Bixa orellana is a perennial, tall shrub that can reach 6–10 m (20–33 ft) high. It bears clusters of 5 cm (2 in) bright white or pink flowers, resembling single wild roses, that appear at the tips of the branches. The fruits of the Bixa orellana are globular, ovoid capsules arranged in clusters resembling spiky looking red-brown seed pods covered in soft spines. Each capsule, or pod, contains 30–45 cone-shaped seeds covered in a thin waxy blood-red aril. When fully mature, the pod dries, hardens, and splits open, thereby exposing the seeds.
The shrub is most well known as the source of the red-orange annatto pigment. The pigment is derived from the pericarp (the waxy aril layer that covers the seeds) of the Bixa orellana fruit. The red-orange annatto dye is rich in the carotenoid pigments, 80% which consists of bixin (the red pigment) and norbixin or orelline (the yellow pigment).


Although the exact origin of Bixa orellana is unknown, it is native to northern South America and the Central American tropics: "it is said to be indigenous by Seemann on the northwest coast of Mexico and Panama, by Triana in New Granada, by Meyer in Dutch Guiana, and by Piso and Claussen in Brazil". Additionally, Bixa orellana is found in substantial wild and cultivated acreages from Mexico to Ecuador, Brazil, and Bolivia. Although an invasive species, it is cultivated in many world regions.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the annatto dye was distributed to Southeast Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Hawaii and southeastern North America in tropical and subtropical regions through trading exchanges. It became cultivated in tropical regions of Asia, such as India, Sri Lanka, and Java mainly for the dye which the seeds yield.


Spinach beet leaves are eaten as a pot herb. Young leaves of the garden beet are sometimes used similarly. The midribs of Swiss chard are eaten boiled while the whole leaf blades are eaten as spinach beet.
In some parts of Africa, the whole leaf blades are usually prepared with the midribs as one dish.
The leaves and stems of young plants are steamed briefly and eaten as a vegetable; older leaves and stems are stir-fried and have a flavour resembling taro leaves.
The usually deep-red roots of garden beet can be baked, boiled, or steamed, and often served hot as a cooked vegetable or cold as a salad vegetable. They are also pickled. Raw beets are added to salads. A large proportion of the commercial production is processed into boiled and sterilised beets or into pickles. In Eastern Europe beet soup, such as cold borsch, is a popular dish. Yellow-coloured garden beets are grown on a very small scale for home consumption.
The consumption of beets causes pink urine in some people.
Jews traditionally eat beet on Rosh Hashana (New Year). Its Aramaic name סלקא sounds like the word for "remove" or "depart"; it is eaten with a prayer "that our enemies be removed".


The roots and leaves of the beet have been used in traditional medicine to treat a wide variety of ailments. Ancient Romans used beetroot as a treatment for fevers and constipation, amongst other ailments. Apicius in De re coquinaria gives five recipes for soups to be given as a laxative, three of which feature the root of beet. Platina recommended taking beetroot with garlic to nullify the effects of 'garlic-breath'.
Beet greens and Swiss chard are both considered high oxalate foods which are implicated in the formation of kidney stones.


The wild forms of Beta vulgaris are distributed in southwestern, northern and Southeast Europe along the Atlantic coasts and the Mediterranean Sea, in North Africa, Macaronesia, to Western Asia. Naturalized they occur in other continents.
The plants grow at coastal cliffs, on stony and sandy beaches, in salt marshes or coastal grasslands, and in ruderal or disturbed places.
Cultivated beets are grown worldwide in regions without severe frosts. They prefer relatively cool temperatures between 15 and 19 °C. Leaf beets can thrive in warmer temperatures than beetroot. As descendants of coastal plants, they tolerate salty soils and drought. They grow best on pH-neutral to slightly alkaline soils containing plant nutrients and additionally sodium and boron.


Beets are a food plant for the larvae of a number of Lepidoptera species.


Beta vulgaris is a herbaceous biennial or, rarely, perennial plant up to 120 cm (rarely 200 cm) height; cultivated forms are mostly biennial. The roots of cultivated forms are dark red, white, or yellow and moderately to strongly swollen and fleshy (subsp. vulgaris); or brown, fibrous, sometimes swollen and woody in the wild subspecies. The stems grow erect or, in the wild forms, often procumbent; they are simple or branched in the upper part, and their surface is ribbed and striate. The basal leaves have a long petiole (which may be thickened and red, white, or yellow in some cultivars). The simple leaf blade is oblanceolate to heart-shaped, dark green to dark red, slightly fleshy, usually with a prominent midrib, with entire or undulate margin, 5–20 cm long on wild plants (often much larger in cultivated plants). The upper leaves are smaller, their blades are rhombic to narrowly lanceolate.
The flowers are produced in dense spike-like, basally interrupted inflorescences. Very small flowers sit in one- to three- (rarely eight-) flowered glomerules in the axils of short bracts or in the upper half of the inflorescence without bracts. The hermaphrodite flowers are urn-shaped, green or tinged reddish, and consist of five basally connate perianth segments (tepals), 3-5 × 2–3 mm, 5 stamens, and a semi-inferior ovary with 2-3 stigmas. The perianths of neighbouring flowers are often fused. Flowers are wind-pollinated or insect-pollinated, the former method being more important.
In fruit, the glomerules of flowers form connate hard clusters. The fruit (utricle) is enclosed by the leathery and incurved perianth, and is immersed in the swollen, hardened perianth base. The horizontal seed is lenticular, 2–3 mm, with a red-brown, shiny seed coat. The seed contains an annular embryo and copious perisperm (feeding tissue).
There are 18 chromosomes found in 2 sets, which makes beets diploid. Using chromosome number notation, 2n = 18.


The wingspan of Adela reaumurella ranges from 14 to 18 millimeter. Wings have an ovoid-elongated shape with rounded apex. The upper wings of both sexes are bronzy or metallic greenish, close along the body. The hind wings are dark brown with a bronze-violet shine. The males have very long thread-shaped whitish antennas, forward-facing and reaching about four times the length of the body. They have very developed eyes and rough black hair on their heads and thorax. The females have relatively short antennas with shorter and lighter hair on their heads. They have also a few orange hairs between the eyes.


The flight time of these day-active moths ranges from April to June. The males are often seen in the spring sunshine forming swarms of up to 30 specimens. If a female flies through the swarm, it is caught by a male and the mating in flight takes place. The caterpillars live among fallen leaves from birch and oak and feed on leaves remains, often Quercus species, forming mines on them. They protect themselves for the summer and winter in an oblong, brown bag-like structure of small pieces of fallen leaves. In this bag also the pupation takes place the following spring.


Adela reaumurella has a palearctic distribution. It occurs in southern North Europe, Western Europe through Central Europe to Eastern Europe. Across the temperate Palearctic the range extends to Japan. In the South, the species occurs to Sicily and Anatolia. It is missing on the Iberian Peninsula.


Lilium formosanum, also known as the Formosa lily or Taiwanese lily (traditional Chinese: 台灣百合; simplified Chinese: 台湾百合; pinyin: Táiwān bǎihé), is a plant species in the lily family, endemic to Taiwan. It is closely related to the Easter lily found in the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, eastern and northern Taiwan. Both species are cultivated for their showy, trumpet-shaped flowers. Lilium formosanum has become naturalized in scattered locations in Africa, Australia, and the Americas.
Varieties
Lilium formosanum var. formosanum
Lilium formosanum var. microphyllum T.S.Liu & S.S.Ying


Persicaria hydropiperoides is a New World species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common names swamp smartweed and false waterpepper. It is widespread across much of North America and South America. It grows in moist and wet habitats, and is sometimes semi-aquatic.
Persicaria hydropiperoides is quite variable and is sometimes divided into several varieties, some of which may be better treated as species in their own right.
In general, Persicaria hydropiperoides is a rhizomatous perennial herb growing upright or erect and approaching a maximum height of one meter (40 inches). Roots may emerge from nodes on the lower stem. The bristly lance-shaped leaves are around 10 centimeters (4 inches) long. The leaves have sheathing stipules known as ochrea. The spikelike inflorescence produces many pinkish flowers each about 3 millimeters wide.


Human
As a plant that is reported to be both poisonous for human ingestion and also medicinal; much of the contradiction can be found by closely reviewing the words that are used and the dose (amount) of the poisonous substance that is ingested to prove either claim. All species of the genus Senecio contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids (e.g., senecionine) a substance that when a human has chronic exposure can cause irreversible liver damage.
Common groundsel as a medicinal herb does not seem to have been recommended very often since 1931, when it was recommended as a diaphoretic, an antiscorbutic, a purgative, a diuretic and an anthelmintic, which was a demotion as it was previously suggested for the expelling of gravel of the kidneys and reins by Pedanius Dioscorides in the 1st century, for use as poultices by John Gerard in the late 16th century and as a cure for epilepsy by Nicholas Culpeper in the 17th century. More current information is contradictory about the dangers of the ingestion of groundsel. A heavily referenced paper from 1989 suggests that the response is immediate and gives pre-ambulatory care recommendations. A Canadian poisonous plants information database references a paper from 1990 in presenting this prenatal warning: "In a case of prenatal exposure, a mother ingested tea containing an estimated 0.343 milligram of senecionine, resulting in fatal veno-occlusive disease in a newborn infant." Information about the pyrrolizidine alkaloids, the substance present in Senecio vulgaris is much less contradictory and all warn of accumulation of the alkaloid.
Certain pyrrolizidine alkaloids are non-toxic precursors that are converted to toxic metabolites in the body in a process called toxification

Botanist and noted authority on plant-lore Albert Roy Vickery quotes a 1991 account of the use of groundsel as a highly effective  purge in the English county of Dorset:
Mr Joby House,  who used to be at Hewood, told us that, for constipation, you boiled groundsel and lard and take that and you will shit through the eye of a needle. His sister Lucy had constipation so bad that when the doctor called in the morning he said Lucy would be dead by 5 o’clock. Mrs. House went to the gypsies (Mrs. Penfold)…and she told her how to cure her. The doctor came late in the day, and Lucy was running around; there was shit everywhere. The doctor had brought Lucy’s death certificate, but he was so mad he tore it up and put it in the fire.
Livestock
Carl Linnaeus is cited to have claimed that "goats and swine eat this common plant freely, cows being not partial to it and horses and sheep declining to touch it, but not only are caged birds fond of it (the seeds), but its leaves and seeds afford food for many of our wild species (rabbits were given as an example)." More recent studies claim that the lethal amount that cattle or horses need to consume is 7% of their body weight (example: 50 pounds (23 kg) would need to be consumed by a cow weighing 700 pounds (318 kg)). Lesser amounts cause the liver to lose function but is not apparent until the animal is stressed (by new feed or location, pregnancy, a different toxin, etc.). Sheep and goats have rumen bacteria that detoxify the alkaloids and are able to consume twice their body weight of this and other species of genus Senecio. The alkaloids responsible are not destroyed by drying or by fermentation in silage.


