Adult European herring gulls are similar to ring-billed gulls, but are much larger, have pinkish legs, and a much thicker yellow bill with more pronounced gonys. First-winter European herring gulls are much browner, but second- and third-winter birds can be confusing since soft part colours are variable and third-year herring gull often show a ring around the bill. Such birds are most easily distinguished by the larger size and larger bill of European herring gull.
The European herring gull can be differentiated from the closely related, slightly smaller lesser black-backed gull by the latter's dark grey (not actually black) back and upper wing plumage and its yellow legs and feet.
The smaller silver gull is largely confined to Australia.


Herring gulls are noisy, gregarious birds with distinctive vocalisations. Their loud, laughing call is particularly well known, and is often seen as a symbol of the seaside in countries such as the United Kingdom. The European herring gull also has a yelping alarm call and a low, barking anxiety call. The most distinct and best known call produced by European herring gulls – which is shared with their American relative – is the raucous territorial 'long call', used to signal boundaries to other birds; it is performed by the gull initially with its head bowed, then raised as the call continues.
European herring gull chicks and fledglings emit a distinctive, repetitive, high-pitched 'peep', accompanied by a head-flicking gesture when begging for food from or calling to their parents. Adult gulls in urban areas also exhibit this behaviour when fed by humans.


Ireland: Copeland Bird Observatory, Co Down.
Britain: Since 2009, herring gulls in the United Kingdom have been on the red list of birds of conservation concern, including County Durham.
Europe: Recorded from all the coasts of Europe including the Mediterranean and occasionally inland.


These are omnivores and opportunists like most Larus gulls, and scavenge from garbage dumps, landfill sites, and sewage outflows, with refuse comprising up to half of the bird's diet. It also steals the eggs and young of other birds (including those of other gulls), as well as seeking suitable small prey in fields, on the coast or in urban areas, or robbing plovers or lapwings of their catches. European herring gulls may also dive from the surface of the water or engage in plunge diving in the pursuit of aquatic prey, though they are typically unable to reach depths greater than 1–2 m (3.3–6.6 ft) due to their natural buoyancy. Despite their name, they have no special preference for herrings — in fact, examinations have shown that echinoderms and crustaceans comprised a greater portion of these gulls' stomach contents than fish, although fish is the principal element of regurgitations for nestlings. European herring gulls can frequently be seen to drop shelled prey from a height to break the shell. In addition, the European herring gull has been observed using pieces of bread as bait with which to catch goldfish. Vegetable matter, such as roots, tubers, seeds, grains, nuts, and fruit, is also taken to an extent. Captive European herring gulls typically show aversion to spoiled meat or heavily salted food, unless they are very hungry. The gulls may also rinse food items in water in an attempt to clean them or render them more palatable before swallowing.
European herring gulls may be observed rhythmically drumming their feet upon the ground for prolonged periods of time in a behaviour that superficially resembles Irish stepdancing, for the purpose of creating vibrations in the soil, driving earthworms to the surface, which are then consumed by the gull. These vibrations are thought to mimic those of digging moles, eliciting a surface-escape behaviour from the earthworm, beneficial in encounters with this particular predator, which the European herring gull then exploits to its own benefit in a similar manner to human worm charmers.
Whilst the European herring gull is fully capable (unlike humans) of consuming seawater, using specialized glands located above the eyes to remove excess salt from the body (which is then excreted in solution through the nostrils and drips from the end of the bill), it drinks fresh water in preference, if available.
The opportunistic diet of the herring gull has consequences for egg traits. A study found that larger eggs were laid in colonies where females consumed either a higher proportion of marine resources or terrestrial resources; smaller eggs were laid in colonies where females had an intermediate diet. In colonies where females consumed more marine items, they also laid eggs with higher maculation (intensity and size of spots) compared with colonies where females mainly consumed terrestrial food.


When forming a pair bond, the hen approaches the cock on his territory with a hunched, submissive posture, while making begging calls (similar to those emitted by young gulls). If the cock chooses not to attack her and drive her away, he responds by assuming an upright posture and making a mewing call. This is followed by a period of synchronised head-tossing movements, after which the cock then regurgitates some food for his prospective mate. If this is accepted, copulation follows. A nesting site is then chosen by both birds which is returned to in successive years. European herring gulls are almost exclusively sexually monogamous and may pair up for life, provided the couple is successful in hatching their eggs.
Two to four eggs, usually three, are laid on the ground or cliff ledges in colonies, and are defended vigorously by this large gull. The eggs are usually olive-brown in colour with dark speckles or blotches. They are incubated by both parents for 28–30 days. The chicks hatch with their eyes open, covered with fluffy down, and they are able to walk around within hours. Breeding colonies are preyed upon by great black-backed gulls, harriers, corvids and herons.
Juveniles use their beaks to peck at the red spot on the beaks of adults to indicate hunger. Parents then typically disgorge food for their offspring. The young birds are able to fly 35–40 days after hatching and fledge at five or six weeks of age. Chicks are generally fed by their parents until they are 11–12 weeks old, but the feeding may continue for more than six months of age if the young gulls continue to beg. The male feeds the chick more often than the female before fledging, with the female more often feeding after fledging.
Like most gulls, European herring gulls are long-lived, with a maximum age of 49 years recorded. Raptors (especially owls, peregrine falcons, and gyrfalcons) and seals (especially grey seals) occasionally prey on the non-nesting adults.


In the UK, the species, when taken as a whole, is declining significantly across the country, despite an increase in urban areas. The UK European herring gull population has decreased by 50% in 25 years and it is protected by law: since January 2010, Natural England has allowed lethal control only with a specific individual licence that is available only in limited circumstances. Natural England made the change following a public consultation in response to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in 2009 placing the species on its 'Red List' of threatened bird species, affording it the highest possible conservation status. (Previously, killing the species was allowed under a general licence obtainable by authorised persons (e.g. landowners or occupiers) under certain circumstances (e.g. to prevent serious damage to crops or livestock, to prevent disease, or to preserve public health or safety) without requiring additional permission beyond the general licence.)
The European herring gull is an increasingly common roof-nesting bird in urban areas of the UK, and many individual birds show little fear of humans. The Clean Air Act 1956 forbade the burning of refuse at landfill sites, providing the European herring gull with a regular and plentiful source of food. As a direct result, European herring gull populations in Britain skyrocketed. Faced with a lack of space at their traditional colonies, the gulls ventured inland in search of new breeding grounds. Dwindling fish stocks in the seas around Britain may also have been a significant factor in the gulls' move inland.
The gulls are found all year round in the streets and gardens of Britain, due to the presence of street lighting (which allows the gulls to forage at night), discarded food in streets, food waste contained in easy-to-tear plastic bin bags, food intentionally left out for other birds (or the gulls themselves), the relative lack of predators, and readily available, convenient, warm and undisturbed rooftop nesting space in towns and cities. Particularly large urban gull colonies (composed primarily of European herring gulls and lesser black-backed gulls) are now present in Cardiff, Bristol, Gloucester, Swindon, London, and Aberdeen. to name but a few.
Where not persecuted, herring gulls can become tame in the presence of humans, and may live in proximity to certain humans they learn to trust, and may occasionally enter buildings to receive or steal food.
The survival rate for urban gulls is much higher than their counterparts in coastal areas, with an annual adult mortality rate less than 5%. Also, each European herring gull pair commonly rears three chicks per year. This, when combined with their long-lived nature, has resulted in a massive increase in numbers over a relatively short period of time and has brought urban-dwelling members of the species into conflict with humans.
Once familiar with humans, urban European herring gulls show little hesitation in swooping down to steal food from the hands of humans, although a study conducted in 2019 demonstrated that some gulls are more averse to snatching food in proximity to humans if the experimenter made eye contact with the bird. During the breeding season, the gulls also aggressively 'dive bomb' and attempt to strike with claws and wings (sometimes spraying faeces or vomit at the same time) at humans that they perceive to be a threat to their eggs and chicks—often innocent passers-by or residents of the buildings on which they have constructed their nests. Large amounts of gull excrement deposited on property and the noise from courting pairs and begging chicks in the summer is also considered to be a nuisance by humans living alongside the European herring gull.
Nonlethal attempts to deter the gulls from nesting in urban areas have been largely unsuccessful. The European herring gull is intelligent and will completely ignore most bird-scaring technology after determining that it poses no threat. Rooftop spikes, tensioned wires, netting, and similar are also generally ineffective against this species, as it has large, wide feet with thick, leathery skin, which affords the seagull excellent weight distribution and protection from sharp objects (the bird may simply balance itself on top of these obstacles with little apparent concern). If nests are removed and eggs are taken, broken, or oiled, the gulls simply rebuild and/or relay, or choose another nest site in the same area and start again.
Man-made models of birds of prey placed on top of buildings are generally ignored by the gulls once they realise they are not real, and attempts to scare the gulls away using raptors are similarly ineffective. Although they are intimidated by birds of prey, European herring gulls, in addition to being social birds with strength in numbers, are large, powerful, and aggressive as individuals and are more than capable of fighting back against the potential predator, particularly if they consider their chicks to be at risk; in fact, the gulls may actually pose a greater threat to a raptor than vice versa. European herring gulls are also naturally accustomed to predators (such as skuas and great black-backed gulls) living in the vicinity of their nest sites in the wild and are not particularly discouraged from breeding by their presence.


The California gull (Larus californicus) is a medium-sized gull, smaller on average than the herring gull but larger on average than the ring-billed gull, though it may overlap in size greatly with both.


Their breeding habitat is lakes and marshes in interior western North America from the Northwest Territories, Canada south to eastern California and Colorado. They nest in colonies, sometimes with other birds. The nest is a shallow depression on the ground lined with vegetation and feathers. The female usually lays 2 or 3 eggs. Both parents take turns feeding their chicks.
They are migratory, most moving to the Pacific coast in winter. It is only then that this bird is regularly found in western California.


These birds forage in flight or pick up objects while swimming, walking or wading. They mainly eat insects, fish and the eggs and young of other birds, especially ducklings. Opportunistic feeders, they also scavenge at garbage dumps, marinas and docks. They frequently beg for food at public beaches, parks and other locations where people will hand feed them. They have been known to steal food directly from people at picnics and outdoor restaurants. They may follow fishing boats or plows in fields for insects stirred up by this activity.
California gulls are also known to eat plant food, particularly cherries. As a result, it may be regarded as a crop pest.


