Juncus effusus

Soft rush or common rush (Juncus effusus) is a perennial, herbaceous flowering plant species in the family Juncaceae. It is nearly cosmopolitan, considered native in Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, and South America, and naturalized in Australia, Madagascar, and various oceanic islands. It is found growing in wet areas, such as the purple moor-grass and rush pastures and fen-meadow plant associations in the United Kingdom.

t grows in large clumps about 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) tall at the water's edge along streams and ditches, but can be invasive anywhere with moist soil. It is commonly found growing in humus-rich areas like marshes, ditches, fens, and beaver dams.

The stems are smooth cylinders with light pith filling. The yellowish inflorescence appears to emerge from one side of the stem about 20 centimetres (8 in) from the top. In fact the stem ends there; the top part is the bract, that continues with only a slight colour-band marking it from the stem. The lower leaves are reduced to a brown sheath at the bottom of the stem.

Soft rush can become invasive because of its unpalatability to livestock. Suggested methods of controlling rushes are

• Ploughing
• Drainage
• High applications of inorganic fertiliser, coupled with taking silage crops. However application of farm yard manure is ineffective
• Topping, i.e. to prevent seed formation and distribution into the soil, followed by autumn or winter flooding for a week or two

Burning is ineffective because the plant remains green through the winter.

Cyperus rotundus

Cyperus rotundus (coco-grass, Java grass, nut grass, purple nut sedge or purple nutsedge, red nut sedge, Khmer kravanh chruk) is a species of sedge (Cyperaceae) native to Africa, southern and central Europe (north to France and Austria), and southern Asia. 

Cyperus rotundus is a perennial plant, that may reach a height of up to 140 cm (55 inches). The names "nut grass" and "nut sedge" – shared with the related species Cyperus esculentus – are derived from its tubers, that somewhat resemble nuts, although botanically they have nothing to do with nuts.
As in other Cyperaceae, the leaves sprout in ranks of three from the base of the plant, around 5–20 cm long. The flower stems have a triangular cross-section. The flower is bisexual and has three stamina and a three-stigma carpel, with the flower head having 3-8 unequal rays. The fruit is a three-angled achene.

The root system of a young plant initially forms white, fleshy rhizomes, up to 25 mm in dimension, in chains. Some rhizomes grow upward in the soil, then form a bulb-like structure from which new shoots and roots grow, and from the new roots, new rhizomes grow. Other rhizomes grow horizontally or downward, and form dark reddish-brown tubers or chains of tubers.

It prefers dry conditions, but will tolerate moist soils, it often grows in wastelands and in crop fields.

C. rotundus was part of a set of starchy tuberous sedges that may have been eaten by Pliocene hominins. It was a staple of Aboriginal populations in Central Australia.
Biomarkers and microscopic evidence of C. rotundus are present in human dental calculus found at the Al Khiday archaeological complex in central Sudan dating from before 6700 BCE to the Meroitic pre-Islamic Kingdom of 300-400 CE. It is suggested that C. rotundus consumption may have contributed to the relatively low frequency of dental caries among the Meroitic population of Al Khiday due to its ability to inhibit Streptococcus mutans.


C. rotundus was employed in ancient Egypt, Mycenean Greece, and elsewhere as an aromatic and to purify water. It was used by ancient Greek physicians Theophrastus, Pliny the Elder, and Dioscorides as both medicine and perfume.

Phacelia tanacetifolia

Phacelia tanacetifolia is a versatile plant that is
used extensively in Europe, both as a cover crop
and as bee forage. It is also being increasingly
used in California – especially in vineyards.
Phacelia is quick to grow and flower and grows
well in dry soil. 

It does a good job of limiting
nitrate leaching when planted in early fall. It
winterkills at about 18°F. In cooler regions, it can
be used as a between cash crops cover crop in the
summer. Phacelia is listed as one of the top 20
honey-producing flowers for honeybees and is also
highly attractive to bumblebees and syrphid
(hover) flies. Phacelia's habit of flowering
abundantly and for a long period can increase
beneficial insect numbers and diversity, because it provides high quality nectar and pollen. It's
also useful as a cut flower with its unusual and attractive blooms, strong stems, and long vaselife.
Because phacelia germinates well at cool temperatures and grows quickly, cut flowers can
be available by mid-spring.

Value to Insects
Phacelia is highly attractive to honeybees, bumblebees, and syrphid flies, and these insects are
valuable pollinators. Syrphid fly larvae are voracious feeders on aphids and young caterpillars.
Phacelia is also reputed to attract other beneficial insects, such as parasitic wasps and minute
pirate bugs. It provides both pollen (for protein – needed for egg production) and nectar (for
carbohydrates – needed for energy).
Insectary plants are those with high volume, quality nectar and/or pollen that are extremely
attractive to beneficial insects. They are planted for the primary purpose of attracting pollinators,
and predators and parasites of pest insects. Phacelia's habit of quick growth and long flowering
make it highly suitable as an insectary plant. It can be succession sown so that it is in flower all
season or it can be sown at a specific time to build up beneficial insect populations in
anticipation of their need to control a crop pest.

