Phyllanthus acidus, known as the Otaheite gooseberry, Malay gooseberry, Tahitian gooseberry, country gooseberry, star gooseberry, starberry, West India gooseberry, grosella (in Puerto Rico), jimbilin (in Jamaica), damsel (in Grenada), karamay (in the Northern Philippines), cermai (in Indonesia and Malaysia), Goanbili (in Maldives) or simply gooseberry tree, is one of the trees with edible small yellow berries fruit in the Phyllanthaceae family. Despite its name, the plant does not resemble the gooseberry, except for the acidity of its fruits. It is mostly cultivated for ornamentation.
The plant is an intermediary between shrubs and tree, reaching 2 to 9 m (6½ to 30 ft) high. The tree's dense and bushy crown is composed of thickish, tough main branches, at the end of which are clusters of deciduous, greenish, 15-to-30-cm long branchlets. The branchlets bear alternate leaves that are ovate or lanceolate in form, with short petioles and pointed ends. The leaves are 2-7.5 cm long and thin, they are green and smooth on the upperside and blue-green on the underside. In general, the Otaheite gooseberry tree very much looks like the bilimbi tree.
Leaves
The flowers can be male, female or hermaphrodite. They are small and pinkish and appear in clusters in 5-to-12.5-cm long panicles. Flowers are formed at leafless parts of the main branches, at the upper part of the tree. The fruits are numerous, oblate, with 6 to 8 ribs, and densely clustered. They are pale yellow or white, waxy, crisp and juicy, and very sour. 4 to 6 seeds are contained in a stone at the center of each fruit.
The Otaheite gooseberry prefers moist soil. It can be cultivated in a variety of ways—budding, cutting and air-layering—in addition to the usual seed growth. The tree is cultivated for its ornamental value, but also for food and medicinal purposes. While it produces some fruit throughout the year, it is mainly harvested in January except in South India, where it bears crops in April–May and again in August–September. As the fruit does not soften when ripe, it is harvested when the fruit begins to drop.
Various parts of the plant are used for food. In India and Indonesia, the cooked leaves are eaten. While the fruit is eaten fresh, and is sometimes used as flavoring for other dishes in Indonesia, it is generally regarded as too tart to eat by itself in its natural form and is processed further. It is candied in sugar or pickled in salt, used in chutney, relish or preserves. In the Philippines, it is used to make vinegar as well as eaten raw, soaked in salt or vinegar-salt solution and sold along the roadside. It is candied as well, usually stored in jars with syrup. They make these into a syrup in Malaysia. Liberally sugared, it is also used to make fruit juice.
Erica recurvata is a critically endangered species that was previously known only from a botanical painting published by Henry Charles Andrews between 1794 and 1830. This bonsai-like erica, with its striking hanging flowers, was only rediscovered in 2007 by botanist Ross Turner and is known from two populations of 34 individuals.
Description
Erica recurvata is a small shrub growing of 0.3–0.6 m in ideal conditions. In nature, it has only been found tucked into rock crevices, and what are thought to be very old individuals, have a bonsai-like appearance. The plants are branched and the stems are covered with whorled, pale-green, linear, ericoid leaves.
At the tips of branches, leaves encircle a drooping cluster of white and brown flowers with bright red styles that protrude beyond the petals. The flowers are about the size of a thumbnail, slightly sticky and appear in the winter months.
The genus Erica belongs to the family Ericaceae, which is one of the distinctive and the largest genera comprising the South African fynbos flora. About 760 of the 860 Erica species occur in South Africa. Most Erica species have so-called ericoid or needle-like leaves with a narrow channel beneath which are borne in whorls around the stems. Flowers vary in size depending on species and petals are fused to form a corolla tube either narrow, or open and bell-shaped. Ericas grow naturally in many different habitats from coastal flats, marshes and rivers, to mountain peaks. The fruit is usually a loculicidal capsule (a capsule that dehisces by splitting down the middle of the locules) but can be an indehiscent capsule, drupe, achene or berry. Erica seed is extremely small and fine, and in all species, except for Erica sessiliflora , they are shed after ripening.