In California, the California gull recently held the protected status California Species of Special Concern due to declining numbers at their historic California breeding colony at Mono Lake.  However, in recent decades this species has begun to breed in the southern portion of San Francisco Bay, where it did not historically breed, and has undergone exponential population growth.  These California gulls now inhabit large, remote salt-production ponds and levees and have a very large food source provided by nearby landfills from San Francisco, San Jose and other urban areas, all the way up into the Sacramento area.  The South Bay California gull population has grown from less than 1,000 breeding birds in 1982 to over 33,000 in 2006.  This population boom has resulted in large resident flocks of gulls that will opportunistically prey on other species, particularly the eggs and nestlings of other birds.  Seriously threatened birds that share the same South Bay habitat include the snowy plover and California least tern, while less-threatened birds including black-necked stilts, American avocets, Forster's terns, and Caspian terns are also preyed upon by the abnormally large flocks of California gulls. Efforts are underway to reduce habitat for this species and find other ways to disperse the large numbers of gulls.
Contrary to its name, the California Gull is the state bird of Utah.


The common gull or sea mew (Larus canus) is a medium-sized gull that breeds in the Palearctic, northern Europe. The closely related short-billed gull is sometimes included in this species, which may be known collectively as "mew gull". Many common gulls migrate further south in winter. There are differing accounts as to how the species acquired its vernacular name (see Etymology section below).
The name "sea mew" is a calque of the Dutch name "zee meeuw".


Adult common gulls are 40–46 cm (16–18 in) long, noticeably smaller than the herring gull and slightly smaller than the ring-billed gull. It is further distinguished from the ring-billed gull by its shorter, more tapered bill, which is a more greenish shade of yellow and is unmarked during the breeding season. The body is grey above and white below. The legs are yellow in breeding season, becoming duller in the winter. In winter, the head is streaked grey and the bill often has a poorly defined blackish band near the tip, which is sometimes sufficiently obvious to cause confusion with ring-billed gull. They have black wingtips with large white "mirrors" on the outer primaries p9 and p10, which are smaller than those in the short-billed gull. Young birds have scaly black-brown upperparts and a neat wing pattern, and pink legs which become greyish in the second year before tuning yellow. By the first winter, the head and belly are white, with fine streaks and greyish feathers grow on the saddle. They take three years (up to four in the Kamchatka subspecies) to reach maturity. The call is a high-pitched "laughing" cry.


There are three subspecies, with the Kamchatka gull (L. (c.) kamtschatschensis) being considered a distinct species by some authorities.
L. c. canus – Linnaeus, 1758 – common gull. nominate, found in Europe and western Asia. Small; mantle medium grey (palest subspecies); wingtips with extensive black; iris dark. First-year birds develop white feathers on the head and belly with fine dark markings. Wingspan 110–125 cm (43–49 in); mass 290–480 g (10–17 oz).
L. c. heinei – Homeyer, 1853 – Russian common gull. Found in central northern Asia. Larger than canus with a more sloping forehead which gives the appearance of a smaller bill. Eyes are usually paler, bill and legs deeper yellow than canus with weaker dark bill markings in winter.  The wings are proportionally longer with more black on p5-p8 than canus with narrow white spots forming a conspicuous "string of pearls". p4 has black markings which are rare in canus. First-year immatures have a whiter head, belly and underwings than canus at the same age, with an unmarked rump and more defined black tail band.  Intergrades are common in west Russia. Mass 315–550 g (11.1–19.4 oz).
L. c. kamtschatschensis – Bonaparte, 1857; syn. L. kamtschatschensis – Kamchatka gull. Found in northeastern Asia. The largest subspecies, its size is intermediate between common and ring-billed gulls with the largest males approaching the size of black-tailed gull. Head is squarer with a flatter forehead and the bill is thicker and longer than canus, with paler eyes and deeper yellow bill and legs. Mantle medium-dark grey; wingtips with extensive black, with markings on p5-p8 forming a "string of pearls". Plumage development is generally slower than canus; first-year immatures retain juvenile feathers through the winter, appearing darker and browner overall, and the tail has more extensive black. Brown covert wing feathers are still retained in the second winter. Mass 394–586 g (13.9–20.7 oz).
The North American short-billed gull was formerly widely considered conspecific with this species (as Larus canus brachyrhynchus), but most authorities now recognize it as a distinct species, L. brachyrhynchus, based on differences in genetics, morphology and vocalizations. Though "mew gull" was formerly used as a name for Larus canus sensu lato in North America and not commonly used outside North America, the name "short-billed gull" was chosen for L. brachyrhynchus by the AOS due to the usage of mew gull in recent literature to denote all forms of the L. canus complex, the revival of the name short-billed gull in some of the same literature for brachyrhynchus, and the fact that short-billed gull was historically used for brachyrhynchus when it was treated as a distinct species in the first through third editions of the AOU (now AOS) checklist (in which the name mew gull, contrary to more recent usage, was specifically reserved for the Old World forms).


Both common and short-billed gulls breed colonially near water or in marshes, making a lined nest on the ground or in a small tree; colony size varies from 2 to 320 or even more pairs. Usually three eggs are laid (sometimes just one or two); they hatch after 24–26 days, with the chicks fledging after a further 30–35 days. Like most gulls, they are omnivores and will scavenge as well as hunt small prey. The global population is estimated to be about one million pairs; they are most numerous in Europe, with over half (possibly as much as 80-90%) of the world population. By contrast, the short-billed gull population in Alaska is only about 10,000 pairs.


The scientific name is from Latin. Larus appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird, and canus is "grey". The name "common gull" was coined by Thomas Pennant in 1768 because he considered it the most numerous of its genus. Others assert that the name does not indicate its abundance, but that during the winter it feeds on common land, short pasture used for grazing. John Ray earlier used the name common sea-mall. As the species is not particularly common in much of Britain (where it is greatly outnumbered by several other gull species), it is sometimes said, tongue in cheek, that "uncommon gull" would be a more accurate description.
There are many old British regional names for this species, typically variations on maa, mar, and mew. The original English word mew is related to German möwe and Dutch meeuw. In Norse influenced regions of Britain, variations include maw or sea-maw, the old Norfolk form being mow. The word gull comes from a Celtic root, with the first recorded usage in English from the 1400s; the modern Welsh form is gwylan.


The  kelp gull (Larus dominicanus), also known as the Dominican gull, is a gull that breeds on coasts and islands through much of the Southern Hemisphere. The nominate L. d. dominicanus is the subspecies found around South America, parts of Australia (where it overlaps with the Pacific gull), and New Zealand (where it is known as the black-backed gull, the southern black-backed gull, mollyhawk – particularly the juveniles, or by its Māori name karoro). L. d. vetula (known as the Cape gull) is a subspecies occurring around Southern Africa.
The specific name comes from the Dominican Order of friars, who wear black and white habits.


The kelp gull superficially resembles two gulls from further north in the Atlantic Ocean, the lesser black-backed gull and the great black-backed gull and is intermediate in size between these two species. This species ranges from 54 to 65 cm (21 to 26 in) in total length, from 128 to 142 cm (50 to 56 in) in wingspan and from 540 to 1,390 g (1.19 to 3.06 lb) in weight. Adult males and females weigh on average 1,000 g (2.2 lb) and 900 g (2.0 lb) respectively. Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 37.3 to 44.8 cm (14.7 to 17.6 in), the bill is 4.4 to 5.9 cm (1.7 to 2.3 in) and the tarsus is 5.3 to 7.5 cm (2.1 to 3.0 in). The adult kelp gull has black upper parts and wings. The head, underparts, tail, and the small "mirrors" at the wing tips are white. The bill is yellow with a red spot, and the legs are greenish-yellow (brighter and yellower when breeding, duller and greener when not breeding). The call is a strident ki-och. Juveniles have dull legs, a black bill, a dark band in the tail, and an overall grey-brown plumage densely edged whitish, but they rapidly get a pale base to the bill and largely white head and underparts. They take three or four years to reach maturity.


Kelp gulls are omnivores like most Larus gulls, and they will scavenge as well as seek suitable small prey. They gather on landfills and a sharp increase in population is therefore considered as an indicator for a degraded environment. Kelp gulls have been observed feeding on living right whales since at least 1996. The kelp gull uses its powerful beak to peck down centimetres into the skin and blubber, often leaving the whales with large open sores, some of which have been observed to be half a meter in diameter. This predatory behavior has been documented in Argentinian waters. At rocky sites along the Southern African coast, such as at Boulders Beach in Cape Town, kelp gulls (Larus dominicanus vetula) can be seen picking up shellfish and repeatedly flying up several meters and dropping them onto the rocks below in order to break them open. They have also been reported pecking the eyes out of seal pups on the coast of Namibia before attacking the blind seals in a group.
The nest is a shallow depression on the ground lined with vegetation and feathers. The female usually lays 2 or 3 eggs. Both parents feed the young birds.


The Cape gull differs from other forms of kelp gulls by its immaculate white tail and dark eye. The Southern African population is estimated to include 11,000 breeding pairs, and is expanding.


The lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus) is a large gull that breeds on the Atlantic coasts of Europe. It is migratory, wintering from the British Isles south to West Africa. It has increased dramatically in North America, most common along the east coast. Formerly just a winter visitor, many birds are now spotted year-round. Some winters they occur in large numbers. Even on the west coast, this species has become an annual winter visitor in California with birds reported around most of the state each winter. They've even been seen in numbers at the Salton Sea.


The lesser black-backed gull was one of the many species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae, and it still bears its original name Larus fuscus. The scientific name is from Latin. Larus appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird, and fuscus meant black or brown.