Senecio vulgaris, often known by the common names groundsel and old-man-in-the-spring, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is an annual herb, native to Europe and widely naturalised as a ruderal species in suitable disturbed habitats worldwide.


Senecio vulgaris is an erect herbaceous annual growing up to 16 inches (45 cm) tall. The inflorescences usually lack ray florets, the yellow disc florets mostly hidden by the bracts giving the flowers an inconspicuous appearance. Senecio vulgaris is very similar to Senecio viscosus but S. vulgaris does not have the glandular hairs and ray florets found in S. viscosus.


Senecio vulgaris is a frost-resistant deciduous annual plant that grows in disturbed sites, waste places, roadsides, gardens, nurseries, orchards, vineyards, landscaped areas, agricultural lands, at altitudes up to 1,600 feet (500 m) and is, additionally, self-pollinating producing 1,700 seeds per plant with three generations per year. Seeds are dispersed by wind and also cling to clothing and animal fur, and as contaminates of commercially exchanged seeds; the distribution of this plant throughout the world has been difficult if not impossible to contain.


Clarkia rubicunda is a flowering plant endemic to California. It is found mostly on the Central Coast part of the state. The plant is known by the common names Ruby Chalice Clarkia and Farewell to Spring.
Clarkia rubicunda bears attractive poppy-like blooms with wide, cup-shaped corollas of four pink or purplish petals. The corolla of the flower sometimes has a bright red center. As the common name suggests, it blooms in June and July.
It is similar in appearance to another flower of genus Clarkia, the Clarkia amoena, also called "Farewell to Spring".


Carpodetus serratus is an evergreen tree with small ovate or round, mottled leaves with a toothy margin, and young twigs grow zig-zag, and fragrant white flowers in 5 cm panicles and later black chewy berries. It is an endemic of New Zealand. Its most common name is putaputāwētā which means many wētā emerge - referring to the nocturnal Orthoptera that live in holes in the trunk of this tree made by Pūriri moth caterpillars. Regional variations on the name also refer to this insect that lives and feeds on it such as kaiwētā, and punawētā. The tree is also sometimes called marbleleaf. It is found in broadleaf forest in both North, South and Stewart Islands. It flowers between November and March, and fruits are ripe from January to February.


Putaputāwētā is small tree of up to 10 m in height. It develops a slender trunk of up to 30 cm in diameter, which is covered by rough and corky bark, has a mottled grey-white colouring and is often knobbly due to boring by insects. Juvenile branches have an obvious zig-zag orientation, which becomes less distinctive when older. There are clearly visible lenticels. The leaf stems are about 1 cm. The leaf blades are thin to slightly leathery, broad-elliptic, often widest near the base, or almost round, 4-6 × 2–3 cm when fully grown, dark green near the larger veins and yellowish green removed from the veins. They have a rounded, sometimes somewhat unequal foot, a serrated toothed margin and a pointed or blunt tip. The stems of the leaves, inflorescences and flowers are covered in felty hairs. The inflorescences are panicles of 5 cm in diameter and consist of up to fifteen or more flowers at the leaf axil or at the end of branches. Individual flowers are 5–6 mm, mostly pentamerous but possibly occasionally trimerous. The calyx lobes are approximately 1 mm long, narrowly triangular. The petals are white, triangular, 3-4 × 2–3 mm. Stamens are alternating with the petals and have short filaments. The anthers are connected to the filaments at their base, open in lengthwise slits towards the inside, through which the yellow pollen is shed in tetrads. The stigma is bud-shaped, with a dark bluish purple top. The pistil is shed after the petals and anthers. The fruit is a somewhat fleshy round berry of 4–6 mm that turns black when it ripens, the lower half is cupped by the remains of calyx. The berry contains many seeds in three to five compartments, each seed 1–2 mm long with a netted outer skin.


The Seri call this species xtisil and use a tea made from the stems as a remedy for colds and to aid in difficult childbirth. The roots are macerated and used to treat toothache.
In some Mexican markets fresh and dried material is available for sale as a medicinal.  It is commonly called "hierba del venado."
These uses may have scientific validity as many members of the Tageteae tribe contain thiophenes which have proven bactericidal properties.


Porophyllum gracile is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names odora and slender poreleaf. It is native to northern Mexico and the southwestern United States from California to Texas, where it can be found in rocky and sandy desert scrub habitat.
This species grows into a small, short lived perennial shrub with branching slender stems measuring up to about 70 centimeters in maximum length. The stems are hairless and waxy in texture. The sparse waxy leaves are linear in shape and 1 to 5 centimeters in length. The herbage is glandular and aromatic with a strong scent.
Glands located in cavities in the leaves, stems and phyllaries produce several volatile chemicals that act in synergy to repel insect predators.
The inflorescence produces narrow flower heads which may be nearly 3 centimeters long when in bloom. The flower head is enclosed in five waxy, gland-studded phyllaries. It bears 20 to 30 flowers, which are disc florets. Each flower is white or purplish and has a long, curling style protruding from it. The fruit is a cylindrical achene topped with a pappus of bristles, the whole unit measuring over one centimeter long. These plants have many branches with numerous thin, wiry, upright stems.


The small pearl-bordered fritillary is similar to the pearl-bordered fritillary but has black chevrons on the edge of its wings, a large central black dot on each wing, and white pearls on the underside. Males tend to be smaller than females, with a wingspan of 35 to 41 mm. Females are 38 to 44 mm in length. Though the small pearl-bordered fritillary is similar to the pearl-bordered fritillary it is much brighter in color because the pearl-bordered fritillary emerges from its pupa earlier. Seitz - A. selene Schiff. (= euphrosyne Bgstr., euphrasia Lew., silene Haw.) (67g). Forewing above and beneath very similar to tliat of the preceding [selenis]. Hindwing beneath with the median band distinct but not broad, the costal spot of the band, the large tooth above the apex of the cell and the one below the cell-end being vividly silvery like the marginal lunules ; the broad interspace between the median band and the marginal lunules is leatheryellow and bears below the apex and above the anal angle two large dark cinnamon clouds; obsolescent silvery selenia bands extend from the costal and abdominal margins towards the centre of the wing.


Small birds appear to be major predators of both larval and adult stages, including introduced ground birds such as pheasants that were introduced in the UK for sport hunting (in quantities of almost 40 million birds according to a study done on ground birds' impact on local wildlife). However, no major decline was detected from the introduced predators alone, as there was no significance between reduced adult emergence and increased ground birds. In a study of ambush bugs, Boloria selene was identified as a prey, although predation rates were not studied.


Boloria selene, known in Europe as the small pearl-bordered fritillary and in North America as the silver-bordered fritillary, is a species of butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found across Europe, Asia and North America, and feeds exclusively on violets in its larval stages. This species prefers wet grassland habitats, where its larval food source, violets, are found. It overwinters in its larval stage, and eggs hatch in the late summer to early autumn. Members of this species are prey for multiple types of birds and other insects.
Due to modern agriculture, most of the grassland habitats that sustain Boloria selene are fragmented or lost all together in favor of farmland. Because of this, the small pearl-bordered fritillary has seen a serious drop in population across Europe, in some places as much as 80%. Factors including limited habitat range, low dispersal rate, and strong food specialization also contribute to population loss. Despite modern conservation efforts, the number of small pearl-bordered fritillaries is still declining. The North American populations appear to be affected in the same way, at least in the continental United States.


The species is widespread across central and northern Europe, North America, and through Asia to Korea. Specifically, it can be found in places like Germany, the United Kingdom, and Sweden and in the Midwestern United States in places like Iowa and the Dakotas. In the United Kingdom, Boloria selene is widespread across upland and western Britain, but is not found in central, eastern England or Ireland. Its range appears to be stable through much of Europe but declines have been reported in at least nine countries, such as England.
This species is found across Europe and North America in grassland environments where native violets grow. It occurs in damp, grassy habitats, woodland clearings and moorland, but has also been found in dune slacks and coastal cliffs.


Gentiana lutea, the great yellow gentian, is a species of gentian native to the mountains of central and southern Europe.


Gentiana lutea is an herbaceous perennial plant, growing to 1–2 m (3.3–6.6 ft) tall, with broad lanceolate to elliptic leaves 10–30 cm (3.9–11.8 in) long and 4–12 cm (1.6–4.7 in) broad. The flowers are yellow, with the corolla separated nearly to the base into 5–7 narrow petals. It grows in grassy alpine and sub-alpine pastures, usually on calcareous soils.


Primula elatior, the oxlip (or true oxlip), is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae, native to  nutrient-poor and calcium-rich damp woods and meadows throughout Europe, with northern borders in Denmark and southern parts of Sweden, eastwards to the Altai Mountains and on the Kola Peninsula in Russia, and westwards in the British Isles.


Primula elatior is cultivated as a garden plant. It may be used as bedding, grown from seed as a biennial, and discarded after flowering. It may be used in informal settings such as wildflower meadows. It prefers a sheltered position in full sun with moist soil. It has won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


The Marsh skimmer, also known as tricolored marsh hawk, and slender blue skimmer, (Orthetrum luzonicum) is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is widespread in many Asian countries.


All parts of the plant have been traditionally used as a natural medicinal remedy for various ailments. In India for example, the leaves were once used as a sedative, while the seeds have been administered as a diuretic, lithotritic, febrifuge, anti-gout, anti-ovulary and anti-toxic agent as well as an anti-inflammatory for diseases of the urinary tract and for promoting digestion. An herbal tea made from the root and stem, or a decoction of the roots and twigs was once given in the form of a syrup to remedy smallpox and measles. The tea also served as an antipruritic.
Archaeological findings from a gravesite in Poland unearthed a plaster poultice containing the nutlets of L. officinale. The plant has been found to be a potent natural anti-inflammatory and effective agent for healing burn wounds when applied topically, which explains the presence of this species in the poultice discovered.
L. officinale also appears to have held important cosmetic and ornamental value. For example, the roots were once used for colouring fibres and to produce makeup dye. Elsewhere, the well-preserved, intact fruits were found glued onto two wooden tubs found in the Yanghai Tombs of Xinjiang, China, from about 2,500 years ago. These nutlets probably had decorative worth. Their lustrous, porcelain-like appearance as well as their hardness also made them suitable and popular for use as beads in Bulgaria and central Europe as far back as the Neolithic period.


