Oconee Bell
''Shortia galacifolia'', the Oconee bells or acony bell, is a rare North American plant in the family Diapensiaceae found in the southern Appalachian Mountains, concentrated in the tri-state border region of Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Additional populations (some of them naturalized) have been found in Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia, and Massachusetts. ''Shortia galacifolia'' has also been reported in Japan, as have three other species of ''Shortia''. Description Creamy-white flowers appear from late March to May. Seedlings appear in late July and early August. This is about 6 weeks after the maturation of the capsule. Stolons have shallow roots. It prefers loamy soil with some sand and/or clay. It prefers areas where the annual rainfall is . Plants can tolerate bright light for only 2–3 hours per day at midday. The leaves have an orbicular shape with wavy edges plus a heart-shaped base. Seeds are slender and oval, with a light to medium brown color. Youn ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Torrey
John Torrey (August 15, 1796 – March 10, 1873) was an American botany, botanist, chemist, and physician. Throughout much of his career, he was a teacher of chemistry, often at multiple universities, while he also pursued botanical work, focusing on the flora of North America. His most renowned works include studies of the New York flora, the Mexican Boundary, the Pacific railroad surveys, and the uncompleted ''Flora of North America''. Biography Torrey was born in New York City, the second child of Capt. William and Margaret (née Nichols) Torrey.Robbins, C. C. (1968). John Torrey (1796–1873), His Life & Times. ''Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club''. Vol. 95, No. Nov. 6–Dec. 1968, 515–645. Torrey Botanical Club, New York. He showed a fondness for mechanics, and at one time planned to become a machinist. When he was 15 or 16, his father received an appointment to the state prison at Greenwich Village, New York, where he was tutored by Amos Eaton, then a pri ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Betula Lenta
''Betula lenta'' (sweet birch, also known as black birch, cherry birch, mahogany birch, or spice birch) is a species of birch native to eastern North America, from southern Maine west to southernmost Ontario, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia. Characteristics and habitat ''Betula lenta'' is a medium-sized deciduous tree reaching tall, exceptionally to with a trunk up to diameter. Heights of to are more typical. In younger trees the bark is characteristic of most birches, with smooth bark and distinct horizontal lenticels. It is sometimes mistakenly identified as a cherry tree. In older tree specimens the bark (unlike the more commonly known birches) develops vertical cracks into irregular scaly plates revealing rough dark brown bark patterns. This, however, only occurs in mature, or ancient, trees and these specimens are not often identified by the public as ''B. lenta'' due to the difference between the tree's smooth young bark (which the public ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Relict (biology)
In biogeography and paleontology, a relict is a population or taxon of organisms that was more widespread or more diverse in the past. A relictual population is a population currently inhabiting a restricted area whose range was far wider during a previous geologic epoch. Similarly, a relictual taxon is a taxon (e.g. species or other lineage) which is the sole surviving representative of a formerly diverse group. Definition A relict (or relic) plant or animal is a taxon that persists as a remnant of what was once a diverse and widespread population. Relictualism occurs when a widespread habitat or range changes and a small area becomes cut off from the whole. A subset of the population is then confined to the available hospitable area, and survives there while the broader population either shrinks or evolves divergently. This phenomenon differs from endemism in that the range of the population was not always restricted to the local region. In other words, the species or group did n ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Endemic
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]   |
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Kalmia Latifolia
''Kalmia latifolia'', the mountain laurel, calico-bush, or spoonwood, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae, that is native to the eastern United States. Its range stretches from southern Maine south to northern Florida, and west to Indiana and Louisiana. Mountain laurel is the state flower of Connecticut and Pennsylvania. It is the namesake of Laurel County in Kentucky, the city of Laurel, Mississippi, and the Laurel Highlands in southwestern Pennsylvania. Growth ''Kalmia latifolia'' is an evergreen shrub growing tall. The leaves are 3–12 cm long and 1–4 cm wide. The flowers are hexagonal, sometimes appearing to be pentagonal, ranging from light pink to white, and occur in clusters. There are several named cultivars that have darker shades of pink, red and maroon. It blooms in May and June. All parts of the plant are poisonous. The roots are fibrous and matted. The plant is naturally found on rocky slopes and mountainous forest areas. I ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rhododendron Maximum
''Rhododendron maximum'' — its common names include great laurel, great rhododendron, rosebay rhododendron, American rhododendron and big rhododendron — is a species of ''Rhododendron'' native to the Appalachians of eastern North America, from Alabama north to coastal Nova Scotia. Description ''Rhododendron maximum'' is an evergreen shrub growing to , rarely , tall. The leaves are long and broad. The flowers are diameter, white, pink or pale purple, often with small greenish-yellow spots. The fruit is a dry capsule long, containing numerous small seeds. The leaves can be poisonous. Leaves are sclerophyllous, simple, alternate, and oblong (10 to 30 cm long, 5 to 8 cm wide). It retains its waxy, deep-green leaves for up to 8 years, but once shed are slow to decompose. It produces large, showy, white to purple flowers each June and July. Range Rosebay rhododendron is the most frequently occurring and dominant species of ''Rhododendron'' in the southern Appalachia ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Robinia