Conservation status
Erica recurvata is Red Listed as Critically Endangered. Not only are there very few individuals known, but its habitat and immediate surroundings are scattered with alien invasive plants and have been burned frequently. It is thought that the existing plants have survived these frequent fires by being protected within rocky outcrops.
For 200 years, Erica recurvata , so named for its recurved leaves, was known only from a painting in Andrews' Coloured Engravings of Heaths published between 1794 and 1830. It was thought that the paintings were of a hybrid developed at Kew Gardens, until living specimens, growing naturally in the Napier Mountains were discovered by Ross Turner.
Ted Oliver recognised it as the Erica in Andrews' painting, and speculated that the plant was grown from seed collected in the late 1700s to early 1800s and sent to England by James Nivens (1776–1827), an early plant collector in the Cape. The seed was grown to flowering stage from which the botanical drawings were made and specimens taken and stored at Kew and other United Kingdom herbaria. It is thought that the plants found in the Napier Mountains, could be the very same plants from which this seed was collected.
Erica recurvata has been successfully propagated by seed and cuttings. Collect the seed just as it starts to fall naturally and sow in autumn. Of all Erica species that have been tested for germination response to smoke treatment, 66% showed improved germination. It would therefore be advantageous to pre-soak E. recurvata seeds in an aqueous smoke extract or seed primer for 24 hours before sowing.
Use a well-drained, acidic sowing medium and firm down the surface of the medium. To prevent damping off, sow seeds evenly by mixing it with fine sand prior to sowing. A thin layer of propagation medium can be sieved over the seeds. Water the seeds with a very fine hose to prevent dislodging them and place containers under cover in a shade house until the seeds germinate.
Take cuttings from healthy, disease free plants about two months after flowering. At this stage, the plants would have grown shoots that are semi-hard. Nodal cuttings can be used, although heel-cuttings are most suitable. Carefully remove the leaves on the lower third, dip the cuttings into a rooting hormone and insert into a cutting medium of one part milled bark and one part polystyrene. Place the cuttings in a greenhouse with intermittent mist or in an open air mist spraying unit. Erica cuttings require good air circulation. When the cuttings have rooted well, they can be planted into pots in the same growing medium as for seedlings.
When the seedlings are 10 mm tall and the cuttings are well established, they can be placed in an open, but lightly shaded area. Ericas require good air circulation at all times. When seedlings are 20–50 mm in height, prick them out and plant into pots or plant bags. Ericas have very sensitive hair-like roots situated close to the surface of the medium and disturbance of these roots should be minimal. Like the propagation medium, the potting soil should be well-drained and acidic. A sandy loam with 50% humus, a pH of between 5 and 5.5, and low levels of phosphate is recommended. Three parts sand, two parts leaf mould/bark and one part soil can also be used.
A mulch consisting of untreated woodchips, pine needles or stones can be placed around the plant on the surface of the potting medium to protect the delicate roots, keep them moist and cool, and to suppress weed growth. Once the plants are established, they can be moved out into the open. Water the plants well every second or third day, preferably in the mornings to prevent fungal infections from developing on the leaves. Fertilise with organic liquid fertilisers such as those derived from seaweeds, or a controlled-release granular fertiliser that is low in phosphate.
Jatroha multifida is a hardy plant that thrives in nearly any lighting condition and grows like a weed.
The plant is grown for its huge, delicate leaves and brilliantly colored blooms. Sadly, this plant is tropical and suitable for United States Department of Agriculture zones 10 to 12 only. Those of us in the cooler zones can try growing coral plants as annuals during the summer.