One caution – if you have a large area of phacelia planted, time the planting so that phacelia
flowers are not blooming when you need a crop pollinated. Phacelia flowers are so attractive to
pollinators that the flowers would compete successfully for pollinator services against most other

flowering plants. 

Use as a Fall/Winter Cover Crop and/or Mulch
Phacelia may be suitable as a winter-killed cover crop when a heavy crop residue is not needed
in the spring. Research in other regions shows phacelia has the potential to produce abundant
biomass and does a good job at catching excess nitrates before they leach into groundwater.
Phacelia winter-kills at about 18ºF, and the residue breaks down quickly. Its use as a fall/winter
cover crop may be appropriate when it will be followed by a vigorous cash crop (e.g. potatoes) in

early spring. 

Phacelia has proven its usefulness as a food source for pollinators and other beneficial insects. It
has also proven its value as a cover crop in other regions of the world. It is largely untested in
the mid-Atlantic. While clearly not the cover crop for every situation, it may be a good choice in
some situations – especially when there is a desire to attract beneficial insects. We need more
information about this potentially useful plant and on how it performs in this part of the world.
We also need information about phacelia's usefulness as forage. Several publications mentioned
forage as a use, and phacelia has a nitrogen content of 4%, but little else is known about its

suitability as animal feed. 

Lupinus perennis

Lupinus perennis (also wild perennial lupine, wild lupine, sundial lupine, blue lupine, Indian beet, or old maid's bonnets) is a medicinal plant in the Fabaceae family. It is widespread in the eastern part of the USA (from Texas and Florida to Maine) and Minnesota, Canada (southern Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador), and on the coasts of the Arctic Ocean, where it grows on sand hills and roadsides.

Sundial lupine only produces leaves in the first year of growth. The leaves are palmately compound, with 7–11 leaflets arranged radially or in a rosette. Their stalks are numerous, erect, striated, slightly pubescent. The leaflets are obovate, with a blunted apex or pointed spear, naked from above, sparsely pubescent from below.

Petioles are longer than leaflets; stipules are very small, almost missing.

The inflorescence is long, sparsely flowered, sometimes almost verticilate. Flowers can range from blue to pink, but are most often blue or bluish purple. The calyx is silky, without bractlets; its upper labium with a protuberant basis, is integral or weakly emarginate, the lower one is integral, almost twice longer than upper. Floral bracts are styliform, shorter than the calyx, early falling. The corolla is purple or white, three times longer than the calyx. The vexillum is shorter than the wings. The carina is weakly ciliate. Pods are yellow-grayish-brown, with straight lines, necklace-shaped, short and closely hirsute, easy shattered, with 5–6 seeds. Seed is oval with a light hilum.


Lupinus perennis is used as foodplants by the caterpillars of several lepidoptera. Among these are the frosted elfin (Callophrys irus) and the rare and endangered Karner blue (Lycaeides melissa samuelis), whose caterpillars feed only on the lupine leaves. Leaves that have been fed on by Karner blues have distinctive transparent areas where the larvae have selectively eaten only the green, fleshy parts.

The lupine has been declining in number and range since the Industrial Revolution. It is estimated that it has declined in number by about 90% since 1900. This decline has been deemed one of the primary causes of the Karner blues' endangerment. The main causes of its decline are thought to be habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, and poor management. 

Currently it is threatened in Iowa, Maryland, and New Hampshire; it is endangered in Vermont and is extirpated in Maine. Human development has eliminated a large portion of its viable habitat. Remaining habitat is often fragmented, which is problematic for the lupine because it limits the range over which it can reproduce. Viable lupine habitat is often difficult to maintain because it flourishes after fires and other forms of disturbance. 

One reason this occurs is that lupine seed coats are so tough that only pressure changes due to rapid heating or abrasion are strong enough to allow water to penetrate and start germination. Moreover, fires, feeding by large ungulates, and mowing can improve habitat quality for established lupines by changing soil quality, vegetative structure, leaf litter depth. The exact mechanism for this is currently being investigated. Overall, the primary issue is that not enough habitat is burned or otherwise disturbed frequently enough to support the plant.

Parkinsonia aculeata

Parkinsonia aculeata is a species of perennial flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. Common names include palo verde, Mexican palo verde, Parkinsonia, Jerusalem thorn, jelly bean tree and ratama in Spanish.

