Dendrobium cunninghamii was first formally discovered in 1835 by John Lindley and the description was published in Edwards's Botanical Register. The specific epithet (cunninghamii) honours Allan Cunningham.
David Jones, Mark Clements and Brian Molloy proposed changing the name of this species to Winika cunninghamii but the change has not been accepted by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families.
"Winika is the accepted old Māori language name for this orchid. The name Te Winika was given to the sacred war canoe of the Tainui people because this orchid grew on the tōtara tree (Podocarpus totara) which was hollowed out to form the hull. We assign the feminine gender to it—Winika cunninghamii. The Māori Queen, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, granted consent to use the name Winika, because of its particular cultural significance to her Tainui people."


Winika is usually an epiphyte on forest trees but sometimes also on fallen logs. It sometimes grows on rocks and cliff faces, even on brick or concrete walls. It is found on both the North and South Islands of New Zealand but also on Stewart and Chatham Islands.


In 1990, New Zealand Post released a New Zealand native orchid miniature sheet to support the New Zealand 1990 World Stamp Exhibition held in Auckland.  Winika was one of the stamps (40c) on the miniature sheet.  The others were the sun orchid (Thelymitra pulchella), spider orchid (Corybas macranthus) and greenhood orchid (Pterostylis banksii).


The grey treepie, also known as the Himalayan treepie, (Dendrocitta formosae) is an Asian treepie, a medium-sized and long-tailed member of the crow family. The species was first described by Robert Swinhoe in 1863. They are widely distributed along the foothills of the Himalayas in the Indian Subcontinent and extending into Indochina, southern mainland China and Taiwan. The populations vary in plumage and several are named as subspecies.
Grey treepies are omnivorous birds mostly thriving among dense foliage and in forests. They sometimes take part in mixed species flocks with laughingthrushes, especially the white-throated laughingthrush. They systematically work together through the hill forests, rhododendrons, oaks and other broad-leaved trees, especially in the mornings.


The grey treepie is 36–40 cm (14–16 in) long and weighs 89–121 g (3.1–4.3 oz). It is the same size as other Dendrocitta species and is separated from them by the overall grey colour of the body. The races in the western part of the distribution have a greyish rump and some grey in tail while the eastern forms have a white rump and a black tail. The face and throat are dark and black with a diffuse mask. The body is grey on the underside becoming whiter towards the vent. The back and scapulars are brownish. The crown and nape are greyish and the black wing has a prominent white carpal patch. The vent is rufous and the outer tail feathers and tips of the central feathers are black. The beak is black, the legs are blackish-brown and the eyes are red or reddish-brown. The two sexes are similar. The juvenile bird is duller, with a browner nape, and all of its feathers have rufous tips.
The species occupies a large geographical range and has several recognised regional forms that differ slightly from one another for instance in colour and tail length. These include occidentalis of the western Himalayan foothills (identified by its slightly longer tail), himalayana from the central Himalayas east into Thailand and Vietnam. A disjunct population, said to have a smaller or narrower bill, is found in the Eastern Ghats of peninsular India, sarkari, that is sometimes subsumed into himalayana. The Southeast Asian races include assimilis, sapiens, sinica, formosae (the nominate race from Taiwan) and insulae (Hainan Island).
It has been suggested that this species forms a superspecies along with Dendrocitta occipitalis and Dendrocitta cinerascens.


This treepie is mostly an arboreal feeder but will take some food from the ground, especially in cultivated regions. It eats a wide range of insects and other invertebrates, berries, nectar, grain and other seeds, and also small reptiles, eggs and nestlings. It sometimes joins mixed-species foraging flocks.
In the foothills of the Himalayas in India, they are known to breed from 2000 to 6000 feet high mainly during the months of May to July. The nest is a shallow cup lined with hair and is built in trees and bushes or clumps of bamboo with 3-4 eggs per clutch. The eggs can be whitish, buffish or pale green, with brown or grey spots. Both the male and female build the nest and feed the young birds.
The voice is described as harsh and grating, but like other species is quite varied and includes a grating k-r-r-r-r sound as well as more melodious notes not unlike those of the rufous treepie. These include a tiddly-aye-kok, ko-ku-la and barking braap...braap...braap calls.


The global population size is not known. In China, there are an estimated 10,000 to 100,000 breeding pairs, and the population size in Taiwan is estimated at 10,000 to 100,000 breeding pairs. The population in Hainan may be endangered by habitat destruction. The species has a large range, and the population decline does not appear to be very rapid, so the IUCN Red List has assessed the species to be of least concern.


The white-backed woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos) is a Eurasian woodpecker belonging to the genus Dendrocopos.


The white-backed woodpecker was described by the German naturalist Johann Matthäus Bechstein in 1802 under the binomial name Picus leucotos. The specific epithet leucotos combines the Classical Greek leukos meaning "white" and -nōtos meaning "-backed". The type locality is Silesia, a historical region mainly located in Poland. The species is now placed in the genus Dendrocopos that was introduced by the German naturalist Carl Ludwig Koch in 1816.
Twelve subspecies are recognised.
D. l. leucotos (Bechstein, 1802) – widespread across Eurasia from north, central and eastern Europe to northeast Asia, Korea and Sakhalin
D. l. uralensis (Malherbe, 1860) – west Ural Mountains to Lake Baikal
D. l. lilfordi (Sharpe & Dresser, 1871) – Pyrenees to Asia Minor, Caucasus and Transcaucasia
D. l. tangi Cheng, 1956 – Sichuan province, western China
D. l. subcirris (Stejneger, 1886) – Hokkaido, northern Japan
D. l. stejnegeri (Kuroda, 1921) – northern Honshū, Japan
D. l. namiyei (Stejneger, 1886) – south Honshū, Kyushu, Shikoku (Japan)
D. l. takahashii (Kuroda & Mori, 1920) – Ulleungdo Island (off eastern Korea)
D. l. quelpartensis (Kuroda & Mori, 1918) – Jeju Island (off South Korea)
D. l. owstoni (Ogawa, 1905) – Amami Ōshima Island in the northern Ryukyu Islands, Japan
D. l. fohkiensis (Buturlin, 1908) – mountains of Fujian province, southeast China
D. l. insularis (Gould, 1863) – Taiwan
The subspecies D. l. owstoni is sometimes considered a distinct species, the Amami woodpecker.


It is the largest of the spotted woodpeckers in the western Palearctic, 24–26 cm long with wing-span 38–40 cm. The plumage is similar to the great spotted woodpecker, but with white bars across the wings rather than spots, and a white lower back. The male has a red crown, the female a black one.   Drumming by males is very loud, calls include a soft kiuk and a longer kweek.


The nominate race D. l. leucotos occurs in central and northern Europe, with the race D. l. lilfordi found in the Balkans and Turkey. Ten further races occur in the region eastwards as far as Korea and Japan. It is a scarce bird, requiring large tracts of mature deciduous forests with high amounts of standing and laying dead wood. Numbers have decreased in Nordic countries. In Sweden, its population decline has caused the Swedish government to enact protection for the species in the national Biodiversity Action Plan.


In the breeding season it excavates a nest hole about 7 cm wide and 30 cm deep in a decaying tree trunk. It lays three to five white eggs and incubates for 10–11 days. It lives predominantly on wood-boring beetles as well as their larvae, as well as other insects, nuts, seeds and berries.


In the wild the white-backed Woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos) can survive between three to four years, while in captivity they can survive for approximately eleven years.


The middle spotted woodpecker (Dendrocoptes medius) is a European woodpecker belonging to the genus Dendrocoptes.


The middle spotted woodpecker was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Picus medius. The specific epithet is Latin for "intermediate". Linnaeus gave the locality as Europe, but this is now taken to be Sweden. For many years this woodpecker was usually placed in the genus Dendrocopos but a 2015 molecular phylogenetic study that compared nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences from pied woodpeckers found that Dendrocopos was polyphyletic. As part of the reorganisation to create monophyletic genera, the middle spotted woodpecker was one of three species that were placed in the resurrected genus Dendrocoptes. This genus had been erected by the German ornithologists Jean Cabanis and Ferdinand Heine in 1863 with the middle spotted woodpecker as the type species.
Four subspecies are recognised:
D. m. medius (Linnaeus, 1758) – Europe to west Russia
D. m. caucasicus Bianchi, 1905 – north Turkey through the Caucasus
D. m. anatoliae (Hartert, 1912) – west and south Turkey
D. m. sanctijohannis (Blanford, 1873) – Zagros Mountains (southwest Iran)


The middle spotted woodpecker is 20–22 cm long and has plumage similar to the great spotted woodpecker. As with that species the upperparts are predominantly black with white oval wing patches and white barring on the wings, and the underparts are white. The main differences are a red crown, lack of a black moustachial stripe, a pink vent, and dark streaks on the flanks. Although only slightly smaller than the great spotted woodpecker, it appears smaller due to its short, slender bill and more rounded, pale head. It can also be confused with the Syrian woodpecker (particularly juveniles), being distinguished from this by the smaller bill, and the red crown not having narrow black sides.


The middle spotted woodpecker occurs only in Europe in the Palearctic, from northern Spain and France east to Poland and Ukraine, and south to central Italy (where local), the Balkan Peninsula, Lithuania, Latvia, Turkey, the Caucasus, and Iran. This species used to breed in Sweden but became extirpated in the '80s. However, middle spotted woodpeckers have been seen again in Sweden in its breeding habitat in recent years, suggesting a recolonization of the country. Due to its sedentary nature it has never been recorded in Great Britain. It prefers deciduous forest regions, especially areas with old oak, hornbeam and elm, and a patchwork of clearings, pasture and dense woodland.


Behaviourally it likes to feed high in the trees, moving constantly and making a good view difficult. In the breeding season it excavates a nest hole about 5 cm wide in a decaying tree trunk or thick branch. It lays four to seven eggs and incubates for 11–14 days.
The middle spotted woodpecker lives predominantly on a diet of insects as well as their larvae, which it finds by picking them from branches and twigs rather than hacking them from beneath the bark. It will also feed on tree sap. It is rarely heard drumming, and never for territorial purposes, which it asserts by song; a slow, nasal gvayk gvayk gvayk gvayk gvayk. Calls include a fast kik kekekekek.


