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Salvia Elegans
''Salvia elegans'', a species with several varieties including pineapple sage and tangerine sage, is a perennial shrub native to Mexico. It inhabits Madrean and Mesoamerican pine-oak forests between . Description ''Salvia elegans'' Pineapple Sage has tubular red flowers and an attractive scent to the leaves that is similar to pineapple. It produces numerous erect leafy stems up to 150 cm and flowers in the late autumn. The red flowers are attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies. In a highland temperate forest in central Mexico, pineapple sage was found to be one of the three most-visited species by hummingbirds. It is a short-day plant. The flowering season in Mexico is August onward; further north it may not flower till later autumn, and if there is no frost, it may flower until Spring. The variety "Honey Melon", which has the same pineapple fragrance in the leaves, blooms early in the summer, rather than in autumn. ''Salvia Elegans'' Tangerine Sage grows to about 60&n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martin Vahl
Martin Henrichsen Vahl (10 October 1749 – 24 December 1804) was a Danish-Norwegian botanist, herbalist and zoologist. Biography Martin Vahl was born in Bergen, Norway and attended Bergen Cathedral School. He studied botany at the University of Copenhagen and at Uppsala University under Carl Linnaeus. He edited ''Flora Danica'' fasc. XVI-XXI (1787–1799), ''Symbolæ Botanicæ'' I-III (1790–1794), ''Eclogæ Americanæ'' I-IV (1796–1807) and ''Enumeratio Plantarum'' I-II (1804–1805). He lectured at the University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden from 1779 to 1782. Vahl made several research trips in Europe and North Africa between 1783 and 1788. He became professor at the Society for Natural History at the University of Copenhagen in 1786 and was a full professor of botany from 1801 to his death. In 1792, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He died in Copenhagen, Denmark at age 55. His son Jens Vahl also became a botanist. Authorit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Élie-Abel Carrière
Élie-Abel Carrière (4 June 1818 – 17 August 1896) was a French botanist, based in Paris. He was a leading authority on conifers in the period 1850–1870, describing many new species, and the new genera ''Tsuga'', ''Keteleeria'' and ''Pseudotsuga''. His most important work was the ''Traité Général des Conifères'', published in 1855, with a second, extensively revised edition in 1867. There is a brief biography of Carrière, in English, in the journal ''Brittonia''. In addition to his studies of conifers, he published a number of works in the field of horticulture: * ''Guide pratique du jardinier multiplicateur: ou art de propager les végétaux par semis, boutures, greffes, etc''. (1856)-- book on propagation of plants by seeds, cuttings, grafts. * ''Flore des jardins de l'Europe: manuel général des plantes, arbres et arbustes, comprenant leur origine, description, culture : leur application aux jardins d'agrément, à l'agriculture, aux forêts, aux usages dome ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madrean Pine-oak Woodlands
The Madrean Region (named after the Sierra Madre Occidental) is a floristic region within the Holarctic Kingdom in North America, as delineated by Armen Takhtajan and Robert F. Thorne. It occupies arid or semiarid areas in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico and is bordered by the Rocky Mountain Region and North American Atlantic Region of the Holarctic Kingdom in the north and in the east, Caribbean Region of the Neotropical Kingdom in the south. The Madrean Region is characterized by a very distinct flora with at least three endemic families ( Fouquieriaceae, Simmondsiaceae, and Setchellanthaceae). Crossosomataceae, Garryaceae, Lennoaceae, Limnanthaceae and Stegnospermataceae have their principal development here; for Onagraceae, Polemoniaceae and Hydrophyllaceae it is the major center of diversity. More than 250 genera and probably more than half of the species of the region are endemic to it according to Takhtajan. Floristic provinces The region is subdivid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesoamerican Pine-oak Forests
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. Within this region Pre-Columbian era, pre-Columbian societies flourished for more than 3,000 years before the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Mesoamerica was the site of two of the most profound historical transformations in world history: primary urban generation, and the formation of New World cultures out of the long encounters among indigenous, European, African and Asian cultures. In the 16th century, Eurasian diseases such as smallpox and measles, which were endemic among the colonists but new to North America, caused the deaths of upwards of 90% of the indigenous people, resulting in great losses to their societies and cultures. Mesoamerica is one of the five areas in the world where ancient civilization arose independently (see cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pineapple
The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuries. The introduction of the pineapple to Europe in the 17th century made it a significant cultural icon of luxury. Since the 1820s, pineapple has been commercially grown in greenhouses and many tropical plantations. Pineapples grow as a small shrub; the individual flowers of the unpollinated plant fuse to form a multiple fruit. The plant is normally propagated from the offset produced at the top of the fruit, or from a side shoot, and typically matures within a year. Botany The pineapple is a herbaceous perennial, which grows to tall, although sometimes it can be taller. The plant has a short, stocky stem with tough, waxy leaves. When creating its fruit, it usually produces up to 200 flowers, although some large-fruited cultivars can ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hummingbird
Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics around the equator. They are small birds, with most species measuring in length. The smallest extant hummingbird species is the bee hummingbird, which weighs less than . The largest hummingbird species is the giant hummingbird, weighing . They are specialized for feeding on flower nectar, but all species also consume flying insects or spiders. Hummingbirds split from their sister group, the swifts and treeswifts, around 42 million years ago. The common ancestor of extant hummingbirds is estimated to have lived 22 million years ago in South America. They are known as hummingbirds because of the humming sound created by their beating wings, which flap at high frequencies audible to humans. They hover in mid-air at rapid wing-flapping rate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Short-day Plant
