Earth and Space News: North American gardens jardines norteamericanos

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Sunday, December 3, 2017

North American Scarlet Plume Gardens Cut, Planted, Potted by Christmas

Summary: North American scarlet plume gardens cut, plant, pot lilies, peonies, roses and Christmas berry, cactus, cholla, fern, mistletoe, poinsettia and rose.

"Euphorbia fulgens, Allan Gardens, Toronto," closeup of orange red flowers of scarlet plume (Euphorbia fulgens); Allan Gardens, Toronto, southern Ontario, east central Canada; Saturday, April 23, 2016, 13:40: Nadiatalent, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons

North American scarlet plume gardens, with their alternative, back-up and supplementary cut and potted flower arrangements, augment the traditional array of seasonally correct Christmas berry, cactus, cholla, fern, mistletoe, poinsettia and rose.

Scarlet plume, native Mexican woody member of the Euphorbiaceae family of spurge-related herbs, shrubs and trees bears arching branches, bright orange-red blooms and dark green leaves. Its cultivated varieties, called cultivars, color the Euphorbia genus's signature flower- and leaf-lined stems with orange, peach, salmon or white blooms and purple or red foliage. Cut or severed cultivated and wild scarlet plume shoots drip irritating, milky, poisonous sap that demands a two-second dip in boiling water or over controlled flames.

The evergreen perennial's October to February bloom times in Canada and the United States and year-round in Mexico embellish cultivated or wild, indoor or outdoor soils.

Scarlet plume, scientifically named Euphorbia fulgens (Euphorbus's [physician to Juba II (Mauritania, 52 B.C.?-A.D. 23)] shining [spurge]), favors American Horticulture Society heat zones 11 to 8.

The drought-resistant, sun-tolerant shrub gets through United States Department of Agriculture hardiness zones 10 to 11 outdoors year-round and zones 9 northward with indoor-out, outdoor-in shuffles. It has to have moisture-infiltrated, water-percolated, well-drained sheltered sites with air and water pore spaces, neutral 7.0 soil pHs and south- or west-facing orientations for sunlight. Drip systems or soaker hoses optimally irrigate the 3- to 5-foot- (0.92- to 1.52-meter-) tall, 2- to 3-foot- (0.61- to 0.92-meter-) wide shrub in drying soils.

Soils dry to the touch, and non-clinging to probes, from the surface down 3 inches (7.62 centimeters) jumpstart irrigation schedules in North American scarlet plume gardens.

Scarlet plume, described by Bavarian naturalist Wilhelm Friedrich Karwinski von Karwin (Feb. 19, 1780-March 2, 1855), knows fragrantly clustered flowers, inedible fruits and lance-shaped, long-stalked leaves.

The Christmas poinsettia's non-famous relative, subsequently described by German botanist Johann Friedrich Klotzsch (June 9, 1805-Nov. 5, 1860), links modified leaves called bracts into cuplike clusters. Its genus, Euphorbia, monopolizes, in the Euphorbiaceae family, cuplike, flower-clustered, self-defensive cyathia whose petal-like bracts merge around 0.5-inch- (12.7-millimeter-) long, orange- to white-colored, yellow-eyed true flowers. The floral leaves need humid temperatures between 55 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit (12.78 to 23.89 degrees Celsius) to nestle firmly into drooping, leaf-riddled, weeping willow-like branches.

Prolific flowering, fruiting of dry, explosive capsules and seeding occur amid healthy leafing, rooting and shooting over 10-plus-year life cycles in North American scarlet plume gardens.

The indoor and outdoor ornamental prefers a 1- to 3-inch- (2.54- to 7.62-centimeter-) thick bark or leaf mulch 1 inch (2.54 centimeters) away from its base.

