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Puya Chilensis
''Puya chilensis'' is a terrestrial bromeliad originating from the arid hillsides of Chile. Description An evergreen perennial, it forms large, dense rosettes of grey-green, strap-like leaves edged with hooked spines. The green or yellow flowers are borne on spikes which resemble a medieval mace, and stand up to high. Spreading by offsets, ''Puya chilensis'' can colonise large areas over time. Growth is slow and plants may take 20 years or more to flower. The outer two-thirds of the leaf blade bears outward-pointing spines which may be an adaptation to prevent herbivores from reaching the center of the plant. The plant is believed to be hazardous to sheep and birds which may become entangled in the spines of the leaves. If the animal dies, the plant may gain nutrients as the animal decomposes nearby, though this has not been confirmed. For this reason, ''Puya chilensis'' has earned the nickname "sheep-eating plant". If true, this would make ''Puya chilensis'' a protocarnivorou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Juan Ignacio Molina
Fr. Juan Ignacio Molina (; (June 24, 1740 – September 12, 1829) was a Chilean Jesuit priest, naturalist, historian, translator, geographer, botanist, ornithologist, and linguist. He is usually referred to as Abate Molina (a form of Abbot Molina), and is also sometimes known by the Italian form of his name, Giovanni Ignazio Molina. He was one of the precursors of the theory of the gradual evolution of species, 44 years before Darwin, who repeatedly quoted him in "The Origin of Species". Biography Early years Molina was born at Guaraculén, a big farm located near Villa Alegre (General Captaincy of Chile), where he lived until he was 5 years old. In the current province of Linares, in the Maule Region of Chile. His parents were Agustín Molina and Francisca González Bruna. From an early age he was attracted to the nature of his environment, and in addition to his school work, he enjoyed observing nature on the family farm, which he visited periodically, alternating with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bromeliad
The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, ''Pitcairnia feliciana''. It is among the basal families within the Poales and is the only family within the order that has septal nectaries and inferior ovaries.Judd, Walter S. Plant systematics a phylogenetic approach. 3rd ed. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, Inc., 2007. These inferior ovaries characterize the Bromelioideae, a subfamily of the Bromeliaceae. The family includes both epiphytes, such as Spanish moss (''Tillandsia usneoides''), and terrestrial species, such as the pineapple (''Ananas comosus''). Many bromeliads are able to store water in a structure formed by their tightly overlapping leaf bases. However, the family is diverse enough to include the tank bromeliads, grey-leaved epiphyte ''Tillandsia'' species that gath ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Chile covers an area of , with a population of 17.5 million as of 2017. It shares land borders with Peru to the north, Bolivia to the north-east, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far south. Chile also controls the Pacific islands of Juan Fernández, Isla Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas, and Easter Island in Oceania. It also claims about of Antarctica under the Chilean Antarctic Territory. The country's capital and largest city is Santiago, and its national language is Spanish. Spain conquered and colonized the region in the mid-16th century, replacing Inca rule, but failing to conquer the independent Mapuche who inhabited what is now south-central Chile. In 1818, after declaring in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morning Star (weapon)
A morning star (german: Morgenstern) is any of several medieval club-like weapons consisting of a shaft with an attached ball adorned with one or more spikes. Each used, to varying degrees, a combination of blunt-force and puncture attack to kill or wound the enemy. History The morning star first came into widespread use around the beginning of the fourteenth century, particularly in Germany where it was known as ''Morgenstern''. The term is often confused with the military flail (''fléau d'armes'' in French and ''Kriegsflegel'' in German), which typically consists of a wooden shaft joined by a length of chain to one or more iron-shod wooden bars (heavy sword pommels have also been used as weights). However, there are few depictions of such a ball-and-chain flail from the period, so the weapon of this type appears to have been uncommon. Design The morning star is a medieval weapon consisting of a spiked ball mounted on a shaft, resembling a mace, usually with a long spike ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protocarnivorous Plant
A protocarnivorous plant (sometimes also paracarnivorous, subcarnivorous, or borderline carnivore), according to some definitions, traps and kills insects or other animals but lacks the ability to either directly digest or absorb nutrients from its prey like a carnivorous plant. The morphological adaptations such as sticky trichomes or pitfall traps of protocarnivorous plants parallel the trap structures of confirmed carnivorous plants. Some authors prefer the term "protocarnivorous" because it implies that these plants are on the evolutionary path to true carnivory, whereas others oppose the term for the same reason. The same problem arises with "subcarnivorous". Donald Schnell, author of the book ''Carnivorous Plants of the United States and Canada'', prefers the term "paracarnivorous" for a less rigid definition of carnivory that can include many of the possible carnivorous plants.Schnell, 2002 The demarcation between carnivorous and protocarnivorous is blurred by the lack of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matorral De Puya Y Echinopsis Chiloensis Parque Nacional La Campana
