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Cucumis Humifructus
''Cucumis humifructus'', the aardvark cucumber or aardvark pumpkin, is a kind of cucumber (family Cucurbitaceae) from southern Africa, tropical Africa, and Madagascar which fruits underground. It is a prostrate vine up to seven meters (22 feet) in length. It is reliant on the aardvark to eat the fruit in order to spread and re-bury the seeds of the plant. The species was described in 1927, with the name spelled ''C. humofructus'', but this is corrected to ''C. humifructus'' following the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. Description ''Cucumis humifructus'' is thought to be the only '' Cucumis'' species having geocarpic (subterranean) fruit. The vines of the plant initially develop their fruits above ground on stalks which then bend and push back under the ground. The fruit then grows at a depth of between . According to the PBS "Nature" television series, usually regarded as trustworthy, the cucumber is sometimes as deep as three feet (0.9 meters). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sydney Margaret Stent
Sydney Margaret Stent (11 October 1875 – 19 April 1942) was a South African botanist. Stent's main interest was grasses * References 1875 births 1942 deaths 20th-century South African botanists Agrostologists {{Botanist-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cucumis
__NOTOC__ ''Cucumis'' is a genus of twining, tendril-bearing plants in the family Cucurbitaceae which includes the cucumber (''Cucumis sativus''), muskmelons (''Cucumis melo'', including cantaloupe and honeydew), the horned melon (''Cucumis metuliferus''), and the West Indian gherkin (''Cucumis anguria''). 30 species occur in Africa, and 25 occur in India, Southeast Asia, and Australia. However, ''Cucumis myriocarpus'' was introduced to Australia from Sub-Saharan Africa, and is regarded as an invasive species. Species , Plants of the World Online accepted 61 species: *''Cucumis aculeatus'' Cogn. *''Cucumis aetheocarpus'' (C.Jeffrey) Ghebret. & Thulin *''Cucumis africanus'' L.f. *''Cucumis althaeoides'' (Ser.) P.Sebastian & I.Telford *''Cucumis anguria'' L. *''Cucumis argenteus'' (Domin) P.Sebastian & I.Telford *'' Cucumis asper'' Cogn. *'' Cucumis baladensis'' Thulin *'' Cucumis bryoniifolius'' (Merxm.) Ghebret. & Thulin *''Cucumis canoxyi'' Thulin & Al-Gifri *'' Cucumis car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number of river systems; the Zambezi River being the most prominent. The Zambezi flows from the northwest corner of Zambia and western Angola to the Indian Ocean on the coast of Mozambique. Along the way, the Zambezi River flows over the mighty Victoria Falls on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Victoria Falls is one of the largest waterfalls in the world and a major tourist attraction for the region. Southern Africa includes both subtropical and temperate climates, with the Tropic of Capricorn running through the middle of the region, dividing it into its subtropical and temperate halves. Countries commonly included in Southern Africa include Angola, Botswana, the Comoros, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namib ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tropical Africa
Although tropical Africa is mostly familiar to the West for its rainforests, this biogeographic realm of Africa is far more diverse. While the tropics are thought of as regions with hot moist climates, which are caused by latitude and the tropical rain belt, the geology of areas, particularly mountain chains, and geographical relation to continental and regional scale winds impact the overall areas , also, making the tropics run from arid to humid in West Africa. The area is currently experiencing the negative effects of rapid human population growth.Zinkina J., Korotayev A.br>Explosive Population Growth in Tropical Africa: Crucial Omission in Development Forecasts (Emerging Risks and Way Out). ''World Futures'' 70/2 (2014): 120–139 Overview Tropical rainforests are moist forests of semi-deciduous plants distributed across nine West African countries. Institute for Sea Research conducted a temperature record dating back 700,000 years. Several conservation and development dem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa across the Mozambique Channel. At Madagascar is the world's List of island countries, second-largest island country, after Indonesia. The nation is home to around 30 million inhabitants and consists of the island of Geography of Madagascar, Madagascar (the List of islands by area, fourth-largest island in the world), along with numerous smaller peripheral islands. Following the prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, Madagascar split from the Indian subcontinent around 90 million years ago, allowing native plants and animals to evolve in relative isolation. Consequently, Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot; over 90% of wildlife of Madagascar, its wildlife is endemic. Human settlement of Madagascar occurred during or befo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aardvark
The aardvark ( ; ''Orycteropus afer'') is a medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal native to Africa. It is the only living species of the order Tubulidentata, although other prehistoric species and genera of Tubulidentata are known. Unlike most other insectivores, it has a long pig-like snout, which is used to sniff out food. It roams over most of the southern two-thirds of the African continent, avoiding areas that are mainly rocky. A nocturnal feeder, it subsists on ants and termites, which it will dig out of their hills using its sharp claws and powerful legs. It also digs to create burrows in which to live and rear its young. The animal is listed as "least concern" by the IUCN, although its numbers are decreasing. Aardvarks are afrotheres, a clade which also includes elephants, manatees, and hyraxes. Name and taxonomy Name The aardvark is sometimes colloquially called the "African ant bear", "anteater" (not to be confused with the anteater, South American anteater), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Code Of Nomenclature For Algae, Fungi, And Plants