The black-bellied whistling duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis), formerly called the black-bellied tree duck, is a whistling duck that breeds from the southernmost United States, Mexico, and tropical Central to south-central South America. In the US, it can be found year-round in peninsular Florida, parts of southeast Texas, coastal Alabama and Mississippi and seasonally in southeast Arizona, and Louisiana's Gulf Coast. It is a rare breeder in such disparate locations as Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina, though it is now a common breeder in parts of central Florida. There is a large population of several hundred that winter each year in Audubon Park in uptown New Orleans, Louisiana. Since it is one of only two whistling duck species native to North America, it is occasionally just known as the "whistling duck" or "Mexican squealer" in the southern USA.


The black-bellied whistling duck is a mid-sized waterfowl species. Length ranges from 47 to 56 cm (19 to 22 in), body mass from 652 to 1,020 g (1.437 to 2.249 lb) and wingspan ranges from 76 to 94 cm (30 to 37 in). It has a long red bill, long head and longish legs, pale gray head and mostly gray-brown plumage. The belly and tail are black, and the body plumage, back of the neck and cap are a rich chestnut brown. The face and upper neck are gray, and they sport a thin but distinct white eye-ring. The extensive white in the wings is obvious in flight, less so on the ground; it is formed by the secondary remiges while the primaries are black; the wing-coverts are brown. Males and females look alike; juveniles are similar but have a gray bill and less contrasting belly.
The wing bar is unique among whistling ducks. When on the ground, it may be hard to discern the light flanks present in many of these waterfowl. The fulvous whistling duck (D. bicolor) is the only sympatric whistling duck that shows such a whitish flank stripe, and it differs from the black-bellied by having dark wings and a lighter belly rather than the other way around. Juvenile D. autumnalis are quite similar to young of the white-faced whistling duck (D. viduata), which have a darker bill and no white wing patch; even when sitting they never seem to show white along the sides, as their thin white vertical barring on the black flanks is very indistinct.
As the name implies, these are noisy birds with a clear whistling waa-chooo call.


The black-bellied whistling duck is mainly non-migratory. Birds in the extreme northern portions of their range (Arizona, Louisiana, and parts of Texas) move south in winter. At the heart of their range, there is a tendency to travel in flocks over the winter months, though this behavior is not a true long-range migration but rather local dispersal.
Seven adults and eight ducklings were observed on west side of Lake Apopka, Central Florida on 24 July 2015. They have been in this area for more than a year.  Since 2009, this species has now become a common breeder in Lake County, Florida, with adult pairs with offspring seen by lakes and in wetlands near Eustis, Tavares, Leesburg, and other municipalities; large wintering flocks of 30+ birds can be seen throughout the county, even up to Lake Norris in the NE central portion of the county. There has been a large flock noted for about two years in the River Plantation area of Parrish in Manatee County, Florida and inland from Port Manatee in the northern part of the county. This flock has returned every year nesting in a marshy area and observed by residences in the rural area.
Over 100 of the whistling ducks have resided in the Gum Slough of Sumter County, Florida for over two years. Recent spike from Leesburg to the Ocklawaha region with many nightly flights averaging 10 per flight.  Since late 2019, after the dredging of Lake Roberta in Tampa, Florida, a flock of more than 100 whistling ducks has taken up residence on the shores of the lake.
A large flock was observed and photographed by a local resident in Audubon Park, New Orleans, Louisiana in February 2016.
A flock of over 100 are in Land O Lakes Florida in Pasco County.
Starting in 2019, a male and female started visiting a pond in Powderly, TX (near the Red River). After laying eggs and having 5 ducklings, all 7 of them are still here in 2021.


The black-bellied whistling duck is listed as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN); its global population is estimated at 1,100,000–2,000,000 birds and increasing.


The white-faced whistling duck (Dendrocygna viduata) is a whistling duck that breeds in sub-Saharan Africa and much of South America.
This species is gregarious, and at favoured sites, the flocks of a thousand or more birds arriving at dawn are an impressive sight. As the name implies, these are noisy birds with a clear three-note whistling call.


The white-faced whistling duck a long grey bill, a long head, and longish legs. It has a black neck and head, and distinctive white face that gives them their name, though the amount of white color visible has regional variations among the species. For example, the white-faced whistling ducks with more black coloration are commonly found in western Africa where rainfall supersedes the dry season. The back and wings are dark brown to black, and the underparts are black with a fine white barring on the flanks. The neck is chestnut. Males and females have similar plumage. Juveniles are similar in color to adults, but have a much less contrasted head pattern.


The white-faced whistling duck has a peculiar disjunctive distribution, occurring in Africa and South America. It has been suggested that they may have been transported to new locations worldwide by humans. The habitat is still freshwater lakes or reservoirs, with plentiful vegetation, where this duck feeds on seeds and other plant food.
The white-faced whistling duck has escaped or been deliberately released in to Florida, USA, but there is no evidence that the population is breeding and may only persist due to continuing releases or escapes.


It nests on a stick platform near the ground, and lays 8-12 eggs. Trees are occasionally used for nesting.


The white-faced whistling duck is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.


Dendrolycopodium dendroideum, synonym Lycopodium dendroideum, known as tree groundpine, is a North American species of clubmoss.  It is part of a complex of species colloquially known as groundpine, which taxa were formerly lumped into the species Lycopodium obscurum. The species is native to Russia and also to the colder parts of North America (all states and provinces in Canada except Nunavut; northern and east-central United States including Alaska). The genus Dendrolycopodium is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), but not in other classifications, which submerge the genus in Lycopodium.
Dendrolycopodium dendroideum prefers humus-rich, sandy, moist but not completely saturated soils. It is very similar to D. obscurum except for side shoots that are round in cross-section rather than flat, and having leaves all the same size.


Historically, this and other related clubmosses had been collected for decorative Christmas greenery. Overharvesting clubmosses destroys the slow growing, increasingly rare plant. The spore of this species was also collected as Lycopodium powder for use in early photography, although this was not the preferred species for the purpose.


Dennstaedtia punctilobula, the eastern hayscented fern or hay-scented fern, is a species of fern native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland west to Wisconsin and Arkansas, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to northern Alabama; it is most abundant in the east of its range, with only scattered populations in the west.
It is a deciduous fern with fronds growing to 40–100 cm (rarely 130 cm) tall and 10–30 cm broad; the fronds are bipinnate, with pinnatifid pinnules about three times as long as broad. It occurs in damp or dry acidic soils in woods or open woods, from sea level up to 1,200 m altitude.
Dennstaedtia punctilobula can exhibit varying degrees of phototropism. The common name "Hay-scented Fern" comes from the fact that crushing it produces an aroma of fresh hay.
The presence of Dennstaedtia punctilobula influences the dynamics of the understory vegetation of many forests in the eastern United States. An abundance of Rubus allegheniensis in open areas encourages new tree seedlings. Where the effects of herbivorous animals (such as deer) reduce the abundance of Rubus allegheniensis, Dennstaedtia punctilobula, which is not browsed by deer, takes over. Where Dennstaedtia punctilobula becomes common, the growth of tree seedlings is restricted.


Deparia acrostichoides, commonly called silvery glade fern or silvery spleenwort, is a perennial species of fern. Its range include much of the eastern United States and Canada, from Ontario to Nova Scotia, and Georgia to Louisiana and eastern Asia in China, Russia, Japan and Korea. The name silvery comes from the fact that the indusia on the underside of the leaf have a silver color when the sori are close to ripening.


Silvery spleenwort has pinnately divided yellowish green leaves arising from a stout, green, slightly brown hairy and scaly stem.  The stem is typically grooved on the upper side, much shorter than the leaf blade and darker colored near its base, being dark red or brown, as the stem reaches the leaflets it becomes a pale green color. The leaves are broadest in the middle with a long pointed tip and tapering base with the lowest pair of leaflets generally pointing downward. The tapering and downward pointed bottom leaves are a diagnostic characteristic for helping to distinguish this fern from similar ferns.
The leaves are 30–80 cm long and 10–25 cm in width, their underside is covered in fuzzy yellow-green hairs. There are approximately 18 leaflets on a leaf, these are approximately 15 cm long and 1 cm wide and relatively straight. The leaflets are themselves cut into oblong subleaflets which may have a blunt or rounded tip. The sterile and fertile leaflets are similar in form. The fertile leaves bear sori on the underside of the leaves and are silvery green at first but later become light brown as they ripen. The sori are pinnately arranged on the subleafets in a pattern which follows the veination; they are typically straight or slightly curved with a thick indusia with an entire margin. The fertile pinnae can be described as acrostichoid as the sporangia covers almost the entirety of the underside of the leaf surface. Acrostichoid is also the term from which D. acrostichoides derives its species name.
It often forms extensive colonies, growing from creeping roots. Silvery spleenwort is a common fern in stream bottoms, moist woods, and cool shaded areas throughout its range.


Deschampsia cespitosa, commonly known as tufted hairgrass or tussock grass, is a perennial tufted plant in the grass family Poaceae. Distribution of this species is widespread including the eastern and western coasts of North America, parts of South America, Eurasia and Australia.
The species is cultivated as an ornamental garden plant, and numerous cultivars are available. The cultivars 'Goldschleier' and 'Goldtau'  have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
It is a larval host to the Juba skipper and the umber skipper.


A distinguishing feature is the upper surface of the leaf blade which feels rough and can cut in one direction, but is smooth in the opposite direction. The dark green upper sides of the leaves are deeply grooved.
It can grow to 4.5 ft (1.4 m) tall, and has a long, narrow, pointed ligule. It flowers from June until August.
It can be found on all types of grassland, although it prefers poorly drained soil. It forms a major component of the British NVC community MG9  - Holcus lanatus to Deschampsia cespitosa mesotrophic grasslands.  It can exist up to altitudes of 4000 ft. Typical native grass associates in the western North American coastal prairies, such as the California coastal prairie, are Festuca californica, Festuca idahoensis, Danthonia californica,  and Nassella pulchra.


Deschampsia cespitosa subsp. cespitosa (synonyms: Deschampsia bottnica (Wahlenb.) Trin.; Deschampsia littoralis (Gaudin) Reut.)


Desmanthus illinoensis, commonly known as Illinois bundleflower, prairie-mimosa or prickleweed, is a common plant in many areas of the south central and Midwestern US.


It can often be found growing on the sides of roads, needing full sun and ample moisture during its short growing season.
USDA Zones 5-8 are recommended for outside cultivation.


Root bark of D. illinoensis has been found to contain N,N-DMT, NMT, N-hydroxy-N-methyltryptamine, 2-hydroxy-N-methyltryptamine, and gramine (toxic).


The plant is nutritious and high in protein.
The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas has done extensive research into the food uses of the seeds of this plant.  Studies found the dry seeds composed of 38% protein, compared to 40% for soybeans.


