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Alvar Aalto Buildings
An alvar is a biological environment based on a limestone plain with thin or no soil and, as a result, sparse grassland vegetation. Often flooded in the spring, and affected by drought in midsummer, alvars support a distinctive group of prairie-like plants. Most alvars occur either in northern Europe or around the Great Lakes in North America. This stressed habitat supports a community of rare plants and animals, including species more commonly found on prairie grasslands. Lichen and mosses are common species. Trees and bushes are absent or severely stunted. The primary cause of alvars is the shallow exposed bedrock. Flooding and drought, as noted, add to the stress of the site and prevent many species from growing. Disturbance may also play a role. In Europe, grazing is frequent, while in North America, there is some evidence that fire may also prevent encroachment by forest. The habitat also has strong competition gradients, with better competitors occupying the deeper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern Meadowlark
The eastern meadowlark (''Sturnella magna'') is a medium-sized blackbird (family: Icteridae), very similar in appearance to sister species western meadowlark. It occurs from eastern North America to northern South America, where it is also most widespread in the east. The Chihuahuan meadowlark was formerly considered to be conspecific with the eastern meadowlark. Taxonomy The eastern meadowlark was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. He placed it with the larks and pipits in the genus ''Alauda'' and adopted the binomial name ''Alauda magna''. Linnaeus based his description on the "large lark" that had been described and illustrated in 1729–1732 by the English naturalist Mark Catesby. Catesby also used the Latin ''Alauda magna'' but as his book predates the introduction of the binomial system, he is not acknowledged as the authority. Catesby reported that "they inhabit Carolina, Virginia and most of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snail
A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have a coiled shell that is large enough for the animal to retract completely into. When the word "snail" is used in this most general sense, it includes not just land snails but also numerous species of sea snails and freshwater snails. Gastropods that naturally lack a shell, or have only an internal shell, are mostly called '' slugs'', and land snails that have only a very small shell (that they cannot retract into) are often called ''semi-slugs''. Snails have considerable human relevance, including as food items, as pests, and as vectors of disease, and their shells are used as decorative objects and are incorporated into jewelry. The snail has also had some cultural significance, tending to be associated with lethargy. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Butterfly
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises the large superfamily Papilionoidea, which contains at least one former group, the skippers (formerly the superfamily "Hesperioidea"), and the most recent analyses suggest it also contains the moth-butterflies (formerly the superfamily "Hedyloidea"). Butterfly fossils date to the Paleocene, about 56 million years ago. Butterflies have a four-stage life cycle, as like most insects they undergo complete metamorphosis. Winged adults lay eggs on the food plant on which their larvae, known as caterpillars, will feed. The caterpillars grow, sometimes very rapidly, and when fully developed, pupate in a chrysalis. When metamorphosis is complete, the pupal skin splits, the adult insect climbs out, and after its wings have expanded and dried, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iris Lacustris
''Iris lacustris'', the dwarf lake iris, is a plant species in the genus '' Iris'', subgenus '' Limniris'' and in the section ''Lophiris'' (crested irises). It is a rhizomatous, beardless perennial plant, native to the Great Lakes region of eastern North America. It has lavender blue or violet-blue flowers, a very short stem and long fan-like green leaves. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions. It is closely related to ''Iris cristata'' (another North American crested iris). Description It is similar in form to ''Iris cristata'' but is chromosomally different and smaller.British Iris Society (1997) James Cullen, Sabina G. Knees, H. Suzanne Cubey (Editors) It has slender, wiry,Richard Lynch or cord-like, greenish-brown, or yellow rhizomes. It has a large central section and outer sections, which are long and 0.8–1.2 cm wide. The outer sections have fibrous roots (underneath), and 2–3 brown scale-like leaves above. It creeps across the ground ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cypripedium Arietinum