The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all those "traditionally treated as algae, fungi, or plants".. It was formerly called the ''International Code of Botanical Nomenclature'' (ICBN); the name was changed at the International Botanical Congress in Melbourne in July 2011 as part of the ''Melbourne Code''. which replaced the ''Vienna Code'' of 2005. The current version of the code is the ''Shenzhen Code'' adopted by the International Botanical Congress held in Shenzhen, China, in July 2017. As with previous codes, it took effect as soon as it was ratified by the congress (on 29 July 2017), but the documentation of the code in its final form was not published until 26 June 2018. The name of the ''Code'' is partly capitalized and partly not. The lower-case for "algae, fungi, and plants" indica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cucumis
__NOTOC__ ''Cucumis'' is a genus of twining, tendril-bearing plants in the family Cucurbitaceae which includes the cucumber (''Cucumis sativus''), muskmelons (''Cucumis melo'', including cantaloupe and honeydew), the horned melon (''Cucumis metuliferus''), and the West Indian gherkin (''Cucumis anguria''). 30 species occur in Africa, and 25 occur in India, Southeast Asia, and Australia. However, ''Cucumis myriocarpus'' was introduced to Australia from Sub-Saharan Africa, and is regarded as an invasive species. Species , Plants of the World Online accepted 61 species: *''Cucumis aculeatus'' Cogn. *''Cucumis aetheocarpus'' (C.Jeffrey) Ghebret. & Thulin *''Cucumis africanus'' L.f. *''Cucumis althaeoides'' (Ser.) P.Sebastian & I.Telford *''Cucumis anguria'' L. *''Cucumis argenteus'' (Domin) P.Sebastian & I.Telford *'' Cucumis asper'' Cogn. *'' Cucumis baladensis'' Thulin *'' Cucumis bryoniifolius'' (Merxm.) Ghebret. & Thulin *''Cucumis canoxyi'' Thulin & Al-Gifri *'' Cucumis car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geocarpy
Geocarpy is "an extremely rare means of plant reproduction", in which plants produce diaspores within the soil. This may occur with subterranean flowers (protogeocarpy), or from aerial flowers, parts of which penetrate the soil after flowering (hysterocarpy). It has evolved as an effective means of ensuring a suitable environment for the plant's offspring. Geocarpy is also linked with solifluction soils, where rapid thawing and freezing of surface soil causes almost continuous movement. This phenomenon is prevalent in high altitude areas of East Africa. In order to reproduce, geocarpic plants bend their stems so that the fruit can be embedded in the soil during the freezing process while the fruit is still attached to the plant itself. Geocarpy is most frequent in tropical or semi-desert areas, and geocarpic species may be found in the families Araceae, Begoniaceae, Brassicaceae (Cruciferae), Callitrichaceae, Convolvulaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Fabaceae (Leguminosae), Loganiaceae, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herb
In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distinguishes herbs from spices. ''Herbs'' generally refers to the leafy green or flowering parts of a plant (either fresh or dried), while ''spices'' are usually dried and produced from other parts of the plant, including seeds, bark, roots and fruits. Herbs have a variety of uses including culinary, medicinal, aromatic and in some cases, spiritual. General usage of the term "herb" differs between culinary herbs and medicinal herbs; in medicinal or spiritual use, any parts of the plant might be considered as "herbs", including leaves, roots, flowers, seeds, root bark, inner bark (and cambium), resin and pericarp. The word "herb" is pronounced in Commonwealth English, but is common am ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Termite
Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattodea (along with cockroaches). Termites were once classified in a separate order from cockroaches, but recent phylogenetic studies indicate that they evolved from cockroaches, as they are deeply nested within the group, and the sister group to wood eating cockroaches of the genus ''Cryptocercus''. Previous estimates suggested the divergence took place during the Jurassic or Triassic. More recent estimates suggest that they have an origin during the Late Jurassic, with the first fossil records in the Early Cretaceous. About 3,106 species are currently described, with a few hundred more left to be described. Although these insects are often called "white ants", they are not ants, and are not closely related to ants. Like ants and some bees a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of grasses. According to '' Britannica'', there exists four savanna forms; ''savanna woodland'' where trees and shrubs form a light canopy, ''tree savanna'' with scattered trees and shrubs, ''shrub savanna'' with distributed shrubs, and ''grass savanna'' where trees and shrubs are mostly nonexistent.Smith, Jeremy M.B.. "savanna". Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Sep. 2016, https://www.britannica.com/science/savanna/Environment. Accessed 17 September 2022. Savannas maintain an open canopy despite a high tree density. It is often believed that savannas feature widely spaced, scattered trees. However, in many savannas, tree densities are higher and trees are more regularly spaced than in for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