Jatropha multifida is also called Guatemala rhubarb and, more commonly, coral plant. It is a showy ornamental plant in the Euphorbia family. Like all members of the family, Jatropha exudes latex sap, which is milky to opaque. Growing coral plants requires little fussing. They are vigorous plants that can grow 6 to 10 feet tall and up to 20 feet in their native habitat. This is a frost sensitive specimen which can be killed if temperatures drop below 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 C.).
Coral plant is a single-trunked small tree or shrub. It is native to Mexico and Central America. The foliage is deeply lobed, up to 12 inches across and cut into 7 to11 leaflets in a palmate form. Upper surface of the leaf is dark green but the undersides display a whitish cast. Flowers arise from thick stalks in cymes. Each flat-topped cluster has numerous tiny, bright pink butterfly attracting blooms. The fruit is a flat pod. All parts of Guatemala rhubarb are extremely poisonous if ingested.
Jatropha mutifida requires moderately fertile soil with excellent drainage. It has some drought tolerance once established but performs best with regular watering in a full sun situation. In cool zones, plant the specimen in a large container with a gritty houseplant soil. In-ground plants can tolerate rocky or sandy soil.
Container plants should have water reduced in winter. The species tends to self-seed at the base of the plant and can also be propagated by cuttings. Pruning is necessary to keep the plant in habit and when damage is done to the stems.
Araucaria heterophylla (synonym A. excelsa) is a member of the ancient and now disjointly distributed family Araucariaceae. As its vernacular name Norfolk Island pine implies, the tree is endemic to Norfolk Island, a small island in the Pacific Ocean between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The genus Araucaria occurs across the South Pacific, especially concentrated in New Caledonia (about 700 km due north of Norfolk Island) where 13 closely related and similar-appearing species are found. It is sometimes called a star pine, triangle tree or living Christmas tree, due to its symmetrical shape as a sapling, although it is not a true pine.
The trees grow to a height of 50–65 m, with straight vertical trunks and symmetrical branches, even in the face of incessant onshore winds that can contort most other species.
The young leaves are awl-shaped, 1-1.5 cm long, about 1 mm thick at the base on young trees, and incurved, 5–10 mm long and variably 2–4 mm broad on older trees. The thickest, scale-like leaves on coning branches are in the upper crown. The cones are squat globose, 10–12 cm long and 12–14 cm diameter, and take about 18 months to mature. They disintegrate at maturity to release the nut-like edible seeds.
The scientific name heterophylla ("different leaves") derives from the variation in the leaves between young and adult plants.
The first European known to have sighted Norfolk Island was Captain James Cook. In 1774 on his second voyage to the South Pacific in HMS Resolution, Cook noted the presence of large forests of tall, straight trees that appeared to be suitable for use as masts and yards for sailing ships. However, when the island was occupied in 1788 by convicts transported from Britain, it was found that Norfolk Island pine trees were not resilient enough for these uses and the industry was abandoned.
In the late 1950s a trial shipment of Norfolk pine logs was sent to plywood manufacturers in Sydney, Australia, with hopes to develop a timber export industry on Norfolk Island. Although the plywood companies reported excellent results, the industry was deemed not sustainable by the Norfolk Island Advisory Council, who decided to reserve timber production for local use. The timber is good for woodturning and together with the similar Cook pine is extensively used by Hawaii artisans.
Haworthia truncata (locally known as "Horse's teeth") is a species of succulent plant in the genus Haworthia. It is found in the Little Karoo region, in the far east of the Western Cape Province, South Africa.
They are small plants, being approximately 2 cm (0.79 in) high by 10 cm (3.9 in) wide. This species is easily recognizable by its leaves which have a nearly rectangular crosssection and are arranged in two opposite rows. The leaves are gray or gray-green and are held more or less upright. The end of a leaf – the upper surface – gives the impression of having been cut (or truncated), hence the specific epithet truncata. The leaves are covered in white or gray lines with verrucosities.