Parkinsonia aculeata may be a spiny shrub or a small tree. It grows 2 to 8 m (6.6 to 26.2 ft) high, with a maximum height of 10 metres (33 ft). Palo verde may have single or multiple stems and many branches with pendulous leaves. The leaves and stems are hairless. 
The leaves are alternate and pennate (15 to 20 cm long). The flattened petiole is edged by two rows of 25–30 tiny oval leaflets; the leaflets are soon deciduous in dry weather (and during the winter in some areas) leaving the green petioles and branches to photosynthesize.

The branches grow double or triple sharp spines 7–12 mm (0.28–0.47 in) long at the axils of the leaves. The flowers are yellow- orange and fragrant, 20 mm (0.79 in) in diameter, growing from a long slender stalk in groups of eight to ten. They have five sepals and five petals, four of them clearer and rhomboid ovate, the fifth elongated, with a warmer yellow and purple spots at the base. 

The flowering period is the middle months of spring(March& April or September & October). The flowers are pollinated by bees. The fruit is a seedpod, leathery in appearance, light brown when mature.

P. aculeata is a major invasive species in Australia, parts of tropical Africa, Hawaii, and other Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
It was introduced to Australia as an ornamental tree and for shade around 1900. It is now a serious weed widespread through Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland, covering about 8,000 km2 (3,100 sq mi) of land, and has the potential to spread through most of the semi-arid to subhumid tropical area in Australia.

It forms dense thickets, preventing access for humans, native animals and livestock to waterways. The fruits (seedpods) float, and the plant spreads by dropping pods into water, or pods are washed downstream by seasonal flooding. Without the scarifying received by tumbling in streambeds, the seeds are slow to germinate.

Several control methods are used to reduce the existing population and the spread of P. aculeata in Australia. Three insects have been introduced to Australia for biological control; the parkinsonia bean weevils, Penthobruchus germaini and Mimosestes ulkei, both have larvae that specifically eat the seeds from parkinsonia pods and are proving to be a useful management tool, and the parkinsonia leaf bug, Rhinacloa callicrates, which destroys photosynthetic tissues but has had little overall impact on the plant. Fire is effective for young trees; mechanical removal and herbicides are also used.

Parkinsonia aculeata has a high tolerance to drought, simply attaining shorter stature. In moist and humus-rich environments it becomes a taller, spreading shade tree. This plant prefers a full sun exposure, but can grow on a wide range of dry soils (sand dunes, clay, alkaline and chalky soils,etc.), at an altitude of 0–1,500 metres (0–4,921 ft) above sea level.

Cercis siliquastrum

Cercis siliquastrum, commonly known as the Judas tree or Judas-tree, is a small deciduous tree from Southern Europe and Western Asia which is noted for its prolific display of deep pink flowers in spring.

This species forms a small tree up to 12 metres in height and 10 metres in width.

The deep pink flowers are produced on year-old or older growth, including the trunk in late spring (cauliflory). Also, the flowers display a blossom with five free petals and fused sepals. This shape is specific to the Fabaceae. The leaves appear shortly after the first flowers emerge. 

The flowers are pollinated by bees, attracted by nectar. Pollen from the protuding stamens is deposited on the bee's body and carried to another flower's stigma.

In Israel the tree has a status of a protected plant.
These are cordate with a blunt apex, which occasionally has a shallow notch at the tip. The tree produces long flat pods that hang vertically. The flowers are edible and purportedly have a sweet-acid taste. It can fix Nitrogen
and is noted for attracting wildlife. 

Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. 
Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soils.

It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Acanthus mollis

Acanthus mollis, commonly known as bear's breeches, sea dock, bearsfoot or oyster plant, is a herbaceous perennial plant with an underground rhizome in the genus Acanthus. It is regarded as an invasive species in some jurisdictions.

This plant is native to the Mediterranean region from Portugal and northwest Africa east to Croatia and it is one of the earliest cultivated species.

Etymology:
The name of the genus derives from the Greek term ἄκανθος, akanthos, the name of the plant in Greek; it was imitated in Corinthian capitals; the word is related to ἄκανθα, akantha meaning "thorn" referring to the thorn-bearing sepals, or any thorny or prickly plant in Greek, while the Latin name of the species, mollis meaning "soft", "smooth", refers to the texture of the leaves.

Description
Acanthus mollis reaches on average 30–80 centimetres (12–31 in) of height, with a maximum of 180 centimetres (71 in), inflorescence included. It has basal clusters of deeply lobed and cut, shiny dark green leaves, soft to the touch, up to 40 centimetres (16 in) long and 25 centimetres (9.8 in) broad, with a long petiole. 

The inflorescence is a cylindrical spike 30–40 centimetres (12–16 in) long and can produce up to 120 flowers. The flowers are tubular, whitish, and lilac or rose in colour. Each flower is up to 5 centimetres (2.0 in) long and it is surrounded by three green or purplish bracts. The central bract is spiny and larger than the other two. The calyx has two lips: the upper is purple on top, rather long and forms a kind of "helmet" on top of the corolla. The corolla is reduced to a white lower lip, trilobed, with purple-pink venation. The four stamens are fused to the corolla and look like tiny brushes. This species flowers in late spring or early summer, from May through August.