Common gromwell is an erect, downy perennial plant growing up to 60 – 80 cm tall. The unstalked, lanceolate leaves grow up to 10 cm long and are strongly marked with lateral veins below.
The greenish white, funnel-shaped flowers, appearing June – July, measure 3 – 4 mm across and are borne in short, dense cymose clusters within the leaf axils. When in fruit, the inflorescences form a V-shaped, elongated spray. The fruits comprise 4 shiny white nutlets that measure 3 – 4 mm long and persist well into winter.


The plant is very widely distributed throughout Europe and Asia. It is locally common in the UK, where it is much rarer in the north and west of the country. The favoured habitat includes grassland, scrubland, and open woodland, usually on base-rich and calcareous soils.


Propagation is usually accomplished by cuttings or seed. Seeds are sown in containers in mid spring or mid fall. The seeds take about 2 weeks to germinate.


Lobelia inflata, also known as Indian tobacco or puke weed, is a species of Lobelia native to eastern North America, from southeastern Canada (Nova Scotia to southeast Ontario) south through the eastern United States to Alabama and west to Kansas.


Lobelia inflata is an annual or biennial herbaceous plant growing to 15–100 cm (5.9–39.4 in) tall, with stems covered in tiny hairs. Its leaves are usually about 8 cm (3.1 in) long, and are ovate and toothed. They are alternately arranged. It has violet flowers that are tinted yellow on the inside, and usually appear in mid-summer and continue to bloom into fall. The seedcases are small, brown, dehiscent, and papery.


Impatiens parviflora has many uses. If cooked, the leaves are completely edible. The seeds can be consumed either raw or cooked. Impatiens parviflora is also used as a treatment for warts, ringworm, and nettle stings. It is also used as a hair rinse to relieve an itchy scalp.


Impatiens parviflora (small balsam, or small-flowered touch-me-not) is a species of annual herbaceous plants in the family Balsaminaceae, native to some areas of Eurasia, naturalized elsewhere and found in damp shady places. Impatiens parviflora can grow in sandy, loamy, and clay soils and prefer moist soil.


Impatiens parviflora flowers are pollinated by insects.


Zinnia acerosa is a low-growing perennial flowering plant native to the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico. Common names include desert zinnia, wild zinnia, white zinnia, and spinyleaf zinnia.  It is a popular landscape plant in the southwest due to its low water use and long bloom period.  The flowers also serve as a food source for southwestern butterflies.
In the United States, Zinnia acerosa grows in  Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and Texas. In Mexico, it has been found in Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí.
Zinnia acerosa is a small, branching subshrub up to 16 cm (6.4 inches) tall. Leaves are very narrow, sometimes needle-shaped, up to 2 cm (0.8 inches) long. The plant produces flower head one per stem, each head with 4-7 yellow or white ray florets surrounding 8-13 yellow or purple disc florets.


Sphaeralcea angustifolia is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common names copper globemallow and narrow-leaved globemallow. It is native to the southwestern United States as well as northern and central Mexico, where it grows in desert and plateau habitat. It produces many erect stems, approaching three meters in maximum height. It is woolly or felt-like in texture. The gray-green leaf blades are lance-shaped and measure up to about 5 cm long. They have wavy or slightly lobed edges. The leafy inflorescence bears several flowers each with five wedge-shaped orange petals just under 1 cm in length, and yellow anthers.


The petals, leaves, and tender stems of the plant can be eaten raw or cooked.


This plant is native to the Mediterranean Basin and the Macaronesia region: (Canary Islands, Madeira, Cape Verde). It is widely naturalized elsewhere in the temperate world, including the United States. There is an endemic subspecies in the local flora of the Columbretes Islands of the western Mediterranean.


Lobularia maritima is an annual plant (rarely a short-lived perennial plant) growing to 5–30 cm (2–12 in) tall by 20–30 cm (8–12 in) broad. The stem is very branched, with dense clusters of small flowers. The leaves are 1–4 mm long and 3–5 mm, broad, alternate, sessile, quite hairy, oval to lanceolate, with an entire margin.
The flowers are about 5 millimetres (0.20 in) in diameter, sweet-smelling, with an aroma similar to that of honey, with four white rounded petals (or pink, rose-red, violet. yellow and lilac) and four sepals. The six stamens have yellow anthers. The flowers are produced throughout the growing season, or year-round in areas free of frost. They are pollinated by insects (entomophily). The fruits are numerous elongated seedpods rather hairy, oval to rounded, each containing two seeds. The dispersal of seed is affected by the wind (anemochory).


Argyrotaenia velutinana, the red-banded leafroller moth,  is a species of moth of the family Tortricidae. It is found in the eastern United States and south-eastern Canada, from Quebec and Ontario to Florida, west to Texas and at least Iowa. It has also been reported from British Columbia.
The wingspan is 13–20 millimetres (1⁄2–3⁄4 in). The forewings have a wide diagonal median band that is reddish in females and blackish in males. The basal area is light yellowish-brown with darker shading near the inner margin. The hindwings are dirty white to light grey with a pale fringe. Adults are on wing from February to October in two to four generations per year.
Neonatal larvae are not thought to naturally commit egg cannibalism. However Rock 1968 was able to induce it in laboratory conditions. They go on to feed on various plants, including the leaves and fruit of apple and other fruit trees, as well as spruce and various vegetables. Larvae are green with a pale dorsal stripe and a yellowish head and reach a length of about 16 millimetres (5⁄8 in). The species overwinters in the pupal stage in folded leaves on the ground.


Mentzelia seeds have been identified as a staple food source for Native American tribes of the Great Basin. In an ethnobotanical study of the Kawaiisu people, Zigmond (1981) noted that Mentzelia (kuʼu) was mentioned whenever his informants were asked to list important foods, and its gathering appeared frequently in mythology.
The seeds were gathered in June after flowers lost their petals, and used immediately or stored. They were parched with hot coals, then ground on a metate; the resulting food had a peanut butter-like consistency. Zigmond also claimed that clay pots were filled with Mentzelia seeds before firing, but others have questioned whether this would be possible without destroying the pots through heat shock.


Mentzelia involucrata is a species of Mentzelia native to the Mojave and Sonoran deserts of North America as well as places in Nevada, Arizona and Baja California (Mexico). Its common names include kuʼu, sand blazing star and white-bract blazing star.


Mentzelia involucrata is an annual plant growing to a height of 3–32 cm, with larger leaves forming a basal rosette, and smaller leaves along the stem. The leaves are between 2 and 18 cm long, with an irregularly toothed margin. They are also known to be sessile with leaves that range from lanceolate to elliptic.

The flowers are generally borne singly, and subtended by 4–5 bracts; they have five sepals 7–23 mm long and five cream-yellow petals 13–62 mm long. The fruit is 14–22 mm long and 5–10 mm wide, and contains rough ash-white seeds that are 1–3 cm long. The bracts of this species are distinctive in that they are almost entirely white, with a green border.
The involucrata is of interest because it is involved in a competition for pollinators that has resulted in mimicry. It produces nectar to attract bees of the genus Xeralictus. In areas where their range overlaps, Mohavea confertiflora (Ghost Flower), which does not produce nectar, has adapted a morphology resembling Mentzelia involucrata. Recent studies have suggested that in addition to mimicry of M. involucrata, Mohavea confertiflora flowers contain marks that resemble female Xeralictus, to attract male bees that would otherwise ignore the flowers .
The habitat of the Mentzelia involucrata includes open, rocky or sandy places with creosote-bush scrubs, washes, fans, and steep slopes. They are typically found in elevations greater than 50 meters and just below 900 meters.


Bigleaf magnolia is found in rich mesic woods; any disturbance that lets more light reach the ground is beneficial to the establishment of bigleaf magnolia, but despite its relatively fast growth-rate when stimulated by more light, other understory and canopy trees/seedlings are usually able to outgrow and out-compete it. This suits the plant just fine as it is tolerant of low light levels; it does not need full sun to survive once established (however, it does not tolerate full shade). Natural regeneration is quite limited due to the scarcity of mature, seed-bearing plants and the fact that this tree's population mostly consists of widely scattered individuals. In addition, this species is plagued by poor seed set (most likely from limiting factors mentioned above) and low seed viability, a trait shared by its cousin and frequent associate in the wild in Appalachia, the Fraser magnolia.
The Ashe magnolia is a rare shrub, exceptionally a small tree, that is found only along the bluffs and ravines adjacent to the Apalachicola River in Florida, along with several other rare plants unique to the area, such as Florida Yew and Florida torreya. It resembles the typical subsp. macrophylla, but has shorter, broader leaves, smaller flowers, and longer fruits. The 6-to-8-inch-diameter (150 to 200 mm) flowers bloom in late spring, and are white with rose-purple blotches on the inner tepals. The fruit is eaten by wildlife, but because of the plant's scarceness, it does not form a significant portion of any creature's diet.
In the southeastern United States, especially Alabama and surrounding areas, Magnolia macrophylla is sometimes called the "cowcumber magnolia," in contrast with the much smaller-leaved cucumber-tree magnolia, M. acuminata.


Magnolia macrophylla, the bigleaf magnolia, is a deciduous magnolia native to the southeastern United States and eastern Mexico. This species boasts the largest simple leaf and single flower of any native plant in North America.


The bigleaf magnolia is a medium-sized understory tree 15–20 m tall. This species is distinguished from other magnolias by the large leaf size, 25–80 cm long and 11–30 cm broad. The largest leaf to be reported by a credible source is 3 ft 8 in (110 centimeters) in length.  in addition to a six inch (15 centimeter) petiole. The leaf's width can be up to eighteen inches (45 centimeters).  The tree's branches often bend under the weight of this heavy foliage. The flowers are typically six or nine-petaled (two or three whorls of three petals each, the larger ones with a dime-sized purple blotch at the base). The flower has as many as 580 stamens  and
is typically about sixteen inches (41 centimeters) wide, although there have been specimens as large as 21.5 inches (55 centimeters) in width. It is the largest temperate (non-tropical) flower in the world. This, like all Magnolias, is beetle pollinated. The fruit is a cone-like cluster of achenes.


