was present in a few places in Spain, it is thought to be extinct there now.
Globally, its status is LC (Least Concern), and populations of Oenanthe aquatica are recorded as 'stable' by the IUCN.
In Britain, it is found mainly in the lowlands of eastern England, from Kent to Yorkshire and western England, from Somerset to Lancashire. It is rare in Wales, and absent from Scotland. In Ireland it is widely distributed throughout lowland areas. It has declined slightly in abundance in Britain over the last 50 years or so, but it is still given the status of LC. In many counties it is listed as an axiophyte, showing that it is considered a plant of significance for conservation.
It is widespread and common in France and overall has a status of Least Concern, although in Corsica it is considered to be VU (Vulnerable) and in two départements (Midi-Pyrénées and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur) it is classified as EN (Endangered).
In Germany, where it is known as Großer Wasserfenchel (Great Water Fennel), it is considered an indicator of natural floodplain vegetation, and attempts to restore ecosystem function on the Danube have used this species as a measure of success.
In the former Czechoslovakia, fine-leaved water-dropwort is very common and occurs predominantly in shallow reservoirs, oxbows and temporary pools up to 640 m above sea level in the Brdy hills. It can be very abundant, reaching pest status, in pools with a fluctuating water level, in the year following the drainage event.


Fine-leaved water-dropwort is strictly a wetland plant, occurring in a wide variety of habitats which vary from full sun to medium shade, fresh to slightly brackish water, and from low to fairly high nutrient status. Its Ellenberg values in Britain are L = 7, F = 10, R = 7, N = 6, and S = 0.
Its main habitat throughout its range is reed swamp (European C5.1a "tall helophyte beds"), where it is generally scarce but sometimes appears in abundance when the reeds are cut or disturbed. It is generally more abundant, however, in pools with a fluctuating water level, where it can germinate and rapidly grow on bare mud in the summer. Other habitats for it include ditches, canals, streams, rivers, wet woodland, and degraded mires.
Its  National Vegetation Classification communities include W1 grey willow, W5 alder and W6 crack willow woodlands; OV30 drawdown zone vegetation; S4 common reed, S12 reedmace and S28 reed canary-grass reedbeds; and S27 marsh cinquefoil bog. Sometimes it occurs on silty, mineral soils in places such as farmland ponds, but more often it is found on fenland peat.
It is a lowland plant, in Britain being found up to about 200 m in Shropshire. In Europe it occurs at higher altitudes (Zieringser Teich, pictured here, is at 520 m).
Like all umbellifers, fine-leaved water-dropwort has unspecialised flowers which are pollinated by a variety of insects.
There are eight species listed on the Database of Insects and their Food Plants as feeding on fine-leaved water-dropwort in Britain. Three (Prasocuris phellandrii, Hypera adspersa and H. arundinis) are beetles, two (Lixus iridis and L. paraplecticus) weevils, one (Lasioptera carophila) a midge, and two (Depressaria daucella and D. ultimella) are micro-moths. They create galls in the stem, leaves or flowers, or the larvae browse on the foliage or flowers. None of them feeds exclusively on fine-leaved water-dropwort.


Because of the danger of poisoning, fine-leaved water-dropwort is not widely used. The fruits are reputed to cause vertigo, drunkenness and narcotic symptoms, and it can easily be confused with other, more deadly species such as hemlock water-dropwort. Nevertheless, it is reported by ethnobotanists as being used to treat various medical conditions, such as chronic pectoral diseases, dyspepsia, fevers and ulcers.


The northern wheatear or wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae. It is the most widespread member of the wheatear genus Oenanthe in Europe and North and Central Asia.
The northern wheatear is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in open stony country in Europe and east across the Palearctic  with footholds in northeastern Canada and Greenland as well as in northwestern Canada and Alaska. It nests in rock crevices and rabbit burrows. All birds spend most of their winter in Africa.