Acanthus mollis is entomophilous and it is pollinated only by bees or bumble bees large enough to force their way between the upper sepal and the lower, so that they can reach the nectar at the bottom of the tube. The fruit is an ovoid capsule containing two to four large black seeds. The dispersal of seeds is by the wind (anemochory).

These plants are usually propagated from tubers and tend to form large, localized clumps which can survive for several decades and look statuesque when well-grown, but its suitability as a garden plant is lessened on account of its invasive nature (new plants are produced readily both from seed and portions of root) and its susceptibility to powdery mildew and attacks from snails.

Trachelospermum jasminoides

Trachelospermum jasminoides is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae, native to eastern and southeastern Asia (Japan, Korea, southern China and Vietnam). Common names include confederate jasmine, star jasmine, confederate jessamine,  and Chinese star jessamine.

Trachelospermum jasminoides is an evergreen woody liana growing to 10 feet (3.0 m) high. The leaves are opposite, oval to lanceolate, 2–10 cm long and 1-4.5 cm broad, with an entire margin and an acuminate apex.

The fragrant flowers are white, 1–2 cm diameter, with a tube-like corolla opening out into five petal-like lobes. The fruit is a slender follicle 10–25 cm long and 3–10 mm broad, containing numerous seeds.

A valuable perfume oil is extracted from the steam distilled or tinctured flowers and used in high end perfumery. In a dilute form, tinctured flowers are much used in Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai incenses. A bast fibre is produced from the stems.

Trachelospermum jasminoides is commonly grown as an ornamental plant and houseplant. In gardens, public landscapes, and parks it is used as a climbing vine, a groundcover, and a fragrant potted plant on terraces and patios. It will flower in full sun, partial shade, or total shade, and requires well-drained soil (if constantly kept damp it may succumb to fungal infection), moderate water, moderate fertilizer, and a climbing structure (whether a trellis or another plant is secondary). Propagation is most commonly done with cuttings/ clones.

It is widely planted in California and also particularly in the Southeastern United States, where its hardiness, confined to USDA Zones 8-10, the area of the former Confederate States of America, gives it the name Confederate jasmine. It gets another of its common names, trader's compass, from an old Uzbekistan saying that it pointed traders in the right direction, provided they were of good character. It is also called star jasmine in Europe and Chinese jasmine or Chinese ivy in Asia.

acobaea maritima

Jacobaea maritima (silver ragwort) (formerly known as Senecio cineraria) is a perennial plant species in the genus Jacobaea in the family Asteraceae, native to the Mediterranean region. It was formerly placed in the genus Senecio, and is still widely referred to as Senecio cineraria; see the list of synonyms (right) for other names.
It is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant for its white, felt-like tomentose leaves; in horticultural use, it is also sometimes called dusty miller, a name shared with several other plants that also have silvery tomentose leaves; the two most often to share the name are Centaurea cineraria and Lychnis coronaria.

Silver Ragwort is a very white-wooly, heat and drought tolerant evergreen subshrub growing to 0.5–1 m (1.6–3.3 ft) tall. The stems are stiff and woody at the base, densely branched, and covered in long, matted grey-white to white hairs. The leaves are pinnate or pinnatifid, 5–15 centimetres (2.0–5.9 in) long and 3–7 centimetres (1.2–2.8 in) broad, stiff, with oblong and obtuse segments, and like the stems, covered with long, thinly to thickly matted with grey-white to white hairs; the lower leaves are petiolate and more deeply lobed, the upper leaves sessile and less lobed.

The tomentum is thickest on the underside of the leaves, and can become worn off on the upper side, leaving the top surface glabrous with age. The flowers are yellow, daisy-like in dense capitula 12–15 millimetres (0.47–0.59 in) diameter, with central disc florets surrounded by a ring of 10–13 ray florets, and enclosed in a common whorl of bracts at the base of the capitulum. The seeds are cylindrical achenes.

Gaillardia pulchella

Gaillardia pulchella (firewheel, Indian blanket, Indian blanketflower, Indian paintbrush, or sundance), is a North American species of short-lived perennial or annual flowering plants in the sunflower family. It is native to northern Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Sonora, Tamaulipas) and the southern and central United States from Arizona east to Florida and the Carolinas and north as far as Nebraska. It is also naturalized in scattered locations in other parts of the United States as well as in Québec, Ontario, China, South Africa, and parts of South and Central America.