The lesser black-backed gull is smaller than the European herring gull. The taxonomy of the herring gull / lesser black-backed gull complex is very complicated; different authorities recognise between two and eight species. This group has a ring species distribution around the Northern Hemisphere. Differences between adjacent forms in this ring are fairly small, but by the time the circuit is completed, the end members, herring gull and lesser black-backed gull, are clearly different species. The lesser black-backed gull measures 51–64 cm (20–25 in), 124–150 cm (49–59 in) across the wings, and weighs 452–1,100 g (0.996–2.425 lb), with the nominate race averaging slightly smaller than the other two subspecies. Males, at an average weight of 824 g (1.817 lb), are slightly larger than females, at an average of 708 g (1.561 lb). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 38 to 45 cm (15 to 18 in), the bill is 4.2 to 5.8 cm (1.7 to 2.3 in), and the tarsus is 5.2 to 6.9 cm (2.0 to 2.7 in). A confusable species is the great black-backed gull. The lesser is a much smaller bird, with slimmer build, yellow rather than pinkish legs, and smaller white "mirrors" at the wing tips. The adults have black or dark grey wings (depending on race) and back. The bill is yellow with a red spot at which the young peck, inducing feeding (see fixed action pattern). The head is greyer in winter, unlike great black-backed gulls. Annual moult for adults begins between May and August and is not complete on some birds until November. Partial prebreeding moult occurs between January and April.
Young birds have scaly black-brown upperparts and a neat wing pattern. They take four years to reach maturity. Identification from juvenile herring gulls is most readily done by the more solidly dark (unbarred) tertial feathers.
Their call is a "laughing" cry like that of the herring gull, but with a markedly deeper pitch.


This species breeds colonially on coasts and lakes, making a lined nest on the ground or a cliff. Normally, three eggs are laid. In some cities, the species nests within the urban environment, often in association with herring gulls.


They are omnivores like most Larus gulls, and they eat fish, insects, crustaceans, worms, starfish, molluscs, seeds, berries, small mammals, eggs, small birds, chicks, scraps, offal, and carrion.


The Iceland gull (Larus glaucoides) is a medium-sized gull that breeds in the Arctic regions of Canada and Greenland, but not in Iceland (as its name suggests), where it is only seen during winter. The genus name is from Latin larus, which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird. The specific name glaucoides denotes its resemblance to Larus glaucus, a synonym of Larus hyperboreus, the glaucous gull; -oides is Ancient Greek and means "resembling".


The Iceland gull is a medium-sized gull, although relatively slender and light in weight. In length, it can measure from 50 to 64 cm (20 to 25 in), wingspan is from 115 to 150 cm (45 to 59 in), and weight is from 480 to 1,100 g (1.06 to 2.43 lb). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 37.9 to 44.3 cm (14.9 to 17.4 in), the bill is 3.6 to 5.4 cm (1.4 to 2.1 in), and the tarsus is 4.9 to 6.7 cm (1.9 to 2.6 in). It is smaller and thinner-billed than the very large glaucous gull, and is usually smaller than the herring gull. It takes four years to reach maturity.


It is migratory, wintering from in the North Atlantic as far south as the British Isles and northernmost states of the eastern United States, as well as in the interior of North America as far west as the western Great Lakes. It is much scarcer in Europe than the similar glaucous gull.
This species breeds colonially or singly on coasts and cliffs, making a nest lined with grass, moss, or seaweed on the ground or cliff. Normally, two or three light brown eggs are laid. They breed in Canada and Greenland, but not in Iceland.
Like most Larus gulls, these are omnivores, eating fish, molluscs, offal, scraps, and eggs. They forage while flying, picking up food at or just below the water's surface, and they also feed while walking or swimming. Their scavenging habits lead them to frequent garbage dumps, sewage outlets, and places where fish are cleaned.


The American taxon of Iceland gull by the American Ornithological Society as of 2017 considers the following as subspecies:
Kumlien's gull, L.  g. kumlieni
Thayer's gull, L.  g. thayeri
The nominate subspecies, L. g. glaucoides, is very pale in all plumage, with absolutely no melanin in the tips of the primaries in adult plumage. Adults are pale grey above, with a yellowish-green bill. Immatures are very pale grey; the bill is more extensively dark than with glaucous gull, and lacks pink.


The glaucous gull (Larus hyperboreus) is a large gull, the second-largest gull in the world.  It breeds in Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and winters south to shores of the Holarctic. The genus name is from Latin larus, which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird. The specific name hyperboreus is Latin for "northern" from the Ancient Greek Huperboreoi people from the far north  "Glaucous" is from Latin glaucus and denotes the grey colour of the gull. An older English name for this species is burgomaster.
This gull is migratory, wintering from in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans as far south as the British Isles and northernmost states of the United States, also on the Great Lakes. A few birds sometimes reach the southern USA and northern Mexico.


This is a large and powerful gull, second-largest of all gull species and very pale in all plumage, with no black on either the wings or the tail. Adults are pale grey above, with a thick, yellow bill. Juveniles are very pale grey with a pink and black bill. This species is considerably larger, bulkier, and thicker-billed than the similar Iceland gull, and can sometimes equal the size of the great black-backed gull, the oft-titled largest gull species. In some areas, glaucous gulls are about the same weight as great black-backed gulls or even heavier, and their maximum weight is greater. They can weigh from 960 to 2,700 g (2.12 to 5.95 lb), with the sexes previously reported to average 1.55 kg (3.4 lb) in males and 1.35 kg (3.0 lb) in females. At the colony on Coats Island in Canada, the gulls are nearly 15% heavier than some other known populations, with a mean weight 1.86 kg (4.1 lb) in five males and 1.49 kg (3.3 lb) in seven females. One other study claimed even higher weights for glaucous gulls, as on Wrangel Island, 9 males reportedly averaged 2.32 kg (5.1 lb) and 2.1 kg (4.6 lb) in six females, which if accurate, would make the glaucous gull the heaviest gull and shorebird in the world if not (as far as is known) the largest in length on average. These gulls range from 55 to 77 cm (22 to 30 in) in length and can span 132 to 170 cm (52 to 67 in), with some specimens possibly attaining 182 cm (72 in), across the wings. Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 40.8 to 50.1 cm (16.1 to 19.7 in), the bill is 4.9 to 6.9 cm (1.9 to 2.7 in) and the tarsus is 6 to 7.7 cm (2.4 to 3.0 in). They take four years to reach maturity.
The call is a "laughing" cry similar to that of the herring gull, but deeper.


The four recognized subspecies are:
L. h. hyperboreus, Gunnerus, 1767:  nominate, found from northern Europe to north-western Siberia
L. h. pallidissimus, Portenko, 1939: found from north-western Siberia to the Bering Sea
L. h. barrovianus, Ridgway, 1886: found from Alaska to north-west Canada
L. h. leuceretes, Schleep, 1819: found from north-central Canada to Greenland and Iceland


The yellow-footed gull (Larus livens) is a large gull, closely related to the western gull and thought to be a subspecies until the 1960s. It is endemic to the Gulf of California.


Adults are similar in appearance to the western gull with a white head, dark, slate-colored back and wings, and a thick yellow bill.  Its legs are yellow, though first winter birds do display pink legs like those of the western gull. It attains full plumage at three years of age.
This species is tied with slaty-backed gull for the world's fourth-largest gull species and is one of the largest gulls in the world, being slightly larger than the western gull. It measures 53 to 72 cm (21 to 28 in) in length and spans 140 to 160 cm (55 to 63 in) across the wings. The body mass of this species can vary from 930 to 1,500 g (2.05 to 3.31 lb). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 40 to 46 cm (16 to 18 in), the bill is 5.0 to 6.2 cm (2.0 to 2.4 in) and the tarsus is 5.9 to 7.5 cm (2.3 to 3.0 in).


Yellow-footed gulls are native to the Gulf of California in Mexico.  Most are non-migratory, but an increasing number have been traveling to California's Salton Sea and southwards to Sonora during nonbreeding periods. Their breeding habitat is the Gulf of California, where they nest, in April, either independently or in colonies. They are found on sandy and rocky coasts or islands, often with little vegetation.


The birds are scavengers as well as foragers, feeding on small fish and invertebrates, carcases of marine mammals and offal, and preying upon seabird chicks and eggs (including pelican eggs). They sometimes scavenge around waste dumps and docks for refuse but seldom fly far inland.
Yellow-footed gulls nest on the beach, a few metres above the upper limits of the highest tides. A pair of birds defends a small territory between the nest and the sea. The nest is a scrape in the sand with a meagre lining of seaweed or dry plant material. Usually, three eggs are laid, olive or buff in color with dark blotches, and incubation is probably done by both parents. The young are fully fledged and leave the nest when they are about seven weeks old.


The population is estimated at about 60,000 individuals and appears to be stable, so the IUCN has rated the species as being of "least concern".


The great black-backed gull (Larus marinus) is the largest member of the gull family. Described by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as "the king of the Atlantic waterfront", it is a very aggressive hunter, pirate, and scavenger. It breeds on the European and North American coasts and islands of the North Atlantic and is fairly sedentary, though some move farther south or inland to large lakes or reservoirs. The adult great black-backed gull has a white head, neck and underparts, dark grey wings and back, pink legs and yellow bill.


The great black-backed gull was one of the many species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae, and it still bears its original name of Larus marinus. The scientific name is from Latin. Larus appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird. The specific name marinus means "marine", or when taken together, "sea gull". This predates Linnean taxonomy, as it had been called Larus ingens marinus by Carolus Clusius.
The terms swaabie (from Norn: swartbak, lit. 'black back'), baagie and baigie (Norn: bagi, from Old Norse: bak, lit. 'back') are local names from the Shetland Islands. Francis Willughby called it the great black and white gull in the 17th century, noting that it was called the swarth-back in the Faroe Islands.


