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Kanneliya–Dediyagala–Nakiyadeniya
Kanneliya–Dediyagala–Nakiyadeniya or KDN is a forest complex in southern Sri Lanka. The forest complex designated as a biosphere reserve in 2004 by UNESCO. The KDN complex is the last large remaining rainforest in Sri Lanka other than Sinharaja. This forest area has been identified as one of the floristically richest areas in South Asia. The forest complex is situated 35 km northwest of city of Galle. The rain forest is a major catchment area for two of the most important rivers in southern Sri Lanka, the Gin and Nilwala Rivers. This biosphere reserve harbors many plants and animal species endemic to Sri Lanka. Physical features The biosphere consists series of parallel mountain ranges and valleys. The elevation ranges from 60 m to 425 m above sea level. Mean annual temperature is 27.0 °C while annual temperature variation is 4 °C-5 °C. The forest receives a substantial rainfall of 3,750 mm. Many ancient taxonomic groups of Gondwana are p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Province, Sri Lanka
The Southern Province ( si, දකුණු පළාත ''Dakuṇu Paḷāta'', ta, தென் மாகாணம் ''Theṉ Mākāṇam'') of Sri Lanka is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative division of the country. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but did not have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. It is the 7th largest province by area and is home to 2.5 million people, the 3rd most populated province. The province is bordered by Sabaragamuwa Province and Uva Province to the North, Eastern Province to the Northeast, Western Province to the Northwest and the Indian Ocean to the South, West and East. The Province's capital is Galle. The Southern Province is a geographic area consisting of the districts of Galle, Matara and Hambantota. Subsistence farming and fishing is the main source of income for the vast majority of the people of this ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemism
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can be also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or in scientific literature as an ''endemite''. For example '' Cytisus aeolicus'' is an endemite of the Italian flora. '' Adzharia renschi'' was once believed to be an endemite of the Caucasus, but it was later discovered to be a non-indigenous species from South America belonging to a different genus. The extreme opposite of an endemic species is one with a cosmopolitan distribution, having a global or widespread range. A rare alternative term for a species that is endemic is "precinctive", which applies to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tinospora Cordifolia
''Tinospora cordifolia'' (common names gurjo, heart-leaved moonseed, guduchi or giloy) is a herbaceous vine of the family Menispermaceae indigenous to tropical regions of the Indian subcontinent. It has been used in Ayurveda to treat various disorders, but there is no clinical evidence for the effectiveness of such treatment. Botanical description It is a large, deciduous, extensively-spreading, climbing vine with several elongated twining branches. Leaves are simple, alternate, and exstipulate with long petioles up to long which are roundish and pulvinate, both at the base and apex with the basal one longer and twisted partially and half way around. It gets its name heart-leaved moonseed by its heart-shaped leaves and its reddish fruit. Lamina are broadly ovate or ovate cordate, long or broad, seven nerved and deeply cordate at base, membranous, pubescent above, whitish tomentose with a prominent reticulum beneath. Flowers are unisexual, small on separate plants and appearin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salacia Reticulata
''Salacia reticulata'' is a flowering plant of the genus ''Salacia'' native to Sri Lanka and the Andaman Islands. It grows in dry zone forests in Sri Lanka. In ayurvedic medicine, it is known as ''kothala himbutu'' (කොතල හිඹුටු) in Sinhala. Description ''Salacia reticulata'' is a climbing, perennial, woody shrub. The plant has dichotomous branching pattern. The bark is smooth, greenish grey in colour, thin, and white internally. The leaves are opposite and elliptic-oblong. The leaves have acute bases, abruptly acuminate apexes, and a margin with minute rounded teeth. The flowers are bisexual and arranged in clusters of 2-8 in the leaf axils. They are greenish-white to greenish-yellow in color. The fruit is a drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coscinium Fenestratum
''Coscinium fenestratum'', or yellow vine as it is sometimes referred to in English, is a flowering woody climber, native to South Asia and Mainland Southeast Asia. It is rare and critically endangered in many of its habitats. ''Coscinium fenestratum'' is a member of the family Menispermaceae and the genus '' Coscinium''. The plant is known by many different names, such as: Tree turmeric, False calumba, Colombo weed, Weniwel, Daru Haridra (in Sanskrit), Mara Manjal (in Tamil and Malayalam), Haem herb (in Thai), Voer Romiet (in Khmer),Ashwell, D. and Walston, N. (2008): An overview of the use and trade of plants and animals in traditional medicine systems in Cambodia'. TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, Greater Mekong Programme, Ha Noi, Viet Nam. etc.. Description ''Coscinium fenestratum'' is a sturdy woody climber with leathery, shiny leaves and bright yellow sap. It is dioecious, flowering and fruiting in August to October. The fruits consists of one or two drupes up to across. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herbalism
Herbal medicine (also herbalism) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern remedies, such as the anti-malarial group of drugs called artemisinin isolated from '' Artemisia annua'', a herb that was known in Chinese medicine to treat fever. There is limited scientific evidence for the safety and efficacy of plants used in 21st century herbalism, which generally does not provide standards for purity or dosage. The scope of herbal medicine commonly includes fungal and bee products, as well as minerals, shells and certain animal parts. Herbal medicine is also called phytomedicine or phytotherapy. Paraherbalism describes alternative and pseudoscientific practices of using unrefined plant or animal extracts as unproven medicines or health-promoting agents. Paraherbalism relies on the belief that preserving various ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emergent Layer
Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest, but other types have been described. Estimates vary from 40% to 75% of all biotic species being indigenous to the rainforests. There may be many millions of species of plants, insects and microorganisms still undiscovered in tropical rainforests. Tropical rainforests have been called the "jewels of the Earth" and the " world's largest pharmacy", because over one quarter of natural medicines have been discovered there. Rainforests as well as endemic rainforest species are rapidly disappearing due to deforestation, the resulting habitat loss and pollution of the atmosphere. Definition Rainforest are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, high humidity, the presence of moisture-dependent vegetation, a moist layer of lea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinhalese Language
Sinhala ( ; , ''siṁhala'', ), sometimes called Sinhalese (), is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka, who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 million. Sinhala is also spoken as the first language by other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, totalling about 2 million people as of 2001. It is written using the Sinhala script, which is a Brahmic script closely related to the Grantha script of South India. Sinhala is one of the official and national languages of Sri Lanka. Along with Pali, it played a major role in the development of Theravada Buddhist literature. The early form of the Sinhala language, is attested as early as the 3rd century BCE. The language of these inscriptions with long vowels and aspirated consonants is a Prakrit similar to Magadhi, a regional associate of the Middle Indian Prakrits that has been used during the time of the Buddha. The closest relatives are the Vedda language (an endangered, i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesua
''Mesua'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Calophyllaceae,Stephens, P.F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008. http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/Research/APweb/ native to tropical southern Asia. Common names include ironwood (shared with many other plants) and rose chestnut. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees growing to 13 m tall, with leaves arranged in opposite pairs. Species ''Plants of the World Online'' currently includes: * ''Mesua assamica'' (King & Prain) Kosterm. (syn. ''Kayea assamica'') * ''Mesua beccariana'' (Baill.) Kosterm. * ''Mesua calophylloides'' (Ridl.) Kosterm. * ''Mesua catharinae'' (Merr.) Kosterm. * ''Mesua clemensiorum'' Kosterm. * ''Mesua daphnifolia'' (Ridl.) Kosterm. * ''Mesua elmeri'' (Merr.) Kosterm. * ''Mesua eugeniifolia'' (Pierre) Kosterm. * ''Mesua ferrea'' L. * ''Mesua floribunda'' (Wall.) Kosterm. * ''Mesua garciae'' (Fern.-Vill.) Kosterm. * ''Mesua grandis'' (King) Koster ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dipterocarpus
'' D. retusus'' in Köhler ''Dipterocarpus'' is a genus of flowering plants and the type genus of family Dipterocarpaceae. ''Dipterocarpus'' is the third-largest and most diverse genus among the Dipterocarpaceae. The species are well known for timber, but less acknowledged for use in traditional herbal medicine. The genus has about 70 species, occurring in South Asia and Southeast Asia, from Sri Lanka and India to the Philippines. It is an important component of dipterocarp forests. Its generic name comes from Greek and means "two-winged fruits". The greatest diversity of ''Dipterocarpus'' species occurs on Borneo, with many endemic to the island. The oldest fossil of the genus, and Dipterocarpaceae, is from the latest Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Intertrappean Beds of India. Uses The genus is of considerable importance as timber trees, sold under the trade name Keruing, although not as important as ''Shorea'' species. ''D. turbinatus'', gurjan, is a major commercial timber sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shorea
Fruit of a ''Shorea'' species ''Shorea'' is a genus of about 196 species of mainly rainforest trees in the family Dipterocarpaceae. The genus is named after Sir John Shore, the governor-general of the British East India Company, 1793–1798. The timber of trees of the genus is sold under the common names lauan, luan, lawaan, meranti, seraya, balau, bangkirai, and Philippine mahogany. Taxonomy ''Shorea'' fossils (linked with the modern sal, ''S. robusta'', which is still a dominant tree species in Indian forests) are known from as early as the Eocene of Gujarat, India. They are identifiable by the amber fossils formed by their Dammar gum, dammar resin. Other fossils include a Miocene-aged fossilized fruit from the same region; this fruit most closely resembles the extant ''Shorea macroptera, S. macroptera'' of the Malay Peninsula. Description ''Shorea'' spp. are native to Southeast Asia, from northern India to Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. In west Malesia and th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Community (ecology)
In ecology, a community is a group or association of populations of two or more different species occupying the same geographical area at the same time, also known as a biocoenosis, biotic community, biological community, ecological community, or life assemblage. The term community has a variety of uses. In its simplest form it refers to groups of organisms in a specific place or time, for example, "the fish community of Lake Ontario before industrialization". Community ecology or synecology is the study of the interactions between species in communities on many spatial and temporal scales, including the distribution, structure, abundance, demography, and interactions between coexisting populations. The primary focus of community ecology is on the interactions between populations as determined by specific genotypic and phenotypic characteristics. Community ecology also takes into account abiotic factors that influence species distributions or interactions (e.g. annual temperat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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