Pruning back to the trunk and repotting into the next container size respectively quicken the healthy growth of splendid-looking shoots and resourceful roots every three years. Fragrant, flower-interspersed, 2.76- to 5.12-inch- (7- to 13-centimeter-) long, 0.47- to 0.98-inch- (1.2- to 2.5-centimeter-) wide leaves rate cutting, planting, potting with lilies, peonies and roses. Scarlet plume survives 10 days in antibacterial, pH-adjusted, nutrient-, preservative-enriched water changed every two days in vases away from direct sunlight, fresh whole fruit and heat.

North American scarlet plume gardens likewise treasure indoor, outdoor displays and plantings with such holiday traditionals as Christmas berry, cactus, cholla, fern, mistletoe, poinsettia and rose.

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

closeup of foliage of scarlet plume (Euphorbia fulgens); Enchanting Floral Gardens of Kula, Maui; Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007, 11:32:40; image #071024-0279: Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/starr-environmental/24526741469/;
Forest & Kim Starr (Starr Environmental), CC BY 4.0 International, via Starr Environmental @ http://www.starrenvironmental.com/images/image/?q=24526741469

For further information:

Bailey, L.H. (Liberty Hyde). 1919. "5. Euphorbia fulgens, Karw." The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. Illustrated with Colored Plates, Four Thousand Engravings in the Text, and Ninety-six Full-page Cuts. In Six Volumes. Vol. II -- C-E: 1169. Rewritten, Enlarged and Reset. New York NY; London, England: The Macmillan Company.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/19620757

Brickell, Christopher, editor-in-chief. 2011. American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers. New York NY: DK Publishing.
Available @ https://books.google.com/books?id=d-BgPoWCQowC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

"Euphorbia." Cool Garden.
Available @ http://www.coolgarden.me/euphorbia-1711/

"Euphorbia, Scarlet Plume (Euphorbia fulgens)." Pick Ontario > Our Products.
Available @ http://www.po.flowerscanadagrowers.com/our-products/3698/euphorbia/fulgens

"Euphorbia fulgens." Flowers & Plants by Interflora.
Available @ http://www.flowers.org.uk/flowers/flowers-names/e-h/euphorbia-fulgens/

"Euphorbia fulgens." Learn 2 Grow.
Available @ http://www.learn2grow.com/plants/euphorbia-fulgens/

"Euphorbia fulgens Karwin ex. Klotzsch." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/50167864

"Euphorbia fulgens: Scarlet Plume." The Royal Horticultural Society.
Available @ https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/24426/Euphorbia-fulgens/Details?

Karwinsky von Karwin, Wilhelm Friedrich von. 1834. "Euphorbia fulgens Karw." Allgemeine Gartenzeitung, second year, no. 1: 26-27. Berlin, Germany: Nauck'schen Buchhandlung.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14572584

Meyers, Karen. 15 December 2011. "Flowers for Holiday Arrangements: Scarlet Plume (Euphorbia fulgens)." Karens Garden Tips.
Available @ http://www.karensgardentips.com/florestry/flowers-for-holiday-arrangements-scarlet-plume-euphorbia-fulgens/

Richardson, Rae. "Meet Scarlet-Plume." Plant-Human Interactions at Franklin & Marshall College > The Plants! > Meet the Plants!
Available @ https://planthumaninteractions.wordpress.com/the-plants/rae-richardson/

"Scarlet Plume (Euphorbia fulgens)." California Cut Flower Commission.
Available @ http://www.ccfc.org/component/flower/details?pid=1941

"Scarlet Plume -- Euphorbia fulgens." Calyx Flowers > Floral Library.
Available @ https://www.calyxflowers.com/floral-library/scarlet-plume/

Spencer, Roger. 2002. Horticultural Flora of South-Eastern Australia, Volume 3: The Identification of Garden & Cultivated Plants -- Flowering Plants: Dicotyledons, Part 2. Sydney NSW Australia: University of New South Wales Press.
Available @ https://books.google.com/books?id=qPTEeJmZ5CQC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Saturday, December 2, 2017