''Cypripedium arietinum'', the ram's head lady's slipper, is a rare orchid that grows in lightly shaded areas with calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcareous'' is used as an ad ... soils. It is characteristic of the alvars around the Great Lakes in North America, as well as in New England. In Canada, it is found from Quebec to Saskatchewan, plus an isolated population in Nova Scotia, where it grows on gypsum based soils, 330 km away from the nearest population in Maine. Description ''Cypripedium arietinum'' is a herbaceous perennial small lady's slipper growing to . It typically has 3, but sometimes 4-5, leaves and normally has a single flower per flowering stem but in the form biflorum there maybe two flowers per stem. The purplish-red flower has light venation and is white at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hymenoxys Acaulis
''Tetraneuris acaulis'' is a North American species of flowering plants in the sunflower family.Tetraneuris acaulis'. ITIS.Tetraneuris acaulisLady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center'', University of Texas.Hymenoxys acaulis'. '' The Jepson Manual, University of Calilfornia''Hymenoxys acaulis''. United States Geologic Survey, Native Wildflowers of the North Dakota Grasslands. Southwest Colorado Wildflowers. Tetraneuris acaulis '. CalFlora taxon report, University of California [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carex Juniperorum
''Carex juniperorum'', the juniper sedge, is a perennial flowering plant native to North America, first described by botanist William J. Crins in 1993. ''C. juniperorum'' is in the ''Cyperaceae'' (sedge) family, and is closely related to '' C. jamesii'' and '' C. willdenowii''. It is commonly called juniper sedge as it is often seen growing in areas with red cedar (''Juniperus virginiana''), though the presence of cedar is not necessarily a requirement for it to grow. Distribution Juniper sedge is globally rare. It only occurs in sections of Ohio, Kentucky, and Virginia in the United States. In Canada, it is found in the province of Ontario. Description and habitat Juniper sedge prefers dry, open, calcareous soils that are periodically disturbed to maintain canopy cover. The plant grows forming a clump, with grass-like leaves up to 30cm long with a reddish-brown basal sheath. Flowers occur in early may on a small basal spike. Small (1.5-2mm) ellipsoid perigynia form in lat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Symphyotrichum Pilosum
(formerly ''Aster pilosus'') is a perennial, herbaceous, flowering plant in the Asteraceae family native to central and eastern North America. It is commonly called , , , , , , , or . It may reach tall, and its flowers have white ray florets and yellow disk florets. Description ''Symphyotrichum pilosum'' is a perennial, herbaceous plant that may reach tall. Its flowers have white ray florets and yellow disk florets. Chromosomes has a monoploid number (also called ''base number'') of eight chromosomes There are plants of ''pilosum'' with four and six sets of the chromosomes, tetraploid with 32 total and hexaploid with 48 total. These cytotypes occur regularly, with occasional pentaploids (five sets) that have 40 in total. The involucre and floret sizes are different between the tetraploids and hexaploids, and the latter are found primarily in formerly glaciated habitats. ''pringlei'' is hexaploid with a total chromosome count of 48. Symphyotrichum pilosum kidatikng ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lobelia Kalmii
''Lobelia kalmii'' is a species of flowering plant with a distribution primarily across Canada and the northern United States in temperate and boreal regions. It was formerly known as ''Lobelia strictiflora'' (Rydb.) It is commonly known as Kalm's lobelia, Ontario lobelia and Brook lobelia. Description ''Lobelia kalmii'' is a small plant (10 – 40 cm) that grows in wet environments such as bogs, wet meadows, and rocky shorelines, including wet alvars, where it grows in calcareous soil or cracks between limestone rocks. It is a perennial herb that has blue flowers with a white center. It has thin upper leaves and spatulate basal leaves. The plant starts flowering in July and lasts into September. Cultivation and uses Although other species of Lobelia are cultivated for ornamental purposes, the small (1 cm) flowers of ''Lobelia kalmii'' have not endeared this plant to growers. However, it can be found through on seed exchanges among native plant enthusiasts. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loggerhead Shrike
The loggerhead shrike (''Lanius ludovicianus'') is a passerine bird in the family Laniidae. It is the only member of the shrike family endemic to North America; the related northern shrike (''L. borealis'') occurs north of its range, however it is also found in Siberia. It is nicknamed the butcherbird after its carnivorous tendencies, as it consumes prey such as amphibians, insects, lizards, small mammals and small birds, and some prey end up displayed and stored at a site, for example in a tree. Due to its small size and weak talons, this predatory bird relies on impaling its prey upon thorns or barbed wire for facilitated consumption. The numbers of loggerhead shrike have significantly decreased in recent years, especially in Midwestern, New England and Mid-Atlantic areas. Taxonomy In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the loggerhead shrike in his ''Ornithologie'' based on a specimen collected in Louisiana in the United States. He used ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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