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Grinde (landform)
A ''grinde'' (plural: ''grinden'') is an almost treeless area of wet heathland found on the rounded bunter sandstone ridges of the Northern Black Forest in Germany. The ''grinden'' reached their greatest extent in the early 19th century when they ran from the Kniebis mountain near Freudenstadt in the south to the heights near Dobel in the north. Today they are restricted to the highest parts of the Northern Black Forest around the summits of the Hornisgrinde, Schliffkopf and Kniebis (900 to ). They still cover an area of about 180 ha. Conservation measures and careful grazing by robust breeds of cattle (especially the Hinterwald), goats and sheep should enable the remaining ''grinden'' to be preserved for their great ecological value and as an important feature of the landscape. Most of them are under conservation orders. Derivation and meaning of the word The German term ''"Grinde"'' comes from Old High German and is related to the Swabian-Alemannic word ''"Grind"'', which mean ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nardus Stricta
''Nardus'' is a genus of plants belonging to the grass family, containing the single species ''Nardus stricta'', known as matgrass. It is placed in its own tribe Nardeae within the subfamily Pooideae. The name derives from ancient Greek ' () from the earlier Akkadian ''lardu''. It is not to be confused with spikenard, '' Nardostachys jatamansi''. Distribution and ecology ''Nardus stricta'' is native to Eurasia (from Iceland and the Azores to Mongolia), North Africa (Algeria, Morocco), and northeastern North America (Greenland, eastern Canada, and the northeastern United States). ''Nardus stricta'' occurs on heath, moorland, hills, and mountains on nutrient poor acidic sandy to peaty soils and is strongly calcifuge, avoiding calcareous soils. It can occur from low elevations to over , becoming a community-dominant in late snow patches on mountains. ''Nardus stricta'' may also become a dominant species in habitats grazed by cattle or sheep because it is tough and unpalatable. It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Capercaillie
''Tetrao'' is a genus of birds in the grouse subfamily known as capercaillies. They are some of the largest living grouse. Taxonomy The genus ''Tetrao'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. The genus name is the Latin word for a game bird, probably a black grouse. The black grouse was included by Linnaeus in the genus ''Tetrao'' but is now placed in the genus '' Lyrurus''. The type species was designated as the western capercaillie (''Tetrao urogallus'') by George Robert Gray in 1840. Species The genus contains two species: The fossil record of this genus is extensive: * ''Tetrao conjugens'' (Early Pliocene of C Europe) * ''Tetrao rhodopensis'' (Early Pliocene of Dorkovo, Bulgaria) * ''Tetrao partium'' (Early Pliocene - Early Pleistocene of SE Europe) * ''Tetrao macropus'' (Late Pliocene - Early Pleistocene of Hungary) * ''Tetrao praeurogallus ''Tetrao'' is a genus of birds in the grouse subfamily ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cottongrass
''Eriophorum'' (cottongrass, cotton-grass or cottonsedge) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cyperaceae, the sedge family. They are found throughout the arctic, subarctic, and temperate portions of the Northern Hemisphere in acid bog habitats, being particularly abundant in Arctic tundra regions.Flora Europaea''Eriophorum''/ref> They are herbaceous perennial plants with slender, grass-like leaves. The seed heads are covered in a fluffy mass of cotton-like fibers which are carried on the wind to aid dispersal. The cotton grass also maintains a height of 12 inches and around 2 inches in water. In cold Arctic regions, these masses of translucent fibres also serve as 'down' – increasing the temperature of the reproductive organs during the Arctic summer by trapping solar radiation. Paper and the wicks of candles have been made of its fiber, and pillows stuffed with the same material. The leaves were formerly used in treating diarrhea, and the spongy pith of the stem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peat Moss
''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, peat moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store water, since both living and dead plants can hold large quantities of water inside their cells; plants may hold 16 to 26 times as much water as their dry weight, depending on the species.Bold, H. C. 1967. Morphology of Plants. second ed. Harper and Row, New York. p. 225-229. The empty cells help retain water in drier conditions. As sphagnum moss grows, it can slowly spread into drier conditions, forming larger mires, both raised bogs and blanket bogs. Thus, sphagnum can influence the composition of such habitats, with some describing sphagnum as 'habitat manipulators'. These peat accumulations then provide habitat for a wide array of peatland plants, including sedges and ericaceous shrubs, as well as orchids and carnivorous plants.Keddy, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bog Bilberry
