Thermopsis rhombifolia, also known as prairie thermopsis, is a flowering plant in the legume family. It is native to North America, where it is found in the Great Plains, with extensions into the lower canyons of the Rocky Mountains. Its natural habitat is dry grasslands and woodlands.
It is a perennial herb that produces yellow flowers in the spring.


The flowers were commonly used by the natives as a source of yellow dye and were boiled in a tea as a cure for stomach ailments for people and horses. The plant has toxic properties if ingested; symptoms of poisoning include vomiting, dizziness, and abdominal pain.


Thlaspi arvense, known by the common name field pennycress, is a flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae. It is native to Eurasia, and is a common weed throughout much of North America and its home.


Thlaspi arvense is a foetid, hairless annual plant, growing up to 60 cm (24 in) tall, with upright branches. The stem leaves are arrow-shaped, narrow and toothed. It blooms between May and July, with racemes or spikes of small white flowers that have 4 sepals and 4 longer petals. Later it has round, flat, winged pods with a deep apical notch, measuring 1 cm (0.39 in) across. They contain small brown-black seeds.
The common name 'pennycress' is derived from the shape of the seeds looking like an old English penny. Other English common names are: stinkweed, bastard cress, fanweed, field pennycress, frenchweed and mithridate mustard. Pennycress is an annual, overwintering herb with an unpleasant odor when its leaves are squeezed. It grows up to 40 to 80 cm depending on environmental conditions. White, lavender or pink flowers with four petals develop between five and eight seeds per plant. Numbers of chromosomes is 2x. Pennycress, has flat and circular notched pods. Its seeds have a high oil content and the species has gained interest as a potential feedstock for biofuel production.


Due to the high erucic acid content the seeds are unsuitable for human consumption. Instead, the biomass can be used as feed for livestock. Its fast growth under cold conditions favors the usage as fodder as a second crop. Its low biomass production makes it undesirable to concentrate on pennycress cultivation for fodder production.


The yellow-winged tanager (Thraupis abbas) is a neotropical member of the tanager family.  It is of average size for a tanager, about 18 centimetres (7 inches long).  It is distinguished by the yellow patches on its dusky green wings, marking an otherwise dark bluish and gray body.  It has a pale lavender tone on its throat and breast.  The juvenile lacks this color, but has an olive-green head and upper back.


The nest of the yellow-winged tanager is a small cup-shaped nest of dried fibers, leaves, and mosses.  It is placed at mid-height on trees.  The female lays 3 eggs, which are gray, mottled with brown.


The yellow-winged tanager is found on the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean coasts from the states of Veracruz and the extreme south of San Luis Potosi in Mexico through the Yucatán Peninsula to Nicaragua, and on the Pacific coast from the Mexican state of Chiapas to Honduras.  It is generally relatively common throughout this range.
Since October 2010, it has been recorded in Los Chiles, northern Costa Rica.


The blue-gray tanager (Thraupis episcopus) is a medium-sized South American songbird of the tanager family, Thraupidae. Its range is from Mexico south to northeast Bolivia and northern Brazil, all of the Amazon Basin, except the very south. It has been introduced to Lima (Peru). On Trinidad and Tobago, this bird is called blue jean.


In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the blue-grey tanager in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in Brazil. He used the French name L'evesque and the Latin name Episcopus avis. 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 in his Ornithologie. One of these was the fulvous-crested tanager. Linnaeus included a terse description, coined the binomial name Tanagra episcopus and cited Brisson's work. The specific name episcopus is Latin for "bishop". The current genus Thraupis was introduced by the German naturalist Friedrich Boie in 1826.
There are 14 recognized subspecies, differing according to the exact hue of blue of the shoulder patch versus the rest of the plumage; they may be greyish, greenish or purplish-blue, with a lavender, dark blue or whitish shoulder patch. For example, T. e. berlepschi (endemic to Tobago) is a brighter and darker blue on the rump and shoulder, T. e. neosophilus with a violet shoulder patch occurs in northern Venezuela, Trinidad, eastern Colombia and the far north of Brazil, T. e. mediana of the southern Amazon basin has a white wing patch, and T. e. cana in the northern Amazon has blue shoulders.


The blue-gray tanager is 16–18 cm (6.3–7.1 in) long and weighs 30–40 g (1.1–1.4 oz). Adults have a light bluish head and underparts, with darker blue upperparts and a shoulder patch colored a different hue of blue. The bill is short and quite thick. Sexes are similar, but the immature is much duller in plumage.
The song is a squeaky twittering, interspersed with tseee and tsuup call notes.


The breeding habitat is open woodland, cultivated areas and gardens. The blue-gray tanager lives mainly on fruit, but will also take some nectar and insects. This is a common, restless, noisy and confiding species, usually found in pairs, but sometimes small groups. It thrives around human habitation, and will take some cultivated fruit like papayas (Carica papaya).
One to three, usually two, dark-marked whitish to gray-green eggs are laid in a deep cup nest in a high tree fork or building crevice. Incubation by the female is 14 days with another 17 to fledging. The nest is sometimes parasitised by Molothrus cowbirds.
Two birds studied in the Parque Nacional de La Macarena of Colombia were infected with microfilariae, an undetermined Trypanosoma species, and another blood parasite that could not be identified. Two other birds, examined near Turbo (also in Colombia), did not have blood parasites.


T. episcopus prospers in some areas cleared by humans for grazing, but is not as attracted to buildings or high human or livestock activity. They continue to live in forests but eagerly move temporarily into abandoned pasture land for wild fruits and have been variously found to never forage or merely to forage less often in pasture that has livestock in it. T. episcopus is more common in secondary forest resulting from slash-and-burn followed by abandonment than in primary forest.
T. episcopus is commonly infected with Blastocystis parasites, specifically Subtype 6 (ST6) which was exclusive to birds in that area. ST6 was never found in cows in the area, but it was unassessed whether T. episcopus shares ST6 with nearby domesticated bird flocks.


Widespread and common throughout its large range, the blue-gray tanager is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.


The palm tanager (Thraupis palmarum) is a medium-sized passerine bird. This tanager is a resident breeder from Nicaragua south to Bolivia, Paraguay and southern Brazil. It also breeds on Trinidad and, since 1962, on Tobago. In Trinidad and Tobago, it is known by colloquial names such as the "palmiste" on American Spanish countries (Colombian pronn: "pūlmist"), Brazil Pipira-verde (Portuguese pron: "pəəpəərā-værd") and the "green jean" in American English.


Adult palm tanagers are 19 cm (7.5 in) long and weigh 36 g (1.3 oz). They are grey to dull olive-green. The flight feathers are blackish, and the long tail is blackish edged with green. A yellow wingbar shows in flight. Sexes are similar, although females may be somewhat paler.


Palm tanagers are social, restless but unwary birds which eat a wide variety of small fruit. They also regularly take some nectar and insects, including caterpillars. The song is fast and squeaky.


The sayaca tanager (Thraupis sayaca) is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae, the tanagers.  It is a common resident in northeastern, central, and southeastern Brazil (Portuguese: sanhaço [sɐ̃ˈɲasu] or sanhaçu [sɐ̃ɲaˈsu]), and Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina (where they are known as celestinos or celestinas). A few are recorded from far southeastern Peru, but its status there is unclear, in part due to the potential of confusion with the very similar juveniles of the blue-grey tanager.
It occurs in a wide range of open to semiopen habitats, but generally avoids the interior of dense forest (such as the Amazon). This tanager visits farmland in search of orchards and adapts readily to urban environment, as long as some arboreal cover and a supply of fruits are available. It feeds on flowers, buds, and insects, and this omnivorous lifestyle has helped it to become perhaps the most — or one of the most — common urban birds in southeastern Brazil, along with the rufous-bellied thrush.


The sayaca tanager was formally described in 1766 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the 12th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Tanagra sayaca. In 1648, well before the introduction of the binomial system, the German naturalist Georg Marcgrave had described the sayaca tanager as the Sayacu in his Historia Naturalis Brasiliae. The specific epithet is from Tupi Saí-acú meaning "very lively"; it was applied to various tanagers. The type locality is the state of Pernambuco in Brazil.  This species is now placed in the genus Thraupis that was introduced by the German naturalist Friedrich Boie in 1826.
Three subspecies are recognised:
   T. s. boliviana Bond & Meyer de Schauensee, 1941 – north Bolivia
T. s. obscura Naumburg, 1924 – central, south Bolivia to west Argentina
T. s. sayaca (Linnaeus, 1766) – east, south Brazil, Paraguay, northeast Argentina and Uruguay


The African sacred ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) is a species of ibis, a wading bird of the family Threskiornithidae. It is native to Africa and the Middle East. It is especially known for its role in the religion of the Ancient Egyptians, where it was linked to the god Thoth; despite this, the species is currently extirpated from Egypt.