300px, Springtime in Chilean matorral a few kilometers north of Santiago along the Pan-American Highway Matorral is a Spanish language, Spanish word, along with ''tomillares'', for shrubland, thicket or bushes. It is used in naming and describing a Mediterranean climate ecosystem in Southern Europe. Mediterranean region ''Matorral'' originally referred to the Matorral shrublands and woodlands in the Mediterranean climate regions of Spain and other Mediterranean Basin countries. These scrub shrublands and woodlands are a plant community and a distinct habitat. Other common general names for this Mediterranean region shrubland habitat ecosystem are: in France as '' Maquis'' and ''Garrigue''; in Italy as ''Macchia Mediterranea''; in Greece as ''Phrygana''; in Portugal as ''Mato''; and in Israel as ''Batha''. Now the term is used more broadly to include similar bio-assemblages where ever they occur. In Portugal, the term ''mato'' or ''matagal'' is used to refer to the scrubland ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andes
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S latitude), and has an average height of about . The Andes extend from north to south through seven South American countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. Along their length, the Andes are split into several ranges, separated by intermediate depressions. The Andes are the location of several high plateaus—some of which host major cities such as Quito, Bogotá, Cali, Arequipa, Medellín, Bucaramanga, Sucre, Mérida, El Alto and La Paz. The Altiplano plateau is the world's second-highest after the Tibetan plateau. These ranges are in turn grouped into three major divisions based on climate: the Tropical Andes, the Dry Andes, and the Wet Andes. The Andes Mountains are the highest m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chilean Matorral
The Chilean Matorral (NT1201) is a terrestrial ecoregion of central Chile, located on the west coast of South America. It is in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, part of the Neotropical realm. Matorral is typically characterized by a temperate Mediterranean climate, with rainy winters and dry summers. It is one of the world's five Mediterranean climate regions, which are all located in the middle latitudes on the west coast of continents. The Mediterranean Basin, the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion of California and Baja California, the Cape Province of South Africa, and Southwest Australia are the other Mediterranean-climate regions. Setting The Matorral occupies central Chile between 32° and 37° south latitude. The Pacific Ocean lies to the west, and the Chilean Coastal Range lies parallel to the coast. The Chilean Central Valley lies between the Coastal range and the Andes Mountains, which bound the Matorral ecoregion on the east. To the nor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puya (plant)
''Puya'' is a genus of the botanical family Bromeliaceae. It is the sole genus of the subfamily Puyoideae, and is composed of 226 species. These terrestrial plants are native to the Andes Mountains of South America and southern Central America. Many of the species are monocarpic, with the parent plant dying after one flower and seed production event. The species ''Puya raimondii'' is notable as the largest species of bromeliad known, reaching 3 m tall in vegetative growth with a flower spike 9–10 m tall. The other species are also large, with the flower spikes mostly reaching 1–4 m tall. The name ''Puya'' was derived from the Mapuche Indian word meaning "point". The genus is commonly divided into two subgenera, ''Puya'', containing eight species, and ''Puyopsis'' containing the remainder. The subgenera can be distinguished by the presence of a sterile inflorescence at the branch apex in ''Puya'', which are fertile in ''Puyopsis''. Species Cultivation and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flora Of Central Chile
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms ''gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. Etymology The word "flora" comes from the Latin name of Flora, the goddess of plants, flowers, and fertility in Roman mythology. The technical term "flora" is then derived from a metonymy of this goddess at the end of the sixteenth century. It was first used in poetry to denote the natural vegetation of an area, but soon also assumed the meaning of a work cataloguing such vegetation. Moreover, "Flora" was used to refer to the flowers of an artificial garden in the seventeenth century. The distinction between vegetation (the general appearance of a community) and flora (the taxonomic composition of a community) was first made by Jules Thurmann (1849). Prior to this, the two terms were used indiscriminately.Thurmann, J. (1849). ''Essai de Phy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Garden Plants
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both natural and artificial materials. Gardens often have design features including statuary, follies, pergolas, trellises, stumperies, dry creek beds, and water features such as fountains, ponds (with or without fish), waterfalls or creeks. Some gardens are for ornamental purposes only, while others also produce food crops, sometimes in separate areas, or sometimes intermixed with the ornamental plants. Food-producing gardens are distinguished from farms by their smaller scale, more labor-intensive methods, and their purpose (enjoyment of a hobby or self-sustenance rather than producing for sale, as in a market garden). Flower gardens combine plants of different heights, colors, textures, and fragrances to create interest and delight the se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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