In the wild, plants are often half-buried, leaving only the tips of the leaves visible above the soil. The truncated tip is translucent allowing light to enter for photosynthesis. In this respect the species resembles Lithops, Fenestraria, and Haworthia cymbiformis.
The flowers are not very showy, emerging in white, tubular clusters on a 20 cm (7.9 in) stem.
The naturally occurring variety "maughanii" has rounded leaves that grow in a spiral rosette (not in a distichous row, as in the more common type variety) and can be found in a small restricted area near Calitzdorp. This is to the far west of the natural range of the Haworthia truncata, and there are natural intermediates and hybrids on the boundary between the varieties.
The variety "minor / papillaris" ("tiny" / "haired") is a tiny variety, that forms the typical distichous leaf-rows, but with tiny hairs on the leaf tips. It is restricted to a small area near Dysseldorp.
The variety "crassa" ("fat") is an intermediate variety, between maughanii and the type variety truncata. It has the rounded leaf tips of maughanii, but unlike that variety they are arranged in distichous rows.
This species is increasingly common in cultivation and is very easy to propagate in large numbers. It can be grown from seed, from off-sets, from root cuttings and even from leaf-cuttings. It also readily hybridises with other Haworthia species.
It requires very well-drained soil, and some exposure to sun. It is also one of the few Haworthia species that can become adapted to a full sun environment. Its natural habitat in the little karoo is arid, but with sparse rainfall intermittently throughout the year. In the gentle (often semi-shade) conditions in cultivation, the leaves tend to grow upwards and outside of the soil.
Zantedeschia aethiopica (known as calla lily and arum lily) is a species in the family Araceae, native to southern Africa in Lesotho, South Africa, and Swaziland.
It is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant, evergreen where rainfall and temperatures are adequate, deciduous where there is a dry season. Its preferred habitat is in streams and ponds or on the banks. It grows to 0.6–1 m (2.0–3.3 ft) tall, with large clumps of broad, arrow shaped dark green leaves up to 45 cm (18 in) long. The inflorescences are large and are produced in spring, summer and autumn, with a pure white spathe up to 25 cm (9.8 in) and a yellow spadix up to 90 mm (3 1⁄2 in) long.
The spadix produces a faint, sweet fragrance.
Z. aethiopica is native to southern Africa in Lesotho, South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique. It has become naturalised in Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Madeira and Australia, particularly in Western Australia, where it has been classified as a toxic weed and pest.
A number of cultivars have been selected for use as ornamental plants.
'Crowborough' is a more cold tolerant cultivar growing to 90 cm (35 in) tall, suited to cool climates such as the British Isles and north-western United States.
'Green Goddess' has green stripes on the spathes which allow the flowers to last much longer than the original white form. 'Green Goddess' also has a more opened and wider spathe and has the tendency to develop curvy fringes at the edge of the spathe than the original white form.
The first generation hybrid of 'Green Goddess' and the original white form has a light green underside on the spathe, allowing the flower to last longer than the original white form, but no green stripes on the top side.
'White Sail', growing to 90 cm tall, has a very broad spathe.
'Red Desire' has a red instead of yellow spadix and appears to be rather rare.
'Pink Mist' has a pinkish base to the spathe and pink spadix. 'Pink Mist' is not a hybrid, but a colour sport. The pink colour is best developed in semishade after rain. 'Pink Mist' is quite delicate and weak compared to the original white form and 'Green Goddess'. Unlike the latter, 'Pink Mist' has a dormant period during winter, where the leaves almost die down completely, although it is pure Zantedeschia aethiopica. The seedlings of 'Pink Mist' are also weaker than the original white form or 'Green Goddess'.
Z. aethiopica and its cultivars 'Crowborough' and 'Green Goddess' have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
In order to introduce colours to the large white calla lilies, like the many colours available in the dwarf summer calla lilies, attempts have been made to hybridise Z. aethiopica with Z. elliotiana. These have resulted in albino progeny, which are non-viable.