It is very closely related to the black-headed ibis and the Australian white ibis, with which it forms a superspecies complex, so much so that the three species are considered conspecific by some ornithologists. In mixed flocks these ibises often hybridise. The Australian white ibis is often called the sacred ibis colloquially.
Although known to the ancient civilisations of Greece, Rome and especially Africa, ibises were unfamiliar to western Europeans from the fall of Rome until the 19th century, and mentions of this bird in the ancient works of these civilisations were supposed to describe some type of curlew or other bird, and were thus translated as such. In 1758, Linnaeus was convinced that the ancient authors were describing a cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis), which he thus described as Ardea ibis. Following the work of Mathurin Jacques Brisson, who calls it Ibis candida in 1760, in the 12th edition of his Systema Naturae of 1766 Linnaeus classifies it as Tantalus ibis. These were also unfamiliar birds that did not occur in Europe at the time, in English in these times called the 'Egyptian ibis' by Latham, and the 'emseesy' or 'ox-bird' by George Shaw.
In 1790, John Latham provided the first unambiguous modern scientific description of the sacred ibis as Tantalus aethiopicus, mentioning James Bruce of Kinnaird who called it 'abou hannes' in his writings describing his travels in Sudan and Ethiopia, and also described Tantalus melanocephalus of India.
Georges Cuvier named it Ibis religiosus in his Le Règne Animal of 1817.
In 1842, George Robert Gray reclassified the bird under the new genus Threskiornis, because the type of the genus Tantalus was designated as to be the wood stork, also formerly known as the wood ibis or wood pelican, and Gray decided these birds could not be classified in the same genus.
In a comprehensive review of plumage patterns by Holyoak in 1970, it was noted that the three taxa were extremely similar and that the Australian birds resembled Threskiornis aethiopicus in adult plumage and T. melanocephalus in juvenile plumage, he thus proposed they all be considered part of a single species T. aethiopicus. At the time this was generally accepted by the scientific community, however in 'The Birds of the Western Palearctic' compendium of 1977, Roselaar advocated splitting the group into 4 species, recognising T. bernieri, based again on the then known geographical morphological differences.
In 1990, Sibley & Monroe, in the general reference 'Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World' followed Roselaar in recognising four species, which they repeated in 'A World Checklist of Birds' of 1993.
This taxon being split from T. melanocephalus and T. molucca was further advocated by another morphological study by Lowe and Richards in 1991, where, like Holyoak, they looked at plumage again but used much more skins, but unlike him concluded that the differences were such to merit separate species status for the three taxa, especially as they could find no intergradation in morphological characters in possible contact zones in SE Asia. They also cite purported differences in courtship displays between the Australian and Asian birds. Based on these characteristics they recommended the Malagasy birds be considered a subspecies of T. aethiopicus.
In 2003, Birdlife International elected to adopt the narrow taxonomic concept as advocated in Sibley & Monroe 1993.


The sacred ibis breeds in Sub-Saharan Africa and southeastern Iraq. A number of populations are migrant with the rains; some of the South African birds migrate 1,500 km as far north as Zambia, the African birds north of the equator migrate in the opposite direction. The Iraqi population usually migrates to southwestern Iran, but wandering vagrants have been seen as far south as Oman (rare, but regular) and as far north as the Caspian coasts of Kazakhstan and Russia (before 1945).


The first African sacred ibises brought to Europe were two imported from Egypt to France in the mid-1700s. In the 1800s the first escapes were sighted in Europe (in Austria, Italy). In the 1970s it became fashionable for many zoos in Europe and elsewhere to keep their birds in free-flying colonies, which were allowed to forage in the area but would return to roost in the zoo every day. As such feral populations were established in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, the Canary Islands, Florida, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates and possibly Bahrain.
Some studies indicate that the introduced populations in Europe have significant economic and ecological impacts, while others suggest that they constitute no substantial threat to native European bird species.


In Europe, the African sacred ibis is included since 2016 in the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (the Union list). This implies that this species cannot be imported, bred, transported, commercialized, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union.
In France the African sacred ibises have become established along its Atlantic coast following the feral breeding of birds which were the offspring of a large free-flying population originating from the Branféré Zoological Gardens in southern Brittany. The first successful breeding was in 1993 at two sites, the Golfe du Morbihan and Lac de Grand-Lieu, 25 km (16 mi) and 70 km (43 mi) respectively from Branféré. By 2005 the Atlantic French breeding population was estimated at 1,100 pairs and winter censuses led to an estimated total population of up to 3,000 birds. A separate population originated from a zoo at Sigean on the Mediterranean coast of France and by 2005 the colony at the Etang de Bages-et Sigean was estimated at 250 pairs. A cull was begun and by 2011 the population had fallen to 560–600 pairs. By January 2017 the eradication programme had lowered the number of birds in roosts in western France to 300–500 birds and the Lac de Grand-Lieu was the only regular breeding site in the region; as the programme has progressed the birds have become warier and the reduced numbers mean the effort and cost per bird has increased and complete eradication may never be achieved. The population near Sigean was eradicated by killing and capturing the birds with only a few remaining in the Camargue.
This species is not considered established in mainland Spain. The Barcelona Zoo kept a small free-flying population which bred in the zoo and at least once in 1974 in the surrounding city park. Between 1983 and 1985 they had increased to 18 birds, but these subsequently declined to 4–6 pairs in the 1990s and the birds were permanently caged by the end of the 1990s (the zoo still has some). In 2001 the remaining birds in the surroundings were culled, thus ending the occurrence of the species in the 'wild' in the area. However, in the early 2000s vagrants most probably from France were recorded in northern Catalonia, and sporadic observations throughout the year have been recorded since then along the Mediterranean and Cantabrian coasts. There were a total of about twenty approved records of sightings between 1994 and 2004. As of 2009, birds entering Spain from France are shot.
The population in Italy may have been introduced from the zoo Le Cornelle which has kept a free-flying group since the early 1980s, or possibly from Brittany, but this is unclear. The first pair was seen breeding in the nearby heronry at Oldenico, in Lame del Sesia Regional Park in Novara, NW Italy, in 1989. By 1998 there was a colony of 9 pairs and 48 birds there; by 2000 there were 24–26 pairs, and by 2003 there were 25–30 breeding pairs. A second colony appeared in 2004 at another nearby heronry at Casalbeltrame. These birds would mostly feed in the rice fields in the area, but would also migrate elsewhere during the summer, with the population at the roosts increasing in the winter. In 2008, the number of breeding ibis was estimated at 80–100 pairs, and at least 300 birds. That same year, six individuals, consisting of three pairs, were observed roosting at a heronry in Casaleggio. By 2009 they were said to be one of the most characteristic animals of the rice-growing area of Novara and Vercellese. In 2010 the species was reported attempting to breed in the Po Delta, northeast Italy. By 2014 reports of individuals and small flocks were recorded in various areas from the Po Valley down to Tuscany. Outside the Piedmont Region, cases of possible nesting are reported in Emilia-Romagna, Veneto and Lombardy. As of 2017 there do not seem to be coordinated control efforts in Italy.
In the Netherlands, sacred ibises were introduced from three sources; primarily from the free-flying flock at the aviary zoo Avifauna, and another group of 11 birds which escaped from a private bird trader in Weert when a tree fell on their enclosure sometime between 1998 and 2000 which would all return to their cage each winter. Furthermore, in 2000 a group of sacred ibises escaped from a zoo near Munster, some of which apparently crossed the border into Overijssel, as the colours of their rings closely matched. The free-flying Avifauna flock numbered 12 in 2001, 30 in 2003, and an estimated maximum of 41 birds escaped the zoo eventually. There had been sightings throughout the country for many years, but in 2002 successful breeding was first reported in a nature reserve some 40 km from Avifauna.
By 2007 the feral population in the Netherlands had increased to 15 pairs breeding at three locations, including in a tree just outside the zoo. Pairs would regularly move from the zoo to the nature reserve in the summer and vice versa. The next year, in 2008, the tree outside the zoo was cut down, and free-flying birds were recaptured, clipped and caged. 2008/2009 was also a cold winter and many birds died. By 2009 37 birds had been recaptured and by 2010 there were no more birds breeding in the wild. The birds in Weert were halved in number after the 2008–2009 winter and had disappeared somewhere between 2011 and 2015. As of 2016 a few birds survive, some still attempting to breed in Overijssel, and handful sightings of less than three reported. Possible vagrants from France have also been noted (by their rings) after 2010.


The African sacred ibis occurs in marshy wetlands and mud flats, both inland and on the coast. It preferably nests on trees in or near water. It feeds wading in very shallow wetlands or slowly stomping in wet pastures with soft soil. It will also visit cultivation and rubbish dumps.


The African sacred ibis is classified as "Least Concern" by the IUCN. The global population is estimated at 200,000–450,000 individuals but appears to be decreasing. It is covered by the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA).


The black-headed ibis (Threskiornis melanocephalus), also known as the Oriental white ibis, Indian white ibis, and black-necked ibis, is a species of wading bird of the ibis family Threskiornithidae which breeds in the South and Southeast Asia from India to the west and as far east as Japan. It is the only native ibis species in its range that has an overall white plumage with a black neck and head. The down-curved beak and legs are also black. Though often referred to as a wetland species, the black-headed ibis forages in a range of natural and man-made habitats. This species of ibis nests only during the rainy season.


The black-headed ibis is one of several large waterbird species in south and south-east Asia, with adults measuring 65–76 cm in length. The white plumage is starkly contrasted against a conspicuous naked black neck and head, and black down-curved beak. Tails of adults bear light grey ornamental feathers that turn jet black during the breeding season. During the breeding season, bare patches under the wing turn blood-red. The head of some breeding adults gain a blueish tinge, or very rarely have a pink or bright red patch behind the neck. Some breeding adults also develop tufts of white feathers behind the neck, and rarely also get a yellowish colouration on the breast and back. Sexes are identical but juveniles are identifiable from adults in having greyish feathering on the neck and speckled brown-grey feathering on the wings and back. Like storks and spoonbills, it lacks a true voice-producing mechanism and is silent except for ventriloquistic grunts uttered by pairs at the nest.


Black-headed ibis are native to the following countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Russian Federation, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. They are migratory or vagrant in Japan, Republic of Korea, Lao People's Democratic Republic and Mongolia. The species is a widespread breeding bird in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Myanmar, and has declined considerably to few locations or breeding colonies in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The most rapid decline in recent times is suspected to be the population in Sumatra.
The black-headed ibis is very versatile being able to use a large variety of natural and man-made habitats. These include freshwater and salt-water marshes, lakes and ponds, as also rice fields, freshly ploughed crop fields, irrigation canals, riversides, reservoirs, urban lakes, open sewage gutters, grazing lots, and garbage dumping sites. Ibis alter use of varied preferred foraging habitats by season in agricultural landscapes such as in south-western Uttar Pradesh in India. In summer, they largely use and prefer natural marshes and fallow fields, but in the monsoon, spread out more evenly to also use a variety of agricultural fields. In landscapes that have more forests and rocky hills as in southern Rajasthan, wetlands are the preferred habitats year-round. Open sewage lines are used more during the dry summers, and ibis increase the use of grazing lands during the monsoon.
It nests in heronry colonies near wetlands. It builds a platform nest of sticks, lined with grass and threads.