North American Heartseed Gardens: Carrotwood Trees and Heartseed Vines

Summary: Weeds in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina and Texas are courtyard carrotwood trees and indoor heartseed vines in North American heartseed gardens.

fruit and foliage of heartseed (Cardiospermum halicacabum), also known as balloon vine; Aquiles Serdán, Altamira municipality, Tamaulipas state, northeastern Mexico; Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014, 08:56:18: siergo niebla (siergoniebla), CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

North American heartseed gardens allow climbing tropical vines to add exotic textures, lush colors and sinuous growth to northern Mexico and, with the exception of two states, to the southern United States.

Weed designations bar the presence and the proliferation of the native tropical North American woody plant in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina and Texas. Fast growth, flexible life cycles and viable seeds cause the versatile annual, biennial or perennial to carpet crops such as soybeans, low-lying vegetation, shrubs and soils. The member of the Sapindaceae family of soapberry-related shrubs, trees and vines native to the world's subtropical and tropical regions decreases crop yields and species diversity.

The environmental impacts upon agro-industrial production and upon landscape sustainability encourage exposing animals, people, places and plants to chemical controls that eliminate weeds and enrich soils.

Seedlings flaunt triangular embryonic leaves called cotyledons for heartseed, commonly called balloon vine, heart pea, love-in-a-puff and winter cherry and scientifically Cardiospermum halicacabum ("heartseed salt-barrel [fruit]").

Seedlings grow into climbing vines whose branched stems get mature, maximum lengths of 0.08 to 0.32 inches (2 to 8 millimeters) and stalked flowers and foliage. Compound foliage, on 0.39- to 2.24-inch- (10- to 57-millimeter-) long stalks and with three leaflets, hold alternate positions around heartseed stems in North American heartseed gardens. The length of each heartseed leaflet is 0.11 to 0.24 inches (2.8 to 6.2 millimeters) and the width 0.39 to 1.69 inches (1 to 4.3 centimeters).

Heatseed leaves join clasping tendrils to plant or soil anchorages and juggle elliptical, oblong, oval or triangular shapes with coarse-toothed to lobed margins and hairy surfaces.

Heartseeds, described by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1778), knows only branches, with equal-sized stalks, called racemes as the flowering plant's flower-clustered inflorescence.

Flowers 0.08 to 0.16 inches (2 to 4 millimeters) across look green-white with one pistil, four long and 4 short stamens, four petals and four sepals. Petals, sepals and stalks respectively manage 0.06- to 0.19-inch (1.5- to 5-millimeter), 0.03- to 0.16-inch (0.8- to 4-millimeter) and 0.04- to 0.16-inch (1- to 4-millimeter) lengths.

North American heartseed gardens navigate the no-man's-land of current and potential weed designations with bloom times from July to December and through cooperation with indoor cultivation.

The fruiting stages of heartseed vines offer inflated, three-sided 0.47- to 1.61-inch- (1.2- to 4.1-centimeter-) long, 0.59- to 1.73-inch- (1.5- to 4.4-centimeter-) wide fruits called capsules.

A buff-colored, heart-shaped attachment face patterns one-third or more of every gray-black, round, smooth seed face, each 0.19 to 0.20 inches (4.7 to 5.1 millimeters) across.

Temperatures of 68 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit (20 to 35 degrees Celsius) at 0.39- to 1.97-inch (1- to 5-centimeter) depths quicken germination of 18-month viable seeds.

The state of Florida relegates to unwelcome weed status carrotwood, an introduced ornamental 32.81-foot- (10-meter-) tall evergreen tree native to Australia and related to heartseed vines. Globally warmed climate change smooths the way for subtropical and tropical introductions to spread farther northward than cold hardinesses and heat tolerances outside temperate regions suggest.

Outside Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina and Texas and inside courtyard and indoor North American heartseed gardens carrotwood's and heartseed's "evil tendencies" tend to cancel out.