Lobelia erinus (edging lobelia, garden lobelia or trailing lobelia) is a species of Lobelia native to southern Africa, from Malawi and Namibia south to South Africa.
It is a prostrate or scrambling herbaceous perennial plant growing to 8–15 cm tall. The basal leaves are oval, 10 mm long and 4-8 mm broad, with a toothed margin; leaves higher on the stems are slender and sometimes untoothed. The flowers are blue to violet in wild plants, with a five-lobed corolla 8–20 mm across; they are produced in loose panicles. The fruit is a 5–8 mm capsule containing numerous small seeds.
Lobelia erinus is a very popular edging plant in gardens, especially for hanging baskets and window boxes. It has a particularly long flowering period, from mid spring to early autumn. It is perennial in subtropical climates, but often grown as an annual plant in colder areas. It is widely available in Spring as a young plant, but must be kept indoors until all danger of frost has passed.
Numerous cultivars have been selected, either with a bushy or a trailing habit, in a wide range of flower colours, including white, pink, red, pale to dark blue, and purple, often with a prominent white eye. Some of the better known cultivars include 'Blue Moon', 'Gracilis', 'Crystal Palace', 'Sapphire', 'Rosamund' and 'Riviera Rose'.
Alternanthera caracasana is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family known by the common names khakiweed, washerwoman and mat chaff flower. It is native to Central and South America but is well-known elsewhere as a noxious weed. It is naturalized in some areas and invasive in others and can be found across the southern half of the United States, Australia (where many people are unaware it is not native) and in Spain and parts of Africa.
The plant has long, prostrate stems covered in small leaves which vary in shape from diamond to rounded. It grows from a rhizome and often roots from its lower nodes. Each spike inflorescence is under a centimeter wide and is covered in tiny stiff white flowers. This is a tough weed of lots, roads, railroad tracks, cleared areas, and other places that are rough, sandy, and often well-traveled.
It is often confused with Khaki Burr, which is related but sports masses of sharp V-shaped prickles that are easily detached and embed themselves in the feet and skin.
Gentiana acaulis (stemless gentian) is a species of flowering plant in the family Gentianaceae, native to central and southern Europe, from Spain east to the Balkans, growing especially in mountainous regions, such as the Alps, Cevennes and Pyrenees, at heights of 800–3,000 m (2,625–9,843 ft).
It is a perennial plant, growing to 2 cm tall and 10 cm or more wide. The leaves are evergreen, 2-3.5 cm long, in a basal rosette, forming clumps. The trumpet-shaped terminal flowers are blue with olive-green spotted longitudinal throats. They grow on a very short peduncle, 3–6 cm long. The flower stem is often without leaves, or has 1 or 2 pairs of leaves. It likes full sun, is fully hardy and flowers in late spring and summer.
The closely related Gentiana clusii, often called by the same common name as this species, differs by growing on limy soils. It also has shorter leaves and the flowers have no olive-green.
This plant, like others of its genus, is valued in cultivation for the unusually pure intense blue of its blooms. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Butomus umbellatus is the Eurasian plant species in the family Butomaceae. Common names include flowering rush or grass rush.
The plant is a rhizomatous, hairless, perennial aquatic plant. Its name is derived from Greek bous, meaning "cow", "ox" etc. and tome, a cut (the verb 'temnein' meaning "to cut"), which refers to the plant's swordlike leaves.
Other than suggested by its English common name, it is not a true rush. It is native to Eurasia and grows on the margins of still and slowly moving water down to a depth of about 3 m. It has pink flowers. Introduced into North America as an ornamental plant it has now become a serious invasive weed in the Great Lakes area and in parts of the Pacific Northwest.[5] In Israel, one of its native countries, it is an endangered species due to the dwindling of its habitat. It can also be found in Great Britain locally, for example Butomus umbellatus at Gwent Levels SSSI on the Caldicot and Wentloog Levels
The plant has linear, pointed leaves up to 1 metre long, or more. The leaves are triangular in cross-section and arise in two rows along the rhizome/base. They are untoothed, parallel veined and twisted.