The Australian white ibis (Threskiornis molucca) is a wading bird of the ibis family, Threskiornithidae. It is widespread across much of Australia. It has a predominantly white plumage with a bare, black head, long downcurved bill and black legs. While it is closely related to the African sacred ibis, the Australian white ibis is a native Australian bird – contrary to urban myth, it is not a feral species introduced to Australia by people, and it does not come from Egypt.
Historically rare in urban areas, the Australian white ibis has established in urban areas of the east coast in increasing numbers since the late 1970s; it is now commonly seen in Wollongong, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide (where it mostly is in Mawson Lakes wetlands), Darwin, the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Townsville. In recent years, the bird has also become increasingly common in Perth, Western Australia, and surrounding towns in south-western Australia. Populations have disappeared from natural breeding areas such as the Macquarie Marshes in northern New South Wales. Management plans have been introduced to control problematic urban populations in Sydney.
Due to its increasing presence in the urban environment and its habit of rummaging in garbage, the species has acquired a variety of colloquial names such as "tip turkey" and "bin chicken", and in recent years has become an icon of Australia's popular culture, regarded with glee by some and passionate revulsion by others.


It was initially described by Georges Cuvier in 1829 as Ibis molucca. It is considered part of a superspecies complex with the sacred ibis (T. aethiopicus) of Africa, and the black-headed ibis (T. melanocephalus) of Asia. Its status in the complex has vacillated over the years. Many older guidebooks referred to the bird as a species, T. molucca, until a comprehensive review of plumage patterns by Holyoak in 1970. Holyoak noted the three species' similarities and that the Australian taxon resembled T. aethiopicus in adult plumage and T. melanocephalus in juvenile plumage. He proposed that they all be considered part of a single species, T. aethiopicus. This was generally accepted by the scientific community until Lowe and Richards's assessment of plumage in 1991. They again recommended the recognition of molucca at species level. This was followed by a chromosome study, which highlighted each of the three species having a different karyotype. The Australian white ibis has been considered a full species by most authorities since then.


Two subspecies are recognised:
T. m. molucca of eastern Malesia and Australia, is the nominate subspecies.
T. m. pygmaeus (Solomons white ibis), known locally as the tagoa, is a dwarf form found on the Solomon Islands that has been considered a separate species (as Threskiornis pygmaeus) at times. It is found only on Rennell and Bellona Islands, in the Solomon Islands of Melanesia, in the south-west Pacific Ocean.


The Australian white ibis is a fairly large ibis species, around 65–75 cm (26–30 in) long and has a bald black head and neck and a long black downcurved beak, measuring over 16.7 cm (6.6 in) in the male, and under in the female. There is some sexual dimorphism in size, as the slightly heavier male weighs 1.7–2.5 kg (3.7–5.5 lb) compared to the 1.4–1.9 kg (3.1–4.2 lb) female. As a comparison, the American white ibis generally attains 1 kg (2.2 lb) in weight. The body plumage is white, although it may become brown-stained. Inner secondary plumes are displayed as lacy black "tail" feathers. The upper tail becomes yellow when the bird is breeding. The legs and feet are dark and red skin is visible on the underside of the wing. Immature birds have shorter bills. The head and neck are feathered in juveniles.
The call is a long croak.
The Australian white ibis reaches sexual maturity in three years, and can reach twenty-eight years of age.


The Australian white ibis is widespread in eastern, northern and south-western Australia. It occurs in marshy wetlands, often near open grasslands and has become common in Australian east-coast city parks and rubbish dumps in the urban areas of Wollongong, Sydney, Perth, the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Townsville. Historically, it was rare in urban areas - the first visits were noted after drought drove birds eastwards in the late 1970s, and there were no breeding records in Sydney until the 1980s.
The Macquarie Marshes in north-western New South Wales used to be one of the main breeding areas of the bird, with 11,000 nests reported in 1998. However, since 2000, none have been reported breeding there. The species is absent from Tasmania.


The species has been able to colonise urban areas by reducing its fear response when in close proximity to humans, and by significantly widening its suite of food items to include human refuse - strategies that other closely-related species such as the straw-necked ibis and the spoonbills have not replicated.
Questions surrounding the origins of recent highly urbanised and closely human-habituated populations of the species are complicated by the establishment of free flying exhibit flocks of formerly captive birds at a number of zoos and wildlife parks, including Sydney's Taronga Zoo, which first acquired birds for this purpose around 1971. A 1973 ABC TV report noted Taronga's by then well-established "liberty flock" was breeding locally, unlike natural populations, which at that time were only known to fleetingly visit the urban area and not breed there.
The resident Taronga flock nested in exotic Canary Island date palms, and was notably very closely habituated to people; approaching them at close quarters, feeding from rubbish bins and scavenging food from outdoor dining areas. These previously undocumented behaviours became closely associated with the urban Sydney flocks that emerged from around 1980 onwards, directly across the harbour in the Royal Botanic Gardens and the Sydney CBD, and further afield in the Centennial Parklands.
The relationship between birds originating from the Taronga flock and any influx of inland birds into Sydney is poorly known, but it is speculated that human-habituated flocks originating from the zoo may have encouraged some visiting flocks to stay in Sydney, with the two populations likely merging to some degree. Resident Sydney birds may have influenced newcomers fleeing from inland drought to adapt to new food sources in the city and to accept close proximity to humans.
Other free-flying exhibit populations were similarly established at Healesville Sanctuary in Victoria and at Tidbinbilla in the ACT, both of which mirrored the Taronga example by appearing to serve as population nucleation points. Healesville birds also seeded a free-flying population at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in Queensland.
The urban population further increased after a further period of inland drought in 1998. The first big colony set up in the Sydney suburb of Bankstown and started to cause anxiety in the local community.  It is estimated the colony was the largest outside the Macquarie Marshes, their natural breeding wetland in inland NSW.


The Australian white ibis' range of food includes both terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates and human scraps. The most favoured foods are crayfish and mussels, which the bird obtains by digging with its long bill.


The straw-necked ibis (Threskiornis spinicollis) is a bird of the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. It can be found throughout Australia, New Guinea, and parts of Indonesia. Adults have distinctive straw-like feathers on their necks.


Straw-necked ibises are large birds, around 59–76 cm (23–30 in) long, with a bare black head and a long, downcurved black bill. They have a distinctive, highly iridescent plumage, which can appear fairly uniform dirty dark brown in indifferent light; the wings are dark, with an iridescent, multicoloured sheen in sunlight. They have a shiny blue-black back, with a metallic purple, green and bronze glow, and a dark collar. The upper neck is white, as are the underparts and the undertail; their legs are usually red near the top and dark grey toward the feet. Adults have straw-colored feathers on the neck, giving the bird its common name. Their wingspan is about 100–120 cm (39.5–47 in) and weight is generally 1.1–1.5 kg (2.5–3.5 lb).
Sexes are similar, although males have longer bills and females have a dark band across their upper breast. Juveniles have duller colors and shorter bills with less curvature, and lack the straw-like plumes on the neck.


Straw-necked ibises are commonly found throughout Australia, nesting at least occasionally in all mainland states and territories, except in the arid interior. They are most abundant on the east coast, and are vagrant to New Zealand, Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island. They are less frequently seen in New Guinea, Indonesia, and occasionally in Tasmania and other islands of the Bass Strait.
Found around shallow freshwater wetlands, cultivated pastures, edges of swamps and lagoons, and wet or dry grasslands. They tend to avoid arid and saltwater areas, and coastal mudflats. They are extremely nomadic, and are constantly on the move searching for suitable habitats. They are frequently seen standing on high branches of bare trees, silhouetted against the sky.


Straw-necked ibises feed primarily on aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates, although their diets can vary. In shallow waters, straw-necked ibises feed on aquatic insects, molluscs, frogs, freshwater crayfish (Cherax) and fish. On land, they thrive on grasshoppers, crickets, and locusts, and are often called the Farmer's Friend because they feed on pests that would otherwise eat farm crops. They also eat small lizards, skinks, and other small reptiles.
Occasionally, they can eat toads (Bufo marinus), snakes and rodents; human waste may also be taken. However, compared to the Australian white ibis, they have not adapted to a wide variety of food and are rarely opportunistic scavengers.


The Carolina wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) is a common species of wren that is a resident in the eastern half of the United States of America, the extreme south of Ontario, Canada, and the extreme northeast of Mexico. Severe winters restrict the northern limits of their range while favorable weather conditions lead to a northward extension of their breeding range. Their preferred habitat is in dense cover in forest, farm edges and suburban areas. This wren is the state bird of South Carolina.
There are seven recognized subspecies across the range of these wrens and they differ slightly in song and appearance. The birds are generally inconspicuous, avoiding the open for extended periods of time. When out in the open, they investigate their surroundings and are rarely stationary. After finding a mate, pairs maintain a territory and stay together for several years. Both males and females give out alarm calls, but only males sing to advertise territory. Carolina wrens raise multiple broods during the summer breeding season, but can fall victim to brood parasitism by brown-headed cowbirds, among other species. Some populations have been affected by mercury contamination.


The Carolina wren was first described under the name of Sylvia ludoviciana by John Latham in 1790. Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot considered all wrens under the genus Troglodytes and called the Carolina wren Troglodytes arundinaceus but placed it subsequently in a separate genus Thryothorus (initially misspelled Thriothorus) that he created in 1816. Thryothorus is of Greek origin from the combination of thryon (rush, reed) and thouros (derivative of verb throskein to leap up, spring, jump at) which means 'reed jumper'; its specific name ludovicianus is a post-classical Latin term for Ludovicus (derivative from Louis XIV) that means 'of Louisiana' that identifies the locality of the specimen collected near New Orleans.
Thryothorus used to be the largest genus in the family Troglodytidae, with 27 species, but molecular phylogenetic studies revealed that it represented a polyphyletic assemblage of at least four independent clades now recognized at the genus level. The Carolina wren is now the only species within this genus.
There are seven recognized subspecies of the Carolina wren:
T. l. ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) – Southeast Canada (Southern Ontario, irregularly in Eastern and Southern Quebec) and the eastern United States (Southern Wisconsin and New England southward to Texas and northern Florida).
T. l. miamensis Florida wren (Ridgway, 1875) – Florida from approximately 30 degrees (Gainesville) region southward through the rest of the state.
T. l. nesophilus (Stevenson, 1973) – Dog Island in Northwestern Florida.
T. l. burleighi – Burleigh's Carolina wren (Lowery, 1940) Offshore islands off of the Mississippi coast: Cat Island, Ship Island (Mississippi), and Horn Island.
T. l. lomitensis – Lomita wren (Sennett, 1890) southern Texas to the extreme northeast of Mexico (Tamaulipas).
T. l. berlandieri – Berlandier's wren (S. F. Baird, 1858) Northeastern Mexico (eastern Coahuila, Nuevo León, and southwestern Tamaulipas)
T. l. tropicalis – Northeastern Mexico (eastern San Luis Potosí and southern Tamaulipas).
T. ludovicianus is traditionally placed within its own genus as its only representative of North America, but recent DNA work suggests it is closely allied with the Bewick's wren. A distinct population in the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, Belize, Nicaragua, and in Guatemala is treated as a separate species, either known as Cabot's wren or white-browed wren (Thryothorus albinucha). It is considered a subspecies of T. ludovicianus by some authors, however.