The wingspan is 85–105 mm. It is similar to Eumorpha fasciatus fasciatus but distinguishable by the lack of a pink marginal band on the hindwing upperside and the single straight line on the forewing upperside.


Adults are on wing from April to May and again from July to October in Florida, from July to September in one generation in the northern part of the range and year-round in the tropics. They feed on the nectar of various flowers, including Vinca rosea.
The larvae feed on Vitis species (including Vitis vinifera), Cissus species (including  Cissus incisa, Cissus pseudosicyoides, Cissus rhombifolia, Cissus sicycoides and Cissus verticillata), Ludwigia decurrens, Ludwigia erecta, Magnolia virginiana and Parthenocissus species. There are green, yellow and purple colour morphs. Pupation takes place in burrows.


It lives from Argentina north through Central America, the West Indies, and Mexico to southern Arizona, Texas, Mississippi, and Florida. Strays north to Nebraska.


The boxelder bug (Boisea trivittata) is a North American species of true bug. It is found primarily on boxelder trees, as well as maple and ash trees. The adults are about 13 millimetres (0.51 in) long with a dark brown or black coloration, relieved by red wing veins and markings on the abdomen; nymphs are bright red. In 2020, this species invaded Chile, thus becoming an invasive species.


Boxelder bugs feed almost entirely on the developing seeds of boxelder, maple, and ash trees. The boxelder bug is sometimes confused with insects belonging to the genus Jadera, and with the western boxelder bug (Boisea rubrolineata) which it is related to. The name "stink bug", which is more regularly applied to the family Pentatomidae, is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to Boisea trivittata. Instead, boxelder bugs belong to the family Rhopalidae, the so-called "scentless plant bugs". However, boxelder bugs are strong-smelling and to discourage predators will release a pungent and bad-tasting compound upon being disturbed. This allows them to form conspicuous aggregations without being preyed on. These insects feed, lay eggs and develop on boxelder trees, most commonly occurring on female trees as they produce seeds. Boxelder bugs prefer seeds; however, they also suck leaves. They can be frequently observed on maple as these trees provide them with seeds as well. Boxelder bugs overwinter in plant debris or protected human-inhabited places and other suitable structures.


Although they specialize on the seeds from maple, boxelder and ash, they may pierce other parts of the plant while feeding. They are not classified as an agricultural pest and are generally not considered injurious to ornamental plantings.  However, they are known to damage some fruits in the fall when they leave their summer quarters in trees and seek areas to overwinter. Feeding by the bugs produces dimples, scars, fruit deformation, corky tissue, and even premature fruit-drop in strawberries and some tree fruits.
During certain times of the year boxelder bugs cluster together in large groups while sunning themselves on warm surfaces near their host tree (e.g. on rocks, shrubs, trees, and man-made structures). This is especially a problem in the fall when they are seeking a warm place to overwinter. Large numbers are often seen congregating on houses seeking an entry point. Once they have gained access, they remain inactive behind siding and inside of walls while the weather is cool. Once the home's heating system becomes active for the season, the insects may falsely perceive it to be springtime and enter inhabited parts of the home in search of food and water. Once inside inhabited areas of a home, their excreta may stain upholstery, carpets, drapes, and they may feed on certain types of house plants. In the spring, the bugs leave their winter hibernation locations to feed and lay eggs on maple or ash trees. Clustered masses of boxelder bugs may be seen again at this time, and depending on the temperature, throughout the summer. Their outdoor congregation habits and indoor excreta deposits are perceived as a nuisance by many people, therefore boxelder bugs are often considered pests. However, boxelder bugs are harmless to people and pets. The removal of boxelder trees and maple trees can help control boxelder bug populations. Spiders are minor predators, but because of the boxelder bug's chemical defenses few birds or other animals will eat them. Boxelder bug populations are not affected by any major diseases or parasites.


Eysenhardtia texana, commonly known as Texas kidneywood, bee-brush, or vara dulce, is a species of small flowering tree in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is found from south-central Texas south to northern San Luis Potosí in the Rio Grande Valley region of south Texas–Northeastern Mexico, and the species ranges into the eastern Chihuahuan Desert areas of Coahuila.


The moth flies June to July depending on the location.

Larva dark brown, with foxy red hairs, light dorsal line spotted with red, and white stigmata. The larvae feed on various shrubs and herbaceous plants. Species in the genera Galium, Plantago, Taraxacum, Epilobium and Urtica.


The wingspan is 35–50 mm. The forewing of the male is lemon yellow, and the hindwing is ivory yellow, both wings with a greyish red median spot and pink margin. In the female the body and wings are suffused with brownish red. In pallida Stgr., which occurs constantly in Central Asia and aberratively also in Europe, the black colour is reduced.  In irene Butl. (now full species Diacrisia irene Butler, 1881), which occurs in Japan and locally also elsewhere in the Palearctic region, and is regarded by Matsumura as a separate species, the black colour is absent on the hindwing of the male and the median spot on the forewing is generally reduced. In uniformis Stgr. (D. s. mortua (Staudinger, 1887)) from Syr-Darja, the last trace of black and pink has disappeared, so that extreme specimens of this form are quite uniformly pale yellow on both sides of the wings and body. In specimens from Ferghana, the Issyk-kul and the neighbouring countries further east in Central Asia, the red inner margin of the forewing is entirely absent, the black on the hindwing being however present.  This is the form mortua Stgr. (D. s. mortua (Staudinger, 1887)). Further eastward, at the Amur, a form occurs with very sharp black markings, and with the ground colour of the hindwing strongly tinged with reddish, amuri Butler, 1881 Stgr.


Diacrisia sannio, the clouded buff, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found in the Palearctic realm from Ireland to Siberia. It is not found in North Africa. In the Russian Far East (Amur, Primorye, Sakhalin, Kunashir), eastern China, Korea, and Japan it is replaced by Diacrisia irene.


These polyphagous bugs feed on seeds and juices of various plants, especially Aspleniaceae, Asteraceae and Apiaceae. Spilostethus saxatilis is a univoltine species. The mating takes place in May and June. The new adult generation will appear in August. Adults overwinter.


This species can be found in the Euro-Mediterranean-Turanian Region, with a more northern distribution relative to Spilostethus pandurus, at least as far east as Iran.
It is present in most of Europe (Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine), and in the Oriental realm.


The Florida carpenter ant is omnivorous, taking arthropod food items as well as sweets, such as nectar or the sugary secretions produced by aphids in which they care for and defend. Like other Camponotus, they have their own species of symbiotic bacteria in the genus Blochmannia that inhabit bacteriocytes in their midgut to supplement their nitrogen-poor diets.  These bacteria recycle waste products, such as urates from animal urine, into usable amino acids for the ants.  The number of Blochmannia floridanus bacteria within the Florida carpenter ant's midgut increases significantly when the ant pupates, with the bacteria inhabiting cells other than bacteriocytes throughout the gut, suggesting they may also play a role in metamorphosis.


Camponotus floridanus, or Florida carpenter ant, is a species of ant in the genus Camponotus. First described as Formica floridana by Buckley in 1866, the species was moved to Camponotus by Mayr in 1886. The ant is widespread in Florida and occurs as far north as North Carolina and as far west as Mississippi.


These ants are highly aggressive and fast moving, being quick to swarm any disturbance to their nest. Workers are relentless as they attack, searching meticulously for weaknesses in the skin and targeting vulnerable areas such as the skin creases or the nail cuticles. Major workers can deliver particularly devastating bites as their mandibles more readily pierce the skin, into which they may then spray noxious formic acid. The unusual aggression of this Camponotus species may be an adaptation in response to its nesting habits, as they commonly inhabit extensively rotted deadwood that can easily be broken apart by hand.
Outside of deadwood, colonies may be found nesting underground within the base of a living tree or inside tree cavities. Even artificial structures such as hollow poles or fencing may be taken residence. Colonies prefer shaded areas in which to nest, such as in dense woodlands, though any area with many trees that provide adequate shade is potential suitable habitat. The Florida carpenter ant is readily tolerant of disturbed areas of human habitation, making them a common sight in the densely populated suburbs of Florida. In certain areas these ants can be quite populous and during mating flights the winged individuals numerous, leading to concerned property owners finding them on the walls of stores, buildings, and homes. These ants are not generally considered a threat to structures as they do not normally excavate into wood, unlike some wood-boring species of Camponotus, instead preferring existing cavities to nest in.
Camponotus floridanus primarily forages at night, though workers from larger colonies may be seen foraging during the day in areas with lots of shade. Different worker castes also perform different roles in the colony, with the smaller workers caring for the brood and queen, maintaining the nest and foraging for food. Major workers however only defend the nest and do not venture far, unless travelling to and from the numerous satellite nests the colony occupies. Northern populations undergo a diapause during the winter, while southernmost populations do not experience much dramatic and extensive diapause periods, if not at all, due to the warm tropical climate of South Florida. Compared to other members of its genus, C. floridanus is one of the most active and faster growing Camponotus species in North America.


The common carpet or white-banded toothed carpet (Epirrhoe alternata) is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Otto Friedrich Müller in 1764. It is found throughout the Palearctic and the Near East.  In North America it ranges across the northern tier of the United States plus every province and territory of Canada.
The wingspan is 27–30 mm. The forewings vary from grey to black, marked with white fascia, giving a striped appearance. The hindwings are paler grey with white fascia. Northern races tend to be paler overall. One or two broods are produced each year, and the adults may be seen any time from May to September. The species flies at night and is attracted to light.
The larva is generally brown or green but is very variable in its markings. It feeds on bedstraw. The species overwinters as a pupa.
The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.


Echinocereus rigidissimus, commonly known as the Arizona Rainbow Cactus or Rainbow Hedgehog Cactus is a solitary, growing cactus, that rarely branches or offsets with age. Echinocereus rigidissimus grows to a height of up to 30 cm, and a width of 11 cm when mature, with pectinate radial spines curved slightly towards the stem, the new spines are initially reddish to magenta and fades to a yellow or light pink colour when they mature. Echinocereus rigidissimus, flowers in flushes throughout the spring season, with multiple buds borne atop the plant from younger areoles, the flowers are bright pink in colour with a white coloured throat. If pollination is successful, Echinocereus rigidissimus forms circular shaped, greenish to dark purplish fruit, with white flesh and dark brown to black seeds approximately 3 months after flowering. Since it rarely offsets, Echinocereus rigidissimus is propagated by seed.