The central disc florets of the flower head tend to be more red-violet, with the outer ray florets being yellow. In one variety, almost the entire flower is red, with only the barest tips of the petals touched with yellow. It blooms practically year-round in some areas, but more typically in summer to early fall. The fruit is an achene.
The branching stem of Gaillardia pulchella is hairy and upright, growing to 60 cm (2 ft) tall. The leaves are alternate, mostly basal, 4–8 cm long, with edges smooth to coarsely toothed or lobed. The pinwheel, daisy-like inflorescences are 4–6 cm in diameter, vividly colored with red, orange and yellow. 

Gaillardia pulchella is a hardy plant, not picky about soil, though sandy and well-drained are best. It has a high drought tolerance and does best with a dry, hot climate in full sun. Its vibrantly colored flowers can be seen carpeting fields and the sides of highways for miles in the summer to late fall. Favored by honeybees, it produces a dark reddish amber buttery tasting honey. In the garden, the flowers can be removed/deadheaded to promote further blooming. It self-seeds freely.

Dasiphora fruticosa

Dasiphora fruticosa (syn. Potentilla fruticosa L., Pentaphylloides fruticosa (L.) O.Schwarz) is a species of hardy deciduous flowering shrub in the genus Dasiphora (formerly Potentilla) of the family Rosaceae, native to the cool temperate and subarctic regions of the northern hemisphere, often growing at high altitudes in mountains. Common names include shrubby cinquefoil, golden hardhack, bush cinquefoil, shrubby five-finger, tundra rose, and widdy.

It grows to 0.1–1 m (3.9–39.4 in) tall, rarely up to 1.5 m (4.9 ft). The habit is variably upright to sprawling or prostrate, but stems are often ascending especially those stems with many long branches. The bark of older stems is shreddy with long thin strips. The plants are densely leafy, the leaves divided into five or seven (occasionally three or nine) pinnate leaflets. The leaflets are linear-oblong, 3–20 mm (0.1–0.8 in) long, with entire margins and more or less acute ends. 

The foliage (both leaves and young stems) is pubescent, variably covered in fine silky, silvery hairs about 1 mm long. The flowers are produced terminally on the stems and are 2–3 cm (0.8–1.2 in) cm across, buttercup-shaped, with five petals and 15–25 stamens; the petals are pale to bright yellow (orange to reddish in some western Chinese populations). 

The fruit is a cluster of achenes covered with long hairs. The species is variably dioecious or bisexual; flowering is typically from early to late summer. It is normally found growing in moisture-retentive soils in swamps and rocky areas.

Shrubby cinquefoil is a popular ornamental plant in temperate regions. Different cultivars are variable with flowers ranging from white to yellow, orange and pink, but they are all hardy plants that produce flowers for much of the summer. The flowers are always small, flat, and round, but there are many dozens on each bush. It is very often used by cities and businesses for landscaping because of its hardiness and low maintenance. 

It was introduced into cultivation in the 18th century, but many of the modern cultivars, particularly those with orange or red flowers, derive from collections by Reginald Farrer in western China in the early 20th century. The vast majority of sellers and gardeners still use the old name Potentilla fruticosa.

Panicum virgatum

Panicum virgatum, commonly known as switchgrass, is a perennial warm season bunchgrass native to North America, where it occurs naturally from 55°N latitude in Canada southwards into the United States and Mexico. Switchgrass is one of the dominant species of the central North American tallgrass prairie and can be found in remnant prairies, in native grass pastures, and naturalized along roadsides. 

It is used primarily for soil conservation, forage production, game cover, as an ornamental grass, and more recently as a biomass crop for ethanol and butanol, in phytoremediation projects, fiber, electricity, and heat production and for biosequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Other common names for switchgrass include tall panic grass, Wobsqua grass, blackbent, tall prairiegrass, wild redtop, thatchgrass, and Virginia switchgrass.

Switchgrass is a hardy, deep-rooted, perennial rhizomatous grass that begins growth in late spring. It can grow up to 2.7 m high, but is typically shorter than big bluestem grass or indiangrass. The leaves are 30–90 cm long, with a prominent midrib. Switchgrass uses C4 carbon fixation, giving it an advantage in conditions of drought and high temperature. 

Its flowers have a well-developed panicle, often up to 60 cm long, and it bears a good crop of seeds. The seeds are 3–6 mm long and up to 1.5 mm wide, and are developed from a single-flowered spikelet. Both glumes are present and well developed. When ripe, the seeds sometimes take on a pink or dull-purple tinge, and turn golden brown with the foliage of the plant in the fall. Switchgrass is both a perennial and self-seeding crop, which means farmers do not have to plant and reseed after annual harvesting.

Once established, a switchgrass stand can survive for ten years or longer. Unlike corn, switchgrass can grow on marginal lands and requires relatively modest levels of chemical fertilizers. Overall, it is considered a resource-efficient, low-input crop for producing bioenergy from farmland.

Switchgrass is a versatile and adaptable plant. It can grow and even thrive in many weather conditions, lengths of growing seasons, soil types, and land conditions. Its distribution spans south of latitude 55°N from Saskatchewan to Nova Scotia, south over most of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, and further south into Mexico.