The root bark is mixed with a native source of beta-Carbolines (e.g., passion flower in North America) to produce a hallucinogenic analogous of the shamanic brew ayahuasca.


The elderberry borer, Desmocerus palliatus, is a species of Cerambycidae that occurs in Eastern North America.


The adult is 17 to 26 mm, mostly a shimmering dark blue, and the bases of the elytra are yellow to yellow-red. It is likely a mimic of beetles in the family Lycidae, as is the moth Lycomorpha pholus found in the same area.


It ranges from Oklahoma, central North America, to parts of the southern Appalachian mountains. They tend to be more abundant in the northern part of its range. They can be seen in swampy areas and near streams that support their host plant.


Eggs are laid near stems or at the base of the plant, the larvae then burrow their way into the stems and eat tunnels into the roots of the living plant. They can be seen between April and August.
Adult food
Pollen
Sambucus
Larval food
Sambucus


Desmodium canadense is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is native to eastern North America. Its common names include showy tick-trefoil, Canadian tick-trefoil, and Canada tickclover.
The plant is a perennial herb and grows in woods, prairies, and disturbed habitat, such as roadsides. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant. It is a larval host plant for butterflies such as the eastern tailed-blue, silver-spotted skipper, and hoary edge. The plant attracts butterflies and hummingbirds. Flowers are pea-shaped, pink to purple in color, and bloom between July to September.


Dianella nigra, (turutu in Māori, New Zealand blueberry or ink berry) is a perennial herb of the family Asphodelaceae, subfamily Hemerocallidoideae, found in New Zealand. The bright blue berries are attractive to birds, but they are very bitter and are not considered edible by humans, and may be poisonous if eaten in large amounts.


Dianthus barbatus, the sweet William, is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, native to southern Europe and parts of Asia. It has become a popular ornamental garden plant. It is a herbaceous biennial or short-lived perennial plant growing to 13–92 cm tall, with flowers in a dense cluster of up to 30 at the top of the stems. Each flower is 2–3 cm diameter with five petals displaying serrated edges. Wild plants produce red flowers with a white base, but colours in cultivars range from white, pink, red, and purple to variegated patterns. The exact origin of its English common name is unknown but first appears in 1596 in botanist John Gerard's garden catalogue. The flowers are edible and may have medicinal properties. Sweet William attracts bees, birds, and butterflies.


Sweet William grows in the mountains of southern Europe from the Pyrenees east to the Carpathians and the Balkans, with a variety disjunct in northeastern China, Korea, and southeasternmost Russia. It grows to 13–92 cm tall (depending on the variety), with green to glaucous blue-green tapered leaves 4–10 cm long and 1–2 cm broad. The flowers are produced in a dense cluster of up to 30 at the top of the stems (known as an umbel) and have a spicy, clove-like scent; each flower is 2–3 cm diameter with five petals with serrated edges; in wild plants the petals are red with a white base.
There are two varieties:
Dianthus barbatus var. barbatus. Southern Europe. Leaves broader, up to 2 cm broad.
Dianthus barbatus var. asiaticus Nakai. Northeastern Asia. Leaves slenderer, not over 1 cm broad.


Many legends purport to explain how sweet William acquired its English common name, but none is verified. It is often said to honour the 18th century Prince William, Duke of Cumberland. As a result of the Duke's victory at the Battle of Culloden and his generally brutal treatment of the king's enemies, it is also claimed that the Scots sometimes call the flower "stinking Billy". Though this makes a nice story, it is entirely untrue. The Scots sometimes refer to the noxious ragwort as stinking willy in memory of the infamous Duke. Phillips speculated that the flower was named after Gerard's contemporary, William Shakespeare. It is also said to be named after Saint William of York or after William the Conqueror. Another etymological derivation is that william is a corruption of the French oeillet, meaning both "carnation" and "little eye". Sweet William is a favourite name for lovelorn young men in English folkloric ballads, e.g., "Fair Margaret and Sweet William".


Sweet William is a popular ornamental plant in gardens, with numerous cultivars and hybrids selected for differing flower colour, ranging from white, pink, red, and purple to variegated patterns.
The plant was introduced to northern Europe in the 16th century, and later to North America and elsewhere, and has become locally to widely naturalised in these areas.
John Gerard praises its beauty but omits any reference to medicinal uses. Its height makes it convenient for flower arrangements. In the Victorian language of flowers, sweet william symbolizes gallantry. The plant is widely used in borders, rock gardens and informal country cottage style gardens. Sweet William is a good candidate for a naturalistic garden because its nectar attracts birds, bees, and butterflies. Its flowers are considered edible.
Sweet Williams is a family of dianthus.
It thrives in loamy, slightly alkaline soil with sun to partial shade. Propagation is by seed, cuttings, or division, but seeds of cultivars will not breed true. If it is planted from seed after the last frost, it will flower in the second year. If it is planted in flats before the last frost and then transplanted, it may flower in the first year. Some gardeners recommend deadheading to encourage further flowering. The plant is self-seeding. Sweet William can suffer from Fusarium Wilt which causes the leaves to curl or droop down.
In 1977 the question of possible medical uses was revisited by Cordell. Saponins were found in Sweet William, but there has been little follow-up.
At the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton on 29 April 2011, Catherine Middleton included Sweet William in her bouquet, a tribute to her bridegroom.


Dianthus superbus, the fringed pink or large pink, is a species of Dianthus native to Europe and northern Asia, from northernmost Spain and France north to arctic Norway, and east to Japan; in the south of its range, it occurs at high altitudes, up to 2,400 m.
It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 80 cm tall. The leaves are green to greyish green, slender, up to 8 cm long. The flowers are sweetly scented, 3–5 cm in diameter, with five deeply cut fringed petals, pink to lavender with a greenish base; they are produced in branched clusters at the top of the stems from early to late summer.
There are six subspecies:
Dianthus superbus subsp. superbus. Most of the species' range.
Dianthus superbus subsp. autumnalis Oberd. Southwestern France.
Dianthus superbus subsp. sylvestris Čelak. Germany.
Dianthus superbus subsp. alpestris Kablík. ex Čelak. (syn. D. s. subsp. speciosus). Alps, Carpathians, at high altitudes. Shorter stems; leaves greyer; flowers large.
Dianthus superbus subsp. stenocalyx (Trautv. ex Juz.) Kleopow. Southern Russia, Ukraine.
Dianthus superbus subsp. longicalycinus (Maxim.) Kitam. Japan. Also called nadeshiko (ナデシコ).
It is the only food source of the large moth Coleophora musculella.


Dianthus superbus is a popular garden plant and several cultivars and hybrids have been selected, with flower colour varying from white to red or purple, usually with a green centre. It thrives in ordinary to dry soil in full sun; partial shade is preferred in hot climates. It is self-sowing and can be propagated by seed, by division of the roots, layering of the stems or cuttings from growing shoots. Deadheading extends the blooming period. The flowers sit atop stems approximately 25–45 cm tall, while the gray-green linear leaves form a mat at the base of the plant 20–30 cm wide. Because D. superbus is low to the ground, those who want to enjoy its fragrance find planting it in groups desirable.
The leaves are edible when young, and can be eaten when boiled. The flowers contain sweet nectar, and the foliage can be eaten or boiled to make a drink. The plant contains toxic saponins, but not enough to be harmful. It has historically been used in Chinese herbology as a contraceptive, diuretic, and anti-infective; its Chinese name is qúmài (瞿麦).


The yamato nadeshiko (D. superbus longicalycinus) is metaphorically associated with traditional, idealized feminine beauty, in Japanese culture.


Diaperia verna, common names spring pygmycudweed, spring rabbit-tobacco or many-stem rabbit-tobacco, is a plant species in the sunflower family, native to northern Mexico (from Sonora to Tamaulipas) and the southern United States (from Arizona to Louisiana, with isolated populations (possibly introductions) in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina).
Diaperia verna is an herb with greenish or grayish leaves due to a coating of woolly hairs. One plant usually produces several flower heads, the corollas hidden by surrounding bracts.
Varieties
Diaperia verna var. drummondii (Torr. & A.Gray) Morefield -  coastal Alabama + Texas
Diaperia verna var. verna - Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Sonora, Tamaulipas).


It is an agricultural pest in several Caribbean countries.


In 1964 this weevil was accidentally introduced in the US, state of Florida, where it is at present a major pest of citrus. It was first discovered in southern California in 2005, where it is a pest of citrus, avocado, and nursery stock. In Texas it was found in the Rio Grande Valley in 2000, resulting in a 2001 quarantine, and then in 2009 around Houston. Another sighting in 2019 confirms that it is still in the area. Another sighting in Pearland, TX in June of 2022.


Citrus, avocado, and nursery stock. It is also known to infest sugarcane, tuber-bearing crops such as potatoes, and ornamental plants.


Common names for the insect include diaprepes root weevil, citrus root weevil and sugarcane rootstock borer weevil.


The adult citrus root weevil is somewhat variable in size but just over 1 cm (3⁄8 in) in length on average. Its elytra are glossy black with large stripes of tiny yellowish-orange scales, and its head and legs are black. It has adhesive pads on its legs which confer the ability to adhere to very smooth surfaces. The larva is a plump pale grub with a dark head, up to 2.5 cm (31⁄32 in) in length. A female weevil might lay 5,000 eggs, depositing them in clusters on leaves, then folding and gluing the leaves together. After a week the larvae emerge from the eggs, fall to the ground, and burrow down to the roots of the host plant. They feed on the roots for several months, which is very damaging to the plant. While the adult weevil does feed on the foliage of the plant, it is the larvae that do the most damage. They often eat the taproot of the plant, which can kill it by depriving it of water and nutrients or by making it vulnerable to infection by fungi, or water moulds such as Phytophthora. The weevil spreads mainly by "hitchhiking" when infested plants, soil, and containers are moved from site to site.


Dicentra cucullaria, Dutchman's britches, or Dutchman's breeches, is a perennial herbaceous plant, native to rich woods of eastern North America, with a disjunct population in the Columbia Basin.
The common name Dutchman's breeches derives from their white flowers that look like white breeches.


