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Valère Basilica
The Valère basilica (french: Basilique de Valère), also called Valère castle (french: Château de Valère), is a fortified church situated in Sion in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It is situated on a hill and faces the Château de Tourbillon, located on the opposite hill. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance. Geography Location The castle of Valère is located on the Valère hill at above sea level and dominates the town of Sion in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. The castle's church is located at the top of the hill, while the fortified village and its walls surround it. The relief of the Valère hill is very uneven and access to the castle is only possible from the north-east. Fauna and Flora Since 1977, the site has been included in the Federal Inventory of Sites and Monuments of National Importance due to the large number of protected species present on Valère Hill. The fauna of the hill includes the European green lizard (''Lacerta viridis'') ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haut De Cry
The Haut de Cry is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking the Rhône Valley in the canton of Valais. It is composed of several summits, of which the highest has an elevation of 2,969 metres above sea level. The entire mountain lies within the basin of the Rhône, which flows approximately seven kilometres to the south. The nearest localities are Derborence Derborence is a hamlet in the municipality of Conthey, in the canton of Valais, in Switzerland. It is located at 1,450 metres in an isolated valley on the south side of the Bernese Alps and is not permanently inhabited. Derborence is completel ... and Ardon, on the east side of the Haut de Cry. References External links *Haut de Cry on Summitpost Mountains of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scarce Swallowtail
The scarce swallowtail (''Iphiclides podalirius'') is a butterfly belonging to the family Papilionidae. It is also called the sail swallowtail or pear-tree swallowtail. Subspecies Subspecies include:"''Iphiclides'' Hübner, [1819]" at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' *''Iphiclides podalirius podalirius'' (Central and Southern Europe) *''Iphiclides podalirius feisthamelii'' (North Africa, Spain and southwest France) *''Iphiclides podalirius persica'' Verity, 1911 *''Iphiclides podalirius virgatus'' (Butler, 1865) ''Iphiclides podalirius feisthamelii'' is sometimes treated as a valid species, ''Iphiclides feisthamelii''. Distribution Despite the name "s ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leonurus Cardiaca
''Leonurus cardiaca'', known as motherwort, is an herbaceous perennial plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae. Other common names include throw-wort, lion's ear, and lion's tail. Lion's tail is also a common name for ''Leonotis leonurus'', and lion's ear, a common name for ''Leonotis nepetifolia''. Originally from Central Asia and southeastern Europe, it is now found worldwide, spread largely due to its use as a herbal remedy. Description ''Leonurus cardiaca'' has a squarish stem which is clad in short hairs and is often purplish, especially near the nodes. The opposite leaves have serrated margins and are palmately lobed with long petioles; basal leaves are wedge shaped with three points while the upper leaves have three to five. They are slightly hairy above and greyish beneath. Flowers appear in leaf axils on the upper part of the plant and have three-lobed bracts. The calyx of each flower is bell-shaped and has five lobes. The corolla is irregular, long, fused, long-tubed w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Onopordum Acanthium
''Onopordum acanthium'' (cotton thistle, Scotch (or Scottish) thistle, not to be confused with ''Cirsium vulgare'' - spear thistle, which is also known as Scotch or Scottish thistle and is the national flower of Scotland. Spear thistle is native to Britain and is common and widespread - Cotton thistle is non-native) is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to Europe and Western Asia from the Iberian Peninsula east to Kazakhstan, and north to central Scandinavia, and widely naturalised elsewhere,Europaea: ''Onopordum acanthium'' with especially large populations present in the |
Gagea Bohemica
''Gagea bohemica'', the early star-of-Bethlehem or Radnor lily, is a European and Mediterranean species of flowering plant in the lily family. It is sometimes referred to as the Welsh Star-of-Bethlehem. ''Gagea bohemica'' is widespread across and central and southern Europe as well as in northern Africa and the Middle East. Its range stretches from the United Kingdom to Morocco to Lebanon to Ukraine. Within the UK, specimens have been discovered at a single site in the Welsh county of Radnorshire, the only location in the United Kingdom from which it has been reported, and the plant has been adopted as the county flower. As its name suggests, the Early Star-of-Bethlehem blooms earlier than most other species of ''Gagea'', and is usually found in flower from January to March or April. Its flowers are very similar to those of the Yellow Star-of-Bethlehem. This belongs to the same genus but it is a less vigorous plant, growing to a height of 2–6 cm and normally having ju ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berteroa Incana
''Berteroa incana'' is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family, Brassicaceae. Its common names include hoary alyssum, false hoary madwort, hoary berteroa,Jacobs, J. and J. Mangold''Berteroa incana'' Plant Fact Sheet.USDA NRCS Bozeman. December 2008. and hoary alison.Karran, A. B. and T. C. G. Rich. (2003)Geographical and temporal distributions of ''Alyssum alyssoides'' and ''Berteroa incana'' (Brassicaceae) in the British Isles and the relationship to their modes of introduction. ''Watsonia'' 24(4), 499-506. It is a biennial herb native to Eurasia and it has been introduced to western Europe and North America. It is listed as an invasive noxious weed in some areas of United States and Canada Description ''Berteroa incana'' is typically a biennial herbaceous flowering plant,''Berteroa incana''. In: Kli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opuntia Humifusa