This is the largest gull in the world, considerably larger than a herring gull (Larus argentatus). Only a few other gulls, including Pallas's gull (Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus) and glaucous gull (Larus hyperboreus), come close to matching this species' size. It is 64–79 cm (25–31 in) long with a 1.5–1.7 m (4 ft 11 in – 5 ft 7 in) wingspan and a body weight of 0.75–2.3 kg (1 lb 10 oz – 5 lb 1 oz). In a sample of 2009 adults from the North Atlantic, males were found to average 1,830 g (4 lb 1⁄2 oz) and females were found to average 1,488 g (3 lb 4+1⁄2 oz). Some adult gulls with access to fisheries in the North Sea can weigh up to roughly 2.5 kg (5+1⁄2 lb) and averaged 1.96 kg (4 lb 5 oz). An exceptionally large glaucous gull was found to outweigh any known great black-backed gull, although usually that species is slightly smaller. The great black-backed gull is bulky and imposing in appearance with a large, powerful bill. The standard measurements are: the bill is 5.4 to 7.25 cm (2+1⁄8 to 2+7⁄8 in), the wing chord is 44.5 to 53 cm (17+1⁄2 to 20+3⁄4 in) and the tarsus is 6.6 to 8.8 cm (2+5⁄8 to 3+1⁄2 in).
The adult great black-backed gull is fairly distinctive, as no other very large gull with blackish coloration on its upper-wings generally occurs in the North Atlantic. In other white-headed North Atlantic gulls, the mantle is generally a lighter gray color and, in some species, it is a light powdery color or even pinkish. It is grayish-black on the wings and back, with conspicuous, contrasting white "mirrors" at the wing tips. The legs are pinkish, and the bill is yellow or yellow-pink with some orange or red near tip of lower bill. The adult lesser black-backed gull (L. fuscus) is distinctly smaller, typically weighing about half as much as a great black-back. The lesser black-back has yellowish legs and a mantle that can range from slate-gray to brownish-colored but it is never as dark as the larger species. A few superficially similar dark-backed, fairly large gulls occur in the Pacific Ocean or in the tropics, all generally far outside this species' range, such as the slaty-backed (L. schistisagus), the western (L. occidentalis) and the kelp gull (L. dominicanus).
Juvenile birds of under a year old have scaly, checkered black-brown upper parts, the head and underparts streaked with gray brown, and a neat wing pattern. The face and nape are paler and the wing flight feathers are blackish-brown. The juvenile's tail is white with zigzag bars and spots at base and a broken blackish band near the tip. The bill of the juvenile is brownish-black with white tip and the legs dark bluish-gray with some pink tones. As the young gull ages, the gray-brown coloration gradually fades to more contrasting plumage and the bill darkens to black before growing paler. By the third year, the young gulls resemble a streakier, dirtier-looking version of the adult. They take at least four years to reach maturity, development in this species being somewhat slower than that of other large gulls. The call is a deep "laughing" cry, kaa-ga-ga, with the first note sometimes drawn out in an almost bovid-like sound. The voice is distinctly deeper than most other gull species.


This species can be found breeding in coastal areas from the extreme northwest portion of Russia, through much of coastal Scandinavia, on the Baltic Sea coasts, to the coasts of northwestern France, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Across the northern portion of the Atlantic, this gull is distributed in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, southern Greenland and on the Atlantic coasts of Canada and the United States. Though formerly mainly just a non-breeding visitor south of Canada in North America, the species has spread to include several colonies in the New England states and now breeds as far south as North Carolina. Individuals breeding in harsher environments will migrate south, wintering on northern coasts of Europe from the Baltic Sea to southern Portugal, and regularly down to coastal Florida in North America. During the winter in the Baltic Sea, the bird usually stays close to the ice boundary. North of the Åland islands, the sea often freezes all the way from Sweden to Finland, and then the bird migrates to open waters. Exceptionally, the species can range as far south as the Caribbean and off the coast of northern South America.
The great black-backed gull is found in a variety of coastal habitats, including rocky and sandy coasts and estuaries, as well as inland wetland habitats, such as lakes, ponds, rivers, wet fields and moorland. They are generally found within striking distance of large bodies of water while ranging inland. Today, it is a common fixture at refuse dumps both along coasts and relatively far inland. The species also makes extensive use of dredge spoils, which, in the state of New Jersey, are their most prevalent nesting sites. It generally breeds in areas free of or largely inaccessible to terrestrial predators, such as vegetated islands, sand dunes, flat-topped stacks, building roofs and sometimes amongst bushes on salt marsh islands. During the winter, the great black-backed gull often travels far out to sea to feed.


Great black-backed gulls are opportunistic feeders, apex predators, and are very curious. They will investigate any small organism they encounter and will readily eat almost anything that they can swallow. They get much of their dietary energy from scavenging, with refuse, most provided directly by humans, locally constituting more than half of their diet. The proliferation of garbage or refuse dumps has become a major attractant to this and all other non-specialized gull species in its range. A study to investigate how much time they spend foraging at refuse dumps in Massachusetts found great black-backed gulls were only observed actively foraging 19% of their time there, eating less garbage than other common gulls, and spent most of their time roosting or loafing.
Like most gulls, Great Black-backed Gulls regularly capture fish and any fish smaller than itself found close to the surface of the water are potential prey. Stomach contents of great black-backed gulls usually show fish to be the primary food. On Sable Island in Nova Scotia, 25% of the stomach contents consisted of fish, but 96% of the regurgitations given to young consisted of fish. Similarly, on Great Island in Newfoundland, 25% of the stomach contents were fish but 68% of regurgitants were fish. The most regularly reported fish eaten in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland were capelin (Mallotus villosus), Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), Atlantic tomcod (Microgadus tomcod), Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus), Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) and sand lance (Ammodytes hexapterus). Other prey often includes various squid, Jonah crabs (Cancer borealis), rock crabs (Cancer irroratus), sea urchins, green crabs (Carcinus maenas), starfish (Asterias forbesi and Asterias rubens) and other echinoderms, crustaceans and mollusks when they come across the opportunity. From observations in northern New England, 23% of observed prey was echinoderms and 63% was crustaceans.
Unlike most other Larus gulls, they are highly predatory and frequently hunt and kill any prey smaller than themselves, behaving more like a raptor than a typical larid gull. Lacking the razor-sharp talons and curved, tearing beak of a raptor, the great black-backed gull relies on aggression, physical strength and endurance when hunting. When attacking other animals, they usually attack seabird eggs, nestlings or fledglings at the nest, perhaps most numerously terns, but also including smaller gull species as well as eiders, gannets and various alcids. In Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, 10% of the stomach contents of great black-backed gulls was made up of birds, while a further 17% of stomach contents was made up of tern eggs alone. Adult or fledged juveniles of various bird species have also been predaceously attacked. Some fully-fledged or adult birds observed to be hunted in flight or on the ground by great black-backed gulls have included Anas ducks, ruddy ducks (Oxyura jamaicensis), buffleheads (Bucephala albeola), Manx shearwaters (Puffinus puffinus), pied-billed grebes (Podilymbus podiceps), common moorhens (Gallinula chloropus), terns, Atlantic puffins (Fratercula arctica), Dovekie (Alle alle), coots (Fulica ssp.), glossy ibises (Plegadis falcinellus), rock pigeons (Columba livia) and even predatory birds such as hen harriers (Circus cyaneus). When attacking other flying birds, the great black-backed gulls often pursue them on the wing and attack them by jabbing with their bill, hoping to bring down the other bird either by creating an open wound or simply via exhaustion. They may kill healthy adult birds weighing up to at least 750 g (1.65 lb) but take exclusively the small young of larger birds such as common eider (Somateria mollissima) and cormorants. They will also catch flying passerines, which they typically target while the small birds are exhausted from migration and swallow them immediately. Great black-backed gull also feed on land animals, including rats (Rattus ssp.) at garbage dumps, rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and even sickly lambs (Ovis aries).
Most foods are swallowed whole, including most fish and even other gulls. When foods are too large to be swallowed at once, they will sometimes be shaken in the bill until they fall apart into pieces. Like some other gulls, when capturing molluscs or other hard-surfaced foods such as eggs, they will fly into the air with it and drop it on rocks or hard earth to crack it open. Alternate foods, including berries and insects, are eaten when available. They will readily exploit easy food sources, including chum lines made by boats at sea. They are skilled kleptoparasites who will readily pirate fish and other prey captured by other birds and dominate over other gulls when they encounter them. At tern colonies in coastal Maine, American herring gulls (L. smithsonianus) occasionally also attack nestling and fledgling terns but in a great majority of cases were immediately pirated of their catch by great black-backs. In one observation, an adult great black-back was seen to rob a female peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) of a freshly caught gadwall (Anas strepera). In another case, a third-year great black-back was observed fighting an adult female northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) off its kill, although the goshawk attempted to strike the gull before leaving. Due to their method of using intimidation while encountering other water and raptorial birds, the species has been referred to as a "merciless tyrant". Naturally, these gulls are attracted to the surface activity of large marine animals, from Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) to humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), to capture fish driven to the surface by such creatures.


This species breeds singly or in small colonies, sometimes in the middle of a Larus argentatus colony. Young adult pair formation occurs in March or April. The following spring the same birds usually form a pair again, meeting at the previous year's nest. If one of the birds doesn't appear, the other bird begins looking for a new mate. Usually a single bird does not breed in that season.
They make a lined nest on the ground often on top of a rocky stack, fallen log or other obstructing object which can protect the eggs from the elements. Usually, several nest scrapes are made before the one deemed best by the parents is selected and then lined with grass, seaweed or moss or objects such as rope or plastic. When nesting on roofs in urban environments, previous year's nests are often reused over and over again. The female lays usually three eggs sometime between late April and late June. When only two eggs are found in a nest, the reason is almost always that one egg, for one reason or another, has been destroyed. It takes around one week for the female to produce the three eggs, and the incubation doesn't begin until all three eggs are laid. Hence all three chicks are hatched the same day. The birds are usually successful in bringing up all the three chicks.
The eggs are greenish-brown with dark speckles and blotches. Both parents participate in the incubation stage, which lasts for approximately 28 days. During this time, the birds attempt to avoid being noticed and stay silent. The breeding pair are devoted parents who both take shifts brooding the young, defending the nest and gathering food. Young great black-backed gulls leave the nest area at 50 days of age and may remain with their parents for an overall period of around six months, though most fledglings choose to congregate with other immature gulls in the search for food by fall. These gulls reach breeding maturity when they obtain adult plumage at four years, though may not successfully breed until they are six years old.


This is a relatively long-living bird. The maximum recorded age for a wild great black-backed gull is 27.1 years. This species is rarely kept in captivity, but domestically kept European herring gulls have been known to live for over 44 years and generally larger birds can outlive smaller ones. Mortality typically occurs in the early stages of life, when harsh weather conditions (including flooding) and starvation can threaten them, as well as predators. Chicks and eggs are preyed on by crows (Corvus ssp.), cats (Felis catus), other gulls, raccoons (Procyon lotor) and rats (Rattus ssp.). The bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), white-tailed eagle (H. albicilla) and golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) are the only birds known to habitually predate healthy, fully grown great black-backed gulls. In one study from Norway, great black-backed gulls were the fifth highest frequency prey item for white-tailed eagles and gulls are prone to mobbing these huge eagles. The great black-backed gull has also been observed engaging in aerial combat with bald eagles, attacking the eagles and chasing them away. A great skua (Stercorarius skua) was filmed in Scotland unsuccessfully attempting to kill a second or third year great black-backed gull. In Norway, great black-backed gulls have also been reported to fall prey to Eurasian eagle-owls (Bubo bubo). Killer whales (Orcinus orca) and sharks also reportedly prey upon adult and juvenile birds at sea. In some biomes, where large eagles are absent the great black-backed gull may be considered the apex predator.