The rootstock is a cluster of small pink to white teardrop-shaped bulblets (more precisely, miniature tubers). Leaves are 10–36 cm (4–14+1⁄4 in) long and 4–18 cm (1+1⁄2–7 in) broad, with a petiole (leaf stalk) 5–24 cm (2–9+1⁄2 in) long. They are trifoliate, with finely divided leaflets.
The flowers usually white, rarely suffused with pink, 1–2 cm (1⁄2–3⁄4 in) long. They are produced in early spring in racemes of 3 to 14 flowers on peduncles (flower stalks) 12–25 cm (4+3⁄4–9+3⁄4 in) long. Unlike the closely related Dicentra canadensis (squirrel corn), the flowers lack fragrance.
The pistil of a pollinated flower develops into a slender pod 7–16 mm (1⁄4–5⁄8 in) long and 3–5 mm (1⁄8–3⁄16 in), narrowed to a point on both ends. The capsule splits in half when the seeds are ripe. The seeds are kidney-shaped, with a faint netlike pattern. Each one has a fleshy organ called an elaiosome that attracts ants. Dutchman's breeches is one of many plants whose seeds are spread by ants, a process called myrmecochory. The ants take the seeds to their nest, where they eat the elaiosomes, and put the seeds in their nest debris, where they are protected until they germinate. They also get the added bonus of growing in a medium made richer by the ant nest debris.
The leaves and flower stems die back in late spring after the seed has ripened, and the bulblets remain dormant through the summer. In the fall, starch in the bulblets is converted to sugar, and the beginnings of the next spring's leaves and flowers develop below ground.
The western populations have sometimes been separated as Dicentra occidentalis on the basis of often somewhat coarser growth, but do not differ from many eastern plants in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.


Dicentra cucullaria is dependent on bumblebees (especially Bombus bimaculatus, a common eastern North American species) for cross-pollination.  In fact, the flower structure and mechanism by which it is pollinated indicate that it is adapted for bumblebees, which can separate the outer and inner petals of the flower.  They will then use their front legs to expose the stigma, stamen, and anthers.  Shortly afterwards, they will sweep pollen in a forward stroke by utilizing their middle legs, before leaving the flower to return to the colony with the pollen.  In this way, D. cucullaria is pollinated as the bees move from plant to plant, and the bumblebee meets its dietary needs.
The effect of a hallucinogenic compound contained in the plant on livestock has led ranchers to refer to it as 'Staggerweed'.


Dutchman's breeches was likely introduced to cultivation in England when Philip Miller introduced it to the Chelsea Physic Garden. Miller likely received it from John Bartram. The species was, however, not mentioned in American horticultural literature until the early 19th century.
Two clones with pink flowers have received cultivar names: 'Pittsburg', which turns pink under certain conditions, and 'Pink Punk', collected by Henrik Zetterlund on Saddle Mountain in Oregon, is more consistently pink.


Native Americans and early white practitioners considered this plant useful for syphilis, skin conditions and as a blood purifier. Dutchman's breeches contains several alkaloids that may have effects on the brain and heart.
However, D. cucullaria may be toxic and causes contact dermatitis in some people.


Dicentra formosa (western, wild or Pacific bleeding heart) is a flowering plant with fern-like leaves and an inflorescence of drooping pink, purple, yellow or cream flowers native to the Pacific Coast of North America.


Pacific bleeding-heart is a perennial herbaceous plant. Its leaves are three to four times divided and fern-like, growing from a brittle rhizome at the base of the plant. It grows to 18 in (45 cm) tall by 24 in (60 cm) wide.
The flowers are pink, red, or white and heart-shaped and bloom in clusters of 5 to 15 at the top of leafless, fleshy stems above the leaves from mid-spring to autumn, with peak flowering in spring. The four petals are attached at the base. The two outer petals form a pouch at the base and curve outwards at the tips. The two inner petals are perpendicular to the outer petals and connected at the tip. There are two tiny, pointed sepals behind the petals. Seeds are borne in plump, pointed pods. The plant self-seeds readily. It frequently goes dormant for the summer after flowering, emerging and flowering again in autumn.
The species contains isoquinoline, a toxic alkaloid known to be fatal to cattle.
The Pacific bleeding-heart is frequently confused with the fringed bleeding-heart (Dicentra eximia) and sold under that name. The fringed bleeding-heart has narrower flowers and longer, more curved outer petal tips. D. formosa is related to Lamprocapnos spectabilis, another popular plant called "bleeding heart", which was formerly placed in the same genus.


The Pacific bleeding-heart is native to moist woodland, forest, and streambanks from California to British Columbia, from sea level to the subalpine zone.
There are two subspecies, Dicentra formosa subsp. formosa and Dicentra formosa subsp. oregona. Subsp. formosa grows in the majority of the plant's range, from Vancouver Island and southern British Columbia and south through Washington and Oregon to central California in the Coast Ranges and Cascades, and on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. Subsp. oregana grows in a small area of southern Oregon and northern California in serpentine soils in the Siskiyou Mountains. These subspecies are also distinguished by appearance:
Dicentra formosa subsp. formosa – leaves glaucous beneath and never glaucous above, flowers purple pink to pink or white
Dicentra formosa subsp. oregona (often spelled oregana) – leaves glaucous above and beneath, flowers cream or pale yellow


Dicentra formosa is widely grown as a garden plant, and several cultivars have been developed. Those marked agm have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:
white and green flowers
'Langtrees' (= 'Pearl Drops') – bluish-green leaves
'Margaret Fish' – bluish-gray-green
'Quicksilver' – bluish-gray-green – resentful of hot, humid climates and sun
'Snowflakes' (= 'Fusd') – green
'Sweetheart' – green
pink and red flowers
'Bacchanal' agm – deep red flowers
'Coldham' – deep burgundy
'Luxuriant' agm – red flowers
'Zestful' – deep rose-pink
There are several hybrid cultivars involving D. formosa, the eastern American species D. eximia and the Japanese species D. peregrina:
'Adrian Bloom' (from a seedling of D. 'Bountiful') – dark pink flowers, bluish-green leaves
'Aurora' (D. formosa × D. eximia) – pure white, gray-green – particularly tolerant of hot-humid climates
'Bountiful' (D. formosa subsp. oregana × D. eximia) – rosy red, bluish-green
'Gothenburg' (D. formosa subsp. oregana × D. peregrina f. alba) – light pink, compact
'King of Hearts' – D. peregrina × (D. formosa subsp. oregana × D. eximia) – pink, bluish-gray-green
'Silversmith' (D. formosa subsp. oregana × D. eximia) – white pink-tinted, green
'Stuart Boothman' agm (D. formosa subsp. oregana × D. eximia) – deep pink, gray-green


The Pacific bleeding-heart (Dicentra formosa subsp. formosa) was first noted by Europeans when the Scottish surgeon and naturalist Archibald Menzies encountered it on the Vancouver Expedition. Menzies collected seed in 1792 in Nootka Sound, and gave it to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in 1795. From there, seed made its way into cultivation in Europe. It apparently was not cultivated in the United States until 1835, when William Kenrick began selling the plant in Boston. The subspecies oregana was first cultivated around 1932, when it was offered by Borsch and Sons in Oregon, but is not grown very often.


Dichanthelium clandestinum is a species of grass known by the common name deertongue. It is native to eastern North America, including eastern Canada and the eastern United States.
This species is a rhizomatous perennial grass forming clumps of hairy stems up to 1.4 meters tall. Five to 10 leaves are located along the stem. Each is up to 25 centimeters long by 3 wide, lance-shaped, sometimes rigid, and hairless to slightly hairy. There are two types of inflorescence. The main panicle contains many spikelets with flowers that open and are pollinated. Another type of inflorescence contains cleistogamous flowers: flowers which do not open and pollinate themselves. These are located in the sheaths of the stem leaves and are sometimes hidden. They are produced later in the year than the open panicle. There are about 400,000 seeds per pound.
This plant is tolerant of high levels of aluminum in soils. It tolerates acid soils and thin, infertile soils. It can be used to revegetate reclaimed land such as mine spoils. The cultivar 'Tioga' has been available since 1975.
The seeds of deertongue attract many types of birds, such as turkeys. The grass is not considered a good forage for livestock because it is low in nutrients.


Dichelostemma congestum is a species of flowering plant known by the common name ookow or fork-toothed ookow.
This perennial wildflower is native to the hills and mountains of western North America, from British Columbia through California.
Its tall, thin, naked stem is topped with an inflorescence packed densely with six to 15 flowers, each about a centimeter wide and long, with usually six petal-like lobes in shades of bright purple.
It was first published in 1811 as Brodiaea congesta.


Dichomeris flavocostella, the cream-edged dichomeris moth, is a moth in the family Gelechiidae. It was described by James Brackenridge Clemens in 1860. It is found in North America, where it has been recorded from southern Quebec and Maine to Florida, west to Texas and north to Manitoba.
The wingspan is 15–18 mm. The forewings are purplish black with a cream-colored strip along the costa to the apex. A spur of this strip points inward in the postmedian area. The hindwings are gray. Adults are on wing from May to August.
The larvae feed on Solidago and Aster species.


Dichondra repens is a small, prostrate, herbaceous plant native to New Zealand and many parts of Australia. It is occasionally known as kidney weed in Australia and as Mercury Bay weed in New Zealand. Most commonly called dichondra in Australia.
The plant often occurs in forest, woodland, and grassland habitat types. It can also be found in lawns, where it may be deliberately planted or come up as a weed. In California as well as parts of China it has escaped gardens and naturalised in some habitats.


Dichondra repens was originally described by German naturalists Johann Reinhold Forster and Georg Forster, its specific epithet the Latin adjective repens, meaning "creeping". The lectotype was collected by them in New Zealand and is in the Forster collection at Göttingen. In Convolvulaceae, the Morning Glory Family.


The plant is a perennial herb that has a creeping habit, with roots forming at the nodes. The leaves are kidney-shaped to circular and measure 0.5 to 2.5 cm (0.2–1 in) long. The base of the leaf is heart-shaped (cordate) and its apex emarginated or rounded. The upper and undersurface of the leaf are covered in fine hair. The tiny yellowish-green flowers can appear at any time of the year, more profusely from September to February and most so in November. The fruit is a hairy, two-lobed capsule.


Dichondra repens occurs in South Africa. It is found in all mainland Australian states and Tasmania. Within New South Wales it is widespread across eastern and central parts of the state.
It grows on clay or clay-based soils that are medium to high in nutrients in flat places in forested areas. Associated species in New South Wales are river peppermint (Eucalyptus elata), thin-leaved stringybark (E. eugenioides), woollybutt (E. longifolia) and snow-in-summer (Melaleuca linariifolia).


The native Pacific black duck (Anas superciliosa) eats the seeds.


This species is cultivated as an ornamental plant, and can be used as a lawn substitute or groundcover in gardens. It comes in shades of green through to grey.


Dichromanthus cinnabarinus, commonly known as scarlet ladies' tresses, is a terrestrial species of orchid. It is common across much of Mexico, south to Guatemala, and north into Texas.


