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Nansei Islands Subtropical Evergreen Forests
The Nansei Islands subtropical evergreen forests is a terrestrial ecoregion of the Ryukyu Islands, also known as the Nansei Islands, in Japan. The Nansei Islands are an island arc that stretches southwest from Kyushu towards Taiwan. The larger islands are mostly high islands and the smaller ones mostly coral. The largest is Okinawa Island. The highest point is Mount Miyanoura on Yakushima Island at 1,936 metres (6,352 ft). The ecoregion is the northernmost in the Indomalayan realm, and shares many plants with subtropical and tropical Asia. Climate The Nansei Islands have a humid climate, which ranges from subtropical in the north to tropical in the south. The warm Kuroshio Current runs offshore, and sustains coral reefs and the northernmost mangroves in the western Pacific. Flora The natural vegetation of the islands is subtropical broadleaf evergreen forest. The dominant trees are ''Castanopsis sieboldii, Quercus miyagii, Persea thunbergii'', and ''Schima wallichii'' ssp. ''l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mount Yae
, also known as Mount Yaedake or Yae-take, is a mountain in Motobu, Okinawa on Okinawa Island. It is the tallest mountain on the Motobu Peninsula, standing at . Nakijin Castle and Nago Castle ''Nagu'', Kunigami: ''Naguu'' is a city located in the northern part of Okinawa Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. As of December 2012, the city has an estimated population of 61,659 and a population density of 288 persons per km2. Its tota ... were built nearby in the 14th century. The mountain itself was used as a major Japanese defensive position during the Battle of Okinawa. Today it is famous for its annual held in March."2014: Sakura Matsuri -Japan’s earliest Cherry Blossom Festival-." Okinawa Story. (2014): n. page. Web. 3 Apr. 2014. References {{coord, 26.6356, N, 127.9283, E, source:wikidata, display=title Mountains of Okinawa Prefecture ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coral Reef
A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Coral belongs to the class Anthozoa in the animal phylum Cnidaria, which includes sea anemones and jellyfish. Unlike sea anemones, corals secrete hard carbonate exoskeletons that support and protect the coral. Most reefs grow best in warm, shallow, clear, sunny and agitated water. Coral reefs first appeared 485 million years ago, at the dawn of the Early Ordovician, displacing the microbial and sponge reefs of the Cambrian. Sometimes called ''rainforests of the sea'', shallow coral reefs form some of Earth's most diverse ecosystems. They occupy less than 0.1% of the world's ocean area, about half the area of France, yet they provide a home for at least 25% of all marine species, including fish, mollusks, worms, crustaceans, echinoderms, sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thespesia Populnea
''Thespesia populnea'', commonly known as the portia tree (), Pacific rosewood, Indian tulip tree, or milo, among other names, is a species of flowering plant belonging to the mallow family, Malvaceae. It is a tree found commonly on coasts around the world. Although it is confirmed to be native only to the Old World tropics, other authorities consider it to have a wider, possibly pantropical native distribution. It is thought to be an invasive species in Florida and Brazil. Distribution ''Thespesia populnea'' is native to tropical coastlines and is adapted for oceanic dispersal and growth in island environments. It is known from both coasts of Africa, tropical Asia, northern Australia, the Pacific Islands (including Hawaii), the tropical Pacific coast of the Americas from Mexico south to Colombia, the West Indies, and Florida in the United States. Its exact native distribution has been debated, with most authorities considering it to only be native to the Old World tropics, s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spinifex Littoreus
''Spinifex littoreus'' is a species of herb in the family Poaceae. The species is similar to '' Spinifex longifolius.'' It is native to tropical and subtropical areas of Asia and Australia. The species is dioecious. It has been suggested that the species might give an significant model for studying the regulation as well as the evolutionary history of C4 and CAM photosynthesis. Occurrence The species is native to Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, Indonesia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ..., and Australia. References {{Taxonbar, from=Q5703213 Panicoideae Grasses of Asia Poales of Australia Taxa named by Nicolaas Laurens Burman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ipomoea Pes-caprae
''Ipomoea pes-caprae'', also known as bayhops, bay-hops, beach morning glory 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 white flowers, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abies Firma
''Abies firma'', the momi fir, is a species of fir native to central and southern Japan, growing at low to moderate altitudes of 50–1600 m. ''Abies firma'' is a medium-sized to large evergreen coniferous tree growing to tall and in trunk diameter, with a broad conical crown of straight branches rising at an angle of about 20° above horizontal. The bark is scaly grey-brown, with resin blisters on young trees. The shoots are grooved, buff to grey-brown, glabrous or finely pubescent. The leaves ("needles") are flattened, long and broad, spread at nearly right angles from the shoot; the apex is sharp, bifid (double-pointed) on the leaves of young trees, single-pointed on mature trees. They are bright green above, and greyish-green below with two broad stomatal bands. The cones are long by wide, green maturing yellow-brown, tapering to a broad bluntly rounded apex. The scale bracts are exserted , triangular. The seeds are long with a wedge-shaped wing long, are released ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tsuga Sieboldii