Historically, the great black-backed gull was harvested for its feathers, which were used in the hat-making trade, and this species was extirpated from large parts of its range as a result of this exploitation. Today, however, its adaptability to human presence and the use of urban environments as artificial nesting sites has resulted in the great black-backed gull rapidly increasing in number and range. It is now a widespread and abundant species in its range and its numbers have increased to such high levels in some areas that it is often seen as a pest species, especially near airports where it risks collisions with airplanes, and in some coastal areas where it sometimes outcompetes or hunts rarer seabirds, such as Atlantic puffins, possibly resulting in conservationist intervention. The increase and expansion of great black-backed gulls has been attributed to increasing winter fishery activities in the North Sea. Although there are no known major threats to the great black-backed gull, high levels of toxic pollutants, which are ingested with contaminated prey, are often found in individuals and eggs, reducing reproductive success. Breeding is also interrupted by human disturbance, which can lead to eggs being abandoned, leaving them vulnerable to exposure and predation.


Lascoria ambigualis, the ambiguous moth, is a litter moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Francis Walker in 1866. It is found in the US from Wisconsin to Maine, south to Florida and Texas.
The wingspan is 21–25 mm. Adults are on wing from April to September. There are two generations in Connecticut and multiple broods in Missouri.
The larvae feed on Chrysanthemum species, as well as Aster, blackberry and Verbesina. Larvae have also been reared on dead leaves.


Laspeyria flexula, the beautiful hook-tip, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. It is found in the Palearctic realm.
The wingspan is 23–27 mm. The moth flies from May to June depending on the location.
The larvae feed on willow and Populus tremula (aspen).


Lasthenia californica is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name California goldfields. It is native to western North America.


L. californica is an annual herb approaching a maximum height near 40 centimetres (16 inches), but generally staying much smaller. The plant is quite variable in appearance across subspecies and climates. The leaves are hairy, somewhat linear in shape, and about 1–7 cm (3⁄8–2+3⁄4 in) long. Individuals growing along the coast may have fleshy leaves.
Between March and May, the hairy stems are topped by inflorescences of flower heads, 2–2.5 cm (3⁄4–1 in) across, with hairy phyllaries. The head contains many yellow disc florets with a fringe of about 10 small ray florets. Large populations of this species bloom at once in the spring to produce the carpets of yellow on hillsides and in meadows that give the plant its common name. The seed sometimes has brownish scales at the tip.
Crocidium multicaule is similar in appearance, but most of its leaves are in a basal rosette, with alternate leaves on the stem.


The species is placed by some in the genus Baeria.


The plant can be found in California, Oregon, Arizona and Baja California. It thrives in open fields and slopes at low elevations, especially in poor grassless soils with adequate moisture.


Lasthenia gracilis, the needle goldfields, is an annual plant with yellow flowers that grows in California and Arizona in southwestern United States, and Baja California in northwestern Mexico. It is in the genus Lasthenia of the family Asteraceae.


Lasthenia gracilis is a generally hairy herb, up to 400 millimetres (15.7 in) tall, branched or unbranched. The leaf is 8–70 millimetres (0.3–2.8 in), linear to oblanceolate, without teeth and more or less hairy. The involucre is 5–10 millimetres (0.2–0.4 in). The flower head has 6 to 13 ray flowers 5–10 millimetres (0.2–0.4 in) long. The disk flowers are numerous.


Lathrecista asiatica, the asiatic blood tail, is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is the only species in its genus. It is widespread, occurring from India to Australia.


It is a medium-sized dragonfly with brown-capped grey eyes and blood red tail. Its thorax is copper brown with a pair of narrow parallel yellow stripes on dorsal side and yellow with stripes on the sides. Segments 1 and 2 of the abdomen have broad lateral stripes and a fine mid-dorsal stripe. Segments 3 to 8 are bright crimson-red with apical sutures narrowly black. Segments 9 and 10 are black. Anal appendages are black. The abdomen of the female is brown.
It breeds in marshes associated with ponds and streams.


Lathyrus hirsutus is a species of wild pea known by several common names, including Caley pea, singletary pea, hairy vetchling, and Austrian winter pea.  It is native to Europe, North Africa, and much of Asia, and it is known from other continents, including North America, as an introduced species.  This is an annual herb producing a winged stem and leaves each made up of two leaflike leaflets with a branching, coiled tendril.  The inflorescence holds one or two pink, blue, or bicolored pea flowers each 1 to 1.5 centimeters wide.  The fruit is a dehiscent legume pod covered in hairs with each hair growing from a minute bulbous base.  The rest of the plant is generally hairless.


Lathyrus japonicus, the sea pea, beach pea, circumpolar pea or sea vetchling, is a species of flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae, native to temperate coastal areas of the Northern Hemisphere and Argentina.
It is a herbaceous perennial growing trailing stems 50–80 cm (20–31 in) long, typically on sand and gravel storm beaches. The leaves are waxy glaucous green, 5–10 cm (2.0–3.9 in) long, pinnate, with 2-5 pairs of leaflets, the terminal leaflet usually replaced by a twining tendril. The flowers are broad, with a dark purple standard petal and paler purple wing and keel petals; they are produced in racemes of up to twelve flowers.


Lathyrus japonicus is a perennial plant. The stem grows to 15 to 30 cm (6 to 12 in) and is limp, has no wings and is often hairless. The leaves are alternate, greyish green and somewhat succulent, almost stalkless with large, wide stipules. The leaf blades are pinnate with three to five pairs of narrow lanceolate leaflets with blunt tips, entire margins and a terminal tendril. The inflorescence has a long stem and five to twelve purple flowers, each 14 to 20 mm (0.6 to 0.8 in) long, turning bluer as they age. These have five sepals and five petals and are irregular with a standard, two wings and a fused keel. There are ten stamens and a single carpel. The fruit is a long brown pod up to 50 mm (2.0 in) in length. This plant flowers in mid-to-late summer (July and August in the Northern Hemisphere, January and February in the Southern Hemisphere).


Lathyrus japonicus is native to temperate parts of Europe, Asia, North and South America. Its typical habitat is sandy or stony seashores and other coastal locations. The unusually extensive native range is explained by the ability of the seeds to remain viable while floating in sea water for up to five years, enabling the seeds to drift nearly worldwide. Germination occurs when the hard outer seed coat is abraded by waves on sand and gravel.
The pods can be eaten but like many members of the genus Lathyrus they contain β-oxalyl-L-α,β-diaminopropionic acid, which can cause paralysis called lathyrism. The leaves of the plant are used in Chinese traditional medicine.


Lathyrus latifolius, the perennial peavine, perennial pea, broad-leaved everlasting-pea, or just everlasting pea, is a robust, sprawling herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae. It is native to Europe but is present on other continents, such as North America and Australia, where it is most often seen along roadsides.


Lathyrus latifolius has winged hairless stems, and alternating blue green compound leaves consisting of a single pair of leaflets and a winged petiole about 2 in long. The leaflets are narrowly ovate or oblong-ovate, smooth along the margins, hairless and up to 3 in long and 1 in across. There is a branched tendril between the leaflets.


Short racemes of 4–11 flowers are produced from the axils of the leaves. The flowers, which are unscented, are about 3⁄4–1 in across with a typical structure for Faboideae, with an upper standard and lower keel, enclosed by lateral petals. There are 5 petals, which are purplish pink, fading with age. There is a green calyx with 5 teeth, often unequal. The blooming period lasts about 2 months during the summer and early autumn.


The flowers are replaced by hairless flattened seedpods, about 2 in long and 1⁄2 in wide, with several seeds inside. The seedpod, which is initially green, gradually turns brown, splitting open into curled segments, flinging out the seeds. The seeds are dark and oblong to reniform in shape.


Lathyrus latifolius can reproduce vegetatively from its taproot and rhizomes, or by reseeding.


Lathyrus latifolius is a perennial herbaceous vine (climber), which can reach 6 feet or more by means of twining tendrils, but in open areas sprawls. It is frost-hardy, long-lived, and slowly spreading. The foliage becomes rather ragged and yellowish by the end of summer.
It requires partial to full sun, and loam or clay-loam soil that is moist, mesic, or slightly dry. Unlike the related annual sweet pea, Lathyrus odoratus, with which it may be confused, it has no scent. While grown as a garden plant it may be pervasive and difficult to remove. Because of this, this species is often considered to be a weed despite its attractive appearance.
Numerous cultivars have been selected as garden subjects, of which the following have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:
L. latifolius (pink)
'Albus' (white)
'Rosa Perle' (pale pink)
'White Pearl' (white)


Bumblebees pollinate the flowers. Butterflies visit the flowers for their nectar, but do not pollinate. Epicauta fabricii (Fabricius blister beetle), the caterpillars of Apantesis phyllira (Oithona tiger moth) and some herbivores feed on the leaves. However, the seeds are poisonous.


Lathyrus palustris is a species of wild pea known by the common name marsh pea. It is native to Europe, Asia, and North America. It is a perennial herb with leaves made up of oval-shaped or oblong leaflets a few centimeters long. It has branched, coiled tendrils. The plant bears an inflorescence of two to eight pinkish purple pea flowers each up to two centimeters wide. The fruit is a dehiscent legume pod.


Lathyrus linifolius is a perennial plant with a sprawling or climbing stem that grows to 25 to 80 cm (10 to 31 in) and is shallowly-winged and nearly hairless. The leaves are alternate with short winged stalks and long narrow stipules. The leaf blades are pinnate with two to four pairs of narrow lanceolate leaflets, entire margins and a terminal branching tendril. The inflorescence has a long stem and two to eight purple flowers, each 12 to 20 mm (0.5 to 0.8 in) long. These have five sepals and five petals and are irregular. The uppermost petal is known as the "standard", the lateral two as the "wings" and the lowest two are joined to form the "keel". There are ten stamens and a single carpel. The fruit is a flat brown pod containing up to twelve seeds. This plant flowers in July and August.