At 12.5 to 14 cm (4.9 to 5.5 in) long, with a 29 cm (11 in) wingspan and a weight of about 18 to 23 g (0.63 to 0.81 oz), the Carolina wren is a fairly large wren; the second largest in the United States species after the cactus wren. Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 5.4 to 6.4 cm (2.1 to 2.5 in), the tail is 4.5 to 5.6 cm (1.8 to 2.2 in), the culmen is 1.4 to 1.8 cm (0.55 to 0.71 in) and the tarsus is 2 to 2.3 cm (0.79 to 0.91 in). Sexual dimorphism is slight with males being larger than their mates. A study indicated that of 42 mated pairs, every male but one was larger than the female of the pair. The males were on average 11 percent heavier along with having longer wing chords.
There are several differences among the subspecies. For T. l. ludovicianus, the crown is rich brown that appears more chestnut-colored on its rump and uppertail-coverts. Shoulders and greater coverts are a rich brown, with a series of small white dots on the lesser primary coverts. The secondary coverts are rich brown with a darker brown barring on both webs; the bars on the primaries are on the outerwebs only, but darker and more noticeable. The rectrices are brown with 18 to 20 bars that span across the tail. The white supercilious streak borders thinly with a black above and below, and extends above and beyond its shoulders. The ear coverts are speckled gray and grayish-black. Its chin and throat are grey that becomes buff on its chest, flank and belly, though the latter two are of a warmer color. The underwing coverts sport a grayish buff color. Its iris is reddish-brown, the upper mandible is lemon-colored and paler at the base and lower mandible. The legs are flesh-colored.
As for the other subspecies in contrast to T. l. ludovicianus, T. l. berlandieri is of a slightly smaller build, but possesses a larger bill, the upperparts are duller brown with deeper colored underparts, T. l. lomitensis is of a duller color (than either ludovicianus or berlandieri) with its underparts either pale or almost white, T. l. miamensis contains darker rusty chestnut upperparts and deeper colored below. T. l. burleighi is duller and sootier with less distinct tail markings, T. l. mesophilus has paler underparts and a whiter supercilium, and T. l. tropicalis is darker than all races, and contains heavier bars than T. l. berlandieri.


The juvenile T.l. ludovicianus is similar in appearance, but the plumage is generally paler; a softer texture, buff-tipped wing coverts, and a paler superciliary streak. In August and September, the partial plumage molt for the post-juvenile wrens is darker in color and affects the contour plumage, wing coverts, tail and develops a whiter superciliary stripe. The post-nuptial molt for adults in the same time period is more pronounced in color than the spring molt, with both sexes similar in appearance.


Survival rates differ by region. A male captured in Arkansas lived to be at least 73 months old, and in Alabama, the oldest female and male captured were six and ten years old, respectively. In a survival probability mark-and-recapture study conducted within the Southeastern United States from 1992 to 2003, roughly 90 percent of the banded wrens died within 10 years.


The easiest species to confuse with the Carolina wren is Bewick's wren, which differs in being smaller but with a longer tail, grayer-brown above and whiter below. The Carolina and white-browed wrens differ from the house wren in being larger, with a decidedly longer bill and hind toe; their culmen has a notch behind the tip.


Carolina wrens sing year round and at any point during the daytime, with the exception of performing during the most harsh weather conditions.  Males alone sing, and have a repertoire of at least twenty different phrase patterns and on average, thirty two. One of these patterns is repeated for several minutes, and although the male's song can be repeated up to twelve times, the general number of songs range from three to five times in repetition. While singing, the tail of the birds is pointed downward. Some general vocalizations have been transcribed as teakettle-teakettle-teakettle and cheery-cheery-cheery. Various descriptions of the teakettle song include whee-udel, whee-udel, whee-udel, che-wortel, che-wortel and túrtee-túrtee-túrtee and familiar names and phrases such as sweet heart, sweet heart, come to me, come to me, sweet William, and Richelieu, Richelieu.
Males are capable of increasing their repertoire through song learning, but due to their sedentary nature and territorial defense habits, the song learning must occur within the first three months of life. Geographic barriers affect song repertoire size from male wrens, as one study indicated that distances separated as close as 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) by water barriers can have the same effect as that of a distance of 145 kilometres (90 mi) in the mainland with no barriers.
Female Carolina wrens possess song control regions that would appear to make them capable of singing with repertoires like the male. Due to vocalizations that they occasionally make with the male, it has been suggested that song perception plays a role and is of behavioral relevance.
Different subspecies have variations in songs and calls, such as miamensis having a more rapid song that contains more notes than the races that are further north.
Their songs can be confused with the Kentucky warbler. The song patterns are similar, but the warbler's songs are described as richer, with more ringing and a hurried pace. Other bird species with songs described as akin to the wren are the flicker, Baltimore oriole, grey catbird, and more specifically the peto, peto, peto call of the tufted titmouse and the whistle of the northern cardinal. Occasionally, the wrens mimic other species; in Pennsylvania this trait has caused the bird to be also known as the 'mocking wren'.


A 2006 study suggested that the correlation of tail length and body size in males, wing length in females, and lifespan for both sexes were signs of individual quality, and the wrens of high quality tend to mate with like individuals. The courting and antagonistic encounters that involve the tail fanning and wing drooping was suggested to be a possible signaling use. Age and life experience are not thought of as significant for potential mates due to their relatively short lifespan and sedentary lifestyle. Due to the large size of male wrens and the male's vigor in defending its territory, intrasexual selection was given as a possible explanation for the sexual dimorphism.


Both sexes are involved in defending the territory. One aspect of territorial defense involves identifying the proximity of the threat based on the loudness of bird song as well as the level of degradation of the calls. In experiments involving playback, the wrens are capable of discriminating between degraded and undegraded songs, as well as degraded songs in the same acoustic conditions, and can detect changes of acoustic properties within their territories, such as songs under foliage. Song degradation can also be used to determine the proximity of potential intruders. If the song of a bird appears to be degraded, the wrens will assume that the threat is distant and not respond; if the song is not degraded, they respond by attacking. Not all birds within their territory are potential enemies. Some species of birds that are neighbors are designated as 'dear-enemies' by the wrens, and the responses to neighbors and intruders in their territories differ by the season. In spring, the wrens respond more aggressively toward neighbors, though in the fall, no major discrepancy in responses is shown. When protecting their nest, alarm calls are the general response. The wrens judge the size of the potential threat, such as a blue jay and avoid the risk of injury when attacking. Countersinging produced by intruder birds is more likely to be taken as an aggressive threat to male Carolina wrens.
Both males and females utilize calls in alarm situations, especially in territorial disputes and encounters with predators. Males alone produce the cheer call, which can sound indistinct. In southern regions of their range, the sound males use in alarm disputes is a ringing pink or p'dink sound. Females are the only ones that can perform the paired dit-dit or chatter sounds. The former can be used in territorial disputes with predators, and with at least northern populations the songs are used in alternation with the males cheer chant. The chatter is used exclusively with territorial encounters with male song, and the song can either follow or overlap her mate's song.


Carolina wrens spend the majority of their time on or near the ground searching for food, or in tangles of vegetation and vines. They also probe bark crevices on lower tree levels, or pick up leaf-litter in order to search for prey. Their diet consists of invertebrates, such as beetles, true bugs, grasshoppers, katydids, spiders, ants, bees, and wasps. Small lizards and tree frogs also make up the carnivorous portion of their diet. Vegetable matter, such as fruit pulp and various seeds, makes up a small percentage of their diet. In the northern portion of their range, they frequent bird feeders.


Carolina wrens are wary, and are more often heard than seen. When on the ground, they move in jerky hops pillaging through various objects, whether man-made or natural. While moving abruptly, they pause momentarily for chattering or singing.  When stationary, they move in twitched motions, jerking their breast around. They also sun- or sand-bathe. The wrens also displays a skittish behavior when encountered by humans, as they can be seen thrusting off into cover slowly if approaching is detected. However, they occasionally seek out humans that are near, so long as there is no movement from them. Other movements involve being capable of crawling like a creeper and hanging upside-down like a nuthatch.
Flights are generally of short duration, rapid, low-leveled, and wavelike. The wings during flight are flapped rapidly, and are frequently used during foraging. They are also capable of flying vertically from the base of a tree to the top in a single wing assisted bound.