''Vaccinium uliginosum'' (bog bilberry, bog blueberry, northern bilberry or western blueberry) is a Eurasian and North American flowering plant in the genus ''Vaccinium'' within the heath family. Distribution ''Vaccinium uliginosum'' is native to cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, at low altitudes in the Arctic, and at high altitudes south to the Pyrenees, the Alps, and the Caucasus in Europe, the mountains of Mongolia, northern China, the Korean Peninsula and central Japan in Asia, and the Sierra Nevada in California and the Rocky Mountains in Utah in North America. It grows on wet acidic soils on heathland, moorland, tundra, and in the understory of coniferous forests, from sea level in the Arctic, up to altitude in the south of the range. Description ''Vaccinium uliginosum'' is a small deciduous shrub growing to tall, rarely tall, with brown stems (unlike the green stems of the closely related bilberry). The leaves are oval, long and wide, blue ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bilberry
Bilberries (), or sometimes European blueberries, are a primarily Eurasian species of low-growing shrubs in the genus ''Vaccinium'' (family Ericaceae), bearing edible, dark blue berries. The species most often referred to is '' Vaccinium myrtillus'' L., but there are several other closely related species. Etymology and common names The name "bilberry" appears to have a Scandinavian origin, possibly from as early as 1577, being similar to the Danish word ''bølle'' for whortleberry with the addition of "berry". In Scandinavian languages bilberries have names that translate to "blueberry": ''blåbär'' in Swedish and ''blåbær'' in Danish and Norwegian. The bilberry (especially '' Vaccinium myrtillus'') is also known by a number of other names including blaeberry in Scottish and Northern English regional dialects and the Scots language, whortleberry in southern England, and w(h)imberry or w(h)inberry in Derbyshire, Lancashire, along the Anglo-Welsh border, and south Wal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erica (plant)
''Erica'' is a genus of roughly 857 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. The English common names heath and heather are shared by some closely related genera of similar appearance. The genus '' Calluna'' was formerly included in ''Erica'' – it differs in having even smaller scale-leaves (less than 2–3 mm long), and the flower corolla consisting of separate petals. ''Erica'' is sometimes referred to as "winter (or spring) heather" to distinguish it from ''Calluna'' "summer (or autumn) heather". Etymology The Latin word ''erica'' means "heath" or "broom". It is believed that Pliny adapted ''erica'' from Ancient Greek ἐρείκη. The expected Anglo-Latin pronunciation, , may be given in dictionaries ('' OED'': "Erica"), but is more commonly heard. Description Most of the species of ''Erica'' are small shrubs from high, though some are taller; the tallest are '' E. arborea'' (tree heath) and '' E. scoparia'' (besom heath), both of which can reach ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moor Grass
''Molinia'', or moor grass, is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the grass family, native to damp moorland in Eurasia and northern Africa. They are both herbaceous perennial grasses. The genus is named after Juan Ignacio Molina, a 19th-century Chilean naturalist. ; Species * ''Molinia caerulea'' (L.) Moench - (purple moor grass) - Eurasia + northern Africa from Ireland + Morocco to Ethiopia + Kazakhstan; naturalized in parts of United States + Canada * ''Molinia japonica'' Hack. (Japanese moor grass) - Japan, Korea, Anhui, Zhejiang, Sakhalin, Kuril ; formerly included see '' Arctophila Catabrosa Cleistogenes Diarrhena Disakisperma Festuca Glyceria Poa Puccinellia ''Puccinellia'' is a genus of plants in the grass family, known as alkali grass or salt grass. These grasses grow in wet environments, often in saline or alkaline conditions. They are native to temperate to Arctic regions of the Northern and S ...'' References Molinieae Bunchgrasses of Afri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deergrass '' - a species in the sedge family native to Europe, Asia and North America
{{Plant common name ...
Deergrass or deer grass is a common name for several plants and may refer to: *''Muhlenbergia rigens'' - a perennial bunchgrass native to the southwestern United States and Mexico *''Rhexia'' - a genus of plants in the family Melastomataceae *''Trichophorum cespitosum ''Trichophorum cespitosum'', commonly known as deergrass or tufted bulrush, is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family. It was originally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1753 as ''Scirpus cespitosus'', but was trans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conglomerate (rock)
Conglomerate () is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed of a substantial fraction of rounded to subangular gravel-size clasts. A conglomerate typically contains a matrix of finer-grained sediments, such as sand, silt, or clay, which fills the interstices between the clasts. The clasts and matrix are typically cemented by calcium carbonate, iron oxide, silica, or hardened clay. Conglomerates form by the consolidation and lithification of gravel. They can be found in sedimentary rock sequences of all ages but probably make up less than 1 percent by weight of all sedimentary rocks. In terms of origin and depositional mechanisms, they are closely related to sandstones and exhibit many of the same types of sedimentary structures, e.g., tabular and trough cross-bedding and graded bedding.Boggs, S. (2006) ''Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy.'', 2nd ed. Prentice Hall, New York. 662 pp. Friedman, G.M. (2003) ''Classification of sediments and sedimentary rocks.'' In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