Lathyrus linifolius is native to Europe, parts of Asia and North America. Its typical habitat is in rich ground and this plant is found in damp meadows, on river banks, on the margins of ponds, by lakes and near the sea, and occasionally in coastal hedgerows. It often seems to grow among reeds (Phragmites australis).
The species epithet palustris is Latin for "of the marsh" and indicates its common habitat. Marsh Pea grows from long rhizomes that allows the plant to spread vegetatively. As the common name implies, Marsh Pea, it is found in wet to moist areas where it can receive adequate sun and also allows other plants to climb on.


Lathyrus pratensis or meadow vetchling, yellow pea, meadow pea and meadow pea-vine, is a perennial legume that grows to 1.2 m in height.
The hermaphrodite flowers are pollinated by bees. As a perennial, this plant reproduces itself over many years, spreading out from the point it was introduced, especially in damp grassy areas. This plant has been propagated in the past as animal fodder.
Lathyrus pratensis is also a host plant for ovipositioning of the wood white butterfly (Leptidea sinapis).


Meadow vetchling is a perennial plant with a limp, unwinged stem that grows to 25 to 60 cm (10 to 24 in) and is erect and hairy. The leaves are alternate with short stalks and large stipules. The leaf blades are pinnate with a single pair of broad lanceolate leaflets with blunt tips, entire margins and a terminal unbranched tendril. The inflorescence has a long stem and a cluster of five to twelve yellow flowers, each 10 to 16 mm (0.4 to 0.6 in) long. These have five sepals and five petals and are irregular. The uppermost petal is known as the "standard", the lateral two as the "wings" and the lowest two are joined to form the "keel". There are ten stamens and a single carpel. The fruit is a long black pod. This plant flowers from June to August.


Lathyrus tuberosus (also known as the tuberous pea, tuberous vetchling, earthnut pea, aardaker, or tine-tare) is a small, climbing perennial plant, native in moist temperate parts of Europe and Western Asia. The plant is a trailer or weak climber, supported by tendrils, growing to 1.2 m tall. The leaves are pinnate, with two leaflets and a branched twining tendril at the apex of the petiole. Its flowers are hermaphroditic, pollinated by bees. The plants can also spread vegetatively from the root system.


Lathyrus tuberosus is a perennial plant with edible tubers 3 to 5 cm (1.2 to 2.0 in) long attached to its roots. The stem grows to 30 to 80 cm (12 to 31 in) and is sprawling, wingless and nearly hairless. The leaves are alternate with short stalks and narrow stipules. The leaf blades are pinnate with a single pair of broad lanceolate leaflets with blunt tips, entire margins and a terminal tendril. The inflorescence has a long stem and two to seven pinkish-red flowers, each 12 to 20 mm (0.5 to 0.8 in) long. These have five sepals and five petals and are irregular, with a standard, two wings and a fused keel. There are ten stamens and a single carpel. The fruit is a flat brown pod containing up to six seeds. The tubers were found at 14 cm below the soil surface. The rather unbranched roots can reach 70 cm of depth. This plant flowers in July and August.


Lathyrus tuberosus can be propagated vegetatively by tuber multiplication or sexually by seeds. The flower is hermaphroditic and pollinated by bees. Mature seed pods of L tuberosus may only carry few viable seeds. The mature seeds sometimes are infested by a Bruchus affinis beetle and Hymenopterans. Seed germination rate at 20 °C after 50 days is very low, but it is increased heavily by scarification of the seed coat. After germination L. tuberosus grows very quickly and seed pods and small tubers are formed in the first year.
The tubers of the plant will form stolons and new roots during the development of the plant. The tubers can form new stems and grow as a separate plant. Division of tubers is possible when the plant is dormant in autumn. Vegetative propagation of L. tuberosus is very successful and sexual reproduction might only take place for genetic diversification or to colonize different habitats.
The diploid plant has 14 chromosomes. There is a high variation in the percentage of constitutive heterochromatin between different L tuberosus plants.
During formation of endosperm and embryo development of L. tuberosus, protein bodies are formed. All cells of the embryo organs are involved in protein storage accumulation. The ploidy level of nuclei is linked to the total protein body volume in the seed. Breeding could increase seed protein level by increasing ploidy level.


The place of origin of L. tuberosus lies in Westasia and Eastern Europe. It is assumed that it spread simultaneously with cereal cultivation across middle Europe. It was introduced to North America and can even be found in Northern Africa. Today it ranks among the endangered species in Switzerland and Austria. Its typical habitat is rough grassy places, broad-leaved woodland, forest margins, hedgerows and banks.  L tuberosus prefers alkaline, calcareous, loamy soils, that are rich in fine contents. However it is also found on stony grounds. It depends on near-surface soil moisture in warmer, dryer regions, due to its root morphology. Lathyrus tuberosus may reach habitats at altitudes up to 1600 m above sea level.


Today in allotments of middle Europe, Lathyrus tuberosus is occasionally grown for its odour, its appearance and its edible tubers. In the 16th century flowers of the plant were distilled to produce perfume. In the 18th century in the Lower Rhine Valley of Germany and in the Netherlands it was grown on a larger scale. After harvesting, tubers were cooked or roasted for human nutrition. At the same time the root legume with the "gentle nutty flavor" was in demand on French markets. The production of fermented beverages or bread were occasional other uses of the tuber, whereas oil was pressed from the seeds. Promising experiments with L. tuberosus as a forage crop were conducted in the 20th century. Recent studies from Turkey show that above-ground tissue of L. tuberosus is still consumed as a wild plant by parts of the rural population.
Lathyrus tuberosus succeeds on soils where other crops fail to grow, due to being adapted to a broad range of conditions. The tuberous crop was found to resist high soil salinity. It was observed that plants with higher salt tolerance had even higher photosynthesis rates. The legume shows a strong negative response to ammonium nitrate nitrogen fertilizer.
Although palatable and nutritious, the crop L. tuberosus is hampered by low yields, since it needs to be cultivated two to three years to form tubers of a reasonable size. The first attempt to increase yield was done in 1968 with better cultivation techniques and hybridization. This test revealed the high breeding potential of the plant, leading to a six-fold increase in tuber yield .
The plant is attractive and susceptible to slugs. It is considered a noxious weed in Ontario. Commercial herbicides on the European market target L tuberosus.


The delicious taste of the tubers is widely reported. The tuber contains 16-20 % starch, 5% sugar and 10-12 % protein. Proteins consist of the amino acids glutamine, arginine and asparagine. Furthermore α-amino-8-oxaly-amino-butyric acid and lathyrogenic substances could be found in the plant. Vitamin C contents of 161.25 mg/100 g in the aboveground biomass were observed. That amount of ascorbic acid is approximately twice as high as the reference daily intake and three times higher than the vitamin C content of lemons. Calcium amounts are almost twice as high as in cow milk.
Some wild varieties containing oxalyldiaminopropionic acid can be toxic if consumed in larger amounts for example by animals.


Lathyrus tuberosus is a multi-purpose plant. The leaves and the tubers are edible and rich in vitamins. It belongs to the plant family of Leguminosae, plants which do biological fixation of nitrogen. Hence L tuberosus increases soil fertility. Moreover its flowers are pollinated by bees. Because of these plant features, L tuberosus can be used to increase biodiversity in agroecosystems. Since tuber development takes several years, the plant would be well suitable for permaculture.


Lathyrus vernus, the spring vetchling, spring pea, or spring vetch, is a species of flowering herbaceous perennial plant in the genus Lathyrus, native to forests of Europe and Siberia. It forms a dense clump of pointed leaves with purple flowers in spring, shading to a greenish-blue with age.
This species, and the cultivar 'Alboroseus', have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Lathyrus vernus is a perennial plant with an upright stem without wings. The stem grows to 20 to 40 cm (8 to 16 in) and is erect and nearly hairless. The leaves are alternate with short stalks and large, wide stipules. The leaf blades are pinnate with two to four pairs of ovate tapering  leaflets with blunt tips, entire margins and no tendrils. The inflorescence has a long stem and three to ten purplish-red flowers, each 13 to 20 mm (0.5 to 0.8 in) long, turning bluer as they age. These have five sepals and five petals and are irregular. The uppermost petal is known as the "standard", the lateral two as the "wings" and the lowest two are joined to form the "keel". There are ten stamens and a single carpel. The fruit is a long brown pod up to 60 mm (2.4 in) in length containing eight to fourteen seeds which are poisonous. This plant flowers early in the year, in May and June. It can be distinguished from bitter vetch (L. linifolius) and black pea (L. niger) by the breadth of its ovate leaflets. It does not wither after flowering but continues to grow until autumn.


Lathyrus vernus is native to Europe and parts of northern Asia. Its typical habitat is broad-leaved woodland, forest margins, plantations and clearings.


Lathyrus vestitus is a species of wild pea known by the common name Pacific pea. It is native to western North America, where it is mostly found in the forests, woodlands, and chaparral of California. The ranges of some subspecies extend into Oregon and Baja California. This is a perennial pea vine which varies in appearance across subspecies. Leaves are made up of several leaflets of various shapes up to 4 or 5 centimeters long. The leaves usually bear coiling tendrils and the stipules may be large or small. The inflorescence is a showy array of up to 15 pea flowers, sometimes densely packed together, and usually some shade of light to medium purple or white.


Lathyrus vestitus is often discussed as comprising several varieties.  These are:
Lathyrus vestitus var. alefeldii
Lathyrus vestitus var. ochropetalus
Lathyrus vestitus var. vestitus


Laurus nobilis is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glabrous (smooth) leaves. It is in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region and is used as bay leaf for seasoning in cooking. Its common names include bay tree (esp. United Kingdom), bay laurel, sweet bay, true laurel, Grecian laurel, or simply laurel. Laurus nobilis figures prominently in classical Greco-Roman culture.
Worldwide, many other kinds of plants in diverse families are also called "bay" or "laurel", generally due to similarity of foliage or aroma to Laurus nobilis.


The laurel is an evergreen shrub or small tree, variable in size and sometimes reaching 7–18 m (23–59 ft) tall. The genus Laurus includes four accepted species, whose diagnostic key characters often overlap.
The bay laurel is dioecious (unisexual), with male and female flowers on separate plants. Each flower is pale yellow-green, about 1 cm (3⁄8 in) diameter, and they are borne in pairs beside a leaf. The leaves are glabrous, 6–12 cm (2–5 in) long and 2–4 cm (3⁄4–1+5⁄8 in) broad, with an entire (untoothed) margin. On some leaves the margin undulates. The fruit is a small, shiny black berry-like drupe about 1 cm (3⁄8 in) long that contains one seed.