Carolina wrens are both genetically and socially monogamous and will usually mate for life.  Mate changing is rare, and there has been one possible observation of polygamy. During the winter season, males are more responsible for guarding the territory. Females vary in succeeding to maintain winter territories without a mate. It has been suggested that the possibility of desertion and decline in care-taking from males along with the need for security in resources year-round prevent extra pair copulations from females, as the mortality rate for Carolina wrens peaks during the winter. Along with thermoregulatory benefits, roosting is thought to reinforce pair-bonding and prevent divorce between mates.
The nests are arch-shaped structures with a side entrance and built of dried plants or strips of bark, as well as horsehair, string, wool and snake sloughs. The male obtains nesting materials while the female remains at the site to construct the nest. Nests are located in fragmented or complete cavities in trees, or in man-made structures such as bird-boxes, buildings, tin cans, mailboxes or unorthodox places such as pockets of hanging jackets in sheds or in a tractor in everyday use. Nests are from 1–3 m (3.3–9.8 ft) from the ground and are rarely higher. They occasionally can be built in sloping locations or at ground level.
Egg laying dates and clutch size vary by region; in Texas the time period is from late February to late August, in Iowa it ranges from late April to June. The clutch size is generally 3 to 6 eggs, but can reach as high as seven in Texas. The eggs are creamy white with brown or reddish-brown spots, and are more heavily marked at the broad end. The eggs are incubated by the female for 12–16 days. After the young hatch, they are fed exclusively on invertebrates and they fledge in 12–14 days. As many as three broods may be raised by a pair in a single breeding season. In one study, three of the 70 fledglings remained or defended territory adjacent to the natal area.
Male and females are involved in the process of provisioning at similar rates throughout most nest stages, with the males providing slightly more in the nestling stages. Both sexes increase their provision rates as the nestlings grow in age.


Brood parasitism by the brown-headed cowbird is common, with up to 25% of Carolina wren nests being affected in certain regions such as Oklahoma and Alabama. Cowbird parasitism peaks in April at 41%, and is as low as 8% and 0% in July and August, respectively. Female cowbirds sometimes eject Carolina wren eggs before laying their own, and even if host eggs are retained, the size of cowbird eggs negatively affect the hatching success of wren eggs. As a result, cowbirds may have a significant impact on the reproductive success of wrens. The feeding rate for cowbird nestlings is higher than wren feeding rates, and some have been raised to independence. This also can be detrimental to the survival of wren nestlings. A rare instance of brood-parasitism by a house finch has been recorded. The rate of brood parasitism is thought to be lower in more natural and concealed nesting locations. Body parasites such as the larvae of blowflies feed on nestlings and the blood loss weakens nestlings. Fellow species of wren such as Bewick's wren and the winter wren compete for nesting locations and food, respectively.
In Virginia, some Carolina wrens populations show high levels of mercury in their blood and this is acquired from feeding all-year-round on spiders. Spiders being at a higher trophic level contain a higher concentrations of mercury (through biomagnification) than herbivorous invertebrates. As these wrens are year-round residents, they are at a higher risk than other species to acquire mercury in their blood. Nest abandonment and failure to raise young are more common with higher mercury content. Exposure, and prolonged periods of cold, ice, and snow is thought to affect the wren nestling and adult populations, respectively. Wrens that outlast those winters reside in sheltered areas during the season.
Among the top predators of adult Carolina wrens are domestic cats, and snakes such as the timber rattlesnake. Raccoons and black rat snakes also feed on wren eggs and nestlings.


In 1930, the South Carolina Federated Women's club adopted the Carolina wren as the unofficial state bird over the eastern mourning dove and pushed for its official state adoption until 1939, when the South Carolina Legislature named the northern mockingbird as the state bird. In 1948, the legislature repealed their previous decision, and the wren became the official state bird.
In 2000, the Carolina wren was featured on the back of the South Carolina edition of the 50 State Quarters.


Johann Friedrich Gmelin wrongly associated the Carolina wren with the European wrens under the name Motacilla troglodytes (originally coined by Carl Linnaeus in Systema Naturae) in 1788.
The North Folk Holston and South Rivers were used in the study and were both contaminated by industrial activity.


Thuja plicata is an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to western North America. Its common name is western redcedar (western red cedar in the UK), and it is also called Pacific redcedar, giant arborvitae, western arborvitae, just cedar, giant cedar, or shinglewood. It is not a true cedar  of the genus Cedrus.


Thuja plicata is a large to very large tree, ranging up to 45 to 70 metres (150 to 230 ft) tall and 2.4 to 7 m (8 to 23 ft) in trunk diameter. Trees growing in the open may have a crown that reaches the ground, whereas trees densely spaced together will exhibit a crown only at the top, where light can reach the leaves. The trunk swells at the base and has shallow roots. The bark is thin, gray-brown and fissured into vertical bands. As the tree ages, the top is damaged by wind and replaced by inferior branches. The species is long-lived; some trees can live well over a thousand years, with the oldest verified aged 1,460.
The foliage forms flat sprays with scale-like leaves in opposite pairs, with successive pairs at 90 degrees to each other. The foliage sprays are green above and green marked with whitish stomatal bands below; they are strongly aromatic, with a scent reminiscent of pineapple when crushed. The individual leaves are 1 to 4 millimetres (1⁄32 to 5⁄32 in) long and 1 to 2 mm (1⁄32 to 3⁄32 in) broad on most foliage sprays, but up to 12 mm (1⁄2 in) long on strong-growing lead shoots. The foliage of individual branchlets turns orange-brown before falling off in autumn.
The cones are slender, 10 to 18 mm (3⁄8 to 11⁄16 in) long, and 4 to 5 mm (5⁄32 to 3⁄16 in) broad, with 8 to 12 (rarely 14) thin, overlapping scales. They are green to yellow-green, ripening brown in fall about six months after pollination, and open at maturity to shed the seeds. The seeds are 4 to 5 mm (5⁄32 to 3⁄16 in) long and 1 mm (1⁄32 in) broad, with a narrow papery wing down each side. The pollen cones are 3 to 4 mm (1⁄8 to 5⁄32 in) long, red or purple at first, and shed yellow pollen in spring.


The heartwood of western redcedar contains different chemical substances, such as plicatic acid, thujaplicatin methyl ether, hinokitiol and other thujaplicins, β-thujaplicinol, thujic acid, methyl thujate, 1,4-cineole and γ-eudesmol. Plicatic acid is believed to be the main irritant and contact allergen responsible for provoking allergic reactions and asthma exaggeration and leading to occupational asthma in woodworkers that are exposed to western redcedar wood dust. Thujaplicins serve as natural fungicides, and thereby prevent the wood from rotting. This effect lasts around a century even after the tree is felled. However, thujaplicins are only found in older trees. Saplings do not produce the chemical, causing them to often develop rot at an early stage, causing some trees to grow with a somewhat hollow trunk, as the tree moves to heal itself as it grows. Due to their fungicidal and anti-browning properties, thujaplicins are used in agriculture for fungal diseases and to prevent post-harvest decay. Thujaplicins, as other tropolones, are potent chelating agents and bind divalent metal ions. Basic and animal studies have shown that thujaplicins may have other biological properties, including antibacterial, antiviral and antioxidant activities, however reliable evidence on their effectiveness is still lacking.


Thuja plicata is one of two Thuja species native to North America, the other being Thuja occidentalis. The species name plicata derives from the Latin word plicāre and means 'folded in plaits' or 'braided,' a reference to the pattern of its small leaves.
Most authorities, both in Canada and the United States transliterate the English name in two words as 'western redcedar', or occasionally hyphenated as 'western red-cedar', to indicate that it is not a true cedar (Cedrus), but it also appears as 'western red cedar' in some popular works. In the American horticultural trade, it is also known as the giant arborvitae, by comparison with arborvitae for its close relative Thuja occidentalis. Other names include giant redcedar, Pacific redcedar, shinglewood, British Columbia cedar (being the province's official tree), canoe cedar, and red cedar. Arborvitae comes from the Latin for 'tree of life'; coincidentally, Native Americans of the West Coast also address the species as "long life maker".
One endonymous name for the tree is the Halkomelem word xepá:y, from the roots xíp, meaning 'scratch' or 'line', and á:y, 'bark'; the former root may be in reference to both the lined or "folded/braided" appearance of the bark and the tree's ubiquity in carving and other forms of woodwork.


Thuja plicata is among the most widespread trees in the Pacific Northwest. It is associated with Douglas-fir and western hemlock in most places where it grows. It is found in moist areas, where precipitation exceeds 75 centimetres (30 in) annually, west of the Cascade Range crest  – from central South East Alaska (near the village of Kake) to northern California (growing closer to the coast at the north and south extremes) – and inland from central-southeast British Columbia through the Idaho Panhandle. It is usually found from sea level to elevations of 1,100 m (3,600 ft), but grows at altitudes of up to 2,290 m (7,510 ft) at Crater Lake in Oregon and 1,500 m (4,900 ft) in Idaho. In addition to growing in lush forests and mountainsides, western redcedar is also a riparian tree, growing in many forested swamps and streambanks in its range. The tree is shade tolerant and able to reproduce under dense shade.
It has been introduced to other temperate zones, including further north in Alaska, western Europe, Australia (at least as far north as Sydney), New Zealand, the eastern United States (at least as far north as Central New York), and higher elevations of Hawaii.
The species is naturalized in Britain.


Western redcedar foliage, especially that of saplings, is an important food source year-round for browsing ungulates such as Roosevelt elk and black-tailed deer, especially during the winter months when little else is available. The seeds are eaten by birds and rodents.
Western redcedar provides cover for bears, raccoons, skunks, and other animals which nest inside trunk cavities. It is used as a nest tree by cavity-nesting bird species such as yellow-bellied sapsuckers, hairy woodpeckers, tree swallows, chestnut-backed chickadees, and Vaux's swifts.
Thuja plicata is a host to several destructive insect species such as the western cedar borer, cedar bark beetle, gall midge, and conifer seedling weevils.


Western redcedar appears in all stages of forest succession, but as it is one of the most shade-tolerant species in the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest it is considered to be a climax species along with western hemlock. It will readily establish and grow in the shade of other, less shade-tolerant species such as red alder, black cottonwood, or Douglas-fir, and prevent seedlings of those species from establishing themselves in its shade. However, western hemlock and Pacific silver fir are more tolerant of shade. Western redcedar can also reproduce vegetatively via layering.


It is considered to have low to moderate fire resistance, as its thin bark, shallow roots, low dense branching habit and flammable foliage confer little protection. Smaller trees are commonly killed by fire, but larger specimens often survive due to their size if they are not completely girdled. The intervals between fires within western redcedar stands tend to be very long, from 50 up to 350 years or more.


