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Horned Melon
''Cucumis metuliferus'', commonly called the African horned cucumber, horned melon, spiked melon, jelly melon, kiwano, or cuke-a-saurus is an annual vine in the cucumber and melon family, ''Cucurbitaceae''. Its fruit has horn-like spines, hence the name "horned melon". The ripe fruit has orange skin and lime green, jelly-like flesh. ''C. metuliferus'' is native to Southern Africa. It is found in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Angola. Kiwano is a traditional food plant in Africa. Along with the Gemsbok cucumber (''Acanthosicyos naudinianus'') and Tsamma (Citron melon) it is one of the few sources of water during the dry season in the Kalahari Desert. ''Parc de Khal-agadi, pas si désert'', in Science & Vie n° 1130, November 2011, pp. 18-21. In northern Zimbabwe it is called ''gaka'' or ''gakachika'', and is primarily used as a snack or salad, and rarely for decoration. It can be eaten at any stage of ripening. The fruit's taste has been comp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vine
A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Daydon (1928). ''A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Derivation and Accent'', 4th ed. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co. In parts of the world, including the British Isles, the term "vine" usually applies exclusively to grapevines (''Vitis''), while the term "climber" is used for all climbing plants. Growth forms Certain plants always grow as vines, while a few grow as vines only part of the time. For instance, poison ivy and bittersweet can grow as low shrubs when support is not available, but will become vines when support is available. A vine displays a growth form based on very long stems. This has two purposes. A vine may use rock exposures, other plants, or other ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kalahari Desert
The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savanna in Southern Africa extending for , covering much of Botswana, and parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African Namib coastal desert, whose name is of Khoekhoegowab origin and means "vast place". Etymology ''Kalahari'' is derived from the Tswana word ''Kgala'', meaning "the great thirst", or ''Kgalagadi'', meaning "a waterless place"; the Kalahari has vast areas covered by red sand without any permanent surface water. History The Kalahari Desert was not always a dry desert. The fossil flora and fauna from Gcwihaba Cave in Botswana indicates that the region was much wetter and cooler at least from 30 to 11 thousand BP (before present) especially after 17,500 BP. Geography Drainage of the desert is by dry black valleys, seasonally inundated pans and the large salt pans of the Makgadikgadi Pan in Botswana and Etosha Pan in Namibia. The only permanent river, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desert Fruits
A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the land surface of the Earth is arid or semi-arid. This includes much of the polar regions, where little precipitation occurs, and which are sometimes called polar deserts or "cold deserts". Deserts can be classified by the amount of precipitation that falls, by the temperature that prevails, by the causes of desertification or by their geographical location. Deserts are formed by weathering processes as large variations in temperature between day and night put strains on the rocks, which consequently break in pieces. Although rain seldom occurs in deserts, there are occasional downpours that can result in flash floods. Rain falling on hot rocks can cause them to shatter, and the resulting fragments and rubble strewn over the ... [...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] |
Powdery Mildew
Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that affects a wide range of plants. Powdery mildew diseases are caused by many different species of ascomycete fungi in the order Erysiphales. Powdery mildew is one of the easier plant diseases to identify, as its symptoms are quite distinctive. Infected plants display white powdery spots on the leaves and stems. The lower leaves are the most affected, but the mildew can appear on any above-ground part of the plant. As the disease progresses, the spots get larger and denser as large numbers of asexual spores are formed, and the mildew may spread up and down the length of the plant. Powdery mildew grows well in environments with high humidity and moderate temperatures. Greenhouses provide an ideal moist, temperate environment for the spread of the disease. This causes harm to agricultural and horticultural practices where powdery mildew may thrive in a greenhouse setting. In an agricultural or horticultural setting, the pathogen can be controlle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greenhouse Whitefly
''Trialeurodes vaporariorum'', commonly known as the glasshouse whitefly or greenhouse whitefly, is an insect that inhabits the world's temperate regions. Like various other whiteflies, it is a primary insect pest of many fruit, vegetable and ornamental crops. It is frequently found in glasshouses ( greenhouses), polytunnels, and other protected horticultural environments. Adults are 1–2 mm in length, with yellowish bodies and four wax-coated wings held near parallel to the leaf surface. Life cycle Females are capable of mating less than 24 hours after emergence and most frequently lay their eggs on the undersides of leaves. Eggs are pale yellow in colour, before turning grey prior to hatching. Newly hatched nymphs, often known as crawlers, are the only mobile immature life-stage. During the first and second nymph instars, the appearance is that of a pale yellow/translucent, flat scale which can be difficult to distinguish with the naked eye. During the fourth and final ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fusarium Wilt
