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Madeira Evergreen Forests
The Madeira evergreen forests is a laurissilva ecoregion of southwestern Europe. It covers the archipelago of Madeira and some nearby islands (Desertas and Selvagens) in the Atlantic Ocean. Laurel forest, known as laurissilva, once covered the islands. Over centuries the laurel forests were mostly cleared. Madeira's remaining forests are now protected. Geography The islands are an autonomous region of Portugal. They lie southwest of the Portuguese mainland in the Atlantic Ocean, southwest of Lisbon and west of Morocco. Madeira is the largest island and highest island, with an area of . The island extends east–west approximately , and is at its widest point. A mountainous spine runs the length of the island, and Pico Ruivo, the highest peak, reaches above sea level. Porto Santo Island, which lies northeast of Madeira. is the second-largest island with an area of . The Desertas Islands are a chain of three narrow islands about southeast of Madeira, covering an area of . ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palearctic Realm
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Siberian region; the Mediterranean Basin; the Sahara and Arabian Deserts; and Western, Central and East Asia. The Palaearctic realm also has numerous rivers and lakes, forming several freshwater ecoregions. The term 'Palearctic' was first used in the 19th century, and is still in use as the basis for zoogeographic classification. History In an 1858 paper for the ''Proceedings of the Linnean Society'', British zoologist Philip Sclater first identified six terrestrial zoogeographic realms of the world: Palaearctic, Aethiopian/Afrotropic, Indian/Indomalayan, Australasian, Nearctic, and Neotropical. The six indicated general groupings of fauna, based on shared biogeography and large-scale geographic barriers to migration. Alfred Wallace ad ... [...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] |
Clethra Arborea
''Clethra arborea'', commonly known as the lily-of-the-valley-tree, is a flowering plant in the genus '' Clethra''. It is found in Macaronesia where it is native to Madeira, extinct in the Canary Islands, and considered an introduced species in the Azores. In Madeira its natural habitat is laurisilva forest. Description It is an evergreen narrowly upright shrub or small tree, growing to about 6 m tall and 4 m wide. The foliage is dense and glossy, with the leaves up to 7–10 cm long. The flowers are small, white and fragrant, similar in appearance to those of lily of the valley, hence the common name. (Lily of the valley is not closely related, being a monocotyledon.) The flowers are grouped in terminal panicles and bloom in early to mid summer.Cool Exotics. The plant is toxic to humans; it contains andromedotoxin which may cause diarrhea and even sudden death.The Free Dictionary. Cultivation The tree prefers moist, acidic and well-drained soils, dislik ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Persea Indica
''Persea indica'' is a large, evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae), native to humid uplands on Madeira and the Canary Islands in the North Atlantic. It belongs to the genus ''Persea'', a group of evergreen trees including the avocado. It is threatened by habitat loss. It has been introduced to a number of islands in the nearby Azores. Overview The family Lauraceae was part of Gondwanaland flora. There they spread over most of the continent. The genus ''Persea'' died out in increasingly xerophytic Africa, starting with the freezing of Antarctica about 20 million years ago and the formation of the Benguela current. The genus is Local extinction, extinct in Africa, save for ''P. indica'', which survives in the fog shrouded mountains of the Canary Islands, which with Madagascar, constitute Africa's Laurel forest plant refugia. Fossil evidence indicates that the genus originated in West Africa during the Paleocene, and spread to Asia, to South America, and to Europe and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ocotea Foetens
''Ocotea foetens'', commonly called til or stinkwood is a species of tree in the family Lauraceae. It is evergreen and grows up to 40 m tall. It is a common constituent of the laurisilva forests of Madeira and the Canary Islands. Leaf fossils of this species are known from the Mio-Pleistocene of Madeira Island. Description ''Ocotea foetens'' is endemic to Macaronesia. Like the other species of the genus ''Ocotea'', it is rich in essential oils, which give an unpleasant odor to the wood when freshly cut (hence the name '' foetens'', Latin for ''smelly, stinky, disgusting, unpleasant''). It is rarely used as an ornamental. It is an evergreen tree generally up to in height, although some specimens may reach . It commonly grows with multiple trunks branched from the base. The bark is rough and irregular, and dark in colour; the young branches are angular, with smooth bark, sometimes reddish in areas of recent growth. The wood is dark and hard. The leaves are about long and wide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laurus Azorica