Western redcedar shows susceptibility of varying degrees to the following soil pathogens: Armillaria ostoyae, Fomitopsis pinicola, Heterobasidion annosum, Phaeolus schweinitzii, Phellinus weirii, Rhizinia undulata, and Postia sericeomollis.
While western redcedar is a host to P. weirii, the fungus which causes the disease laminated root rot, redcedar is rated as resistant while other conifers are rated as highly susceptible or susceptible. Instead of laminated root rot, P. weirii in western redcedar expresses as a butt rot that can extend 2–3 m up the boles of living trees with the most extreme cases reaching 10 m. While the heart rot caused by the redcedar form of P. weirii does not kill the tree outright, it does severely weaken the lower portion of the bole which makes the tree highly susceptible to stem breakage.
P. sericeomollis is responsible for brown cubical butt and pocket rot of cedar. It is the second-most common cause of decay in western redcedar following P. weirii. Rather than forming a single column of decay in the heartwood, though, P. sericeomollis tends to cause rings or pockets of decay in the lower bole.
In addition to P. weirii, western redcedar is also less susceptible to H. annosum and A. ostoyae than other conifer species. Studies have found that western redcedar produces a phytochemical called thujaplicin which has been credited with granting the species its natural resistance to fungal attacks. Because of these natural defenses, it has been suggested that western redcedar may serve as a suitable alternative to other conifers when regenerating a site affected by these pathogens.


Like its relative Thuja occidentalis and many other conifer species, Thuja plicata is grown as an ornamental tree, and for screens and hedges, throughout the world in gardens and parks. A wide variety of forms, sizes, and colours is available.
Cultivars
The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:
'Atrovirens'
'Aurea'
'Stoneham Gold'
'Whipcord'
'Zebrina'


Western redcedar has an extensive history of use by Native Americans of coastal Oregon to southeast Alaska. Some northwest coast tribes refer to themselves as "people of the redcedar" because of their extensive dependence on the tree for basic materials. The wood has been used for constructing housing and totem poles, and crafted into many objects, including masks, utensils, boxes, boards, instruments, canoes, vessels, houses, and ceremonial objects. Western redcedar is also associated with a long tradition of curing and cooking fish over the open fire. Roots and bark are used for baskets, bowls, ropes, clothing, blankets, and rings.
A huge number of archaeological finds point to the continuous use of redcedar wood in native societies. Woodworking tools dating between 8,000 and 5,000 years ago, such as carved antlers, were discovered in shell middens at the Glenrose site, near Vancouver, British Columbia. In Yuquot, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, tools dating 4,000 to 3,000 years old have been found. The Musqueam site, also near Vancouver, yielded bark baskets woven in five different styles, along with ropes and ships dated to 3,000 years ago. At Pitt River, adzes and baskets were dated around 2,900 years ago. Wooden artifacts 1000 years old were unearthed on the east coast of Vancouver Island.
Red cedar was used extensively wherever it was found along the northwest coast (British Columbia, Washington state, parts of Alaska). Evidence of this use is found in CMTs (Culturally Modified Trees) that are found throughout the coast. When First Nations people removed the bark from cedars, it left a scar – which is considered a CMT. Other types of harvest (for planks, tinder, and other uses) leave different types of evidence of cultural modification.
A legend amongst the Coast Salish peoples describes the origins of the western redcedar. In this legend, there was a generous man who gave the people whatever they needed. When the Great Spirit saw this, he declared that when the generous man died, a great redcedar tree will grow where he is buried, and that the cedar will be useful to all the people, providing its roots for baskets, bark for clothing, and wood for shelter.


The wood was worked primarily with the adze, which was preferred over all other tools, even ones introduced by Europeans. Alexander Walker, an ensign on the fur trade ship Captain Cook, reported that the indigenous peoples used an elbow adze, which they valued over tools brought by the Europeans, such as the saw or the axe, going so far as to modify traded tools back into an adze. Tools were generally made from stone, bone, obsidian, or a harder wood such as hemlock. A variety of hand mauls, wedges, chisels, and knives are also used.
Excavations done at Ozette, Washington, turned up iron tools nearly 800 years old, far before European contact. When James Cook passed the area, he observed that almost all tools were made of iron. There has been speculation on the origin of these iron tools. Some theories include shipwrecks from East Asia or possible contact with iron-using cultures from Siberia, as hinted in the more advanced woodworking found in northern tribes such as the Tlingit.


Harvesting redcedars required some ceremony and included propitiation of the tree's spirits as well as those of the surrounding trees. In particular, many people specifically requested the tree and its brethren not to fall or drop heavy branches on the harvester, a situation which is mentioned in a number of different stories of people who were not sufficiently careful. Some professional loggers of Native American descent have mentioned that they offer quiet or silent propitiations to trees which they fell, following in this tradition.
Felling of large trees such as redcedar before the introduction of steel tools was a complex and time-consuming art. Typically the bark was removed around the base of the tree above the buttresses. Then some amount of cutting and splitting with stone adzes and mauls would be done, creating a wide triangular cut. The area above and below the cut would be covered with a mixture of wet moss and clay as a firebreak. Then the cut would be packed with tinder and small kindling and slowly burned. The process of cutting and burning would alternate until the tree was mostly penetrated through, and then careful tending of the fire would fell the tree in the best direction for handling. This process could take many days. Constant rotation of workers was involved to keep the fires burning through night and day, often in a remote and forbidding location.
Once the tree was felled, the work had only just begun, as it then had to be stripped and dragged down to shore. If the tree was to become canoes, then it would often be divided into sections and worked into rough canoe shapes before transport. If it were to be used for a totem pole or building materials, it would be towed in the round to the village. Many trees are still felled in this traditional manner for use as totem poles and canoes, particularly by artists who feel that using modern tools is detrimental to the traditional spirit of the art. Non-traditionalists simply buy redcedar logs or lumber at mills or lumber yards, a practice that is commonly followed by most working in smaller sizes such as for masks and staves.
Because felling required such an extraordinary amount of work, if only planks for housing were needed, these would be split from the living tree. The bark was stripped and saved, and two cuts were made at the ends of the planking. Then wedges would be pounded in along the sides and the planks slowly split off the side of the tree. Trees which have been so harvested are still visible in some places in the rainforest, with obvious chunks taken off of their sides. Such trees usually continue to grow perfectly well, since redcedar wood is resistant to decay. Planks are straightened by a variety of methods, including weighing them down with stones, lashing them together with rope, or forcing them between a line of stakes.
Redcedar wood is used to make huge monoxyla canoes in which the men went out to high sea to harpoon whales and conduct trade. One of those canoes, a 12-metre (38 ft) craft dug out about a century ago, was bought in 1901 by Captain John Voss, an adventurer. He gave her the name of Tilikum ('Relative' in Chinook jargon), rigged her, and led her in a hectic three-year voyage from British Columbia to London.
Redcedar branches are very flexible and have good tensile strength. They were stripped and used as strong cords for fishing line, nets, rope cores, twine, and other purposes where bark cord was not strong enough or might fray. Both the branches and bark rope have been replaced by modern fiber and nylon cordage among the aboriginal northwest coast peoples, though the bark is still in use for the other purposes mentioned above.


At the right time of year, the bark is easily removed from live trees in long strips. It is harvested for use in making mats, rope and cordage, basketry, rain hats, clothing, and other soft goods. The harvesting of bark must be done with care, as stripping too much bark will kill the tree. To prevent this, the harvester usually only harvests from trees which have not been stripped before. After harvesting, the tree is not used for bark again, although it may later be felled for wood. Stripping bark is usually started with a series of cuts at the base of the tree above any buttresses, after which the bark is peeled upwards. To remove bark high up, a pair of platforms strung on rope around the tree are used and the harvester climbs by alternating between them for support. Since redcedars lose their lower branches as all tall trees do in the rainforest, the harvester may climb 10 m (33 ft) or more into the tree by this method. The harvested bark is folded and carried in backpacks. It can be stored for quite some time as mold does not grow on it, and is moistened before unfolding and working. It is then split lengthwise into the required width and woven or twisted into shape. Bark harvesting was mostly done by women, despite the danger of climbing ten meters in the air, because they were the primary makers of bark goods.
Today bark rope making is a lost art in many communities, although it is still practiced for decoration or art in a few places. Other uses of bark are still common for artistic or practical purposes. In recent years there has been a revival of cedar weaving in some communities, and along with it, new forms of cedar bark products. For example, in some recent weddings cedar roses are used to decorate the tables.


The soft red-brown timber has a tight, straight grain and few knots. It is valued for its distinct appearance, aroma, and its high natural resistance to decay, being extensively used for outdoor construction in the form of posts, decking, shingles, and siding. It is commonly used for the framing and longwood in lightweight sail boats and kayaks. In larger boats it is often used in sandwich construction between two layers of epoxy resin and/or fibreglass or similar products. Due to its light weight – 390 to 400 kg/m³ (24 to 25 lb/cu ft) dried – it is about 30% lighter than common boat building woods, such as mahogany. For its weight it is quite strong but can be brittle. It glues well with epoxy resin or resorcinol adhesive.
Its light weight, strength, and dark, warm sound make it a popular choice for guitar soundboards, particularly among European guitar builders such as Lowden and Furch.
Western redcedar wood is export-restricted in the United States.
The tree is highly allergenic and woodworkers or loggers who work with it may have adverse reactions, including the development of occupational asthma, exacerbation of existing asthma, reduction of lung function, and eye irritation. Approximately 5% of workers are allergic to western redcedar. The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration has set a permissible exposure limit for red cedar dust of 2.5 mg/m³ as a time-weighted average over eight hours.


The essential oil of western redcedar leaves contains natural compounds, such as α-thujone, β-thujone, fenchone, sabinene, terpinen-4-ol and beyerene, which have also been isolated from different other essential oils. Some of these substances are aroma compounds and are used in perfumery. Thujones are GABAA receptor competitive antagonists however because of their high toxicity and convulsive activity they do not have any pharmacological use.


It is also widely used throughout Europe and America for making beehive components.
Its bark has been studied for applications in polyurethane.
Used in the construction of windows and doors (joinery grade timber).