Laurus nobilis is a widespread relict of the laurel forests that originally covered much of the Mediterranean Basin when the climate of the region was more humid. With the drying of the Mediterranean during the Pliocene era, the laurel forests gradually retreated, and were replaced by the more drought-tolerant sclerophyll plant communities familiar today. Most of the last remaining laurel forests around the Mediterranean are believed to have disappeared approximately ten thousand years ago, although some remnants still persist in the mountains of southern Turkey, northern Syria, southern Spain, north-central Portugal, northern Morocco, the Canary Islands and in Madeira.


The plant is the source of several popular herbs and one spice used in a wide variety of recipes, particularly among Mediterranean cuisines. Most commonly, the aromatic leaves are added whole to Italian pasta sauces.  They are typically removed from dishes before serving, unless used as a simple garnish. Whole bay leaves have a long shelf life of about one year, under normal temperature and humidity. Whole bay leaves are used almost exclusively as flavor agents during the food preparation stage.
Ground bay leaves, however, can be ingested safely and are often used in soups and stocks, as well as being a common addition to a Bloody Mary. Dried laurel berries and pressed leaf oil can both be used as robust spices, and the wood can be burnt for strong smoke flavoring.


Laurus nobilis is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant in regions with Mediterranean or oceanic climates, and as a house plant or greenhouse plant in colder regions. It is used in topiary to create single erect stems with ball-shaped, box-shaped or twisted crowns; also for low hedges. However it is slow-growing and may take several years to reach the desired height. Together with a gold form, L. nobilis 'Aurea'  and a willow-leaved form L. nobilis f. angustifolia, it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
One of the most important pests affecting ornamental laurels is caused by Trioza alacris (Triozidae), which induces the curling and thickening of the edge of the leaves for the development of the insect's nymphs, eventually creating a necrosed gall. The species is also affected by Coccus hesperidum.


In herbal medicine, aqueous extracts of bay laurel have been used as an astringent and salve for open wounds. It is also used in massage therapy and aromatherapy. A folk remedy for rashes caused by poison ivy, poison oak, and stinging nettle is a poultice soaked in boiled bay leaves. The Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder listed a variety of conditions which laurel oil was supposed to treat: paralysis, spasms, sciatica, bruises, headaches, catarrhs, ear infections, and rheumatism.


In ancient Greece, the plant was called daphne, after the mythic mountain nymph of the same name. In the myth of Apollo and Daphne, the god Apollo fell in love with Daphne, a priestess of Gaia (Mother Earth), and when he tried to seduce her she pleaded for help to Gaia, who transported her to Crete. In Daphne's place Gaia left a laurel tree, from which Apollo fashioned wreaths to console himself. Other versions of the myth, including that of the Roman poet Ovid, state that Daphne was transformed directly into a laurel tree.
Bay laurel was used to fashion the laurel wreath of ancient Greece, a symbol of highest status. A wreath of bay laurels was given as the prize at the Pythian Games because the games were in honor of Apollo, and the laurel was one of his symbols. According to the poet Lucian, the priestess of Apollo known as the Pythia reputedly chewed laurel leaves from a sacred tree growing inside the temple to induce the enthusiasmos (trance) from which she uttered the oracular prophecies for which she was famous. Some accounts starting in the fourth century BC describe her as shaking a laurel branch while delivering her prophecies. Those who received promising omens from the Pythia were crowned with laurel wreaths as a symbol of Apollo's favor.


The most abundant component found in laurel essential oil is 1,8-cineole, also called eucalyptol. The leaves contain about 1.3% essential oils (ol. lauri folii), consisting of 45% eucalyptol, 12% other terpenes, 8–12% terpinyl acetate, 3–4% sesquiterpenes, 3% methyleugenol, and other α- and β-pinenes, phellandrene, linalool, geraniol, and terpineol. It contains lauric acid also.
Both essential and fatty oils are present in the fruit. The fruit is pressed and water-extracted to obtain these products. The fruit contains up to 30% fatty oils and about 1% essential oils (terpenes, sesquiterpenes, alcohols, and ketones). The chemical compound lauroside B has been isolated from Laurus nobilis.


Layia platyglossa, commonly called coastal tidytips, is an annual wildflower of the family Asteraceae, native to western North America.


Tidytips was formerly found throughout low-elevation dry habitats in California including the Mojave Desert and into Arizona and Utah. In pre-European times this plant was common in solid stands at lower elevations. Found in grassy valley floors, slopes of hills,  openings in coastal sage scrub and chaparral, coastal plains, and in the High Desert. A member of Spring wildflower 'displays,' blooming March to June.
This species is also found in Mexico, in the state of Baja California. It can be commonly found from Tijuana south to the Sierra de La Asamblea in the central part of the state. It is also found on Guadalupe Island in the Pacific Ocean.


Layia platyglossa is an annual, glandular, daisy like plant with narrow, rough hairy leaves. The height of the entire plant is less than 1 foot (0.30 m), roughly around 4–12 inches (10–30 cm) wide. The roots are usually taproots, sometimes fibrous.
The leaves at the upper part of the stem are short and have a pilous texture. The leaves at the basal part of the stem can be dentate to pinnate shaped with rotund short lobes. The lower leaves are generally lobed and the upper leaves are entire. Leaves usually alternate or opposite, and the blades are usually simple, rarely compound.
Flowers
The plant is an indeterminate zygomorphic inflorescent, individual heads are borne on a peduncle. The stems are usually erect, prostrate or decumbent to ascending, and are stout and corymbed branched.
The flower heads are composed of five to eighteen yellow ray flowers with white tips and many central yellow disk flowers. Its outer ray flowers are bright golden yellow with distinct, sharp-margined white tips. The bracts tips are rounded and involucre 6–12 mm high. The corolla is 4–6 mm long. The ray flowers are 3–3.8 mm long and the disk flowers are 2.8–5 mm long. The ligules are 6–15 mm long and 5–10 mm wide.   The florets are bisexual, pistillate, functionally staminate or neuter. The sepals are highly modified.
Pollination is done by insects. The fruits are usually dry with thick, tough pericarps, sometimes rostrate and/or winged. Dispersion is done by the help from pappi (dispersal of fruit by wind).  Seeds are one per fruit, embryos straight.


Ornamental
Layia platyglossa is cultivated as an ornamental plant. It is often an ingredient in commercial wildflower seed mixes. The daisy-like flowers are attractive, making it a popular annual flower in traditional gardens, wildlife gardens, and habitat gardens.
Restoration
The wildflower is used in habitat restoration projects, and is a pollinator supportive plant. The ripe seeds are a food source for birds.


Leersia oryzoides is a species of grass known by the common name rice cutgrass or just cut-grass. It is a widespread grass native to Europe, Asia, and North America and present in many other regions, such as Australia, as an introduced species. This is a rhizomatous perennial grass growing to a maximum height between 1 and 1.5 meters. The leaves are up to about 28 centimeters long and have very rough, minutely toothed edges. The inflorescence is a loose, open array of wavy, hairlike branches bearing rows of spikelets. Each spikelet is a flat fruit with a rough, bristly lemma without an awn, and no glumes. Some of the spikelet branches develop within the sheaths of the leaves and are cleistogamous. This grass is sometimes used for erosion control and restoring wetlands.


The orange-crowned warbler (Leiothlypis celata) is a small songbird of the New World warbler family.


The orange-crowned warbler was formally described in 1822 by the American zoologist Thomas Say under the binomial name Sylvia celatus from a specimen collected on an expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains led by Stephen Harriman Long. The specific epithet celatus is Latin and means "secret" or "hidden". The type locality is Omaha, Nebraska. The orange-crowned warbler is now placed in the genus Leiothlypis that was introduced by the Dutch ornithologist George Sangster in 2008. The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek λειος/leios meaning "plain" and θλυπις/thlupis, an unknown small bird mentioned by Aristotle.
Four subspecies are recognised:
L. c. celata (Say, 1822) – breeds in central Alaska to south Canada, winters in Guatemala
L. c. lutescens (Ridgway, 1872) – breeds in west Canada and west USA, winters in Guatemala
L. c. orestera (Oberholser, 1905) – breeds in west central Canada and west central USA, winters in Mexico
L. c. sordida (Townsend, CH, 1890) – resident in south California (southwest USA) and northwest Mexico


The orange-crowned warbler has olive-grey upperparts, yellowish underparts with faint streaking and a thin pointed bill. It has a faint line over each eye and a faint broken eye ring.  The orange patch on the crown is usually not visible. Females and immatures are duller in colour than males. Western birds are yellower than eastern birds. Orange-crowned warblers are distinguished by their lack of wing bars, streaking on the underparts, strong face marking or bright colouring, resembling a fall Tennessee warbler and a black-throated blue warbler, both of which are also members of the New World warbler family.
The song of is a trill, descending in pitch and volume. The call is a high chip.


The Tennessee warbler is 11.5 cm (4.5 in) long, has a 19.69 cm (7.75 in) wingspan, and weighs roughly 10 g (0.35 oz). The breeding male has olive back, shoulders, rump and vent. The flight feathers are brownish-black. It has a slate gray neck, crown and eyeline. The underside is a gray-white. The female is similar to the male, but is much duller and is tinged with yellow and olive overall, especially on the underside. The Tennessee warbler has long wings, short tail and a thin, pointy bill. Juveniles and first-year birds are quite similar to the female. In winter and fall, adult male resembles juvenile and spring adult female but shows more yellow below: the grey neck and crown turn into an olive green while the underside takes a yellow hue. On the face the yellow supraocular line stands out. Both sexes have white undertail coverts all year long.
Tennessee warblers resemble female black-throated blue warblers. The only difference is that the black-throated blue has a darker cheek and two white wing spots.
This bird can be confused with the red-eyed vireo, which is larger, moves more deliberately and sings almost constantly. The orange-crowned warbler can also look similar, but lacks the white eyebrow, is greyer-brown above and has yellow undertail coverts.


The Tennessee warbler breeds from the Adirondack Mountains in New York through northern Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine north and west throughout much of Canada. It is also found breeding in northeast Minnesota and northern Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It is migratory, wintering in southern Central America, the Caribbean, and northern Colombia and Venezuela, with a few stragglers going as far south as Ecuador. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe. This bird was named from a specimen collected in Tennessee, where it may appear during migration.