As a warm-season perennial grass, most of its growth occurs from late spring through early fall; it becomes dormant and unproductive during colder months. Thus, the productive season in its northern habitat can be as short as three months, but in the southern reaches of its habitat the growing season may be as long as eight months, around the Gulf Coast area.

Phaseolus coccineus

Phaseolus coccineus, known as runner bean, scarlet runner bean, or multiflora bean,is a plant in the legume or Fabaceae family.
It is grown both as a food plant and an ornamental plant.

This species originated from the mountains of Central America. Most varieties have red flowers and multicolored seeds (though some have white flowers and white seeds), and they are often grown as ornamental plants. The vine can grow to 3 m (9 ft) or more in length.
It differs from the common bean (P. vulgaris) in several respects: the cotyledons stay in the ground during germination, and the plant is a perennial vine with tuberous roots (though it is usually treated as an annual).

The knife-shaped pods are normally green; however, there are very rare varieties bred by amateurs that have very unusual purple pods. An example of such a purple-podded runner bean is 'Aeron Purple Star'.
Runner beans have also been called "Oregon lima bean", and in Nahuatl ayocotl or in Spanish ayocote.

Runner beans, like all beans contain the toxic protein phytohaemagglutinin and thus should be cooked well before eating.''

In the US, in 1978, the scarlet runner was widely grown for its attractive flowers primarily as an ornamental.[6] Since that time, many US gardeners have adopted the bean as a regular member of the vegetable garden. The flower is known as a favourite of hummingbirds. In the UK - where the vegetable is a popular choice for kitchen gardens and allotments - the flowers are often ignored, or treated as an attractive bonus to cultivating the plant for the beans.
The seeds of the plant can be used fresh or as dried beans. The pods are edible whole while they are young and not yet fibrous. The starchy roots are still eaten by Central American Indians.

The beans are used in many cuisines. It is a popular side vegetable in British cuisine. A variety named 'Judión de la Granja' producing large, white, edible beans is cultivated in San Ildefonso, Spain. It is the basis of a Segovian regional dish also named Judiones de la Granja, in which the beans are mixed with pig's ears, pig's trotters, and chorizo, amongst other ingredients.

In Greece, cultivars of the runner bean with white blossom and white beans are known as fasolia gigantes (φασόλια γίγαντες). They are grown under protective law in the north of Greece within the regions of Kato Nevrokopi, Florina and Kastoria.

The beans have an important role in Greek cuisine, appearing in many dishes. In Austria the coloured versions are cultivated and served as "Käferbohnen", a dish made of the dry beans with pumpkin seed oil. It is considered a typical dish of regional Austrian cuisine, but dried runner beans are also consumed to a small extent in Germany.

Campanula rotundifolia

Campanula rotundifolia (harebell) is a rhizomatous perennial flowering plant in the bellflower family native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
In Scotland, it is often known as the bluebell. Elsewhere in Britain, bluebell refers to Hyacinthoides non-scripta, and in North America, bluebell refers to Virginia bluebell. Campanula rotundifolia was historically also known by several other names including blawort, hair-bell, lady's thimble, witch's bells, and witch's thimbles.

Campanula rotundifolia is a perennial species of flowering plant, a slender, prostrate to erect herb, spreading by seed and rhizomes. The basal leaves are long-stalked, rounded to heart-shaped, usually slightly toothed, with prominent hydathodes, and often wither early. Leaves on the flowering stems are long and narrow and the upper ones are unstemmed.[4] The inflorescence is a panicle or raceme, with 1 – many flowers borne on very slender pedicels. The flowers usually have five (occasionally 4, 6 or 7) pale to mid violet-blue petals fused together into a bell shape, about 12–30 mm (0.5–1.2 in) long and five long, pointed green sepals behind them. Plants with pale pink or white flowers may also occur. The petal lobes are triangular and curve outwards. 

The seeds are produced in a capsule about 3–4 mm (0.1–0.2 in) diameter and are released by pores at the base of the capsule. Seedlings are minute, but established plants can compete with tall grass. As with many other Campanulas, all parts of the plant exude white latex when injured or broken.

The flowering period is long, and varies by location. In the British Isles, harebell flowers from July to November.

Cephalanthus occidentalis

Cephalanthus occidentalis is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, that is native to eastern and southern North America. Common names include buttonbush, common buttonbush, button-willow and honey-bells.

C. occidentalis is a deciduous shrub or small tree that averages 1–3 m (3.3–9.8 ft) in height, but can reach 6 m (20 ft). The leaves are opposite or in whorls of three, elliptic to ovate, 7–18 cm (2.8–7.1 in) long and 4–10 cm (1.6–3.9 in) broad, with a smooth edge and a short petiole. 