The largest living specimen is the Cheewhat Giant, in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on Vancouver Island, at 450 cubic metres (15,870 cu ft). The tallest known individual is the Willaby Creek Tree south of Lake Quinault, 59 m (195 ft) in height.
The 'Quinault Lake Redcedar' was the largest known western redcedar in the world, with a wood volume of 500 m³ (17,650 cu ft). Located near the northwest shore of Lake Quinault north of Aberdeen, Washington, about 34 kilometres (21 mi) from the Pacific Ocean, it was one-third the volume of the largest known tree, a giant sequoia named 'General Sherman'. The Quinault Lake Redcedar was 53 m (174 ft) tall with a diameter of 5.9 m (19.5 ft) at breast height. The Quinault Lake Redcedar was destroyed by a series of storms in 2014 and 2016 and is now only a glorified stump. The fifth-largest known was the Kalaloch Cedar in Olympic National Park, at 350 m³ (12,370 cu ft), until it was destroyed by a storm in March 2014.
A redcedar over 71 m (233 ft) tall, 4.5 m (15 ft) in diameter, and over 700 years old stood in Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island before it was set on fire and destroyed by vandals in 1972. That tree now lies in "Giant's Grave", a self-dug 'grave' created by the force of its own impact. A specimen measuring 5.5 m (18 ft) diameter and 54 m (177 ft) tall on the Giant Red Cedar National Recreation Trail in the Idaho Panhandle National Forests is designated the "Champion Tree of Idaho".
The Giant Cedar Stump is an ancient redcedar turned roadside attraction in Snohomish County, Washington.


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Thunbergia alata, commonly called black-eyed Susan vine, is a herbaceous perennial climbing plant species in the family Acanthaceae.  It is native to Eastern Africa, and has been naturalized in other parts of the world.
It is grown as an ornamental plant in gardens and in hanging baskets.  The name 'Black-eyed Susan' is thought to have come from a character that figures in many traditional ballads and songs.  In the Ballad of Black-eyed Susan by John Gay, Susan goes aboard a ship in-dock to ask the sailors where her lover Sweet William has gone.  Black-eyed Susan is also a name given to other species of flowers in the genus Rudbeckia.


Thunbergia alata has a vine habit, and can grow to a height of 5 metres (16 ft) high in warmer zones, or much less as a container plant or as an annual. It has twining stems with heart or arrow-shaped leaves. The three and a half to seven and a half centimeters long and two and a half centimeters wide leaves are triangular to heart-shaped. Their edges are wavy and both surfaces are hairy. The leaf blades sit on up to six and a half centimeters long petioles, which attach at a distance of four and a half to 13 centimeters on the one to one and a quarter millimeter thick stem axis.


The hairy, mostly orange-yellow flowers have five petals and appear throughout the growing season, which grow on up to eight and a half centimeters long inflorescence axes. They typically are warm orange with a characteristic dark spot in the centre. The central two centimeter long corolla tube is black-violet. Each of the single flowers has two triangular to oval, hairy bracts that taper towards the outside. They are 18 to 20 millimeters long and nine to ten millimeters wide. The serrated calyx is about two millimeters long and has between 15 and 17 awl-shaped lobes. The corolla tube measures around four centimeters and shows five two centimeter large corolla lobes with right-hand covering buds on the outside.
The 16 to 18 millimeter long fruits are finely hairy. At the base they have a diameter of seven millimeters. The four seeds measure 3.5 millimeters.


Thunbergia alata seed is easy to germinate in humus-rich soil with some sand and it can be grown from cuttings. Soaking the seeds in a dish of warm water over night will help improve seed germination when planted. It is a fast grower, blooming quickly, with light trimming encouraging more blossoms.  There are cultivars with red, orange, red-orange, white, pale yellow, or bright yellow flowers, with or without the characteristic chocolate-purple centre which inspires the common name.


The plant is originally from East Africa, and has almost a world distribution including tropical and subtropical areas like China, eastern Australia, Hawaii, Southern US in the states of Texas and Florida, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Mexico, South Africa, Portugal, Japan, New Zealand, Cerrado vegetation of Brazil, Argentina, Madagascar, India, Thailand and Philippines, among others.
It is used all around the world as a garden plant, but has managed to "escape" to the wilderness, naturalizing in tropical and temperate forests. It has been widely reported as Invasive species, especially in the Caribbean and Pacific islands, from Mexico to Colombia, and in Japan,  due to the fast growing of the plant; the ease of wild pollination during sporadic flowering times; its vine-growing strategies that strangle or create shadow on other plants; its difficulty to eradicate by hand (as it leaves underground rhizomes that rapidly grow back); its lack of usual predators in non native regions; plus, people who are unaware of its harmful nature to other plants in the wilderness tend to admire its beauty and might opt not to remove it.


Thunbergia grandiflora is an evergreen vine in the family Acanthaceae. It is native to China, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Indochina and Myanmar and widely naturalised elsewhere. Common names include Bengal clockvine, Bengal trumpet, blue skyflower, blue thunbergia, blue trumpetvine, clockvine, skyflower and skyvine.


Plants may grow to about 20 metres in height and have a long root system with a deep tap root. The stalked, opposite leaves, which have a rough surface, are quite variable in shape. They may be triangular or ovate and the margins may be toothed, lobed or entire. Length is up to 200 mm and width is up to 60 mm, which are typically smaller than the very similar T. laurifolia.
The blue to mauve flowers are about 8 cm across with a 4 cm long tube that is pale yellow inside. These are followed by pods containing seeds that are ejected several metres upon ripening. Plants also reproduce from segments that are washed down watercourses.


With a minimum temperature of 10–13 °C (50–55 °F), this plant is cultivated as a houseplant in temperate regions, and has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
The species has become a serious environmental weed in Australia on disturbed land along watercourses and in the wet tropics where it smothers other vegetation. It is commonly seen north of Sydney where it has been cultivated for many years.


Thyanta custator, the red-shouldered stink bug, is a species of stink bug in the family Pentatomidae. It is found in North America.


These two subspecies belong to the species Thyanta custator:
Thyanta custator accerra (redshouldered stink bug)
Thyanta custator spinosa


Thymelicus lineola, known in Europe as the Essex skipper and in North America as the European skipper, is a species of butterfly in the family Hesperiidae.
With a wingspan of 2.5 to 2.9 cm, it is very similar in appearance to the small skipper, Thymelicus sylvestris. They can be told apart by the forward-facing flattish part of the antenna tip: in the Essex Skipper this face is black, whereas in the Small Skipper it is orange or brown. In males, there is a difference in the scent mark. In Essex Skipper this is a fine, straight, short dark line on the forewing, parallel to the wing edge; in the Small Skipper males, this line is bolder and bent. This butterfly occurs throughout much of the Palaearctic region. Its range is from southern Scandinavia through Europe to North Africa and east to Central Asia. It was only identified in the UK in 1889, and its range is expanding both in England and in northern Europe. In North America, this butterfly was accidentally introduced in 1910 via London, Ontario and has spread across southern Canada and into several northern US states. In many parts of the Northeastern United States it is the most abundant skipper.


The small skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris) is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae.


It has a rusty orange colour to the wings, upper body and the tips of the antennae. The body is silvery white below and it has a wingspan of 25–30 mm. This butterfly is very similar in appearance to the Essex skipper (Thymelicus lineola). In the small skipper, the undersides of the tips of the antennae are yellow orange, whereas they are black in the Essex skipper. The black area on the lower edge of the upper wings also differs. Like the other orange grass skippers the male has a distinctive black stripe made up of scent scales.


This butterfly's range includes much of Europe (east to the Urals, including Ireland, Britain and Scandinavia), north Africa and the Middle East. It is typically occurring where grass has grown tall.


Thymophylla pentachaeta, also known as fiveneedle pricklyleaf, golden dyssodia or dogweed, is a perennial or subshrub in the family Asteraceae. The species is native to the southwestern United States and Mexico.
Four varieties are recognised:
Thymophylla pentachaeta var. belenidium
Thymophylla pentachaeta var. hartwegii
Thymophylla pentachaeta var. pentachaeta
Thymophylla pentachaeta var. puberula


Thymus praecox is a species of thyme. A common name is mother of thyme, but "creeping thyme" and "wild thyme" may be used where Thymus serpyllum, which also shares these names, is not found. It is native to central, southern, and western Europe.


Thymus praecox is in the genus Thymus belonging to the Serpyllum section. It has sometimes been reclassified as T. polytrichus.


Thymus praecox subspecies and cultivars include:
Thymus praecox subsp. praecox
Thymus praecox 'Doone Valley' (recently reclassified as a hybrid under the name Thymus 'Doone Valley')
Thymus praecox 'Minus'
Thymus praecox 'Pseudolanuginosus'
Thymus praecox subsp. arcticus (sometimes classified as Thymus polytrichus subsp. britannicus)
Thymus praecox subsp. arcticus 'Albus' (white moss thyme)
Thymus praecox subsp. arcticus 'Languinosus' (woolly thyme)
Thymus praecox subsp. arcticus 'Hall's Woolly'
Thymus praecox subsp. arcticus 'Pink Chintz' (recently reclassified as Thymus serpyllum 'Pink Chintz')
Thymus praecox subsp. polytrichus (A. Kern. Ex Borbàs) Jalas. Found in the wild in Bosnia.
Thymus praecox subsp. skorpilii (Velen.) Jalas. Found in the wild in Bosnia.


Thymus praecox is cultivated as an ornamental plant, used as an evergreen groundcover in gardens and pots. When maintained at a lower height it is used between paving stones in patios and walkways. It is drought tolerant when established.
This thyme species (and Thymus serpyllum) has escaped cultivation in North America, and is a weed or invasive species in some habitats in the United States.


This thyme has a strong scent similar to Oregano. It can be used in cuisine.
Like other species of thyme, T. praecox is characterized by substantial differences in essential oil composition from plant to plant.  Plants which differ in this way are known as chemotypes and a geographical population will generally contain a mix of chemotypes.  For example, studies of chemotypes in Greenland, Iceland, Norway, England, Scotland, and Ireland show that chemotypes span those countries rather than being geographically localized.  Some of those areas contain greater chemotype diversity than others.