Photoperiodism is the physiological reaction of organisms to the length of night or a dark period. It occurs in plants and animals. Plant photoperiodism can also be defined as the developmental responses of plants to the relative lengths of light and dark periods. They are classified under three groups according to the photoperiods: short-day plants, long-day plants, and day-neutral plants. Plants Many flowering plants (angiosperms) use a photoreceptor protein, such as phytochrome or cryptochrome, to sense seasonal changes in night length, or photoperiod, which they take as signals to flower. In a further subdivision, ''obligate'' photoperiodic plants absolutely require a long or short enough night before flowering, whereas ''facultative'' photoperiodic plants are more likely to flower under one condition. Phytochrome comes in two forms: Pr and Pfr. Red light (which is present during the day) converts phytochrome to its active form (pfr). This then triggers the plant to grow. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hard Frost
Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above-freezing atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing, and resulting in a phase transition, phase change from water vapor (a gas) to ice (a solid) as the water vapor reaches the freezing point. In temperate climates, it most commonly appears on surfaces near the ground as fragile white crystals; in cold climates, it occurs in a greater variety of forms. The propagation of crystal formation occurs by the process of nucleation. The ice crystals of frost form as the result of fractal process development. The depth of frost crystals varies depending on the amount of time they have been accumulating, and the concentration of the water vapor (humidity). Frost crystals may be invisible (black), clear (translucent), or white; if a mass of frost crystals scatters light in all directions, the coating of frost appears white. Types of frost include crystalline ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caffeic Acid
Caffeic acid is an organic compound that is classified as a hydroxycinnamic acid. This yellow solid consists of both phenolic and acrylic functional groups. It is found in all plants because it is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of lignin, one of the principal components of woody plant biomass and its residues. Natural occurrences Caffeic acid can be found in the bark of ''Eucalyptus globulus'' the barley grain ''Hordeum vulgare'' and the herb ''Dipsacus asperoides''. It can also be found in the freshwater fern ''Salvinia molesta'' and in the mushroom ''Phellinus linteus''. Occurrences in food Free caffeic acid can be found in a variety of beverages, including brewed coffee at 0.13 mg per 100 ml and red wine at 2 mg per 100 ml. It is found at relatively high levels in herbs of the mint family, especially thyme, sage and spearmint (at about 20 mg per 100 g), and in spices, such as Ceylon cinnamon and star anise (at about 22 mg per 100 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rosmarinic Acid
Rosmarinic acid, named after rosemary (''Salvia rosmarinus'' Linn.), is a polyphenol constituent of many culinary herbs, including rosemary (''Salvia rosmarinus'' L.), perilla (''Perilla frutescens'' L.), Salvia officinalis, sage (''Salvia officinalis'' L.), Lamiaceae, mint (''Mentha arvense'' L.), and basil (''Ocimum basilicum'' L.). History Rosmarinic acid was first isolated and characterized in 1958 by the Italian chemists Scarpatti and Oriente from rosemary (''Salvia rosmarinus''), after which the acid is named. Chemistry Chemically, rosmarinic acid is a caffeic acid ester, with tyrosine providing another phenolic ring via dihydroxyphenyl-lactic acid. It has a molecular mass of 360 dalton (unit), daltons. Natural occurrences Rosmarinic acid accumulation is shown in hornworts, in the fern family Blechnaceae, and in species of several orders of monocotyledon, mono- and dicotyledonous angiosperms. It is found most notably in many Lamiaceae (dicotyledons in the order Lam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salvianolic Acid
''Salvia miltiorrhiza'' (), also known as red sage, Chinese sage, tan shen, or danshen, is a perennial plant in the genus ''Salvia'', highly valued for its roots in traditional Chinese medicine. Native to China and Japan, it grows at elevation, preferring grassy places in forests, hillsides, and along stream banks. The specific epithet ''miltiorrhiza'' means "red ochre root". Chemical constituents Chemical compounds isolated from ''Salvia miltiorrhiza'' include salvianolic acid (or salvianolic acid B), dihydrotanshinone, miltirone, tanshinone I, and tanshinone IIA. Tanshinone IIA is one of the most abundant constituents of the root of ''Salvia miltiorrhiza''. Description ''S. miltiorrhiza'' is a deciduous perennial with branching stems that are tall, with widely spaced leaves that are both simple and divided. The inflorescences are covered with hairs and sticky glands. Flowers grow in whorls, with light purple to lavender blue corollas that are approximately long, with a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flavones
Flavones (from Latin ''flavus'' "yellow") are a class of flavonoids based on the backbone of 2-phenylchromen-4-one (2-phenyl-1-benzopyran-4-one) (as shown in the first image of this article). Flavones are common in foods, mainly from spices, and some yellow or orange fruits and vegetables. Common flavones include apigenin (4',5,7-trihydroxyflavone), luteolin (3',4',5,7-tetrahydroxyflavone), tangeritin (4',5,6,7,8-pentamethoxyflavone), chrysin (5,7-dihydroxyflavone), and 6-hydroxyflavone. Intake and elimination The estimated daily intake of flavones is about 2 mg per day. Following ingestion and metabolism, flavones, other polyphenols, and their metabolites are absorbed poorly in body organs and are rapidly excreted in the urine, indicating mechanisms influencing their presumed absence of metabolic roles in the body. Drug interactions Flavones have effects on CYP (P450) activity, which are enzymes that metabolize most drugs in the body. Biosynthesis The biosynthesis of f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