The flowers are arranged in a dense spherical inflorescence 2–3.5 cm (0.79–1.38 in) in diameter on a short peduncle. Each flower has a fused white to pale yellow four-lobed corolla forming a long slender tube connecting to the sepals. The stigma protrudes slightly from the corolla. The fruit is a spherical cluster of achenes (nutlets).

The species occurs in eastern North America with disjunct populations occurring in the west. In Canada, it occurs from southern Ontario and Quebec east to New Brunswick. Besides the eastern United States, and eastern regions of the Midwest, notable areas range into Arizona, the Mogollon Rim, and other mountain ranges; in California, the entire San Joaquin Valley West of the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, only western Texas, Arizona, and California find C. occidentalis.

Dracaena reflexa

Dracaena reflexa, commonly called pleomele or song of India, is a species of Dracaena which is a tropical tree native to Madagascar, Mauritius, and other nearby islands of the Indian Ocean. It is widely grown as an ornamental plant and houseplant, valued for its richly coloured, evergreen leaves, and thick, irregular stems.

While it may reach a height of 4–5 m, rarely 6 m in ideal, protected locations, D. reflexa is usually much smaller, especially when grown as a houseplant. It is slow-growing and upright in habit, tending to an oval shape with an open crown. The lanceolate leaves are simple, spirally arranged, 5–20 cm long and 1.5–5 cm broad at the base, with a parallel venation and entire margin; they grow in tight whorls and are a uniform dark green.

The flowers are small, clustered, and usually white, appearing in mid winter. Neither the flowers nor the fruit are especially showy. D. reflexa var. angustifolia (syn. D. marginata) differs in having a magenta tint to its flowers, a shrubby habit, and olive green leaves.

Dracaena reflexa is a popular ornamental plant, both in the landscape and the home. It can be enjoyed as a specimen plant, accent, or pruned to create a border. Several cultivars have been selected, particularly variegated clones with cream and yellow-green margins. It performs well as a houseplant, tolerating infrequent waterings. It prefers bright, filtered light, without direct sun exposure, restricted outdoors to zones 10–11. 

It has average water needs and should be fertilized bi-weekly when actively growing. Although it can survive in relatively low light levels, the plant may grow spindly if given insufficient light. When grown indoors, temperatures of 18 °C to 25 °C (64 °F to 77 °F) should be maintained. It can be propagated via herbaceous stem cuttings.


Traditional medicine practitioners of Madagascar have long believed Dracaena reflexa to cure malarial symptoms, poisoning, dysentery, diarrhea, dysmenorrhea, and to be useful as an antipyretic and hemostatic agent. The leaves and bark are mixed with parts of a number of other native plants and mixed into herbal teas. Its effectiveness in any such treatment remains unproven.

Butea monosperma

Butea monosperma is a species of Butea native to tropical and sub-tropical parts of the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, ranging across India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and western Indonesia. Common names include Palash, Dhak, Palah, Flame of the Forest, Bastard Teak, Parrot Tree, Keshu (Punjabi) and Kesudo (Gujarati).

It is a medium-sized dry season-deciduous tree, growing to 15 m tall. It is a slow growing tree, young trees have a growth rate of a few feet per year. The leaves are pinnate, with an 8–16 cm petiole and three leaflets, each leaflet 10–20 cm long. The flowers are 2.5 cm long, bright orange-red, and produced in racemes up to 15 cm long. The fruit is a pod 15–20 cm long and 4–5 cm broad.
In West Bengal, it is associated with spring, especially through the poems and songs of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who likened its bright orange flame-like flower to fire. In Santiniketan, where Tagore lived, this flower has become an indispensable part of the celebration of spring. The plant has lent its name to the town of Palashi, famous for the historic Battle of Plassey fought there.

In the state of Jharkhand Palash is associated with the folk tradition. Many folk literary expressions describe palash as the forest fire. The beauty of dry deciduous forests of Jharkhand reach their height when most trees have fallen their leaves and Palash is in its full bloom. Palash is also the State Flower of Jharkhand.
It is said that the tree is a form of Agni, God of Fire. It was a punishment given to Him by Goddess Parvati for disturbing Her and Lord Shiva's privacy. In Telangana, these flowers are specially used in the worship of Lord Shiva on occasion of Shivratri. In Telugu, this tree is called Modugu chettu.
In Kerala, this is called 'plasu' and 'chamata'.

The parts of the herb Butea Monosperma that are used for medicinal purposes are its flowers, its leaves the gum obtained from the plant, its seeds and the oil that can be extracted from the flowers as well as the seeds. 


The flowers of the tree are rich in glucosides, butin, neteroside and butrin whereas the seeds are a rich source of moodooga oil or kino- tree oil which is a fixed oil and is yellow color. This oil has various medicinal properties. The gum obtained from the tree is rich in gallic acid and tannic acid and is referred to as Bengal kino gum or simply Butea gum. The leaves of the Butea Monosperma are used as ingredients of tonics and aphrodisiacs and are also helpful in arresting bleeding or secretion.