''Laurus azorica'', the Azores laurel or Macaronesian laurel, is a small, evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae), found only on the Azores island group in the North Atlantic. Description The Azores laurel is a small dioecious tree, growing up to in height. Each flower is fragrant, creamy white, about 1 cm diameter, and they are borne in pairs beside a leaf. The leaves are large, shiny dark green, broadly ovoid, 7–14 cm long and 4–8 cm broad, with an entire margin. The fruit is a black drupe about 1–2 cm long. Distribution and habitat ''Laurus azorica'' is native to the Azores, where it is found in all of the islands. It is a major component of the laurisilva and high altitude juniper forests, occasionally with ''Myrica faya'' and ''Picconia azorica'' populations in mid-altitude. It is also found in lava flows, margins of cultivated land, coastal scrubland, mountain scrubland and forested peat bogs. Taxonomy As the result of a recent taxonomic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Azores
) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores within the European Union , subdivision_type=Sovereign state , subdivision_name=Portugal , established_title=Settlement , established_date=1432 , established_title3=Autonomous status , established_date3=30 April 1976 , official_languages=Portuguese , demonym= ( en, Azorean) , capital_type= Capitals , capital = Ponta Delgada (executive) Angra do Heroísmo (judicial) Horta (legislative) , largest_city = Ponta Delgada , government_type=Autonomous Region , leader_title1=Representative of the Republic , leader_name1=Pedro Manuel dos Reis Alves Catarino , leader_title2= President of the Legislative Assembly , leader_name2= Luís Garcia , leader_title3= President of the Regional Government , leader_name3=José Manuel Bolieiro , le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ice Ages
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and greenhouse periods, during which there are no glaciers on the planet. Earth is currently in the Quaternary glaciation. Individual pulses of cold climate within an ice age are termed ''glacial periods'' (or, alternatively, ''glacials, glaciations, glacial stages, stadials, stades'', or colloquially, ''ice ages''), and intermittent warm periods within an ice age are called ''interglacials'' or ''interstadials''. In glaciology, ''ice age'' implies the presence of extensive ice sheets in both northern and southern hemispheres. By this definition, Earth is currently in an interglacial period—the Holocene. The amount of anthropogenic greenhouse gases emitted into Earth's oceans and atmosphere is predicted to prevent the next glacial period for the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lauraceae
Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant family that includes the true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genera worldwide (Christenhusz & Byng 2016 ). They are dicotyledons, and occur mainly in warm temperate and tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia and South America. Many are aromatic evergreen trees or shrubs, but some, such as ''Sassafras'', are deciduous, or include both deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs, especially in tropical and temperate climates. The genus ''Cassytha'' is unique in the Lauraceae in that its members are parasitic vines. Most laurels are highly-poisonous. Overview The family has a worldwide distribution in tropical and warm climates. The Lauraceae are important components of tropical forests ranging from low-lying to montane. In several forested regions, Lauraceae are among the top five families in terms of the number of species present. The Lauraceae give their name to habitats know ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macaronesia
Macaronesia (Portuguese: ''Macaronésia,'' Spanish: ''Macaronesia'') is a collection of four volcanic archipelagos in the North Atlantic, off the coasts of Africa and Europe. Each archipelago is made up of a number of List of islands in the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic oceanic islands, which are formed by seamounts on the ocean floor whose peaks have risen above the ocean's surface. Some of the Macaronesian islands belong to Portugal, some belong to Spain, and the rest belong to Cape Verde. Politically, the islands belonging to Portugal and Spain are part of the European Union. Geologically, Macaronesia is part of the African Plate, African tectonic plate. Some of its islands – the Azores – are situated along the edge of that plate at the point where it abuts the Eurasian Plate, Eurasian and North American Plate, North American plates. In one biogeography, biogeographical system, the Cape Verde archipelago is in the Afrotropical realm while the other three archipelagos are in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pittosporum Coriaceum
''Pittosporum coriaceum'' is a species of plant in the Pittosporaceae family. It is endemic to Macaronesia, and due to extinction in the Canary Islands, it is now restricted to the Portuguese Madeira Islands. ''Pittosporum coriaceum'' is a Critically endangered species due to habitat loss 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 .... References coriaceum Flora of Madeira Critically endangered plants Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Madeira-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sorbus Maderensis
''Sorbus maderensis'', a rowan, is a species of plant in the family Rosaceae. It is endemic to Madeira. It is threatened by habitat loss. Etymology ''Sorbus'' is the Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ... name for the fruit of the service tree. ''Maderensis'' means 'from Madeira'.Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. (hardback), (paperback). pp 247, 356 References * External links * Endemic flora of Madeira maderensis Critically endangered plants Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{sorbus-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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