''Opuntia humifusa'', commonly known as the devil's-tongue, Eastern prickly pear or Indian fig, is a cactus of the genus ''Opuntia'' present in parts of the eastern United States. Description As is the case in other ''Opuntia'' species, the green stems of this low-growing perennial cactus are flattened, and are formed of segments. Barbed bristles are found around the surfaces of the segments, and longer spines are sometimes present. The flowers are yellow to gold in color, and are found along the margins of mature segments. The flowers are waxy and sometimes have red centers. They measure across. This cactus blooms in the late spring. The juicy red or purple fruits measure from . As the fruit matures, it changes color from green to red, and often remains on the cactus until the following spring. There are 6 to 33 small, flat, light-colored seeds in each fruit. Taxonomy Some botanists treat this cactus as a variety of '' O. compressa'': hence ''O. c.'' var. ''humifusa'', or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ephedra Distachya
''Ephedra distachya'' is a shrub in the family Ephedraceae that stands about 25 cm to 50 cm high. The shrub grows in many parts of the world, including southern and central Europe and western and central Asia. Its local names include ''somlatha''. Subspecies #''Ephedra distachya'' subsp. ''distachya'' – central + southern Europe, southwestern + central Asia #''Ephedra distachya'' subsp. ''helvetica'' (C.A.Mey.) Asch. & Graebn. – Switzerland, France, Italy, Slovenia, Austria History ''Ephedra'' is part of a group of plants called ‘gnetophytes’. These plants have hardly changed in the past 100 million years, and are thought to be relics of an ancient flora. The leaves of ''Ephedra'' are tiny and scale-like. Gnetophyte leaves evolved independently from leaves in flowering plants. ''Ephedra'' produces the alkaloid ephedrine, which has been shown to interfere with insect thermoregulation and may also have effects on insect neurotransmitters. This may be the method b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stipa
''Stipa'' is a genus of around 300 large perennial hermaphroditic grasses collectively known as feather grass, needle grass, and spear grass. They are placed in the subfamily Pooideae and the tribe Stipeae, which also contains many species formerly assigned to ''Stipa'', which have since been reclassified into new genera. Many species are important forage crops. Several species such as ''Stipa brachytricha'', ''S. arundinacea'', ''S. splendens'', ''S. calamagrostis'', ''S. gigantea'' and ''S. pulchra'' are used as ornamental plants. One former species, esparto grass (''Macrochloa tenacissima''), is used for crafts and extensively in paper making. It is a coarse grass with inrolled leaves and a panicle patterned inflorescence. Ecology Species of the genus ''Stipa'' can occur in grasslands or in savanna habitats. Certain specific prairie plant associations are dominated by grasses of the genus ''Stipa'', which genus often lends its name to the terminology of some prairie types. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Kestrel
The common kestrel (''Falco tinnunculus'') is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It is also known as the European kestrel, Eurasian kestrel, or Old World kestrel. In the United Kingdom, where no other kestrel species commonly occurs, it is generally just called "kestrel". This species occurs over a large range. It is widespread in Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as occasionally reaching the east coast of North America. It has colonized a few oceanic islands, but vagrant individuals are generally rare; in the whole of Micronesia for example, the species was only recorded twice each on Guam and Saipan in the Marianas. Description Common kestrels measure from head to tail, with a wingspan of . Females are noticeably larger, with the adult male weighing , around on average; the adult female weighs , around on average. They are thus small compared with other birds of prey, but larger than most songbirds. Like the other '' Fal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Raven
The common raven (''Corvus corax'') is a large all-black passerine bird. It is the most widely distributed of all corvids, found across the Northern Hemisphere. It is a raven known by many names at the subspecies level; there are at least eight subspecies with little variation in appearance, although recent research has demonstrated significant genetic differences among populations from various regions. It is one of the two largest corvids, alongside the thick-billed raven, and is possibly the heaviest passerine bird; at maturity, the common raven averages in length and in mass. Although their typical lifespan is considerably shorter, common ravens can live more than 23 years in the wild. Young birds may travel in flocks but later mate for life, with each mated pair defending a territory. Common ravens have coexisted with humans for thousands of years and in some areas have been so numerous that people have regarded them as pests. Part of their success as a species is due ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Redstart
The common redstart (''Phoenicurus phoenicurus''), or often simply redstart, is a small passerine bird in the genus ''Phoenicurus''. Like its relatives, it was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family, (Turdidae), but is now known to be an Old World flycatcher (family Muscicapidae). Taxonomy and systematics The first formal description of the common redstart was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Motacilla phoenicurus''. The genus ''Phoenicurus'' was introduced by the English naturalist Thomas Forster in 1817. The genus and species name ''phoenicurus'' is from Ancient Greek ''phoinix'', "red", and ''-ouros'' -"tailed". Two subspecies are accepted. The nominate ''P. p. phoenicurus'' is found all over Europe and reaches into Siberia. To the southeast, subspecies ''P. p. samamisicus'' is found from the Crimean Peninsula through Turkey, the Middle East, and into Central Asia. It is sli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