Dichromorpha viridis, the short-winged green grasshopper, is a common species of slant-faced grasshoppers found in North America.
This grasshopper, as the common name suggests, is mostly green coloured with a face that slants dorsally. The female of the species, however, is typically brown, and usually much larger than the male.


Dichrostachys cinerea, known as sicklebush, Bell mimosa, Chinese lantern tree or Kalahari Christmas tree (South Africa), is a legume of the genus Dichrostachys in the family Fabaceae.
Other common names include omubambanjobe (Tooro Uganda), acacia Saint Domingue (French), el marabú (Cuba), " Mpangara" (Shona), Kalahari-Weihnachtsbaum (German of former South West Africa), kéké or mimosa clochette (Réunion).


The generic name Dichrostachys means 'two-colored spike', referring to its two-colored inflorescence, from the Ancient Greek δί- (di-, 'twice'), χροός (khroos, 'color'), and στάχυς (stakhus, 'ear of grain'). The specific name cinerea refers to the greyish hairs of the typical subspecies, from the Latin cinereus ('ashes').


It is native to Africa, Indian subcontinent and North Australia and introduced to the Caribbean and parts of Southeast Asia. In Ethiopia, the species is common in the Nechisar National Park.
The tree was brought to the Caribbean in the 19th century.  In Cuba, where it is known as El Marabú or Marabou weed, it has become a serious invasive species problem, occupying about 4,900,000 acres (20,000 km²) of agricultural land. Plans are underway to exploit it as a source of biomass for renewable power generation.
This tree is appearing in peninsular Florida. It is as yet uncertain if it was introduced by humans or birds.


They typically grow up to 7 metres (23 ft) in height and have strong alternate thorns, generally up to 8 cm (3.1 in) long. The bipinnately compound leaves are up to 15 centimetres (5.9 in) long. Flowers of the Dichrostachys cinerea are characteristically in bicoloured cylindrical spikes that resemble Chinese lanterns and are 6 to 8 centimetres (2.4 to 3.1 in) long and fragrant. Upper flowers of a hanging spike are sterile, and are of a lilac or pale purple. Pods are usually a mustard brown and are generally twisted or spiralled and may be up to 100 by 15 millimetres (3.94 in × 0.59 in). The species can be subcategorized with two slight variations that have been recognised: D. cinerea ssp. africana and D. cinerea ssp. nyassana, the latter which is typically larger and less hairy in its foliage.
The species tends to grow in drier forests and woodlands at altitudes up to 2,000 metres (6,600 ft). It often occurs in areas with a strong seasonal climate with a wide-ranging mean annual temperature and with a mean annual rainfall ranging from 200 to 400 millimetres (7.9 to 15.7 in). It occurs in brushwood, thickets, hedges, teak forest and grassland and generally takes to poorer quality clay soils or deep and sandy soils with a wide pH range.
In India, it occurs in dry deciduous forest.
In southern Africa, Dichrostachys cinerea generally flowers from October to February with fruiting from May to September. The tree generally grows at a medium to slow rate, 6 to 8 centimetres (2.4 to 3.1 in) per year.


Fruit and seeds that grow on Dichrostachys cinerea are edible. Cattle, camels and game such as giraffe, buffalo, kudu, hartebeest, nyala, red forest duiker and Damara dik-dik feed on the juicy pods that fall to the ground. Such animals also feed on the immature twigs and leaves of the tree which are rich in protein (11–15%) and minerals. The flowers can be a valuable source of honey. The wood is of a dense nature and burns slowly with no toxicity, so it is often used for fuelwood. The species yields a medium to heavy, durable hardwood and is often used in smaller domestic items as walking sticks, handles, spears and tool handles, particularly in central Africa.
Although but there is currently limited to no evidence that can support these claims, the bark is used in traditional medicine for headache, toothache, dysentery, elephantiasis, root infusions are used for leprosy, syphilis, coughs, as an anthelmintic, purgative and strong diuretic, leaves are used for epilepsy  and also as a diuretic and laxative, and a powdered form is massaged on limbs with bone fractures. The roots are also sometimes used for bites or stings. In Siddha medicine of the Tamils in southern India, Dichrostachys cinerea is called vidathther and used for gonorrhea, syphilis and eczema.
As they are rich in nutrients, the plants are often used as fertiliser, particularly in the Sahel region of Africa along riverbanks. The plant is widely used for soil conservation, particularly in India, for shallow soils, and in arid western and subhumid alluvial plains.
It is also cultivated as an indoor bonsai specimen.
Despite its various uses, it is generally regarded a threat to agricultural production and is listed on the Global Invasive Species Database.


Dicksonia fibrosa, the golden tree fern, whekī-ponga or kuripaka (in Māori) is a species of medium-sized tree fern native to New Zealand.
D. fibrosa has a thick, soft and fibrous rusty brown trunk. It holds on to its dead leaves producing a distinctive pale brown skirt, distinguishing it from the related Dicksonia squarrosa. A slow-growing plant, similar to Dicksonia antarctica, D. fibrosa can reach a height of 6 metres (20 ft). It requires winter protection in any area that is subject to winter frosts. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


D. fibrosa can be found in the South Island, Stewart and Chatham Islands; also in the North Island, but is uncommon north of the Waikato River and Coromandel Peninsula.


Dicranopteris linearis is a common species of fern known by many common names, including Old World forked fern, uluhe (Hawaiian), and dilim (Filipino). It is one of the most widely distributed ferns of the wet Old World tropics and adjacent regions, including Polynesia and the Pacific. In parts of the New World tropics its niche is filled by its relative, Dicranopteris pectinatus.
This rhizomatous fern spreads via cloning, spreading along the ground and climbing on other vegetation, often forming thickets 3 metres deep or more. The stem grows from the rhizome, branches at a 45° angle, and forms fronds that continue to bud and branch. In this way the growth can continue for a long distance as the plant forms a mat, grows over itself in layers, and spreads. When climbing, the leafy branches can reach over 6 metres long and can climb 10 high when supported by a tree. The ultimate segments of the leaves are linear in shape, up to 7 centimeters long by a few millimeters wide. The undersides are hairy and sometimes waxy. It can also reproduce via spores.
The fern grows easily on poorly drained, nutrient-poor soils and in disturbed habitats and steep slopes. It does not tolerate shade, so once established it will eventually be shaded out by taller vegetation unless it climbs above it. It may suppress the growth of new stands of trees, especially when it becomes a dense thicket.
The fern is a keystone species in Hawaiian ecosystems, and dominates many areas in Hawaiian rainforests. It occurs on all the main Hawaiian islands. As a pioneer species in ecological succession, it can colonize bare sites such as lava flows, talus, and abandoned roads. When the fern grows onto a new site it produces layers of stems and leaves repeatedly until there is a network of vegetation. The leaves die and the stems are very slow to decompose, so the network persists. The network then fills with organic forest detritus, forming a litter layer which can be a meter thick. The network is penetrated by the fern's rhizomes and roots, such that the fern serves as its own substrate. Where the fern is eliminated, invasive species of plants can move in, so "one important function" of the fern is to prevent these plants from encroaching on the rainforest. The fern may have allelopathic effects, preventing the growth of other plants. Also, the fern is a very productive member of the forest ecosystem; despite being a relatively small amount of the biomass in the forest it accounts for over half of the primary productivity in some areas.
This plant is used medicinally to treat intestinal worms in Indochina, skin ulcers and wounds in New Guinea, and fever in Malaysia. In vitro samples of the fern kill bacteria.
The Diliman district in Quezon City in the Philippines' National Capital Region derived its name from Dicranopteris linearis, locally known as "Dilim" (the suffix "-an" indicates a place where something, in this case the fern, is common).   As such, it is also the origin of the name of the University of the Philippines Diliman campus.
The fiddleheads of the fern are used in floral arrangements.


Dicromantispa sayi is a species of mantidfly in the family Mantispidae. It is found in the Caribbean Sea, Central America, and North America.
Identification:
Head: Brown to black with pale yellow marks. Face has a longitudinal yellow stripe each side of center; middle dark area appearing as a dark stripe, sometimes incomplete. Pattern of yellow oblong spots on top of head; can be obscure. Eyes multi-colored.
Antenna: Brown except segment 1 yellowish, more so on underside.
Thorax: Neck (prothorax) long and slender, more cone-shaped at head. Cream-colored patch at base and end of neck; rest yellowish-brown to dark brown. Usually with a light or dark colored longitudinal stripe down center. Thorax side on female  dark with cream, curved lines. Male sides mostly pale.
Wings: Wings clear with brown veins; no brown spots at wing tips. Base and outside edge of wings dark brown (costa area), with a faint yellowish streak. Stigma at end of costa also dark brown.
Legs: Front legs modified, similar to praying mantis; dark brown with light streaks. Usually folded up and not used, except for eating. Mid and hind legs pale yellow with brown streaks; females have joint to body (coxae) brown; male coxae pale.
Abdomen: Yellowish-brown to dark brown with yellow marks. Female abdomen always darker, and may be entirely black; the yellow marks vary considerably. Abdomen side edges cream, almost entirely on male, more spotted on female.
Similar Species: Dicromantispa interrupta is a larger species with a dark patch near tip of wing.
Leptomantispa pulchella has side-by-side (paired) yellow stripes of even width running down sides of abdomen, whereas D. sayi has uneven width pattern down sides.
L. pulchella also has a bright, burnt orange stigma on wings, not brown as in D. sayi. Otherwise, these two are identical.
Size: 14 to 15 mm long.
Habitat: Forest edges and prairies where spiders are present.
Food: Adults feed on small flying insects. Larvae hunt for just about any species spider eggs, but major hosts are Wolf and Hunting spiders Lycosidae, and Running Crab Spider Philodromus vulgaris.
Flight Time: Jul 15 to Sep 4th. Peaks end of July
Life Cycle: Females lay eggs on any substrate. Larvae hatch, wander, find and either penetrate wolf spider egg sacs, or hitch a ride on adult female spiders ready to lay eggs. 1st instar over-winters. One generation per year.
Synonyms: Banks, 1897
Mantispa sayi, Mantispa fuscicornis, Mantispa uhleri, Dicromantispa fuscicornis
References:
Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 1897, Vol. 24, pg. 23 by Banks.
Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 1911, Vol. 37, pp. 347 to 348 by Banks.
Psyche, 1943, Vol. 50: Neuroptera & Trichoptera of the United States by Banks, pp. 79 to 80.
Illinois Biological Monographs, 1985, Vol. 53: Developmental Ecology of Mantispa uhleri by Redborg and MacLeod.
Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 1989, Vol. 91 by Hoffman.
Canadian Entomologist, 2006, Vol. 138 #4: Mantispidae of Canada by Cannings and Cannings.
Types:
Lectotype Mantispa sayi male by Banks, 1897. Type Locality: Brazos Co. Texas. In the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard, Cambridge, Mass.
Lectotype Mantispa fuscicornis male by Banks, 1911. Type Locality: Kissimmee, Florida. In the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard, Cambridge, Mass.
Holotype Mantispa uhleri female by Banks, 1943. Type Locality: Pennsylvanica. In the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard, Cambridge, Mass.