''Robinia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, tribe Robinieae, native to North America. Commonly known as locusts, they are deciduous trees and shrubs growing tall. The leaves are pinnate with 7–21 oval leaflets. The flowers are white or pink, in usually pendulous racemes. Many species have thorny shoots, and several have sticky hairs on the shoots. The genus is named after the royal French gardeners Jean Robin and his son Vespasien Robin, who introduced the plant to Europe in 1601. The number of species is disputed between different authorities, with as few as four recognised by some authors, while others recognise up to 10 species. Several natural hybrids are also known. Some species of ''Robinia'' are used as food by caterpillars of Lepidoptera, including such moths as the brown-tail (''Euproctis chrysorrhoea''), the buff-tip (''Phalera bucephala''), the engrailed (''Ectropis crepuscularia''), the giant leopard moth ('' Hypercompe scribonia''), the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Oxydendrum
''Oxydendrum arboreum'', the sourwood or sorrel tree, is the sole species in the genus ''Oxydendrum'', in the family Ericaceae. It is native to eastern North America, from southern Pennsylvania south to northwest Florida and west to southern Illinois; it is most common in the lower chain of the Appalachian Mountains. The tree is frequently seen as a component of oak-heath forests. Growth Sourwood is a small tree or large shrub, growing to tall with a trunk up to diameter. Occasionally on extremely productive sites, this species can reach heights in excess of 30 meters and 60 cm diameter. The leaves are alternately arranged, deciduous, long and broad, with a finely serrated margin; they are dark green in summer, but turn vivid red in fall. The flowers are white, bell-shaped, 6–9 mm ( 1/4 to 1/3 inch) long, produced on long panicles. The fruit is a small woody capsule. The roots are shallow, and the tree grows best when there is little root competition; i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pinus Strobus
''Pinus strobus'', commonly called the eastern white pine, northern white pine, white pine, Weymouth pine (British), and soft pine is a large pine native to eastern North America. It occurs from Newfoundland, Canada west through the Great Lakes region to southeastern Manitoba and Minnesota, United States, and south along the Appalachian Mountains and upper Piedmont to northernmost Georgia and perhaps very rarely in some of the higher elevations in northeastern Alabama. It is considered rare in Indiana. The Native American Haudenosaunee named it the "Tree of Peace". It is known as the "Weymouth pine" in the United Kingdom, after Captain George Weymouth of the British Royal Navy, who brought its seeds to England from Maine in 1605. Distribution ''P. strobus'' is found in the nearctic temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome of eastern North America. It prefers well-drained or sandy soils and humid climates, but can also grow in boggy areas and rocky highlands. In mixed ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Quercus Alba
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably '' Lithocarpus'' (stone oaks), as well as in those of unrelated species such as ''Grevillea robusta'' (silky oaks) and the Casuarinaceae (she-oaks). The genus ''Quercus'' is native to the Northern Hemisphere, and includes deciduous and evergreen species extending from cool temperate to tropical latitudes in the Americas, Asia, Europe, and North Africa. North America has the largest number of oak species, with approximately 160 species in Mexico of which 109 are endemic and about 90 in the United States. The second greatest area of oak diversity is China, with approximately 100 species. Description Oaks have spirally arranged leaves, with lobate margins in many species; some have serrated leaves or entire leaves with smooth margins. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Quercus Prinus
''Quercus montana'', the chestnut oak, is a species of oak in the white oak group, ''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus''. It is native to the eastern United States, where it is one of the most important ridgetop trees from southern Maine southwest to central Mississippi, with an outlying northwestern population in southern Michigan. It is also sometimes called rock oak because of its presence in montane and other rocky habitats. Description As a consequence of its dry habitat and ridgetop exposure, the chestnut oak is not usually a large tree, typically growing to tall; specimens growing in better conditions can grow up to tall. They tend to have a similar spread of . A 10-year-old sapling grown in full sun will stand about tall. This species is often an important canopy species in an oak-heath forest. It is readily identified by its massively-ridged dark gray-brown bark, the thickest of any eastern North American oak. The leaves are long and broad, shallowly lobed with 10â ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Beech
Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engleriana'' subgenus is found only in East Asia, distinctive for its low branches, often made up of several major trunks with yellowish bark. The better known ''Fagus'' subgenus beeches are high-branching with tall, stout trunks and smooth silver-grey bark. The European beech (''Fagus sylvatica'') is the most commonly cultivated. Beeches are monoecious, bearing both male and female flowers on the same plant. The small flowers are unisexual, the female flowers borne in pairs, the male flowers wind-pollinating catkins. They are produced in spring shortly after the new leaves appear. The fruit of the beech tree, known as beechnuts or mast, is found in small burrs that drop from the tree in autumn. They are small, roughly triangular, and edible, w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |