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Flora Of Belize
The flora of Belize is highly diverse by regional standards, given the country's small geographical extent. Situated on the Caribbean coast of northern Central America the flora and vegetation have been intimately intertwined with Belize's history. The nation itself grew out of British timber extraction activities from the 17th century onwards, at first for logwood (''Haematoxylum campechianum'') and later for mahogany ('' Swietenia macrophylla''), fondly called "red gold" because of its high cost and was much sought after by European aristocracy. Central America generally is thought to have gained much of it characteristic flora during the "Great American interchange" during which time South American elements migrated north after the geological closure of the isthmus of Panama. Few Amazonian elements penetrate as far north as Belize and in species composition the forests of Belize are most similar to the forests of the Petén (Guatemala) and the Yucatán (Mexico). Vegetation typ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Central America consists of eight countries: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. Within Central America is the Mesoamerican biodiversity hotspot, which extends from northern Guatemala to central Panama. Due to the presence of several active geologic faults and the Central America Volcanic Arc, there is a high amount of seismic activity in the region, such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes which has resulted in death, injury, and property damage. In the pre-Columbian era, Central America was inhabited by the indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica to the north and west and the Isthmo-Colombian peoples to the south and east. Following the Spanish expedition of Christopher Columbus' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quercus Oleoides
''Quercus oleoides'', with Spanish common names encina or encino, is a Mesoamerican species of oak in the live oak group (''Quercus'' sect. ''Virentes''). It grows in dry forests and pastureland of eastern and southern Mexico and much of Central America, from Guanacaste Province in Costa Rica north as far as the State of Tamaulipas in northeastern Mexico. ''Quercus oleoides'' is a slow-growing tree, reaching in height. Its pale gray leaves are evergreen, thick, hard, long, wide, oblong or elliptic. It flowers from December through May, with male catkin A catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster (a spike), with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind-pollinated (anemophilous) but sometimes insect-pollinated (as in ''Salix''). They contain many, usually unisexual flowers, arranged cl ...s that are long, and female catkins that are long, containing one to six flowers, each about 7 mm long. Its wood is extremely heavy with intercrossed grains; the sapwood i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laguncularia Racemosa
''Laguncularia racemosa'', the white mangrove, is a species of flowering plant in the leadwood tree family, Combretaceae. It is native to the coasts of western Africa from Senegal to Cameroon, the Atlantic Coast of the Americas from Bermuda and Florida to the Bahamas, Mexico, the Caribbean, and south to Brazil; and on the Pacific Coast of the Americas from Mexico to northwestern Peru, including the Galápagos Islands. It is a mangrove tree, growing to tall. The bark is gray-brown or reddish, and rough and fissured. Pneumatophores and/or prop roots may be present, depending on environmental conditions. The leaves are opposite, elliptical, long, and broad, rounded at both ends, entire, smooth, leathery in texture, slightly fleshy, without visible veins, and yellow-green in color. The petiole is stout, reddish, and long, with two small glands near the blade that exude sugars. The white, bell-shaped flowers are mostly bisexual and about long. The fruit is a reddish-brown dr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avicennia Germinans
''Avicennia germinans'', the black mangrove, is a shrub or small tree growing up to 12 meters (39 feet) in the acanthus family, Acanthaceae. It grows in tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, on both the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, and on the Atlantic Coast of tropical Africa, where it thrives on the sandy and muddy shores where seawater reaches. It is common throughout coastal areas of Texas and Florida, and ranges as far north as southern Louisiana and coastal Georgia in the United States. Like many other mangrove species, it reproduces by vivipary. Seeds are encased in a fruit, which reveals the germinated seedling when it falls into the water. Unlike other mangrove species, it does not grow on prop roots, but possesses pneumatophores that allow its roots to breathe even when submerged. It is a hardy species and expels absorbed salt mainly from its leathery leaves. The name "black mangrove" refers to the color of the trunk and heartwood. The leaves often appear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhizophora Mangle
''Rhizophora mangle'', the red mangrove, is distributed in Estuary, estuarine ecosystems throughout the tropics. Its Vivipary, viviparous "seeds", in actuality called propagules, become fully mature plants before dropping off the parent tree. These are dispersed by water until eventually embedding in the shallows. ''Rhizophora mangle'' grows on Aerial root#Aerial roots as supports, aerial prop roots, which arch above the water level, giving stands of this tree the characteristic "mangrove" appearance. It is a valuable plant in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas coastal ecosystems. In its native habitat it is threatened by invasive species such as the Brazilian pepper tree ''(Schinus terebinthifolius)''. The red mangrove itself is considered an invasive species in some locations, such as Hawaii, where it forms dense, monoculture, monospecific thickets. ''R. mangle'' thickets, however, provide nesting and hunting habitat for a diverse array of organisms, including fish, birds, and cro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astrocaryum Mexicanum