The natural habitat of Echinocereus rigidissimus is distributed abundantly throughout Chihuahua and Sonora in Mexico, as well as in the United States in Arizona and New Mexico. It grows at elevation from 1200 to 2000 metres above sea level. This cactus prefers south facing slopes and is rarely seen on flat ground. It prefers the 1500 meter elevation. Plants are fire resistant from small grass fires but cannot tolerate hotter fires. With perfect habitat, these plants have been seen growing up to 45 centimeters in height. A 2018 measurement of one plant in the Santa Catalina mountains showed a height of 48 centimeters, a record. Flowering occurs from late April to early June depending on the elevation and spring heat. These plants will not flower when stressed but lack of flowering is rare. Their habitat has been negatively affected by cattle, cactus collectors and off road vehicles. These plants are becoming less common in southern Arizona.


Hooded lady's tresses is a perennial plant with a fleshy rootstock. It sends up shoots with lanceolate leaves and three rows of flowers arranged in spirally twisted rows. Each scented flower has the sepals and petals united forming a lip of a tube. The labellum (or lower petal) of the flower is white with green veins.
The plant flowers in late summer. The flowers are pollinated by insects, and the tiny dust-like seed is distributed by the wind. However the plant can also reproduce vegetatively by means of root tubers which can grow new shoots while the old parts of the plant die. The orchid is associated with a mycorrhizal fungus which can provide it with essential nutrients.


Hooded ladies' tresses was first described by the German botanist Adelbert von Chamisso. He named it in honour of his patron Nikolay Rumyantsev who had financed the scientific exploration to the Americas in 1815–1818 on which he found the orchid. It is common in North America, including Canada and the United States, but also grows in a few locations in Scotland and Ireland. It is now considered regionally extinct in England, but has recently (2019) been found in Wales. The first Irish record was made in 1810 in County Cork. Since then it has been found in a number of other locations in Ireland and Northern Ireland, including the Lough Neagh basin and the Mourne Mountains and the hills of Antrim. It grows along lakeshores and in damp pastures. The distribution pattern, occurring on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, is puzzling.


Lythrum alatum, commonly known as winged loosestrife, winged lythrum or (in Britain and Ireland) angled purple-loosestrife, is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Lythraceae. It is endemic to wetland areas in central and eastern United States and Ontario.


Winged loosestrife is an upright, branching herbaceous plant growing to about one metre tall. The stems are woody in the lower parts of the plant, square in cross section with slightly winged angles. The leaves are mostly opposite, stalk-less, broadly oblong and tapering towards the tip. They have smooth un-toothed edges. The flowers are borne singly or in pairs in the axils of the much reduced upper leaves. The calyx forms a tube about 0.6 millimetres long and has six pointed teeth. The six rose-pink petals have a magenta central vein and are about 5 millimetres long and 2 millimetres wide. There are six stamens with pink filaments and purple anthers. The stigma is white and the style green. The ovary is superior and the fruit is an elongated capsule with numerous  tiny seeds.


Native Americans found used the plant for making brooms and hanging seafood to cook.
The plant is used as an ornamental in landscaping, where it grows best in sunny, moist places. Spirea is recommended for riparian revegetation projects in the Pacific Northwest, as it is hardy and grows quickly.


Spiraea douglasii is a woolly shrub growing 0.91–1.83 metres (3–6 feet) tall from rhizomes, forming dense riverside thickets.
The leaves are 2.5–10.2 centimetres (1–4 inches) long and toothed toward the tips. They are alternately arranged, and the undersides are whitish with prominent veins.
Large clusters of small, deep pink flowers form spires in early summer, later turning dark and persisting. The seeds are 2 millimetres (1⁄16 in) long and are dispersed by animals and strong winds.


Spiraea douglasii is a species of flowering plant in the rose family native to western North America. Common names include hardhack, hardhack steeplebush, Douglas' spirea, douglasspirea, steeplebush, and rose spirea.


Spirea foliage is browsed by black-tailed deer, but is not very palatable to livestock and only eaten by them occasionally.  The flowers provide nectar for hummingbirds, and small birds eat the seeds which persist into the winter when food is less plentiful.
Spirea provides nesting habitat for birds such as marsh wrens, and is a component of grizzly bear habitat.
It is moderately fire-resistant, as many of the marshes across its native range would historically dry up by midsummer and be susceptible to fire. If the above-ground portion of the plant is killed, it can sprout from the stem base or rhizomes after a wildfire.
It may hybridize with white spirea (S. betulifolia) to form pyramid spirea (S. x pyramidata Greene).
As an invasive species, the species decreases biodiversity, colonizing wetlands with dense monocultural thickets to the detriment of other plants.


Overwintering founding queens, or foundresses, spend about a month in the spring constructing a nest and provisioning offspring, the first of which become daughter workers in the growing colony. One or more foundresses begin the colonies in the spring. If multiple foundresses are present, the one that lays the most eggs will be the dominant queen. The remaining foundresses will be subordinate and do work to help the colony.
Males are produced later, and when they start to appear, a few daughters may mate and leave their nest to become foundresses the next season. The switch from production of workers to production of future foundresses (gynes) is not utterly abrupt, as has been considered the case for other species of Polistes. Males are often distinguished from female wasps by their curled antennae and lack of a stinger.
The colony disperses in the late summer, with only males and future foundresses produced instead of workers, and individuals frequently clustering in groups (called a hibernaculum) to overwinter. Hibernation does not usually take place on former nest sites.
Social hierarchies established within the colony can also influence individual P. dominula's longevity. Queens live longer than the males or the workers because the workers protect the queens from predators. The queen starts laying eggs in late March or early April, immediately after the "founding phase" of the newly built nest. Then, the colony disperses in the late summer, with only males and future foundresses produced instead of workers. Although individuals frequently cluster in groups (to overwinter), neither most nonreproductive males nor nonreproductive females survive the winter because their lifespans are shorter than a year (around 11 months) and they best survive during warm temperatures. Queens may survive the winter by hibernating.


Behavioral adaptations of P. dominula have allowed it to expand outside its native range and invade the United States and Canada. While most Polistes species in the United States feed only on caterpillars, P. dominula eats many different types of insects. It also nests in areas with better protection, so is able to avoid predation that has affected many other Polistes species. Much of North America has a very similar ecology and habitat to that of Europe, and this has allowed a faster and more successful colonization. P. dominula was also compared to and found to be more productive than Polistes fuscatus, which is indigenous to the United States and Canada. P. dominula produces workers about a week earlier and forages earlier in the day than P. fuscatus. It is a concern for cherry and grape growers in British Columbia, as it injures the fruit by biting off the skin. It also spreads yeast and fungi that harm fruit and can be a nuisance to workers and pickers at harvest.


Another strength of P. dominula in terms of survival rate is their ability to suffer less nest predation than other Polistes. P. dominula is a less attractive prey for birds mainly due to its aposematic coloration and the relatively strong attachment of the comb to the substrate – typically tree branches or man-made structures. Unlike P. fuscatus, which is colored brown with a few faint, thin, yellow stripes, P. dominula is colored bright yellow with alternating black, similar to the warning coloration of Vespula germanica, a common and aggressive yellowjacket. In addition to their alerting coloration, P. dominula comb strength also contributes to their higher chance of survival. P. dominula might have an advantage over P. fuscatus against avian predators because their combs are less likely to be dislodged from the substrate by birds because the side force required to dislodge it is greater for P. dominula than for P. fuscatus combs.


The native range of P. dominula covers much of southern Europe and North Africa, and temperate parts of Asia as far east as China. It has also been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and North and South America. Since the mid-1980s, the population of P. dominula has expanded to rather cooler regions, especially towards northern Europe. Global warming is speculated to have raised temperatures of certain areas, allowing P. dominula to expand to originally cooler regions.
The first North American occurrence of P. dominula was reported in Massachusetts in the late 1970s, and by 1995, this species had been documented throughout the northeastern USA. However, the species is also likely present in additional states, but has just not yet been reported. Although detailed mechanisms of the species' dispersal are still unknown, some number of individuals, including the foundresses, may have hidden inside transportable items such as shipping crates, trailers, boats, or other human-made structures used during international trading between countries.


Acanthocephala terminalis is a species of leaf-footed bug in the family Coreidae. It is found in North America.


It is found in south-western Western Australia, south-eastern South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania.
It is active through Spring to Autumn near lakes, slow flowing rivers and nearby vegetation.


As well as cotton (Gossypium), D. cingulatus feeds on a number of other crop plants including okra (Abelmoschus esculentus), muskmallow (Abelmoschus moschatus), hibiscus, white jute (Corchorus capsularis), citrus and maize (Zea mays). It also attacks trees including silk cotton tree (Bombax ceiba), kapok (Ceiba pentandra), teak (Tectona grandis) and the portia tree (Thespesia populnea).


D. cingulatus occurs in Nepal, Sri Lanka, northeastern India, Bangladesh, Thailand, the Philippines, Sumatra, Borneo, Papua New Guinea and northern Australia.


Clemensia albata, the little white lichen moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. It was described by Alpheus Spring Packard in 1864. It is found in eastern North America, west across boreal Canada to south-eastern British Columbia. The range extends along the Pacific Coast south to Monterey Bay in west-central California. The habitat consists of moist forests, including coastal rainforests, oak woodlands and mixed hardwood forests.
The length of the forewings is 10–11 mm. The forewings are pale white and brown grey peppered with darker scales. The hindwings are whitish, smudged with light grey. Adults are on wing from late June to early September.
The larvae feed on arboreal lichens, especially those growing on conifers. They have also been recorded feeding on algae.


Lycopodium clavatum has a widespread distribution across several continents. There are distinct subspecies and varieties in different parts of its range:
Lycopodium clavatum subsp. clavatum
Lycopodium clavatum subsp. clavatum var. clavatum (Europe, Asia, North America)
Lycopodium clavatum subsp. clavatum var. aristatum (Mexico, Caribbean, Central America, northern South America south to northern Argentina)
Lycopodium clavatum subsp. clavatum var. asiaticum (Japan, northeast China)
Lycopodium clavatum subsp. clavatum var. borbonicum (central and southern Africa)
Lycopodium clavatum subsp. clavatum var. kiboanum (mountains of tropical Africa)
Lycopodium clavatum subsp. contiguum (southern Central America, northern South America; syn. Lycopodium contiguum)
Although globally widespread, like many clubmosses, it is confined to undisturbed sites, disappearing from farmed areas and sites with regular burning. As a result, it is endangered in many areas. In the UK it is one of 101 species named as a high priority for conservation by the wild plant charity Plantlife.
Other common names
Common names for this species include wolf's-foot clubmoss, common clubmoss, wolf-paw clubmoss, running ground-pine, running pine, running moss, princess pine, and others.
Use
The spores of this moss, "lycopodium powder", are explosive if present in high density air. They were used as flash powder in early photography and magic acts.
Active constituents
Bioactive secondary metabolites in clubmosses include  triterpenoids with acetylcholinesterase inhibitor activity isolated from this species.