Fusarium wilt is a common vascular wilt fungal disease, exhibiting symptoms similar to Verticillium wilt. This disease has been investigated extensively since the early years of this century. The pathogen that causes Fusarium wilt is ''Fusarium oxysporum'' (''F. oxysporum'').Snyder, W.C. and Hansen, H.N. 1940. The species concept in Fusarium. Am. J. Bot. 27:64-67. The species is further divided into ''formae speciales'' based on host plant. Hosts and symptoms The fungal pathogen ''Fusarium oxysporum'' affects a wide variety of hosts of any age. Tomato, tobacco, legumes, cucurbits, sweet potatoes and banana are a few of the most susceptible plants, but it also infects other herbaceous plants. ''F. oxysporum'' generally produces symptoms such as wilting, chlorosis, necrosis, premature leaf drop, browning of the vascular system, stunting and damping-off. The most important of these is vascular wilt. Fusarium wilt starts out looking like vein clearing on the younger leaves and droo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Squash Mosaic Virus
''Squash mosaic virus'' (SqMV) is a mosaic virus disease common in squash plants and other plants, including melons, of the family Cucurbitaceae. It occurs worldwide. It is transmitted primarily by beetles, including the leaf beetle ('' Acalymma trivittata''), spotted cucumber beetle (''Diabrotica undecimpunctata''), and 28-spotted ladybird beetle ('' Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata''), as well as some other beetles. Plants are infected by the saliva expelled by the beetles as they feed upon the plant. The beetles acquire the virus by feeding upon an infected plant and can retain the virus in their bodies for up to 20 days. Unlike some other mosaic viruses that infect squashes, SqMV is not spread by aphids. In melons it can be spread by seeds. The results are dark green mosaic, blistering, vein clearing, yellowing of leaves, and hardening. Symptoms include "pronounced chlorotic mottle, green veinbanding, and distortion of leaves". Fruits of infected plants are also affected, bec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Watermelon Mosaic Virus
''Watermelon mosaic virus'' (WMV) also known as Marrow mosaic virus (Raychaudhuri and Varma, 1975; Varma, 1988), Melon mosaic virus (Iwaki et al., 1984; Komuro, 1962), and until recently Watermelon mosaic virus type 2 (WMV-2), is a plant pathogenic virus that causes viral infection (sometimes referred to as watermelon Mosaic disease) in many different plants. The virus itself is referred to as Watermelon Mosaic Virus II or WMV-2 and is an isolate of the U.S. WMV-2 is a ssRNA positive strand virus that is part of the Potyviridae or Potyvirus clade. Like all RNA viruses, it contains a protein capsid which protects the inner viral RNA. First described on squash in Florida, WMV arose from a unique recombination of genetic material contributed by '' Soybean mosaic virus (SMV)'' and ''Bean common mosaic virus (BCMV)'' along with ''Peanut Stripe virus (PSV)''. Biology WMV is a potyvirus whose particles are 760 nm long flexuous rods which has a single strand of RNA. This particular ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dietary Fiber
Dietary fiber (in British English fibre) or roughage is the portion of plant-derived food that cannot be completely broken down by human digestive enzymes. Dietary fibers are diverse in chemical composition, and can be grouped generally by their solubility, viscosity, and fermentability, which affect how fibers are processed in the body. Dietary fiber has two main components: soluble fiber and insoluble fiber, which are components of plant-based foods, such as legumes, whole grains and cereals, vegetables, fruits, and nuts or seeds. A diet high in regular fiber consumption is generally associated with supporting health and lowering the risk of several diseases. Dietary fiber consists of non- starch polysaccharides and other plant components such as cellulose, resistant starch, resistant dextrins, inulin, lignins, chitins (in fungi), pectins, beta-glucans, and oligosaccharides. Food sources of dietary fiber have traditionally been divided according to whether they provide s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vitamin C
Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) and wrinkles on the face. It is used to prevent and treat scurvy. Vitamin C is an essential nutrient involved in the repair of tissue, the formation of collagen, and the enzymatic production of certain neurotransmitters. It is required for the functioning of several enzymes and is important for immune system function. It also functions as an antioxidant. Most animals are able to synthesize their own vitamin C. However, apes (including humans) and monkeys (but not all primates), most bats, some rodents, and certain other animals must acquire it from dietary sources. There is some evidence that regular use of supplements may reduce the duration of the common cold, but it does not appear to prevent infection. It is unclear whether supple ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lime (fruit)
A lime (from French language, French ''lime'', from Arabic ''līma'', from Persian language, Persian ''līmū'', "lemon") is a citrus fruit, which is typically round, lime (color), green in color, in diameter, and contains acidic juice vesicles. There are several species of citrus trees whose fruits are called limes, including the Key lime (''Citrus aurantiifolia''), Persian lime, kaffir lime, Makrut lime, and Citrus glauca, desert lime. Limes are a rich source of vitamin C, are sour, and are often used to accent the flavours of foods and beverages. They are grown year-round. Plants with fruit called "limes" have diverse genetic origins; limes do not form a monophyletic group. Plants known as "lime" The difficulty in identifying exactly which species of fruit are called lime in different parts of the English-speaking world (and the same problem applies to synonyms in other European languages) is increased by the botanical complexity of the citrus genus itself, to which the m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