Thymus pulegioides, common names broad-leaved thyme or lemon thyme, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe. Growing to 5–25 cm (2–10 in) tall by 25 cm (10 in) wide, it is a small spreading subshrub with strongly aromatic leaves, and lilac pink flowers in early summer. The specific epithet pulegioides highlights its similarity to another species within Lamiaceae, Mentha pulegium (pennyroyal).


Broad-leaved thyme is a creeping dwarf evergreen shrub with woody stems and a taproot. It is rather similar to wild thyme (Thymus serpyllum) but it is larger, the leaves are wider and all the stems form flowering shoots. The reddish stems are squarish in cross-section and have hairs on the edges. The leaves are in opposite pairs with short stalks, and the linear ovate blades have tapering bases and untoothed margins. The plant flowers in July and August. The usually pink or mauve flowers form rounded umbels and each has a tube-like calyx and an irregular straight-tubed, hairy corolla. The upper petal is notched and the lower one is larger than the two lateral petals and has three flattened lobes which form a lip. Each flower has four projecting stamens and two fused carpels. The fruit is a dry, four-chambered schizocarp.


Suitable for cultivation in any well-drained alkaline or neutral soil in full sun, this ornamental thyme is useful as groundcover, but can also be used like thyme in cooking. Numerous cultivars have been selected, of which 'Aureus', with lemon-scented gold leaves, and 'Bertram Anderson' have both gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Thymus serpyllum, known by the common names of Breckland thyme, Breckland wild thyme, wild thyme, creeping thyme, or elfin thyme, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae, native to most of Europe and North Africa. It is a low, usually prostrate subshrub growing to 2 cm (1 in) tall with creeping stems up to 10 cm (4 in) long. The oval evergreen leaves are 3–8 mm long. The strongly scented flowers are either lilac, pink-purple, magenta, or a rare white, all 4–6 mm long and produced in clusters. The hardy plant tolerates some pedestrian traffic and produces odors ranging from heavily herbal to lightly lemon, depending on the variety.


Wild thyme is a creeping dwarf evergreen shrub with woody stems and a taproot. It forms matlike plants that root from the nodes of the squarish, limp stems. The leaves are in opposite pairs, nearly stalkless, with linear elliptic round-tipped blades and untoothed margins. The plant sends up erect flowering shoots in summer. The usually pink or mauve flowers have a tube-like calyx and an irregular straight-tubed, hairy corolla. The upper petal is notched and the lower one is larger than the two lateral petals and has three flattened lobes which form a lip. Each flower has four projecting stamens and two fused carpels. The fruit is a dry, four-chambered schizocarp.


Wild thyme is native to the Palearctic realm of Europe and Asia. It is a plant of thin soils and can be found growing on sandy-soiled heaths, rocky outcrops, hills, banks, roadsides and riverside sand banks.
Wild thyme is one of the plants on which both the common blue butterfly and large blue butterfly larvae feed and it is also attractive to bees.


The oils of T. serpyllum contain thymol, carvacrol, limonene, paracymene, gamma-terpinene and beta-caryophyllene.


Creeping and mounding variants of T. serpyllum are used as border plants and ground cover around gardens and stone paths. It may also be used to replace a bluegrass lawn to xeriscape low to moderate foot traffic areas due to its tolerance for low water and poor soils.
Numerous cultivars have been produced, of which 'Pink Chintz' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. A miniature creeping form is 'Elfin'.


Thysanocarpus curvipes is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common names sand fringepod and lacepod. It is native to western North America from British Columbia through the western United States to Baja California, where it grows in many types of habitat. It is a common plant in much of its range. It is variable in appearance. It is an annual herb producing a branching or unbranched stem 10 to 80 centimeters tall. The leaves are mostly lance-shaped but variable. The lower ones are sometimes borne on petioles and the upper ones may clasp the stem at their bases. They may be smooth-edged, toothed, or lobed. The inflorescence is a raceme of flowers with four white or purple-tinged petals and purple sepals. The fruit is a flattened, rounded or oval disclike capsule with a thin wing around the edge. The fruit is under a centimeter long and the wing is variable in appearance, flat or wavy, sometimes perforated.


The wingspan is 36–44 mm. Its head, collar and the vertex of its head are reddish orange. Tegulae and forewings pale reddish brown. The forewings are extensively covered with a metallic golden shimmering surface. Only the costal field and hem are brown. Sub-basal, antemedial and postmedial waved lines very indistinct, fine and whitish in colour. The sub-marginal line irregularly lunulate. The reniform and orbicular tain are small and white bordered. The unpatterned hindwings are grey brown, somewhat darker at the margin. The thorax is furry and with some hair tufts, the proboscis is well developed.
Larva bluish green with a few short dorsal hairs. There are slender dorsal white lines and a prominent lateral line.


Tiarella cordifolia, the heartleaf foamflower, heartleaved foamflower, Allegheny foamflower, false miterwort, or coolwort, is a species of flowering plant in the saxifrage family, native to North America. It is a herbaceous perennial which is valued in cultivation for its erect stems of foamy cream flowers in summer.


Tiarella cordifolia has a scaly horizontal rhizome and seasonal runners?. The leaves are 5–10 cm (2–4 in) long, basal, long stalked, hairy, with 3-7 shallow lobes, and heart-shaped at the base. They are dark green usually mottled with brown, rough-hairy above and downy beneath. They have long flowering stems that can grow as tall as 30 cm (12 in). The flowers are white, small and feathery and form a long terminal cluster on a leafless stalk. The inflorescences are 15–30 cm (6–12 in) tall, with the flowers borne in close, erect racemes. The flowers have 5 petals (entire) and 10 stamens (long and slender), giving the flower cluster a fuzzy appearance. The two unequal seed capsules split along their inside seams, releasing several pitted seeds.
This tiarella spreads well by rhizomes, unlike other cultivated tiarellas, but lacks the invasive tendencies of many more commonly employed groundcovers. Its habitats include deciduous woods and stream banks.
The flowers are visited by small bees, syrphus flies, and butterflies that may affect pollination.
This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Tiarella cordifolia 'FM Mooberry' is named after F. M. Mooberry of the Brandywine Conservancy.


Tiarella trifoliata, commonly called threeleaf foamflower, laceflower, or sugar-scoop, is a flowering plant in the family Saxifragaceae.
It is native to the low to moderate elevation moist forests of western North America, from northern California to Montana and western Canada.


Tiarella trifoliata is a perennial dicotyledonous herb that flowers in the late spring. The flowers are bell-shaped, white and solitary forming an elongated, leafless panicle. The calyx lobes are 1.5–2.5 mm and petals are 3–4 mm. Basal leaves are 15–80 mm long and up to 120 mm wide, trifoliate or palmately 3- to 5-lobed. Cauline leaves are infrequent and much smaller.


There are three varieties of T. trifoliata:
T. trifoliata var. trifoliata, which has leaves that are irregularly lobed, with coarse teeth.
T. trifoliata var. unifoliata, which has simple leaves.
T. trifoliata var. laciniata, which is confined in its range from Washington only as far north as Vancouver Island, and has deeply lobed leaves.


Tigridia pavonia is a species of flowering plant in the iris family Iridaceae. Common names include jockey's cap lily, Mexican shellflower, peacock flower, tiger iris, and tiger flower. This summer-flowering bulbous herbaceous perennial is widespread across much of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. It is naturalized in Ecuador and Peru.
The leaves are narrow and lance-shaped. The three-petalled blooms occur in a variety of colours with strongly contrasting central markings. They open early in the morning and close before dusk. Blooms are successional throughout summer. Plants bloom in the first year after sowing.
Tigridia pavonia is cultivated as an ornamental plant. It prefers a sheltered position in full sun, in sandy but fertile soil. As it is only hardy to 5 °C (41 °F), in colder areas bulbs should be lifted and stored throughout the winter months.
The roasted bulbs are edible and have been used by the American Indians and Indigenous peoples of Mexico. It has a chestnut-like flavour.
The aphid Aphis newtoni may be found on this plant.


The rufescent tiger heron (Tigrisoma lineatum) is a species of heron in the family Ardeidae. It is found in wetlands from Central America through much of South America.


The rufescent tiger heron was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1780 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux from a specimen collected in Cayenne, French Guiana. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text.  Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Ardea lineata in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées. The rufescent tiger heron is now placed in the genus Tigrisoma that was erected by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1827. The genus name Tigrisoma combines the Ancient Greek tigris, meaning "tiger" and somā, meaning "body"; the specific epithet lineatum is from the Latin lineatus meaning "marked with lines".
Two subspecies are recognised:
T. l. lineatum (Boddaert, 1783) – Honduras south to northeast Bolivia and Amazonian Brazil
T. l. marmoratum (Vieillot, 1817) – southeast Bolivia to south Brazil and north Argentina


The rufescent tiger heron is a medium-sized heron, measuring 26–30 in (66–76 cm) in length, with a mass between 630 and 980 g (22 and 35 oz). The sexes are similarly plumaged. The adult's head, neck and chest are dark rufous, with a white stripe down the center of the foreneck. The remainder of its upperparts are brownish with fine black vermiculations, its belly and vent are buffy-brown, and its flanks are barred black and white. Its tail is black, narrowly barred with white. Its stout bill is yellowish to dusky, and its legs are dull green. Its irides, loral skin, and orbital ring are bright yellow. Unlike other tiger herons, it has no powder down feathers on its back.
The juvenile bird is rusty-buff overall, coarsely barred with black; the buff and black banding on its wings is especially pronounced. Its throat, central chest, and belly are white. It takes some five years to acquire adult plumage.


The adult rufescent tiger heron is relatively easy to distinguish from fasciated and bare-throated tiger herons, as it is rufous (rather than primarily gray) on the head and neck. Young birds, however, are much more difficult to identify.


The rufescent tiger heron is found in wetlands from Central America through much of South America. It generally occurs below 500 m (1,600 ft), though it has been recorded as high as 1,600 m (5,200 ft) in Colombia.


As might be expected of a species that spends most of its time by the water, much of the rufescent tiger heron's diet is aquatic-based, including fish, crustaceans, water beetles, and dragonfly larvae. It also takes adult dragonflies and grasshoppers. It typically hunts alone, standing hunched in shallow pools or wet areas of a forest while it waits for prey.