Lycopodium clavatum is a spore-bearing vascular plant, growing mainly prostrate along the ground with stems up to 1 m (39 in) long; the stems are much branched, and densely clothed with small, spirally arranged microphyll leaves. The leaves are 3–5 mm long and 0.7–1 mm broad, tapered to a fine hair-like white point. The branches bearing strobili or spore cones turn erect, reaching 5–15 cm (2.0–5.9 in) above ground, and their leaves are modified as sporophylls that enclose the spore capsules or sporangia. The spore cones are yellow-green, 2–3 cm (0.79–1.18 in) long, and 5 mm (0.20 in) broad. The horizontal stems produce roots at frequent intervals along their length, allowing the stem to grow indefinitely along the ground. The stems superficially resemble small seedlings of coniferous trees, though it is not related to these.


Plagodis pulveraria, the barred umber, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found throughout much of the Palearctic realm from Ireland to Japan, and in the Nearctic realm (Canada).
The wingspan is 28–33 mm. The length of the forewings is 17–19 mm. "Variable, but always showing more or less of a reddish tone, with no markings except the rather straight antemedian and posteriorly strongly incurved postmedian lines of the forewing. The median area in the name-typical form is darkened. — ab. passetii Th.-Mieg is violaceous grey instead of reddish brown, the median band sharply expressed. - ab. marginepurpuraria Bastelb. is deeper red, the median area of forewing and basal half of hindwing more orange-, the rest more purple-tinged, lines thick, antemedian rather curved, postmedian less broad anteriorly than in the type. Rather small and round-winged. Rheingau - ab. unicolor Hirschke has both wings uniform brown, dark-dusted, without lines or band. - gadmensis Ratzer is a rather small, brighter (yellower) brown form from Switzerland (Gadmenthal), with the median area almost or quite concolorous, the lines remaining.- violacearia Graeser (15 h), from Amurland, is a very small form, coloured nearly like marginepurpuraria, which must perhaps sink to it, but the thick lines are described as dark violet and it is not indicated that their form differs from the normal; compare, however, the following form. -japonica Btlr. is a small race, or possibly distinct species, from Japan and Korea, bright deep red-brown, the median area as broad posteriorly as anteriorly, not differentiated in colour, the lines which bound it deeper red brown, the postmedian only projecting a little in the middle. Line on hindwing continued nearly to the costal margin, straighter than in marginepurpuraria, which also shows this peculiarity."
The moth flies in two generations from mid-March to August.
The larva feeds on various deciduous trees such as oak, birch and sallow.


Triteleia laxa (previously Brodiaea laxa) is a triplet lily known by several common names, including Ithuriel's spear, common triteleia and grassnut. It is native to California where it is a common wildflower, and it is occasionally found in southwestern Oregon. It bears a tall, naked stem topped with a spray of smaller stalks, each ending in a purple or blue flower. The flower is tubular, opening into a sharply six-pointed star. The plant grows from a corm which is edible and similar in taste and use as the potato. The most used common name for the species, Ithuriel's spear, is a reference to the angel Ithuriel from Milton's Paradise Lost.


This is a small to medium (wingspan 33–39 mm) species with cryptically coloured forewings, varying from light to dark brown, sometimes with a reddish tinge. The most characteristic feature is a distinctively "W"-shaped, white subterminal line. This feature is seen on some other noctuids, but usually much larger species. The hindwings are grey or buff, darker towards the termen, and marked with dark veins.


One or two broods are produced each year, and adults can be seen at any time from May to September. This species flies at night and is attracted to light as well as to sugar and nectar-rich flowers.
Flight from June to first half of July. Second generation from latter half of July to September.
The larvae feed on a wide range of plants (see list below). The species overwinters as pupae.


It is found in the Western Palearctic (western Europe, Tunisia, Iran), Niger, and Quebec in North America. In the north of its European range it is a summer migrant, not being able to survive the cold winters.


Caladenia carnea is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and a single, sparsely hairy, narrow linear leaf, 90–150 mm (4–6 in) long and 3–4 mm (0.1–0.2 in) wide.

The inflorescence is a raceme, 120–250 mm (5–10 in) tall with between one and three, sometimes five flowers. The flowers are sometimes sweetly scented or musky. The dorsal sepal is usually erect, 10–15 mm (0.4–0.6 in) long, 2–4 mm (0.08–0.2 in) wide.  The lateral sepals and petals are usually 8–15 mm (0.3–0.6 in) long with their outer surfaces covered with glandular hairs. Their outer surface is greenish-pink, sometimes striped, and the inner surface is pinkish or greenish white. The labellum is roughly egg-shaped, 5–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long and wide, white or pinkish with prominent red stripes. The sides of the labellum turn upwards while the centre part has a toothed edge, usually with yellow calli and there are two lines of raised, club-like, yellow-tipped calli in the centre. The column is curved with red bars on the inside surface and has narrow wings on its sides. Flowering occurs between August and November and is followed by a non-fleshy, dehiscent capsule containing a large number of seeds.
This species is often confused with Caladenia fuscata but that species always has one flower per plant and flowers a few weeks earlier than C. carnea.


Caladenia carnea, commonly known as pink fingers, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to eastern and south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania. It has a single thin, green leaf and one to five white or pink flowers with red stripes and two rows of yellow-tipped "calli" on their labellum.


The wingspan is 37–50 mm. White, sometimes with ochreous, or in the male even blackish costal margin; head and collar as well as the pectinations of the antennae dark. Tibiae and tarsi with broad black rings. The East-Asiatic species Leucoma candida (Staudinger, 1892) with different male genitalia structure, has much purer glossy white and entirely opaque, more thickly scaled, wings and is on the whole smaller, with narrower wings. From central and eastern Siberia, Mongolia, Amurland, Korea, China, Japan. Yellowish-grey specimens are ab. sohesti Capr. Specimens from Tian-shan with black pectinations of the antennae of the male are nigripennata Staudinger. ab. nigrociliata Fuchs has sharp black third of the costal margin and glossy black fringes; Germany, ab. rubicunda Strand has both the wings and hairy covering reddish, almost rose red at the costal and inner margins of the forewing (male); in southern Norway. Distribution of Leucoma salicis occupies most part of Eurasia south from the Polar Circle, excluding north-eastern Siberia.


The eggs are laid on tree trunks in clusters covered with a paper-like substance. Larva are black with a row of light dorsal spots and a yellow lateral line. Segments four and five each with a pair of united fleshy pointed tubercles. The larvae feed on Salix and Populus species. Pupation is in a loose cocoon between leaves, the pupa being glossy black with white spots and yellow tufts or hair. The moth appears in June, July and August. The males already begin to fly before dusk in the evening and often swarm like snowflakes round the poplars and willows at country roads.
Found in half shady, damp locations, such as forest edges and hedges with their food plants, but also in avenues, parks and gardens. They are common, but only occur in small numbers. Leucoma salicis is also reported from outbreaks (population explosions), but these are known only from historical times.


Leucoma salicis, the white satin moth or satin moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found in Europe including the British Isles but not the far north. In the east it is found across the Palearctic to Japan. Also in North America where it was introduced in the 1920s.


Broom forkmoss can be found across North America (except Labrador, North Dakota, Texas and Nevada), Europe, Asia, northern Africa as well as in Australia and New Zealand


Broom forkmoss is usually robust and coarse, forming shiny tufts with woolly stems 2–8 cm high. The leaf midrib extends to the tip and usually has 4 ridges along its back.  The leaves are 3.5–8 mm long, lance-shaped with a long, slender point, and strongly toothed along the upper third.  Most leaves will be folded and curved to one side, but may be wavy. Capsules are 2.3–5 mm long, urn-shaped and curved. The capsules are held on mostly-erect stalks 18–35 mm long. The operculum (capsule lid) is usually longer than the capsule.
As a bryophyte, Dicranum scoparium has pluricellular rhiziods (root structure) which help with water absorption and anchor the plant to the ground.


Phegopteris hexagonoptera, commonly called the broad beech fern, is a common forest fern in the eastern United States and adjacent Ontario. It grows from a creeping rootstock, sending up individual fronds that more or less clump. Its native habitat includes moist, undisturbed, hardwood forests.
The fronds are broadly triangular. The specific name hexagonoptera refers to the winging of leaf tissue along the rachis between the basal pinnae.
Sori are small, round and naked. This aspect of the plant has caused it in the past to be placed, at first, in the genus Polypodium, then grouped with genus Dryopteris, then with the genus Thelypteris.  Genetic analysis has shown the genus Phegopteris to be a sister clade to the rest of the thelypteroid ferns.
Rare hybrids with Phegopteris connectilis are known.
This fern makes an excellent garden plant, gradually filling in a bed.


Abrus precatorius, called "Gulaganji" in Kannada, kundu mani in Tamil, Guruvinda ginja in Telugu and 'Kunni kuru' in Malayalam, has been used in Siddha medicine for centuries.  The white variety is used to prepare oil that is claimed to be an aphrodisiac.  A tea is made from the leaves and used for fevers, coughs and colds. Seeds are poisonous and therefore are only consumed after heat treatment. The Tamil Siddhars knew about the toxic effects in plants and suggested various methods which is called "suththi seythal" or purification. This is done by boiling the seeds in milk and then drying them. Like with castor oil, the protein toxin is denatured when subjected to high temperatures rendering it innocuous.
The 1889 book 'The Useful Native Plants of Australia’ records that "The roots of this plant are used in India as a substitute for liquorice, though they are somewhat bitter. In Java the roots are considered demulcent. The leaves, when mixed with honey, are applied to swellings, and in Jamaica are used as a substitute for tea. Under the name of "Jequirity" the seeds have recently been employed in cases of ophthalmia, a use to which they have long been put in India and Brazil."
The plant is also used in Ayurveda and is said to promote hair growth. It is sometimes used as an ingredient in Indian hair products.