The inflorescence is umbel-like consisting of a single terminal flower surrounded by three cymes. The flowers are regular and bisexual, 2 to 3 cm across. There are three petal-like sepals which are pink with darker veins. They persist in the fruit. The three petals are like the sepals but somewhat larger. 6 - 9 stamens. Carpels superior, 6 - 9 and slightly united at the base. When ripe they are obovoid and crowned with a persistent style. Ovules are numerous and found scattered over the inner surface of the carpel wall, except on the midrib and edges. Fruit is a follicle. The seeds have no endosperm and a straight embryo. It flowers from July until August.
Caltha palustris, known as marsh-marigold and kingcup, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the family Ranunculaceae, native to marshes, fens, ditches and wet woodland in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
It becomes most luxuriant in partial shade, but is rare on peat. In the United Kingdom, it is probably one of the most ancient native plants, surviving the glaciations and flourishing after the last retreat of the ice, in a landscape inundated with glacial meltwaters.
Height is up to 80 centimetres (31 in) tall. The leaves are rounded to kidney-shaped, 3–20 centimetres (1.2–7.9 in) across, with a bluntly serrated margin and a thick, waxy texture. Stems are hollow.
The flowers are yellow, 2–5 cm (1–2 in) diameter, with 4-9 (mostly 5) petal-like sepals and many yellow stamens; they appear in early spring to late summer. The flowers are visited by a great variety of insects for pollen and for the nectar secreted from small depressions, one on each side of each carpel.
Carpels form into green sac-like follicles to 1 cm long, each opening to release several seeds.
Caltha palustris is a highly polymorphic species, showing continuous and independent variation in many features. Forms in the UK may be divided into two subspecies: Caltha palustris subsp. palustris, and Caltha palustris subsp. minor.
It is sometimes considered a weed in clay-like garden soils, where every piece of its root will survive and spread. In warm free-draining soils, it simply dies away.
As is the case with many members of the family Ranunculaceae, all parts of the plant are poisonous and can be irritant. Skin rashes and dermatitis have been reported from excessive handling of the plant. It is known to sometimes kill cows and will happily grow in cow manure.
In the UK, Caltha palustris is known by a variety of common names, varying by geographical region. These include marsh marigold and kingcup (the two most frequently used common names), mayflower, May blobs, mollyblobs, pollyblobs, horse blob, water blobs, water bubbles, gollins. Balfae (in Caithness) and the publican. The common name of marigold refers to its use in medieval churches at Easter as a tribute to the Virgin Mary, as in Mary gold.
Orontium aquaticum /ɒˈrɒntiəm/, sometimes called golden-club, is a species of flowering plants in the Araceae family. It is the single living species in the genus Orontium, which also contains several extinct species described from fossils. O. aquaticum is endemic to the eastern United States and is found growing in ponds, streams, and shallow lakes.
It prefers an acidic environment. The leaves are pointed and oval with a water repellent surface. The inflorescence is most notable for having an extremely small almost indistinguishable sheath surrounding the spadix.
Very early in the flowering this green sheath withers away leaving only the spadix. The sheath was originally classified by Adolf Engler as a spathe due it being the last foliar piece before the spadix. He also noted that species lacked a sympodial leaf. However, in a 1988 paper by Thomas Ray, he argued that the structure was misidentified by Engler and was actually a sympodial leaf. According to Ray the spathe was missing and not the sympodial leaf.
This interpretation was determined based on observations of morphological charactestics namely the appearance of a two-keeled bracteole and its positioning. Despite this, the floral structure is still commonly identified in the literature as being a spathe. The flowering occurs in the spring. Native Americans once ate the seeds and rhizome by drying them out and grinding them into a starchy substance.