''Astrocaryum mexicanum'', the chocho palm, cohune palm, or chapay, is a species of cocosoid palm in the family Arecaceae The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees ..., native to Mexico and Central America. It is very long-lived for a palm, reaching 140 years. Local people harvest its young inflorescences, its seeds, and its hearts for food. Covered with stout spines, it is hardy to USDA zone 10a, and is occasionally planted as an ornamental in places such as Hawaii and Southern California. References mexicanum Flora of Southwestern Mexico Flora of Veracruz Flora of Southeastern Mexico Flora of Guatemala Flora of Belize Flora of El Salvador Flora of Honduras Flora of Nicaragua Flora of Costa Rica Plants described in 1853 {{Cocoseae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virola Brachycarpa
''Virola'' is a genus of medium-sized trees native to the South American rainforest and closely related to other Myristicaceae, such as nutmeg. Species are known commonly as ''epená'', ''patricá'', or ''cumala''. They have glossy, dark green leaves and clusters of tiny yellow flowers, and may emit a pungent odor. Traditional use Several species of this genus have been used to create hallucinogenic snuff powders. Chemical constituents The tops of '' Virola oleifera'' have been shown to produce lignan-7-ols and verrucosin that have antifungal action regarding ''Cladosporium sphaerospermum'' in doses as low as 25 micrograms. Lignan-7-ols oleiferin-B and oleiferin-G worked for ''Cladosporium cladosporioides'' starting as low as 10 micrograms. Species About 76 species, including: *''Virola aequatorialis'' *''Virola albidiflora'' *''Virola araujovii'' *''Virola atopa'' *''Virola bicuhyba'' *''Virola boliviensis'' *''Virola brachycarpa'' *''Virola caducifolia'' *''Virola calophylla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swietenia
''Swietenia'' is a genus of trees in the chinaberry family, Meliaceae. It occurs natively in the Neotropics, from southern Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America south to Bolivia. The genus is named for Dutch-Austrian physician Gerard van Swieten (1700-1772). The wood of ''Swietenia'' trees is known as mahogany. Overview The genus was introduced into several Asian countries as a replacement source of mahogany timber around the time it was restricted in its native locations in the late 1990s. Trade in Asian grown plantation mahogany is not restricted. Fiji and India are the largest exporters of plantation mahogany and wild mahogany remains commercially unavailable to this day. It is usually taken to consist of three species, geographically separated. They are medium-sized to large trees growing to 20–45 m tall, and up to trunk diameter. The leaves are 10–30 cm long, pinnate, with 3-6 pairs of leaflets, the terminal leaflet absent; each leaflet is 5–1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Podocarpus Guatemalensis
''Podocarpus guatemalensis'' is a species of conifer in the family Podocarpaceae. Its common names include ''ocotillo de llano'', ''cypress de montaña'', ''cipresillo'', ''alfajillo'', ''pinillo'', ''palo de oro'', and ''piño de montaña''. Distribution ''Podocarpus guatemalensis'' is a shrub and/or small tree found in namesake Guatemala, and also from southern Mexico through Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama in Central America, to Venezuela and Colombia in northern South America. ''Podocarpus guatemalensis'' is a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List. Some populations are threatened by habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ..., but some occur in protected areas. References guatemalensis Flora of Cen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pinus Rudis
''Pinus hartwegii'' ( syn. ''P. rudis'', ''P. donnell-smithii''), Hartweg's pine or pino de las alturas, is a pine native to the mountains of Mexico and Central America east to Honduras. It is named after Karl Theodor Hartweg Karl Theodor Hartweg (18 June 1812 – 3 February 1871) was a German botanist. He collected numerous new species of plants in Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and California in the United States, collecting for the London Horticultural Soc ..., who described it in 1838. Distribution ''Pinus hartwegii'' is a very high elevation species, growing at elevations of . It forms the alpine tree line on most of Mexico's higher mountains. It grows on both the Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra Madre Oriental (mountain ranges) (29° North latitude) from Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua State and Nuevo León (26°) to the highest peaks in the mountain ranges on the El Salvador— Honduras border (15° North latitude). In the Sierra Madre Occidental this pine grow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pinus Oocarpa
''Pinus oocarpa'' is a species of pine tree native to Mexico and Central America. It is the national tree of Honduras, where it is known as ocote. Common names include ocote chino, pino amarillo, pino avellano, Mexican yellow pine, egg-cone pine and hazelnut pine. It appears that it was the progenitor (original) species that served as the ancestor for some of the other pines of Mexico. Pinus oocarpa is the national tree of Honduras. Habitat and range This species ranges from latitudes of 14° to 29° north, including western Mexico, Guatemala and the higher elevations of Honduras, El Salvador and northwestern Nicaragua. An average temperature of and annual rainfall of are needed for best development. Preferred elevations are above sea level. In El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua it grows above . ''Pinus oocarpa'' var. ''trifoliata'' grows between above sea level. Uses It is an important source of commercial timber in Honduras and Central America. ''Pinus oocarpa'' was intr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pinus Ayacahuite
''Pinus ayacahuite'', also called ayacahuite pine and Mexican white pine, (family Pinaceae) is a species of pine native to the mountains of southern Mexico and western Central America, in the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains and the eastern end of the Eje Volcánico Transversal, between 14° and 21°N latitude in the Mexican states of Guerrero, Oaxaca, Puebla, Veracruz and Chiapas, and in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. It grows on relatively moist areas with summer rainfalls, however specimens from its eastern and southern distribution live under really wet conditions; it needs full sun and well drained soils. Its temperature needs fluctuate between 19 and 10 °C on average a year. This tree accepts from subtropical to cool climate. ''Pinus ayacahuite'' is a large tree, regularly growing to 30–45 m and exceptionally up to 50 m tall. It is a member of the white pine group, ''Pinus'' subgenus ''Strobus'', and like all members of that group, the leaves ('needles') are in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