Abrus precatorius, commonly known as jequirity bean or rosary pea, is a herbaceous flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae. It is a slender, perennial climber with long, pinnate-leafleted leaves that twines around trees, shrubs, and hedges.
The plant is best known for its seeds, which are used as beads and in percussion instruments, and which are toxic because of the presence of abrin. Ingestion of a single seed, well chewed, can be fatal to both adults and children. The plant is native to Asia and Australia. It has a tendency to become weedy and invasive where it has been introduced.


Abrus precatorius is a severely invasive plant in warm temperate to tropical regions, so much so that it has become effectively pantropical in distribution. It had been widely introduced by humans, and the brightly coloured and hard-shelled seeds had been spread by birds. By the end of the twentieth century, it had been proclaimed as an invasive weed in many regions including some in Belize, Caribbean Islands, Hawaii, Polynesia and parts of the mainland United States. In Florida in particular, the plant has invaded undisturbed pinelands and hammocks, including the vulnerable pine rocklands.
Once Abrus precatorius plants have grown to maturity under favourable conditions, their deep roots are extremely difficult to remove, and the plants' aggressive growth, hard-shelled seeds, and ability to sucker, renders an infestation extremely difficult to eradicate and makes it very difficult to prevent re-infestation. Herbicides such as glyphosate are effective, but need skilled application if they are not to do more harm than good.


The wingspan of Emmelia trabealis can reach 18–24 mm. The forewings show a very variable black drawings on a yellowish or dirty white background. The rear wings are reddish brown.
Eggs are green, elongated and cone shaped, with a flattened base and distinct longitudinal ribs. Caterpillars are reddish to greenish brown, with dark dorsal lines and a yellow side band, the head is relatively small and brown. Cocoons are red brown or green.


This species presents two overlapping generations a year, the second generation is generally missing in cool years. The moth flies from May to August depending on the location and then again from August to early September. The pupa overwinters. The larvae feed on field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) and Polygonum species. The imago takes short jerky flights in the sunshine close to the ground and is difficult of observation; it frequents
dry and sandy localities.


The spotted sulphur can be found in most of the Palearctic (Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Russia to northern China and Japan). It was formerly resident in Great Britain, but has not been seen at any known breeding colonies since 25 June 1960 and is presumed extinct there.


Hordeum murinum is quite widespread and common. It flowers during May through July in mainly coastal areas. In the British Isles it is absent throughout most of Ireland and Scotland but is common in England and Wales.
It can grow to 30 cm in height, and its unbranched spikes can reach 10 cm long. It produces small, dry nutlets and its leaves can be 8 mm wide with short, blunt ligules.
It is an annual winter species whose seeds germinate and develop in the spring. It is also referred to as wall barley and are tetraploids. It is distinct from other species of the genus because of its morphology and molecular genetics. It is also distinct because of the barriers it has with the Hordeum taxa when it comes to its ability to cross with other species.
Among its subspecies is included H. m. ssp. leporinum, known as hare barley.


Hordeum murinum complex is the most widespread of all the other Hordeum species. The center of distribution of H. murinum is in the Mediterranean area, Central Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa. A greater quantity of dry material is produced with medium precipitation and better distribution. Precipitation is the most important factor in the production of seeds for this species. In the years that are more dry with early or late rainfalls, there is no chance of re-seeding for this species. The species uses a greater part of its reproductive resources for seed production, allowing it to adapt to different water conditions. Controlling the seeding rate favors high-quality strand of barley. The sowing rate for wall barley increases when seed production and forage increases. This helps to obtain ideal and sustainable forage and seed yield in rangelands of Jordan. The height of the plant and protein content does not respond to seeding rates, but the height of the plant and protein content does vary with years. Anatomical characteristics of leaf blades differ between the taxa. This weedy species along with hare barley and smooth barley can be hard to control.


Although H. murinum is considered a difficult weed in cereal crop fields, it is useful for feeding grazing animals. It is also the main source of forage for cattle production in areas with water deficits.


The upperside of the wings is bright orange with the basal part of the hindwing unmarked. There is a row of submarginal black spots on both the forewing and the hindwing. The underside of the wings is yellow orange with no submarginal black spots. It has a wingspan of 2.5 to 3 inches.


Euptoieta hegesia, the Mexican fritillary, is a North and South American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae.


The Mexican fritillary may be seen from mid-June to November in Arizona, from July to December in Texas and year-round in Mexico.


The fruits have evolved to be eaten by animals which eat the flesh surrounding the hard endocarp or ingest the entire fruit and later vent the endocarp. If the endocarp is crushed or damaged during ingestion or digestion, the animal will be exposed to the toxins within the seed. The processes of mastication and digestion, and the degree of immunity to the particular toxins, vary widely between species, and there will accordingly be a great variation in the clinical symptoms following ingestion.
Fruits are poisonous or narcotic to humans if eaten in quantity. However, like those of the yew tree, these toxins are not harmful to birds, who gorge themselves on the fruit, eventually reaching a "drunken" state. The birds that are able to eat the fruit spread the seeds in their droppings. The toxins are neurotoxins and unidentified resins, found mainly in the fruits.  The first symptoms of poisoning appear a few hours after ingestion. They may include loss of appetite, vomiting, constipation or diarrhea, bloody faeces, stomach pain, pulmonary congestion, cardiac arrest, rigidity, lack of coordination and general weakness. Death may take place after about 24 hours. Like in relatives, tetranortriterpenoids constitute an important toxic principle. These are chemically related to azadirachtin, the primary insecticidal compound in the commercially important neem oil. These compounds are probably related to the wood and seed's resistance to pest infestation, and maybe to the unattractiveness of the flowers to animals.
The plant is toxic to cats.


The main utility of chinaberry is its timber. This is of medium density, and ranges in colour from light brown to dark red. In appearance it is readily confused with the unrelated Burmese teak (Tectona grandis). Melia azedarach – in keeping with other members of the family Meliaceae – has a timber of high quality, but as opposed to many almost-extinct species of mahogany, it is under-utilised. Seasoning is relatively simple, in that planks dry without cracking or warping and are resistant to fungal infection. The taste of the leaves is not as bitter as neem (Azadirachta indica).
The tough five-grooved seeds were widely used for making rosaries and other products requiring beads; however, the seeds were later replaced by plastics. The cut branches with mature fruit are sold commercially to the florist and landscaping trade particularly as a component for outdoor holiday décor. The fruits may persist for some time prior to shattering off the stem or discoloring, which occurs rapidly after a relatively short time in subfreezing weather.
In Kenya the trees have been grown by farmers and used as fodder trees. The leaves can be fed to cattle to improve milk yields and improve farm incomes.
In Australia, particularly the suburbs of Melbourne, the tree is often used in nature strip plantings by local councils. The councils plant such trees for amenity reasons as well as environmental, social and economic benefits.
Leaves have been used as a natural insecticide to keep with stored food, but must not be eaten as they are highly poisonous. Chinaberry fruit was used to prevent insect larvae from growing in the fruit. By placing the berries in drying apples (etc.) and keeping the fruit turned in the sun without damaging any of the chinaberry skin, the fruit will dry and not have insect larvae in the dried apples.
A diluted infusion of leaves and trees has been used in the past to induce uterus relaxation.


Melia azedarach, commonly known as the chinaberry tree, pride of India, bead-tree, Cape lilac, syringa berrytree, Persian lilac,  Indian lilac, or white cedar, is a species of deciduous tree in the mahogany family, Meliaceae, that is native to Indomalaya and Australasia.


The fully grown tree has a rounded crown, and commonly measures 7–12 metres (20–40 feet) tall, exceptionally 45 m (150 ft).
The leaves are up to 50 centimetres (20 inches) long, alternate, long-petioled, two or three times compound (odd-pinnate); the leaflets are dark green above and lighter green below, with serrate margins.
The flowers are small and fragrant, with five pale purple or lilac petals, growing in clusters.
The fruit is a drupe, marble-sized, light yellow at maturity, hanging on the tree all winter, and gradually becoming wrinkled and almost white.
As the stem ages and grows, changes occur that transform its surface into bark.


Adult beetles typically are 6–11 mm (0.24–0.43 in) in length and 3 mm (0.12 in) in width. They weigh 50-170 mg. The beetles are orange-yellow in colour with 10 characteristic black stripes on their elytra. The specific name decemlineata, meaning 'ten-lined', derives from this feature. Adult beetles may, however, be visually confused with L. juncta, the false potato beetle, which is not an agricultural pest. L. juncta also has alternating black and white strips on its back, but one of the white strips in the center of each wing cover is missing and replaced by a light brown strip.
The orange-pink larvae have a large, 9-segmented abdomen, black head, and prominent spiracles, and may measure up to 15 mm (0.59 in) in length in their final instar stage. The beetle larva has four instar stages.  The head remains black throughout these stages, but the pronotum changes colour from black in first- and second-instar larvae to having an orange-brown edge in its third-instar. In fourth-instar larvae, about half the pronotum is coloured light brown. This tribe is characterised within the subfamily by round to oval-shaped convex bodies, which are usually brightly coloured, simple claws which separate at the base, open cavities behind the procoxae, and a variable apical segment of the maxillary palp.


The Colorado potato beetle was first observed in 1811 by Thomas Nuttall and was formally described in 1824 by American entomologist Thomas Say. The beetles were collected in the Rocky Mountains, where they were feeding on the buffalo bur, Solanum rostratum. The genus Leptinotarsa is assigned to the chrysolmelid beetle tribe Chrysomelini (in subfamily Chrysomelinae).


At least 13 insect genera, three spider families, one phalangid (Opiliones), and one mite have been recorded as either generalist or specialized predators of the varying stages of L. decemlineata. These include the ground beetle Lebia grandis, the coccinellid beetles Coleomegilla maculata and Hippodamia convergens, the shield bugs Perillus bioculatus and Podisus maculiventris,  various species of the lacewing genus Chrysopa, the wasp genus Polistes, and the damsel bug genus Nabis.
The predatory ground beetle L. grandis is a predator of both the eggs and larvae of L. decemlineata, and its larvae are parasitoids of the pupae. An adult L. grandis may consume up to 23 eggs or 3.3 larvae in a single day.
In a laboratory experiment, Podisus maculiventris was used as a predatory threat to female L. decemlineata specimens, resulting in the production of unviable trophic eggs alongside viable ones; this response to a predator ensured that additional food was available for newly hatched offspring to increase their survival rate. The same experiment also demonstrated the cannibalism of unhatched eggs by newly hatched L. decemlineata larvae as an antipredator response.