Opened heartseed fruit shows seed arrangement; Stutensee, Baden-Württemberg state, southwestern Germany; Thursday, Sep. 24, 2009, 14:44: H. Zell, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Opened heartseed fruit shows seed arrangement; Stutensee, Baden-Württemberg state, southwestern Germany; Thursday, Sep. 24, 2009, 14:44: H. Zell, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cardiospermum_halicacabum_08.jpg

For further information:

"Cardiospermum halicacabum L." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/28600004

Dickinson, Richard; and Royer, France. 2014. Weeds of North America. Chicago IL; London, England: The University of Chicago Press.

Frost, Robert. 1936. "Evil Tendencies Cancel." A Further Range. New York NY: Henry Holt and Co.

Linnaeus, Carl. 1753. "Cardiospermum halicacabum." Species Plantarum, vol. I: 366-367. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii [Laurentius Salvius].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358385

Sunday, November 26, 2017

Americanized Spreading Dayflower Gardens Away From Moist Croplands

Summary: Americanized spreading dayflower gardens resolve ground reflection and surface runoff problems but run rampant in damp, shady croplands and nurseries.

Americanized spreading dayflower gardens absorb surface runoff, add ground cover to barren, polluted, waterlogged soils, adjust structure and texture on compacted sites and ameliorate ground reflection loss but quickly assume lasting dominance.

The annual or short-lived perennial in the Commelinaceae family of herbaceous spiderworts becomes particularly troublesome in banana, bean, citrus, coffee, corn, cotton, rice and sugarcane fields. The flowering herb native to Mediterranean Africa, Asia and Europe and related, Asian common dayflower (Commelina communis) challenge damp, shady croplands, landscapes, nurseries and soybean fields. No North American government designates nonnative common and spreading dayflowers, white-flowered Wandering Jew and oyster plant weeds for decreasing crop yields, environmental balance or species diversity.

Asian wart-removing herb and Benghali dayflower respectively endure sanctions in Washington and in Alabama, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont and Mexico.

Spreading dayflower, commonly named climbing dayflower, wandering Jew and water grass, furnishes seedlings with oval to lance-shaped cotyledons whose embryonic foliar bases form sheaths with stems.

First leaf stages get lance-shaped foliage, as do mature alternate-arranged, parallel-veined, 0.39- to 5.51-inch- (1- to 14-centimeter-) long, 0.19- to 1.29-inch- (0.5- to 3.3-centimeter-) wide leaves. Alternate-arranged, lance-shaped Benghali dayflower, common dayflower and white-flowered wandering Jew have oval-leafed variants while alternate-arranged, linear-leafed oyster plant and wart-removing herb have strap- and lance-shaped options. Leaves incline from creeping, smooth, sparse-haired stems, each of whose swollen leaf-to-stem attachments called nodes induces rooting new plants when it is in contact with soil.

Americanized spreading dayflower gardens juggle annual seeding and stem-rooting as reproduction means for Benghali, common and spreading dayflower, oyster plant, wart-removing herb and white-flowered wandering Jew.

Spreading dayflower, scientifically named Commelina diffusa ([Caspar and Jan] Commelin's spreading [plant]), keeps paired inflorescences called cymes, with oldest flowers tiptop, blooming from May to November.

Sickle-shaped, 0.32- to 1.58-inch- (8- to 40-millimeter-) long, 0.16- to 0.55-inch- (4- to 14-millimeter-) wide spathes lounge atop 0.19- to 0.79-inch- (5- to 20-millimeter-) long stalks. The leaflike, protective structures opposite spreading dayflower leaves each maintain one cyme with two to four perfect flowers and one with one male flower or more. Carolina dayflower-like, perfect, regular flowers each need one pistil, one small and two big blue petals, three green sepals, three fertile and three sterile bright-haired stamens.