''Tsuga sieboldii'', also called the southern Japanese hemlock, or in Japanese, simply tsuga (栂), is a conifer native to the Japanese islands of Honshū, Kyūshū, Shikoku and Yakushima. In Europe and North America the tree is sometimes used as an ornamental and has been in cultivation since 1861. Description The tree is often multiple-stemmed from the base and the dense crown is broadly conical and pointed. The bark is a dark pink-grey in colour. It is smooth with horizontal folds when the tree is young, but later cracks into squares and become flaky. The glabrous shoots are a pale shining buff, but they may vary to white or pale brown. The base of the petiole is red-brown. The leaves are densely set in irregular flat rows. They are broad and stubby in comparison to other species of the genus ''Tsuga'', and they vary in length from long by about wide. They are blunt with notched tips and shiny dark green above. The underside of the leaves has two broad, dull white stomatal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chamaecyparis Obtusa
''Chamaecyparis obtusa'' (Japanese cypress, hinoki cypress or hinoki; ja, 檜 or , ) is a species of cypress native to central Japan in East Asia, and widely cultivated in the temperate northern hemisphere for its high-quality timber and ornamental qualities, with many cultivars commercially available. Description It is a slow-growing tree which may reach tall with a trunk up to in diameter. The bark is dark red-brown. The leaves are scale-like, long, blunt tipped (obtuse), green above, and green below with a white stomatal band at the base of each scale-leaf. The cones are globose, in diameter, with 8–12 scales arranged in opposite pairs. Related species The plant is widespread in Japan. The related '' Chamaecyparis pisifera'' (sawara cypress) can be readily distinguished in its having pointed tips to the leaves and smaller cones. A similar cypress found on Taiwan is treated by different botanists as either a variety of this species (as ''Chamaecyparis obtusa'' va ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cryptomeria Japonica
''Cryptomeria'' (literally "hidden parts") is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae, formerly belonging to the family Taxodiaceae. It includes only one species, ''Cryptomeria japonica'' ( syn. ''Cupressus japonica'' L.f.). It used to be considered by some to be endemic to Japan (see remark below under 'Endemism'), where it is known as . The tree is called Japanese cedar or Japanese redwood in English. It has been extensively introduced and cultivated for wood production on the Azores. Description ''Cryptomeria'' is a very large evergreen tree, reaching up to tall and trunk diameter, with red-brown bark which peels in vertical strips. The leaves are arranged spirally, needle-like, long; and the seed cones globular, diameter with about 20–40 scales. It is superficially similar to the related giant sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum''), from which it can be differentiated by the longer leaves (under in the giant sequoia) and smaller cones ( in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conifer
Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class (biology), class, Pinopsida. All Neontology, extant conifers are perennial plant, perennial woody plants with secondary growth. The great majority are trees, though a few are shrubs. Examples include Cedrus, cedars, Pseudotsuga, Douglas-firs, Cupressaceae, cypresses, firs, junipers, Agathis, kauri, larches, pines, Tsuga, hemlocks, Sequoioideae, redwoods, spruces, and Taxaceae, yews.Campbell, Reece, "Phylum Coniferophyta". Biology. 7th. 2005. Print. P. 595 As of 1998, the division Pinophyta was estimated to contain eight families, 68 genera, and 629 living species. Although the total number of species is relatively small, conifers are ecology, ecologically important. They are the dominant plants over large areas of land, most ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schima Wallichii
''Schima wallichii'' is an evergreen tree belonging to the tea family Theaceae Theaceae (), the tea family, is a family of flowering plants comprising shrubs and trees, including the economically important tea plant, and the ornamental camellias. It can be described as having from seven to 40 genera, depending on the sour .... It is also known as the needlewood tree. ''Schima wallichii'' is native to a wide area of China and tropical Asia. It grows tall. File:Chilaune.jpg, growth habit File:Makrisal (Schima wallichii) fruit at Samsing, Duars, West Bengal W IMG 5963.jpg, fruit File:Schim walli 101104-8696 Bk lap.jpg, bark File:Schim walli 101101-8254 W lap.jpg, heartwood References Theaceae Flora of China Flora of tropical Asia {{Theaceae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Persea Thunbergii
''Machilus thunbergii'' (syn. ''Persea thunbergii''), the Japanese bay tree, red machilus, or tabunoki, is a widespread species of flowering plant in the family 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 ma .... It is native to Vietnam, Taiwan, southeast and north-central China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan. A sturdy evergreen tree, usually tall, and reaching , it is used for timber, and as a street tree. Its bark is the source of makko, a powder used to make a mosquitorepelling incense. It prefers coastal areas, and can handle saline soil. References thunbergii Flora of Japan Flora of Korea Flora of North-Central China Flora of Southeast China Flora of Taiwan Flora of Vietnam Plants described in 1846 {{Laurales-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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