The beetle is most likely native to the area between Colorado and northern Mexico, and was discovered in 1824 by Thomas Say in the Rocky Mountains. It is found in North America, and is present in every state and province except Alaska, California, Hawaii, and Nevada. It now has a wide distribution across Europe and Asia, totalling over 16 million km².
Its first association with the potato plant (Solanum tuberosum) was not made until about 1859, when it began destroying potato crops in the region of Omaha, Nebraska. Its spread eastward was rapid, at an average distance of 140 km per year. By 1874 it had reached the Atlantic Coast. From 1871,  American entomologist Charles Valentine Riley warned Europeans about the potential for an accidental infestation caused by the transportation of the beetle from America. From 1875, several Western European countries, including Germany, Belgium, France, and Switzerland, banned imports of American potatoes to avoid infestation by L. decemlineata.
These controls proved ineffective, as the beetle soon reached Europe. In 1877, L. decemlineata reached the United Kingdom and was first recorded from Liverpool docks, but it did not become established. Many further outbreaks have occurred; the species has been eradicated in the UK at least 163 times. The last major outbreak was in 1976. It remains as a notifiable quarantine pest in the United Kingdom and is monitored by DEFRA  to prevent it from becoming established. A cost-benefit analysis from 1981 suggested that the cost of the measures used to exclude L. decemlineata from the UK was less than the likely costs of control if it became established.
Elsewhere in Europe, the beetle became established near USA military bases in Bordeaux during or immediately following World War I and had proceeded to spread by the beginning of World War II to Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain. The population increased dramatically during and immediately following World War II and spread eastward, and the beetle is now found over much of the continent. After World War II, in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany, almost half of all potato fields were infested by the beetle by 1950. In East Germany, they were known as Amikäfer ('Yankee beetles') following a governmental claim that the beetles were dropped by American planes. In the European Union, it remains a regulated (quarantine) pest for the Republic of Ireland, Balearic Islands, Cyprus, Malta, and southern parts of Sweden and Finland. It is not established in any of these member states, but occasional infestations can occur when, for example, wind blows adults from Russia to Finland.
The beetle has the potential to spread to temperate areas of East Asia, India, South America, Africa, New Zealand, and Australia.


The Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata), also known as the Colorado beetle, the ten-striped spearman, the ten-lined potato beetle, or the potato bug, is a major pest of potato crops. It is about 10 mm (3⁄8 in) long, with a bright yellow/orange body and five bold brown stripes along the length of each of its elytra. Native to the Rocky Mountains, it spread rapidly in potato crops across America and then Europe from 1859 onwards.


Wild bergamot is considered a medicinal plant by many Native Americans. The Oneida call it "Number Six", in honor of it being "the sixth medicine given by the Creator"; other nations that use it include the Menominee, the Ojibwe, and the Winnebago (Ho-Chunk). It is used most commonly to treat colds, and is frequently made into a tea. Today, many families still use wild bergamot during the cold and flu season. The tea may be sweetened with honey, as it tends to be quite strong.
The species of Monarda that may go under the common name "bee balm," including M. fistulosa, have a long history of use as a medicinal plant by Native Americans, including the Blackfoot.  The Blackfoot recognized the plant's strong antiseptic action, and used poultices of the plant for skin infections and minor wounds.  A tea made from the plant was also used to treat mouth and throat infections caused by dental caries and gingivitis.  Bee balm is the natural source of the antiseptic thymol, the primary active ingredient in modern commercial mouthwash formulas.  The Winnebago used a tea made from bee balm as a general stimulant.  Bee balm was also used as a carminative herb by Native Americans to treat excessive flatulence.  Leaves were eaten boiled with meat and a concoction of the plant was made into hair pomade. The herb is considered an active diaphoretic (sweat inducer).
The essential oil of Monarda fistulosa was analyzed using mass spectrometry and arithmetical retention indices, and was found to contain p-cymene (32.5%), carvacrol (24.0%), thymol (12.6%), an aliphatic aldehyde (6.3%), the methyl ether of carvacrol (5.5%), α-pinene (3.5%), β-pinene (2.9%), sabinene hydrate (1.9%), α-terpinene (1.7%), citronellyl acetate (1.6%), and β-caryophyllene (1.1%).
M. fistulosa distillate has been proposed as an antimicrobial agent in laboratory settings, specifically as an agent in artificial media used for growth of tachinid fly larvae.


Monarda fistulosa, the wild bergamot or bee balm, is a wildflower in the mint family Lamiaceae, widespread and abundant as a native plant in much of North America. This plant, with showy summer-blooming pink to lavender flowers, is often used as a honey plant, medicinal plant, and garden ornamental.  The species is quite variable, and several subspecies or varieties have been recognized within it.


Monarda fistulosa is an herbaceous perennial that grows from slender creeping rhizomes, thus commonly occurring in large clumps. The plants are typically up to 3 ft (0.91 m) tall, with a few erect branches. Its leaves are 2–3 in (5.1–7.6 cm) long, lance-shaped, and toothed. Its compact flower clusters are solitary at the ends of branches. Each cluster is about 1.5 in (3.8 cm) long, containing about 20–50 flowers. Wild bergamot often grows in rich soils in dry fields, thickets, and clearings, usually on limy soil. The plants generally flower from June to September.
Monarda fistulosa ranges from Quebec to the Northwest Territories and British Columbia, south to Georgia, Texas, Arizona, Idaho, and northeastern Washington. The Latin specific epithet fistulosa means hollow like a pipe.
The plant is noted for its fragrance, and is a source of oil of thyme.


As a honey plant, it is popular with a variety of pollinators, including bees, hummingbirds, and lepidoptera.  It is a larval host to the hermit sphinx, orange mint moth, and raspberry pyrausta.


Bombus sonorus, commonly known as the Sonoran bumble bee, is a species of bumble bee in the family Apidae. It is found in Central America and western and southwestern North America. Considered uncommon, it is sometimes categorized as a subspecies of Bombus pensylvanicus.


The stages of its life cycle are as follows: egg: May – September, larva: June – September, pupa: July – May, and imago: May – July.
It flies by day, normally taking only short, rapid flights, and can be found in wasteland and other open habitats.
It hibernates as a pupa, and does so in a cocoon among blades of grass, or right underneath the ground.
Among its foods is the nectar of the white clover and the creeping buttercup. Larva feed on Elymus arenarius, Polygonum aviculare, Lathyrus pratensis, Vicia spp., Calluna vulgaris, Hypericum maculatum, Andromeda polifolia, Galium verum, Melilotus officinalis, Lotus corniculatus and Medicago lupulina.


This species spans over most of Europe, Siberia, the Russian Far East and Asia Minor. On the British Isles it is most common in England and Wales; less so in Scotland and Ireland.


The dioecious flowers are concentrated in inflorescences which cascade downward as aments of 4–6 cm (1.6–2.4 in) in length.  While it manifests separate male and female plants, the pendant male catkins are much more showy and are grey-green and up to 30 cm (12 in) long; the female ones are shorter and silver-grey.   Although the flowers bloom in late winter and early spring, dried bracts remain on the plant well into summer as light gray decorations.  The plant has smooth bark, dark-greenish when young, but roughening with age. New twigs are green and moderately stout.
For pistillate flowers, above each small bract there is a solitary flower inside the inflorescence.  This plant produces tiny dark seeds.
The ripened purplish black fruit of about 1 cm in diameter has a hard desiccated coating, but is rather fleshy on the interior. There are a total of  four stamens per flower; moreover, above each bract pair there is a triplet of flowers. The cultivar 'James Roof' has catkins up to 30 cm (12 in) in length.


Garrya elliptica is found in several plant communities, principally in drier coastal California and southern Oregon no more than 20 miles from the Pacific Ocean; the main associations are coastal sage and chaparral ecoregion, Northern coastal scrub, Mixed evergreen coastal forest and Northern coastal sage scrub.  This plant can tolerate moderately heavy clay soils and serpentine areas, but likes soils pH to lie in the range of six to eight.
It is not grazed to a great degree by deer or rabbits, and is hardy to cold temperatures of about 15 °F (−9 °C). It is moderately drought tolerant, but is more luxuriant with rainfall of about 25 in (64 cm) per annum. The species is usually found at elevations above 200 m (660 ft), within the mountains of the Pacific Coast range, such as Montara Mountain, San Bruno Mountain and Napa County.


Garrya elliptica, the coast silk-tassel, silk tassel bush or wavyleaf silktassel, is a species of flowering plant in the family Garryaceae, native to the coastal ranges of California and southern Oregon. It is an erect, bushy, evergreen shrub reaching a height of 2–5 m (7–16 ft).


The species is native to northern North America, throughout most of Canada from Yukon east to Newfoundland, and in the United States in Alaska, and continentally from Montana east to Maine, reaching its furthest south in Wyoming and northern Illinois. Amongst the sites it occupies are rocky areas of the east slopes of the Rocky Mountains.


Living up to both its scientific and common names, the species reaches only 10–30 centimetres (3+7⁄8–11+3⁄4 in) tall but often spreading several metres wide. The shoots are slender, 0.7–1.2 millimetres (1⁄32–1⁄16 in) diameter. The leaves are arranged in opposite decussate pairs, or occasionally in whorls of three; the adult leaf blades are scale-like, 1–2 mm long (to 8 mm on lead shoots) and 1–1.5 mm (1⁄32–1⁄16 in) broad, and derive from an adnate petiole. The juvenile leaves (on young seedlings only) are needle-like, 5–10 mm (3⁄16–3⁄8 in) long. The cones are berry-like, globose to bilobed, 5–7 mm (3⁄16–9⁄32 in) in diameter, dark blue with a pale blue-white waxy bloom, and contain two seeds (rarely one or three); they usually have a curved stem and are mature in about 18 months. The male cones are 2–4 mm (3⁄32–5⁄32 in) long, and shed their pollen in early spring. It is dioecious, producing cones of only one sex on each plant.
It is closely related to Juniperus virginiana, and often hybridizes with it where their ranges meet in southern Canada. Hybrids with Juniperus scopulorum also occur.


Chaenactis artemisiifolia, with the common name white pincushion, is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family. It is native to the coastal Peninsular Ranges of Southern California and Baja California, in the chaparral and woodlands.