The Tennessee warbler feeds mainly on insects and prefers the spruce budworm. This species fluctuates in population with the quantity of the budworm. It also likes flower nectar, fruit and some seeds.
This warbler, like most others, is nervous and quick while foraging. It creeps along branches and is found at all levels. It is solitary while nesting, but forms mixed flocks after breeding.
The Tennessee warbler prefers coniferous forests, mixed conifer-deciduous forests, early successional woodlands and boreal bogs. It makes a cup-shaped nest of dried grasses and moss lined with finer grasses, stems and hair. The nest can be placed on the ground or above a bog in moss or in the base of a shrub. The nest is built by the female, and she lays 4–7 white eggs with brown splotches on them.


In the eastern United States, Tennessee warblers can be very common during migration. They are vagrants to the western United States, especially the Pacific coast.


Leonotis leonurus, also known as lion's tail and wild dagga, is a plant species in the mint family, Lamiaceae. The plant is a broadleaf evergreen large shrub native to South Africa and southern Africa, where it is very common.  It is known for its medicinal properties. The main psychoactive component of Leonotis leonurus is claimed to
be leonurine, Leonotis leonurus has been confirmed to contain Leonurine according to peer reviewed journal published phytochemical analysis. Like other plants in the mint family, it also contains marrubiin.  The name 'wild dagga' links it closely to cannabis as 'dagga' derived from the Khoikhoi 'dachab' is an indigenous South African name for cannabis species. This name may be a misnomer, as no part of the plant is used as a hallucinogen.


The shrub grows 3 to 6 ft (1 to 2 m) tall by 1.5 to 3.5 feet (0.46 to 1.07 m) wide. The medium-dark green 2–4 inches (5.1–10.2 cm) long leaves are aromatic when crushed. The plant has tubular orange flowers in tiered whorls, typical to the mint family, that encircle the square stems. They rise above the foliage mass during the summer season, with flowering continuing into winter in warmer climates.


A white variety (known colloquially as 'Alba') and a yellow variety also exist.


The native habitat of Leonotis leonurus is damp grasslands of southern Africa. It attracts nectivorous birds (mainly sunbirds), as well as various insects such as butterflies. The flowers' mainly orange to orange-red colour and tubular shape are indicative of its co-evolution with African sunbirds, which have curved bills suited to feeding from tubular flowers.


Leonotis leonurus is cultivated as an ornamental plant for its copious orange blossom spikes and is used as an accent or screen in gardens and parks. It is moderately drought tolerant, and a nectar source for birds and butterflies in landscape settings. It was introduced to Europe in the 1600s.
Lion's tail can especially be found in other subtropical and Mediterranean climate regions beyond South Africa such as California, Hawaii, and Australia where it has naturalized in areas. In cooler climates it is used as an annual and winter conservatory plant.


Marrubiin has both antioxidant and cardioprotective properties and has shown to significantly improve myocardial function.
Docosatetraenoylethanolamide (DEA) is a cannabinoid that acts on the cannabinoid (CB₁) receptor that has been found in Leonotis leonurus var. albiflora Benth. whole flower extract.
Leonotis leonurus contains several labdane diterpene based compounds such as Hispanolone, Leonurun and Leoleorins C-N
One experimental animal study suggests that the aqueous leaf extract of Leonotis leonurus possesses antinociceptive, antiinflammatory, and hypoglycemic properties.
An animal study in rats indicated that in high doses, lion's tail has significant toxicological adverse effects on organs, red blood cells, white blood cells and other important bodily functions. Acute toxicity tests in animals caused death for those receiving 3200 mg/kg dose. At 1600 mg/kg extract led to changes in red blood cells, hemoglobin concentration, mean corpuscular volume, platelets, and white blood cells.


The infusions made from flowers and seeds, leaves or stems are widely used to treat tuberculosis, jaundice, muscle cramps, high blood pressure, diabetes, viral hepatitis, dysentery, and diarrhoea. The leaves, roots and bark are used as an emetic for snakebites, bee and scorpion stings. The fresh stem juice is used as an infusion drink for 'blood impurity' in some places of South Africa.


The dried leaves and flowers have a mild calming effect when smoked. In some users, the effects have been noted to be similar to the cannabinoid THC found in Cannabis, except that it has a much less potent high. It has also been reported to cause mild euphoria, visual changes, dizziness, nausea, sweating, sedation and lightheadedness.
It is sometimes used as a Cannabis substitute by recreational users as an alternative to illegal psychoactive plants.


Leonotis leonurus is illegal in Latvia since November 2009. It is a Schedule 1 drug. Possession of quantities up to 1 gram are fined up to 280 euros. Possession and distribution of larger quantities can be punished with up to 15 years in prison.


Leonotis leonurus was banned in Poland in March 2009. Possession and distribution lead to a criminal charge.


Leonotis nepetifolia, (also known as klip dagga, Christmas candlestick, or lion's ear), is a species of plant in the genus Leonotis and the family Lamiaceae (mint). It is native to tropical Africa and southern India. It can also be found growing abundantly in much of Latin America, the West Indies, and the Southeastern United States. It grows to a height of 3 metres (9 ft 10 in) and has whorls of striking lipped flowers, that are most commonly orange, but can vary to red, white, and purple. It has drooping dark green, very soft serrated leaves that can grow up to 10 centimetres (4 in) wide. Sunbirds and ants are attracted to the flowers. It has been found growing on road sides, rubbish heaps or waste land.
L. nepetifolia is considered an invasive plant in Australia, Florida, and Hawaii, though its tendency to grow in disturbed areas led researchers in Hawaii to conclude it's not likely to be an ecological threat.
Varieties
Leonotis nepetifolia var. africana (P.Beauv.) J.K.Morton - Indian Subcontinent, much of Africa (light orange flowers)
Leonotis nepetifolia var. nepetifolia - much of Africa (dark solid orange flowers)
Leonotis nepetifolia var. alba - (albino/white flowers)


Leonotis  nepetifolia (klip dagga) is related to L. leonurus (wild dagga or lion's tail.) The most noticeable difference between the two is the leaf shape. L. nepetifolia leaves are cordate with serrated edges, except the top pair which are lanceolate with serrated edges, as pictured in taxonomy box. The leaves are all lanceolate with serrated edges on L. leonurus.


Leonotis nepetifolia is known in Trinidad as shandilay and the leaves are brewed as a tea for fever, coughs, womb prolapse and malaria. The dried leaves are sometimes used as a legal substitute for marijuana. The roots of L. nepetifolia are considered to be the botanical sources of granthiparna, an ayurvedic herb.


Leonotis nepetifolia contains several labdane diterpenes including Nepetaefolin, Nepetaefuran, Nepetaefolin, Nepetaefolin, Leonotinin, Leonotin and Dubiin as well as bis-spirolabdane diterpenes like Leonepetaefolin A-E.
Methanol based extracts of Leonotis nepetifolia has shown antidepressant-like effects in mice. Metabolic screening of the extract suggested nepetaefolin, methoxynepataefolin, and 7-O-β-glucoside luteolin are the main products.
Nepetaefuran and leonotinin isolated from Leonotis nepetaefolia plant material demonstrated anti-inflammatory by suppressing NF-κB activation related to proinflammatory Cytokines.


Leontopodium nivale, commonly called edelweiss (German: Alpen-Edelweiß, English pronunciation /ˈeɪdəlvaɪs/ (listen)), is a mountain flower belonging to the daisy or sunflower family Asteraceae. The plant prefers rocky limestone places at about 1,800–3,000 metres (5,900–9,800 ft) altitude. It is non-toxic and has been used in traditional medicine as a remedy against abdominal and respiratory diseases. Its leaves and flowers are covered with dense hairs, which appear to protect the plant from cold, aridity, and ultraviolet radiation. It is a scarce, short-lived flower found in remote mountain areas and has been used as a symbol for alpinism, for rugged beauty and purity associated with the Alps and Carpathians. It is a national symbol, especially of Romania, Austria, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Italy. According to folk tradition, giving this flower to a loved one is a promise of dedication.


The flower's common name Edelweiß is German, and is a compound of edel "noble" and weiß "white". Slovenian name is planika, meaning mountain girl. In Romania it is known as floare de colț which means 'cliffhanger's flower'. The flower is referred to as stella alpina in the Italian speaking Alps and étoile des Alpes in the French Alps, both names meaning 'star of the Alps'.
Edelweiß was one of several regional names for the plant and achieved wide usage during the first half of the 19th century, in the context of early Alpine tourism. Alternative names include Chatzen-Talpen ("cat's paws"), and the older Wullbluomen ("wool flower", attested in the 16th century).
The scientific name Leontopodium is a latinisation of the Greek  leontopódion, "lion's paw". The Latin specific epithet nivale means "white".


Since 1822, Leontopodium has no longer been considered part of the genus Gnaphalium, but classified alongside it as a distinct genus within the tribe Gnaphalieae. In 2003, Leontopodium alpinum was re-classified as a subspecies of Leontopodium nivale. Thus, the alpine edelweiss is currently recognized as being divided into two subspecies, Leontopodium nivale subsp. alpinum (Cass.) Greuter and Leontopodium nivale subsp. nivale.


The plant's leaves and flowers are covered with white hairs, and appear woolly (tomentose). Flowering stalks of edelweiss can grow to a size of 3–20 centimetres (1–8 in) in the wild, or, up to 40 cm (16 in) in cultivation. Each bloom consists of five to six small yellow clustered spikelet-florets (5 mm, 3⁄16 in) surrounded by fuzzy white "petals" (technically, bracts) in a double-star formation. The flowers bloom between July and September.


Leontopodium nivale is considered a least concern species by the IUCN. The population of this species declined due to overcollection, but is now protected by laws, ex situ conservation and occurrence in national parks.


Leontopodium nivale is grown in gardens for its interesting inflorescence and silver foliage. It grows in the end of May The plants are short lived and can be grown from seed.


Compounds of different classes, such as terpenoids, phenylpropanoids, fatty acids and polyacetylenes are reported in various parts of edelweiss plants. Leoligin was reported as the major lignan constituent.
The edelweiss has been used in traditional folk medicine in the Alps for centuries. Extracts from different parts of plants have been used to treat abdominal pain, respiratory diseases, heart disease, and against diarrhea. That is why it was also known as the bellyache flower for a long time. It was also used by the mountain people as a durable flower ("eternal flower") in dry bouquets. The cosmetics industry became aware of the plant and its extracts a few years ago.