The ashy drongo (Dicrurus leucophaeus) is a species of bird in the drongo family Dicruridae. It is found widely distributed across South and Southeast Asia with several populations that vary in the shade of grey, migration patterns and in the size or presence of  white patches around the eye.


The adult ashy drongo is mainly dark grey, and the tail is long and deeply forked, There are a number of subspecies varying in the shade of the grey plumage. Some subspecies have white markings on the head. Young birds are dull brownish grey.
Subspecies longicaudatus of India (which includes beavani of the Himalayas that winters on the peninsula, with one breeding population in central India that Vaurie separates as longicaudatus in the restricted sense) is very dark and almost like the black drongo although this bird is slimmer and has a somewhat longer and less-splayed tail. It is found in more tall forest habitat, has dark grey underside lacking the sheen of black drongo. The iris is crimson and there is no white rictal spot. Subspecies leucogenis and salangensis have a white eye-patch as do several of the island forms that breed further south. The calls are a little more nasal and twangy than that of the black drongo.


The ashy drongo breeds in the hills of tropical southern Asia from eastern Afghanistan east to southern China, Ryukyu Islands in southern Japan (particularly Okinawa) and Indonesia. Many populations in the northern part of its range are migratory. Charles Vaurie described subspecies beavani (after Robert Cecil Beavan) as the population that breeds along the Himalayas that wintered in peninsular India. However, later workers include this as part of longicaudatus which also has a population that breeds in central India. In winter, the species is particularly fond of hill forests. E. C. Stuart Baker described stevensi which Vaurie considered as being either beavani or hopwoodi of the eastern Himalayas. To the east of the range of hopwoodi is mouhouti of Thailand and Myanmar. To the north of this range are leucogenis and salangensis (both migratory mainly to areas further south but also known from Nagaland) while bondi is found to the south. Along the southeast Asian island chain, there are number of insular populations including periophthalmus, ryukyuensis, batakensis, phaedrus, siberu and nigrescens. The nominate form is said to be found on Simalur, Java, Bali, Lombok, Palawan, and Balabac Islands.


The ashy drongo has short legs and sits very upright while perched prominently, often high on a tree. It is insectivorous and forages by making aerial sallies but sometimes gleans from tree trunks. They are found singly, in pairs or small groups. During migration they fly in small flocks.
A common call that they make is described as drangh gip or gip-gip-drangh. They can imitate the calls of other birds and are capable of imitating the whistling notes of a common iora.
The breeding season is May to June with a clutch of three or four reddish or brown eggs laid in a loose cup nest in a tree.


The greater racket-tailed drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus) is a medium-sized Asian bird which is distinctive in having elongated outer tail feathers with webbing restricted to the tips. They are placed along with other drongos in the family Dicruridae. They are conspicuous in the forest habitats often perching in the open and by attracting attention with a wide range of loud calls that include perfect imitations of many other birds. One hypothesis suggested is that these vocal imitations may help in the formation of mixed-species foraging flocks, a feature seen in forest bird communities where many insect feeders forage together. These drongos will sometimes steal insect prey caught or disturbed by other foragers in the flock and another idea is that vocal mimicry helps them in diverting the attention of smaller birds to aid their piracy. They are diurnal but are active well before dawn and late at dusk. Owing to their widespread distribution and distinctive regional variation, they have become iconic examples of speciation by isolation and genetic drift.


In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the greater racket-tailed drongo in his Ornithologie based on a specimen that had been collected in Thailand (Siam). He used the French name Le Coucou Verd Hupé de Siam and the Latin Cuculus Siamensis Cristatus Viridis. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the greater racket-tailed drongo. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Cuculus paradiseus and cited Brisson's work. The current genus Dicrurus was introduced by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1816.
There are 13 recognised subspecies:
D. p. grandis (Gould, 1836) – north India through west and north Myanmar and south China to north Indochina
D. p. rangoonensis (Gould, 1836) – central India through Bangladesh, central Myanmar and north Thailand to central Indochina
D. p. paradiseus (Linnaeus, 1766) – south India to south Thailand, north Malay Peninsula and south Indochina
D. p. johni (Hartert, 1902) – Hainan Island (off southeast China)
D. p. ceylonicus Vaurie, 1949 – Sri Lanka
D. p. otiosus (Richmond, 1902) – Andaman Islands
D. p. nicobariensis (Baker, ECS, 1918) – Nicobar Islands
D. p. hypoballus (Oberholser, 1926) –  central Malay Peninsula
D. p. platurus Vieillot, 1817 – south Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and nearby islands
D. p. microlophus (Oberholser, 1917 – islands in the South China Sea (Tioman Island, Anambas Islands and the North Natuna Islands)
D. p. brachyphorus (Bonaparte, 1850) – Borneo
D. p. banguey (Chasen & Kloss, 1929) – islands off north Borneo
D. p. formosus (Cabanis, 1851) – Java


Like other drongos, these feed mainly on insects but also eat fruit and visit flowering trees for nectar. Having short legs, they sit upright and are often perched on high and exposed branches. They are aggressive and will sometimes mob larger birds especially when nesting. They are often active at dusk.
 Their calls are extremely varied and include monotonously repeated whistles, metallic and nasal sounds as well as more complex notes and imitations of other birds. They begin calling from as early as 4 am in moonlight often with a metallic tunk-tunk-tunk series. They have an ability to accurately mimic alarm calls of other birds that are learnt through interactions in mixed-species flocks. This is quite unusual, as avian vocal mimicry has hitherto been believed to be ignorant of the original context of the imitated vocalization. Grey parrots are known to use imitated human speech in correct context, but do not show this behavior in nature. This drongo's context-sensitive use of other species' alarm calls is thus analogous to a human learning useful short phrases and exclamations in a number of foreign languages. A special alarm note is raised in the presence of shikras that has been transcribed as a loud kwei-kwei-kwei...shee-cuckoo-sheecuckoo-sheecuckoo-why!. They have been said to imitate raptor calls so as to alarm other birds and steal prey from them in the ensuing panic. They are also known to imitate the calls of species (and possibly even behaviour as it was once recorded to fluff up and moving head and body like a jungle babbler when imitating its calls) that typically are members of mixed-species flocks such as babblers and it has been suggested that this has a role in the formation of mixed-species flocks. In some places they have been found to be kleptoparasitic on others in mixed-species flock, particularly laughingthrushes but they are most often involved in mutualistic and commensal relations. Several observers have found this drongo associating with foraging woodpeckers and there is a report of one following a troop of macaques.
The greater racket-tailed drongo is a resident breeder throughout its range. The breeding season in India is April to August. Their courtship display may involve hops and turns on branches with play behaviour involving dropping an object and picking it in mid air. Their cup nest is built in the fork of a tree, often a smooth-boled tree with an isolated canopy, The nesting pair may even remove bits of bark on the trunk to make it smooth. The usual clutch is three to four eggs. The eggs are creamy white with blotches of reddish brown which are more dense at the broad end.


The common whistle note that is made leads to its local name in many parts of India of kothwal (which means a "policeman" or "guard", who used a whistle that produced a similar note), a name also applied to the black drongo and in other places as the Bhimraj or Bhringaraj. In Mizo language of northeast India, it is called  Vakul and the Mizo people use the tail feathers in ceremonies. Prior to the 1950s it was often kept in captivity by people in parts of India. It was said to be very hardy and like a crow, accommodating a varied diet. Edward H. Schafer considered the greater racket-tailed drongo as the basis for the divine kalaviṅka birds mentioned in Chinese and Japanese Buddhist texts.


Didymoctenia is a monotypic moth genus in the family Geometridae and subfamily Ennominae which was described by Warren in 1901. Its only species, Didymoctenia exsuperata, the thick-lined bark moth, was first described by Francis Walker in 1860. It is found in Australia.


Early instar caterpillars are brownish white with varying dots with a brown head. As the caterpillar reaches its last instar it turns green and will be almost completely covered in small black dots.


Didymops transversa, the stream cruiser, is a species of emerald in the dragonfly family Macromiidae. It is found in North America.
The IUCN conservation status of Didymops transversa is "LC", least concern, with no immediate threat to the species' survival. The population is stable. The IUCN status was reviewed in 2017.


Diervilla lonicera, commonly referred to as northern bush honeysuckle, low bush honeysuckle, dwarf bush honeysuckle, or yellow-flowered upright honeysuckle, is a deciduous shrub native to the northeastern United States and Canada. Its specific epithet, lonicera (the Latin term for ‘honeysuckle’) refers to its similarity in appearance to the true honeysuckles, genus Lonicera. It attracts bumblebees and is an important source of nectar for them.


Northern bush honeysuckle is a deciduous shrub, reaching a maximum height between 0.6 and 1.2 metres. This particular species is known for the following characteristics:  branches lying close to the ground, fibrous roots, pale yellow flowers, and dry, woody fruit. Northern bush honeysuckle's simple leaves are placed in an opposite arrangement. As the seasons change, so do the leaves' colours:  initially green, the leaf gradually deepens to a dark red. The flowers are in full bloom between early July and early August; the woody seeds are fully matured by September in preparation for dispersal.
Diervilla lonicera has protogynous flowers (initially female-dominant plant), is well-adapted for pollination, and its stigmas remain receptive after anthesis (fully functioning flower).


Exposed rocky sites, combined with the plant's tolerance for cool climates, dry, or infertile soils are varying characteristics to describe a typical habitat for Diervilla lonicera. It is commonly found in forests dominated by balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and jack pine (Pinus banksiana). Unlike some plant species that are restricted to specific light conditions, the northern bush honeysuckle is insensitive to changes in light, allowing for broader ranges of habitat. In addition, it is well-adapted to fire-prone habitats, because it can regenerate quickly from underground stems if destroyed by fire.  For example, D.J. Schoen found that Diervilla lonicera was the most abundant shrub over a 50-year span on dry ground areas that were destroyed by fire.


