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Galápagos Islands Xeric Scrub
The Galápagos Islands xeric scrub, also known as the Galápagos Islands scrubland mosaic, is a terrestrial deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion that covers the Galápagos Islands. The Galápagos Islands are volcanic in origin, and remote from continents and other islands. The ecoregion is well known for its unique endemic species, including giant tortoises, birds, and marine iguanas, which evolved in isolation to adapt to islands' environments. Geography The Galápagos Islands lie in the Pacific Ocean, about 960 km west of the South American mainland. They are politically part of Ecuador. The Galápagos archipelago consists of 128 named islands. There are 13 islands larger than 10 km2, 19 larger than 1 km2, 42 islets smaller than 1 km2, and at least 26 emergent rocks. The total land area of the archipelago is 8032 km2. Isabela is the largest and highest island, with an area of 4,588 km2 and reaching an elevation of 1,707 meters. The islands are volcanic in origin, formed by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Cristóbal Island
San Cristóbal Island (), also known as Chatham Island, is the easternmost island in the Galápagos archipelago, as well as one of the oldest geologically. It is administratively part of San Cristóbal Canton, Ecuador. Names ''San Cristóbal'' is Spanish for Saint Christopher, reckoned in Catholicism as the patron saint of sailors. The English pirate William Ambrosia Cowley named it Dassigney's Island in 1684, later shortened to Dassigney or Dassigny Island, in honor of Philip Dassigny, the member of Bartholomew Sharp's crew who translated the Spanish atlas that saved the captain from being hanged for piracy. The British captain James Colnett renamed it Lord Chatham Island in 1793 after John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham and First Lord of the Admiralty, on the specious claim it had never been previously charted. Colnett also named Kicker Rock, which lies in Stephens Bay, on the western side of the island. That name is thought to be a reference to two English navigationa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ipomoea Pes-caprae
''Ipomoea pes-caprae'', also known as bayhops, bay-hops, beach morning glory, railroad vine, or goat's foot, is a common pantropical creeping vine belonging to the family Convolvulaceae. It grows on the upper parts of beaches and endures salted air. It is one of the most common and most widely distributed salt tolerant plants and provides one of the best known examples of oceanic dispersal. Its seeds float and are unaffected by salt water. Originally described by Linnaeus, it was placed in its current genus by Robert Brown in 1818. Description ''Ipomoea pes-caprae'' is a prostrate perennial, often covering large areas; stems long-trailing often several metres in length, rooting at the nodes, glabrous. It has pink, fused petals with a darker centre. The fruit is a capsule containing 4 hairy seeds that float in water. Distribution This species can be found on the sandy shores of the tropical Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. A similar species, ''Ipomoea imperati'', with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opuntia
''Opuntia'', commonly called the prickly pear cactus, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae, many known for their flavorful fruit and showy flowers. Cacti are native to the Americas, and are well adapted to arid climates; however, they are still vulnerable to alterations in precipitation and temperature driven by climate change. The plant has been introduced to parts of Australia, southern Europe, the Middle East, and northern Africa. ''Prickly pear'' alone is more commonly used to refer exclusively to the fruit, but may also be used for the plant itself; in addition, other names given to the plant and its specific parts include ''tuna'' (fruit), ''sabra'', ''sabbar'', '' nopal'' (pads, plural ''nopales'') from the Nahuatl word , nostle (fruit) from the Nahuatl word , and paddle cactus. The genus is named for the Ancient Greek city of Opus. The fruit and leaves are edible. The most common culinary species is the "Barbary fig" ('' Opuntia ficus-indica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cacti
A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek word (''káktos''), a name originally used by Theophrastus for a spiny plant whose identity is now not certain. Cacti occur in a wide range of shapes and sizes. They are native to the Americas, ranging from Patagonia in the south to parts of western Canada in the north, with the exception of '' Rhipsalis baccifera'', which is also found in Africa and Sri Lanka. Cacti are adapted to live in very dry environments, including the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth. Because of this, cacti show many adaptations to conserve water. For example, almost all cacti are succulents, meaning they have thickened, fleshy parts adapted to store water. Unlike many other succulents, the stem is the only part of most cacti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bursera Malacophylla
''Bursera malacophylla'' is a species of plant in the Burseraceae family. It is endemic to Ecuador, found only in the Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands () are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, located around the equator, west of the mainland of South America. They form the Galápagos Province of the Republic of Ecuador, with a population of sli ..., and listed as "vulnerable." ''Bursera malacophylla'' is a tree with grayish-brown bark. Leaves are pinnately compound with 7 or 9 leaflets. line drawing of ''Bursera malacophylla'', figure 2 at lower left References [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Psidium Galapageium