The northern wheatear was first formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae as Motacilla oenanthe.  The species is now placed in the genus Oenanthe that was introduced by the French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1816. The generic name, Oenanthe, is also the name of a plant genus, the water dropworts, and is derived from the Greek ainos "wine" and anthos "flower", from the wine-like scent of the flowers. In the case of the wheatear, it refers to the birds' return to Greece in the spring at the time that the grapevines blossom.
Its English name has nothing to do with wheat or with ear, but is an altered (perhaps bowdlerised) form of white-arse, which refers to its prominent white rump.
The four generally accepted subspecies of the Northern Wheatear with their breeding range are as follows:
O. o. leucorhoa (Gmelin, JF, 1789) – northeast Canada, Greenland and Iceland (the 'Greenland wheatear')
O. o. oenanthe (Linnaeus, 1758) – north and central Europe through north Asia to east Siberia and northwest North America
O. o. libanotica (Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1833) – southern Europe through the Middle East and southwest Asia to Mongolia and northwest China
O. o. seebohmi (Dixon, 1882) – northwest Africa
O.o. seebohmi is regarded as a distinct species by some authorities such as the International Ornithological Committee, Seebohm’s or the Atlas wheatear.


The northern wheatear is larger than the European robin at 14.5–16 cm (5.7–6.3 in) in length. The northern wheatear also has a wingspan of 26– 32 cm and weighs 17-30 g.
Both sexes have a white rump and tail, with a black inverted T-pattern at the end of the tail.
The plumage of the summer male has grey upperparts, buff throat and black wings and face mask. In autumn it resembles the female apart from the black wings. The female is pale brown above and buff below with darker brown wings. The male has a whistling, crackly song. Its call is a typical chat chack noise, and the flight call is the same.


The northern wheatear makes one of the longest journeys of any small bird, crossing ocean, ice, and desert. It migrates from Sub-Saharan Africa in spring over a vast area of the Northern Hemisphere that includes northern and central Asia, Europe, Greenland, Alaska, and parts of Canada. In autumn all return to Africa, where their ancestors had wintered. Arguably, some of the birds that breed in north Asia could take a shorter route and winter in south Asia; however, their inherited inclination to migrate takes them back to Africa, completing one of the longest migrations for its body size in the animal kingdom
Birds of the large, bright Greenland race, leucorhoa, makes one of the longest transoceanic crossings of any passerine. In spring most migrate along a route (commonly used by waders and waterfowl) from Africa via continental Europe, the British Isles, and Iceland to Greenland. However, autumn sightings from ships suggest that some birds cross the North Atlantic directly from Canada and Greenland to southwest Europe, a distance of up to 2,500 kilometres (1,600 mi). Birds breeding in eastern Canada are thought to fly from Baffin Island and Newfoundland via Greenland, Ireland, and Portugal to the Azores, crossing 3,500 kilometres (2,200 mi) of the North Atlantic) before flying onwards to Africa.  Other populations from western Canada and Alaska migrate by flying over much of Eurasia to Africa.
Miniature tracking devices have recently shown that the northern wheatear has one of the longest migratory flights known - 30,000 km (18,640 miles), from sub-Saharan Africa to their Arctic breeding grounds.
"The Alaskan birds travelled almost 15,000km (9,000 miles) each way - crossing Siberia and the Arabian Desert, and travelling, on average, 290km per day. "This is the longest recorded migration for a songbird as far as we know," said Dr Schmaljohann.


Northern wheatears first breed when they are one year old. The nest is built entirely by the female while the male perches nearby, sings and sometimes performs song-flights. The nest is placed in a cavity such as a rabbit burrow, a crevice among rocks or in a man-made object such as a wall or pipe. The nest typically has a foundation of untidy plant material. The nest cup is constructed of finer grasses, leaves, moss and lichen. The female lays eggs at daily intervals. The clutch is 4-7 smooth but not glossy eggs that are around 21.0 mm × 15.8 mm (0.83 in × 0.62 in) in size with an average weight of 2.83 g (0.100 oz). The eggs are very pale blue in colour and sometimes have a few red-brown marks at the larger end. They are incubated almost entirely by the female beginning after the penultimate or final egg has been laid. The eggs hatch after approximately 13 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and are brooded by the female for the first five or six days. They fledge after 15 days and become independent of their parents when they are between 28 and 32 days old. Normally only a single brood is raised each year but when a clutch of eggs is lost, the female will lay a second clutch.


The northern wheatear has an extensive range, estimated at 2.3 million square kilometres (0.87 million square miles), and a large population estimated at 2.9 million individuals in the Old World and the Americas combined. The species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e., declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations), and is therefore evaluated as least concern.