Northern bush honeysuckle is found widely spread across most of North America.  It grows all along the east coast of the continent, from Northern Quebec and Labrador to Georgia and Alabama and reaches as far west as Saskatchewan.  Bush honeysuckle was also introduced to parts of Europe sometime in the eighteenth century, but the exact year is unknown.


Plants from the honeysuckle family are commonly used for herbal cough medicine.  The most common use is as an herbal tea for sore throats, but there are also recipes for a cough syrup derived from the leaves and flowers of the vines mixed with honey.  Some of these remedies have been able to rival the results of store-bought medicines. It is unknown whether or not Northern bush honeysuckle is any more effective than any other species of bush honeysuckle.
These types of recipes can be found on many online cooking websites, but it is very important to be aware of the dangers involved. Some species of honeysuckle can be poisonous, so it is best to use extreme caution and should not be attempted by anyone who is not an expert in this field.


The northern bush honeysuckle is a popular food source for a number of animal species. For example, moose consume the shrub and its fruit as a winter food source, whereas white tailed deer consume the plant in both the summer and winter (although preferred in the late summer). The Diervilla lonicera shrub may also be important for sustaining populations of pollinators. This shrub's long and flexible style and readily accessible flowers (produced in large quantities) are known to draw significant numbers of bumble bees. Diervilla lonicera is also the only recorded host plant for the recently described hawkmoth Hemaris aethra.
Bird species also make use of the shrub. Nests are often constructed from its branches for protection from the elements, and the fruits serve as a readily available food source. Diervilla lonicera may even be responsible for triggering population increases and range expansion among various avian species.


Northern bush honeysuckle is generally abundant and widespread in North America; it is only considered to be threatened in Tennessee and rare in Indiana.  Neither Canada, nor any of the other American states, has bush honeysuckle registered on a threatened or endangered list.


Dieteria canascens (formerly Machaeranthera canescens) is an annual plant or short lived perennial plant in the family Asteraceae, known by the common names hoary tansyaster and hoary-aster.
"Canescens" means "gray-hairy".


Dieteria canascens is native to western and central North America, from the Pacific Coast to the Western part of the Great Plains, from British Columbia south to California, Sonora, and Chihuahua, east to Saskatchewan, the Dakotas, and Oklahoma, with a few isolated populations in Iowa and Minnesota.


Dieteria canascens is a woolly-haired, glandular annual or perennial herb with one or more branching stems sometimes exceeding 100 cm (39 in) in height.


The linear to oblong leaves may reach 10 centimetres (3.9 inches) long near the base of the stems, their edges usually serrated or toothed.
The stems are glandular with short hairs.


The inflorescence bears one or more flower heads lined with several layers of pointed, curling or curving phyllaries. The head has a center of many yellow disc florets and a fringe of blue or purple ray florets each 1 to 2 centimeters long. The fruit is an achene around 3 millimeters in length tipped with a pappus of long hairs.
A number of insects can often be found in the flowers.


The Zuni people take an infusion the whole plant of subspecies canescens, variety canescens and rub it on the abdomen as an emetic.
Varieties
Dieteria canescens var. ambigua (B.L.Turner) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico
Dieteria canescens var. aristata (Eastw.) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah
Dieteria canescens var. canescens – Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan; Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming
Dieteria canescens var. glabra (A.Gray) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Texas, Wyoming, Chihuahua
Dieteria canescens var. incana (Lindl.) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – Nebraska, South Dakota
Dieteria canescens var. leucanthemifolia (Greene) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – California, Nevada, Utah
Dieteria canescens var. nebraskana (B.L.Turner) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – Nebraska, South Dakota
Dieteria canescens var. sessiliflora (Nutt.) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – Idaho
Dieteria canescens var. shastensis (A.Gray) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – California, Nevada, Oregon
Dieteria canescens var. ziegleri (Munz) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – Santa Rosa Mountains  in Riverside County in California


Digitalis purpurea, the foxglove or common foxglove, is a poisonous species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae, native to and widespread throughout most of temperate Europe. It has also naturalised in parts of North America and some other temperate regions. The plant is a popular garden subject, with many cultivars available. It is the original source of the heart medicine digoxin (also called digitalis or digitalin). This biennial plant grows as a rosette of leaves in the first year after sowing, before flowering and then dying in the second year (i.e. it is monocarpic). It generally produces enough seeds, however, so that new plants will continue to grow in a garden setting.


Digitalis purpurea is an herbaceous biennial or short-lived perennial plant. The leaves are spirally arranged, simple, 10–35 cm (3.9–13.8 in) long and 5–12 cm (2–5 in) broad, and are covered with gray-white pubescent and glandular hairs, imparting a woolly texture. The foliage forms a tight rosette at ground level in the first year.
The flowering stem develops in the second year, typically 1–2 m (3.3–6.6 ft) tall, sometimes longer. The flowers are arranged in a showy, terminal, elongated cluster, and each flower is tubular and pendent. The flowers are typically purple, but some plants, especially those under cultivation, may be pink, rose, yellow, or white. The inside surface of the flower tube is heavily spotted. The flowering period is early summer, sometimes with additional flower stems developing later in the season. The plant is frequented by bees, which climb right inside the flower tube to gain the nectar within.
The fruit is a capsule which splits open at maturity to release the numerous tiny 0.1-0.2 mm seeds.


Digitalis purpurea subsp. purpurea – most of Europe and Macaronesia and widely introduced to other parts of the world.
Digitalis purpurea subsp. amandiana  (Samp.) P.A.Hinz – northern Portugal (specifically around the Douro Basin).
Digitalis purpurea subsp. mauretanica  (Humbert & Maire) A.M.Romo – Morocco.
Digitalis purpurea subsp. toletana (Font Quer) P.A.Hinz – central Spain.
Digitalis × fulva Lindl. 1821 (hybrid formula: D. grandiflora × purpurea).
Digitalis purpurea subsp. mariana is a synonym for D. mariana subsp. mariana, and D. purpurea subsp. heywoodii is a synonym for D. mariana subsp. heywoodii.
D. dubia, a name used for populations of foxglove growing among calciferous rocks on shady cliff faces on the island of Majorca, is now considered a synonym of D. minor, but until recently it had been either considered to be a valid species (i.e. in the Flora Europaea (1976), and the Euro+Med Plantbase (2011)), as well as classified as D. purpurea subsp. dubia in 1922, or Digitalis purpurea f. dubia by Spanish taxonomists in 1983.


Digitalis purpurea grows in acidic soils, in partial sunlight to deep shade, in a range of habitats, including open woods, woodland clearings, moorland and heath margins, sea-cliffs, rocky mountain slopes and hedge banks. It is commonly found on sites where the ground has been disturbed, such as recently cleared woodland, or where the vegetation has been burnt.
Larvae of the foxglove pug (Eupithecia pulchellata), a moth, consume the flowers of the common foxglove for food. The caterpillars of this moth crawl into the newly opening flowers, one caterpillar to a flower. It then spins a silken web over the mouth of the flower, sealing it, and then proceeds to feed on the stamens and developing seeds. When the other uninfected flowers fall off, the corolla of the infected flowers remain on the plant, and the caterpillar then pupates in the flower. The species is uncommon, it has been recorded in Britain, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Other species of Lepidoptera have been recorded eating the leaves, including Mellicta athalia and Xestia ashworthii in Britain, Eurodryas aurinia in Romania, and Mellicta deione in Portugal.


The colours of the petals of the Digitalis purpurea are known to be determined by at least three genes that interact with each other.
The M gene determines the production of a purple pigment, a type of anthocyanin. The m gene does not produce this pigment. The D gene is an enhancer of the M gene, and leads it to produce a large amount of the pigment. The d gene does not enhance the M gene, and only a small amount of pigment is produced. Lastly, the W gene causes the pigment be deposited only in some spots, while the w gene allows the pigment to be spread all over the flower.
This combination leads to four phenotypes:
M/_; W/_; _/_ = a white flower with purple spots;
m/m; _/_; _/_ = an albino flower with yellow spots;
M/_; w/w; d/d = a light purple flower;
M/_; w/w; D/_ = a dark purple flower.


The plant is a popular ornamental, providing height and colour in late spring and early summer. Cultivated forms often show flowers completely surrounding the central spike, in contrast to the wild form, where the flowers only appear on one side. Numerous cultivars have been developed with a range of colours. Seeds are frequently sold as a mixture (e.g. Excelsior hybrids, in shades of white, pink and purple). Some strains are easily grown by the novice gardener, while others are more challenging. They may also be purchased as potted plants in the spring. The following selections have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:
Camelot Series:
'Camelot Cream'
'Camelot Lavender'
'Camelot Rose'
'Camelot White'
Dalmatian Series:
'Dalmatian Crème'
'Dalmatian Peach'
'Dalmatian White'
D. × mertonensis (the strawberry foxglove)
D. purpurea f. alba
'Martina'
'Pam's Choice'
'The Shirley' (Gloxinioides group)
Digitalis purpurea is hardy down to −15 °C (5 °F) (USDA zones 4–9).


Due to the presence of the cardiac glycoside digitoxin, the leaves, flowers and seeds of this plant are all poisonous to humans and some animals and can be fatal if ingested.
The main toxins in Digitalis spp. are the two chemically similar cardiac glycosides: digitoxin and digoxin. Like other cardiac glycosides, these toxins exert their effects by inhibiting the ATPase activity of a complex of transmembrane proteins that form the sodium potassium ATPase pump, (Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase). Inhibition of the Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase in turn causes a rise not only in intracellular Na⁺, but also in calcium, which in turn results in increased force of myocardial muscle contractions. In other words, at precisely the right dosage, Digitalis toxin can cause the heart to beat more strongly. However, digitoxin, digoxin and several other cardiac glycosides, such as ouabain, are known to have steep dose-response curves, i.e., minute increases in the dosage of these drugs can make the difference between an ineffective dose and a fatal one.
Symptoms of Digitalis poisoning include a low pulse rate, nausea, vomiting, and uncoordinated contractions of different parts of the heart, leading to cardiac arrest and finally death.


Extracted from the leaves, this same cardiac glycoside digitoxin is used as a medication for heart failure. Its clinical use was pioneered by William Withering, who recognized it "reduced dropsy", increased urine flow, and had a powerful effect on the heart. During World War II, County Herb Committees were established to collect medicinal herbs when German blockades created shortages; this included Digitalis purpurea which was used to regulate heartbeat.