''Psidium oligospermum'', the Galápagos guava or guayabillo, is a small tree or shrub native to the tropical Americas, ranging from Mexico through the Revillagigedo Islands, Central America, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Windward Islands, the Galápagos Islands, and South America to central Brazil and northwestern Argentina. Description ''Psidium oligospermum'' is either a small tree or shrub that ranges up to in height and up to in diameter, with smooth, pinkish-grey Bark (botany), bark. It has wide-spreading branches with dotted grey Glossary of botanical terms#branchlet, branchlets with reddish to white or yellowish "trichomes" or hairs. The branchlets tend to become more smooth at the edges and the bark more stringy, and the Glossary of botanical terms#terminal, terminal branchlets and Leaf, leaves are sometimes covered with a Glossary of botanical terms#scurf, scurfy reddish bloom.Duncan M. Porter (1968) ''Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden: Psidium (Myrtaceae) in the Galapa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pisonia Floribunda
''Pisonia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the four o'clock flower family, Nyctaginaceae. It was named for Dutch physician and naturalist Willem Piso (1611–1678). Certain species in this genus are known as catchbirdtrees, birdcatcher trees or birdlime trees because they catch birds. The sticky seeds are postulated to be an adaptation of some island species that ensures the dispersal of seeds between islands by attaching them to birds, and also allows the enriching of coralline sands. (Should a fledgling fall to the ground, become entangled in the ''Pisonia'' sticky seeds, and be unable to free itself, then it will starve, and so enrich the soil within the tree's rootzone.) These island species include '' P. brunoniana'' of Australasia and Polynesia and '' P. umbellifera'', which is widespread in the tropical Indo-Pacific region. Species 27 species are accepted. *''Pisonia aculeata'' L. – pullback (pantropical) *''Pisonia albida'' (Heimerl) Britton ex Standl. &nda ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bursera Graveolens
''Bursera graveolens'', known in Spanish as palo santo ('sacred wood'), is a wild tree native to the Yucatán Peninsula and also found in Peru and Venezuela. ''Bursera'' ''graveolens'' is found in the seasonally dry tropical forests of Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, and on the Galápagos Islands. The tree belongs to the same family (Burseraceae) as frankincense and myrrh. It is widely used in ritual purification and as folk medicine for stomach aches, as a sudorific, and as liniment for rheumatism. Aged heartwood is rich in terpenes such as limonene and α-terpineol. Conservation In 2006, the government of Peru listed ''Bursera graveolens'' as "In Critical Danger" (En Peligro Critico (CR)) under Decree 043-2006-AG, banning the cutting of live trees and allowing only for the collection of naturally fallen or dead trees. However, in 2014, it was removed from the SERFOR (National Forest and Wildlife Service ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conocarpus Erectus
''Conocarpus erectus'', commonly called buttonwood or button mangrove, is a hardy species of mangrove shrub in the family Combretaceae. Taxonomy These two varieties are not accepted as distinct by all authorities: *''C. e.'' var. ''erectus'' - green buttonwood, leaves thinly hairy or hairless *''C. e.'' var. ''sericeus'' - silver buttonwood, leaves densely silvery-hairy Distribution and habitat It grows on shorelines in tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas and west Africa. It is generally found growing in brackish water in tidal lagoons and bays, but can grow in inland habitats, with records at up to altitude in Costa Rica. Locations it is known from include Florida, Bermuda, the West Indies, Central and South America from Mexico to Brazil on the Atlantic Coast and Mexico to Peru on the Pacific Coast, as well as the western African coast. It was introduced in Kuwait and Western Australia due to its propensity to thrive in high temperatures and absorbing brackis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laguncularia Racemosa
''Laguncularia'' is a genus of plants in the family Combretaceae. The only species in the genus is ''Laguncularia racemosa'', the white mangrove. 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 frui ... [...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 northern Florida 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 oft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhizophora Mangle
''Rhizophora mangle'', also known as the red mangrove, is a salt-tolerant, small-to-medium sized evergreen tree restricted to coastal, estuarine ecosystems along the southern portions of North America, the Caribbean as well as Central America and tropical West Africa. Its 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 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. The name refers to the red colour on the inner part of its roots when halved, so it does not display any red colour in its regular appearance. In its native habitat it is threatened by invasive species such as the Brazilian pepper tree ''(Schinus terebinthifolius)''. The red mangrove itself is co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