The Butea Monosperma is famously known as the “flame of the forest” and the reason behind the tree getting accorded this name is that it bears very bright flowers which are either orange or scarlet in color. When the tree is in full bloom, the flowers grow in a number of clusters and the appearance of the tree is then such that it looks as if it has been set aflame, hence, the name. The tree Palas is of medium height and has compound leaves. The leaves of the tree fall off in the winter season and the flowers then bloom in the months of February and March. The flowers grow in huge clusters and on leaf-less branches. The fruits that the plant bears are in the shape of flat pods and each fruit contains a single seed within itself.

Aquilegia formosa

Aquilegia formosa (crimson columbine, western columbine, or (ambiguously) "red columbine") is a common and attractive wildflower native to western North America, from Alaska to Baja California, and eastward to Montana and Wyoming.

The Aquilegia formosa plant grows to 20–80 cm in height, averaging around 60 cm. 
Flowers, which can be seen from April to August (with some variation between regions), are about 5 cm long and red and yellow in color. Technically, the red or orange spreading outer parts of the flower are sepals, and the yellow inner parts are the true petals. The petals bear spurs that attract the plant's pollinators, the sphinx moths. Hummingbirds are also attracted to it in gardens.

The flowers are edible, with a sweet taste—though the seeds can be fatal if eaten, and most parts of the plant contain cyanogenic glycosides.

Within its range, the crimson columbine can be found in most kinds of habitat (chaparral, oak woodland, mixed-evergreen or coniferous forest). It is not found on desert floors, nor at altitudes above 3300 metres, and it is absent from the Central Valley of California. It prefers moist locations such as stream banks.

Some Plateau Indian tribes used the Aquilegia formosa to concoct a perfume. It is also used medicinally by several Native American tribes.

Columbine is easy to grow; just water and prune flower stalks to the ground once a year in early spring. The columbines attract hummingbirds, and are deer proof in many areas of California.

Pulsatilla vulgaris

Pulsatilla vulgaris (pasque flower, pasqueflower, common pasque flower, European pasqueflower, Dane's blood) is a species of flowering plant belonging to the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae), found locally on calcareous grassland in Europe. It used to be considered part of the Anemone genus, to which it is closely related.
It is classified as a Priority Species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan and as Vulnerable in Britain on the Red Data List.

This is an herbaceous perennial plant. It develops upright rhizomes, which function as food-storage organs. Its leaves and stems are long, soft, silver-grey and hairy. It grows to 15–30 cm high and when it is fruit-bearing up to 40 cm. The roots go deep into the soil (to 1 m). The finely-dissected leaves are arranged in a rosette and appear with the bell-shaped flower in early spring. The purple flowers are followed by distinctive silky seed-heads which can persist on the plant for many months.

The flower is 'cloaked in myth'; one legend has it that Pasque flowers sprang up in places that had been soaked by the blood of Romans or Danes because they often appear on old barrows and boundary banks.
This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

It grows in sparsely wooded pine forests or meadows, often on a sunny sloping side with calcium-rich soil. A large colony occurs on publicly accessible land in the Cotswolds, at the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust's Pasqueflower reserve.

It has a thick and somewhat woody root-stock, from which arises a rosette of finely-divided, stalked leaves, covered with silky hairs, especially when young, the foot-stalk often being purplish. 


The flowers, which are about 1 1/2 inches across, are borne singly on stalks 5 to 8 inches in height, with an involucre of three sessile (i.e stalkless) deeply-cut leaflets or bracts. The sepals are of a dull violet-purple colour, very silky on the under surfaces. The seed- vessels are small, brown hairy achenes, with long, feathery tails, like those of the Traveller's Joy or Wild Clematis.

The whole plant, especially the bases of the foot-stalks, is covered with silky hairs. It is odourless, but possesses at first a very acrid taste, which is less conspicuous in the dried herb and gradually diminishes on keeping. The majority of the leaves develop after the flowers; they are two to three times deeply three-parted or pinnately cleft to the base, in long, linear, acute segments.

The juice of the purple sepals gives a green stain to paper and linen, but it is not permanent. It has been used to colour the Paschal eggs in some countries, whence it has been supposed the English name of the plant is derived. Gerard, however, expressly informs us that he himself was 'moved to name' this the Pasque Flower, or Easter Flower, because of the time of its appearance, it being in bloom from April to June. The specific name, pulsatilla, from pulsc, I beat, is given in allusion to its downy seeds being beaten about by the wind.


Varieties of pulsatilla when cultivated in this country like a well-drained, light, but deep soil, and will flourish in a peat or leaf soil, with the addition of lime rubble.