The cinnamon-bellied flowerpiercer (Diglossa baritula) is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded former forest. It is a species known to be a nectar robber, apparently taking nectar while not pollinating the plant.


Digrammia ocellinata, the faint-spotted angle or locust looper, is a moth of the  family Geometridae. The species was first described by Achille Guenée in 1857. It is found in the eastern United States, Quebec and Ontario.
The wingspan is 21-27  mm. The wings are brownish gray, faintly mottled. There is brown shading on the forewing, extending onto the hindwing.
Adults are on wing from April to October.
The larvae feed on the leaves of Robinia pseudoacacia and Gleditsia triacanthos.


Dinocardium is a genus of large saltwater clams or cockles, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Cardiidae, the cockles. There is only one species in the genus, Dinocardium robustum, or the Atlantic giant cockle.


Dinocardium robustum has a shell that reaches a length of 100–125 mm. This large and sturdy shell is obliquely ovate, with crenulate margins and about 32-36 rounded radial ribs present on both the inside and the outside. The valves are symmetrical with one another (equivalve). The basic color of the surface usually is creamy white, mottled with reddish-brown markings, while the interior is pinkish. This cockle burrows into the substrate by means of its strong foot, and like most bivalves feeds by filtering the water for plankton.


This species can be found along the western Atlantic coast of North America, in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Caribbean Sea.


The long-finned pike or yellowfin pike (Dinolestes lewini) is a species of perciform fish, the only species in the genus Dinolestes, as well as the family Dinolestidae.
It is an elongated fish with a pointed snout, and silver in color, similar in appearance to a barracuda, and grows up to 84 cm (33 in) in total length. It is endemic to the coastal waters of southern Australia, including New South Wales, at depths between 5 and 65 m (16 and 213 ft).


The black-rumped flameback (Dinopium benghalense), also known as the lesser golden-backed woodpecker or lesser goldenback, is a woodpecker found widely distributed in the Indian subcontinent.  It is one of the few woodpeckers that are seen in urban areas.  It has a characteristic rattling-whinnying call and an undulating flight. It is the only golden-backed woodpecker with a black throat and a black rump.


The black-rumped flameback was described and illustrated by two pre-Linnaean English naturalists from a dried specimen that had been brought to London. In 1738 Eleazar Albin included the bird as the "Bengall Woodpecker" in his A Natural History of Birds and in 1751 George Edwards included the "Spotted Indian Woodpecker" in his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. The black-rumped flameback was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Picus benghalensis. He cited the earlier descriptions by Albin and Edwards. This woodpecker is now placed in the genus Dinopium that was introduced by the French polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1814.
Five subspecies are recognised:
The nominate subspecies (D. b. benghalense) is found across India in the low elevations up to about 1000 m.
The race in the arid northwestern India and Pakistan, D. b. dilutum (Blyth, 1852), has pale yellow upperparts, a long crest and whiter underparts than the nominate race of the Gangetic plains. The upperparts have less spots. It prefers to breed in old gnarled tamarisks, Acacia and Dalbergia trunks.
The Southern Peninsular form, D. b. puncticolle (Malherbe, 1845), has a black throat with small triangular white spots and bright golden-yellow upperparts.
The subspecies found in the Western Ghats is separated as D. b. tehminae (Whistler & Kinnear, 1934), (named after the wife of Salim Ali) and is more olive above, has fine spots on the black throat and the wing-covert spots are not distinct.
The northern Sri Lankan race, D. b. jaffnense (Whistler, 1944), has a shorter beak.
The Sri Lankan red-backed flameback (Dinopium psarodes) was formerly treated as a subspecies of the black-rumped flameback. It has a crimson back and all the dark markings are blacker and more extensive. It sometimes intergrades with D. b. jaffnense near Puttalam, Kekirawa and Trincomalee.


The black-rumped flameback is a large species at 26–29 cm in length. It has a typical woodpecker shape, and the golden yellow wing coverts are distinctive. The rump is black and not red as in the greater flameback. The underparts are white with dark chevron markings. The black throat finely marked with white immediately separates it from other golden backed woodpeckers in the Indian region. The head is whitish with a black nape and throat, and there is a greyish eye patch. Unlike the greater flameback it has no dark moustachial stripes.
The adult male has a red crown and crest. Females have a black forecrown spotted with white, with red only on the rear crest. Young birds are like the female, but duller.
Like other woodpeckers, this species has a straight pointed bill, a stiff tail to provide support against tree trunks, and zygodactyl feet, with two toes pointing forward, and two backward. The long tongue can be darted forward to capture insects.
The black-rumped flameback is the only golden-backed woodpecker with both a black throat and a black rump.
Leucistic birds have been recorded. Two specimens of male birds from the northern Western Ghats have been noted to have red-tipped feathers on the malar region almost forming a malar stripe. A female specimen from Lucknow has been noted to have grown an abnormal downcurved hoopoe-like bill.


Dione juno, the Juno silverspot, juno longwing, or Juno heliconian, is a species of butterfly of the subfamily Heliconiinae in the family Nymphalidae found from southern United States to South America.


Listed alphabetically:
D. j. andicola (Bates, 1864)
D. j. huascuma (Reakirt, 1866)
D. j. juno (Cramer, [1779])
D. j. miraculosa Hering, 1926
D. j. suffumata Brown & Mielke, 1972


Dioscorea bulbifera (commonly known as the air potato, air yam, bitter yam, cheeky yam, potato yam, aerial yam, and parsnip yam) is a species of true yam in the yam family, Dioscoreaceae. It is native to Africa, Asia and northern Australia. It is widely cultivated and has become naturalized in many regions (Latin America, the West Indies, the Southeastern United States, and various oceanic islands).
It is also known as the up-yam in Nigerian Pidgin English, since the plant is cultivated more for its bulbils than for its tubers.


Dioscorea bulbifera is a perennial vine with broad, alternate leaves, and two types of storage organs.  The plant forms bulbils in the leaf axils of the twining stems, and tubers beneath the ground. These tubers are like small, oblong potatoes.  Some varieties are edible and cultivated as a food crop, especially in West Africa.  The tubers of edible varieties often have a bitter taste, which can be removed by boiling. They can then be prepared in the same way as other yams, potatoes, and sweet potatoes.
Air potato can grow extremely quickly, roughly 8 inches per day, and eventually reach over 60 ft long. It typically climbs to the tops of trees and has a tendency to take over native plants. New plants develop from bulbils that form on the plant, and these bulbils serve as a means of dispersal. The aerial stems of air potato die back in winter, but resprouting occurs from bulbils and underground tubers.
The primary means of spread and reproduction are by the bulbils. The smallest bulbils make control of air potato difficult due to their ability to sprout at a very small stage. The vine produces small white flowers; however, these are rarely seen when it grows in Florida. The fruits are capsules.


Air potato has been used as a folk remedy to treat conjunctivitis, diarrhoea, and dysentery, among other ailments.
D. bulbifera is highly important to the Tiwi people of Australia, who use it in an important ceremony called kulama. During the ceremony, the tubers are ritually cooked, and eaten on the third day.


Uncultivated forms, such as those found growing wild in Florida, can be poisonous. These varieties contain the steroid diosgenin, which is a principal material used in the manufacture of a number of synthetic steroidal hormones, such as those used in hormonal contraception.  There have been claims that even the wild forms are rendered edible after drying and boiling, leading to confusion over actual toxicity.


In some places, such as Florida, it is considered a noxious weed because of its quick-growing, large-leafed vine that spreads tenaciously and shades out any plants growing beneath it. The bulbils on the vines sprout and become new vines, twisting around each other to form a thick mat. If the plant is cut to the ground, the tubers can survive for extended periods and send up new shoots later.
The leaf beetle Lilioceris cheni has been studied and employed as an agent of biological pest control for the plant, with releases in 2012.


Dioscorea villosa is a species of twining tuberous vine which is native to eastern North America. It is commonly known as wild yam, colic root, rheumatism root, devil's bones, and fourleaf yam,. It is common and widespread in a range stretching from Texas and Florida north to Minnesota, Ontario and Massachusetts.


Dioscorea villosa flower petal color is commonly known to be green to brown, or white. Lengths of the flower petals range from .5 mm to 2 mm. The flowers tend to grow out of the axil; this is the point at which a branch or leaf attaches to the main stem. There is only one flower present on the inflorescence. The fruit of the plant is a capsule that splits and releases the seeds within to then begin the dispersal process The fruit of Dioscorea villosa ranges in size from 10–30 mm. The flower does not produce aerial bulblets.


Synonyms of Wild Yam, Dioscorea villosa include: Dioscorea hirticaulis, Dioscorea villosa var. hirticaulis. Common names of Dioscorea villosa include wild yam, Atlantic yam, common wild yam, wild yam-root, yellow yam; colic root, rheumatism root


Dioscorea villosa contains diosgenin, which despite claims is not a phytoestrogen and does not interact with estrogen receptors. Other steroidal saponins are also found in the plant.


Some of the English common names of this plant reflect its use in Native American and other traditional medicines. In traditional Russian herbal medicine, saponin extracts from the roots of various varieties of wild yam are thought to be an anticoagulant, antisclerotic, antispasmodic, cholagogue, depurative, diaphoretic, diuretic and a vasodilator.
There is little modern clinical research on Dioscorea villosa, and the one study of a wild yam-containing cream for menopausal symptoms failed to find any value from this therapy. According to the American Cancer Society, there is no evidence to support wild yam or diosgenin being either safe or effective in humans.


Diospyros virginiana is a persimmon species commonly called the American persimmon, common persimmon, eastern persimmon, simmon, possumwood, possum apples,  or sugar plum. It ranges from southern Connecticut to Florida, and  west to Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Iowa. The tree grows wild but has been cultivated for its fruit and wood since prehistoric times by Native Americans.
Diospyros virginiana grows to 20 m (66 ft), in well-drained soil. The tree is typically dioecious, so one must have both male and female plants to obtain fruit. Most cultivars are parthenocarpic (setting seedless fruit without pollination). The fragrant flowers are pollinated by insects and wind. Fruiting typically begins when the tree is about 6 years old.
The fruit is round or oval and usually orange-yellow, sometimes bluish, and from 2 to 6 cm (3⁄4 to 2+1⁄4 in) in diameter. Both the tree and the fruit are referred to as persimmons, with the latter appearing in desserts and cuisine in the U.S. South and Midwest.
Commercial varieties include the very productive Early Golden, the productive John Rick, Miller, Woolbright and the Ennis, a seedless variety. Another nickname of the American persimmon, 'date-plum' also refers to a persimmon species found in South Asia, Diospyros lotus.