Americanized spreading dayflower gardens overlap blue-blooming Benghal, Carolina (Commelina caroliniana) and common dayflowers, pink-, purple-, white-blossoming wart-removing herb and white-flowering oyster plant and white-flowered wandering Jew.

Broadly rounded to shallowly heart-shaped, leaflike, 0.79- to 1.18-inch- (2- to 3-centimeter-) long, 0.59- to 0.79-inch- (1.5- to 2-centimeter-) wide bracts protect each spreading dayflower bloom.

Stages of dry, explosive, fruiting, one- to four-seeded, 0.16- to 0.25-inch- (4- to 6.3-millimeter-) long capsules and of brown, ridged seeds queue up after flowering stages. The 0.08- to 0.12-inch- (2- to 2.8-millimeter-) long seeds require the top 0.39 inch (1 centimeter) of soil for germination and possibly three- to four-year viabilities. Benghal dayflower, common dayflower, oyster plant, white-flowered wandering Jew and wart-removing herb capsules respectively sprout five, four, two to three, six to 18 and six seeds.

Americanized spreading dayflower gardens, described by Dutch botanist Nicolaas Laurens Burman (Dec. 27, 1734-Sept. 11, 1793), thwart ground reflection and surface runoff away from irrigated crops.

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

spreading dayflower (Commelina diffusa) with katydid (upper right); Bird Rookery Swamp Trail, Collier County, southwestern Florida; Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016, 13:04: Judy Gallegher, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Climbing_Dayflower_-_Commelina_diffusa_and_Katydid,_Bird_Rookery_Swamp,_Collier_County,_Florida_-_31363178090.jpg

spreading dayflower's flower, foliage and stem; Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, northeastern Kauai; Wednesday, March 20, 2013, 10:11:41; image #130320-3346: Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/starr-environmental/24578398634/; Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 4.0 International, via Starr Environmental @ http://www.starrenvironmental.com/images/image/?q=24578398634

For further information:

"Commelina diffusa Burm. f." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/8300012

Dickinson, Richard; and Royer, France. 2014. Weeds of North America. Chicago IL; London, England: The University of Chicago Press.

Burman, Nicolaas Laurens. 1768. "Commelina (diffusa)." Flora Indica: Cui Accedit Series Zoophytorum Indicorum, nec non Prodromus Florae Capensia: 18. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Cornelium Haek.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/39900407

Weakley, Alan S.; Ludwig, J. Christopher; and Townsend, John F. 2012. Flora of Virginia. Edited by Bland Crowder. Fort Worth TX: BRIT Press, Botanical Research Institute of Texas.

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Courtyard and Indoor Americanized Purple Loosestrife Gardens

Summary: Courtyard and indoor Americanized purple loosestrife gardens repress and research European wand loosestrife, Indian toothcup and purple loosestrife.

Non-native purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) now dominates Cooper Marsh Conservation Area, near Cornwall, southeastern Ontario, east central Canada; Friday, July 31, 2009, 16:37: Saffron Blaze, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

The aquaria, confined ponds and contained pools in Americanized purple loosestrife gardens allow appreciation of an aquatic herbaceous perennial that advances through North American waterways in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Multiple reproduction modes, viral disease transmission and waterlogging tolerances build canal, marsh, river and wetland colonies of purple loosestrife in Canada, Mexico and the United States. Federal and provincial legislation in Canada and state legislation in the United States condemn purple loosestrife's carrying cucumber mosaic virus, clogging waterways and crowding native vegetation. Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio and Oregon disparage purple loosestrife.

Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming and Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan likewise exclude it.

Hairless, oval, 0.12- to 0.24-inch- (3- to 6-millimeter-) long, 0.08- to 0.12-inch- (2- to 3-millimeter-) wide cotyledons function as embryonic leaves for purple loosestrife's seedling stage.

The perennial native to Europe grows lance-shaped, mature, opposite-arranged or three-whorled, somewhat hairy, stalkless, 1.18- to 3.94-inch- (3- to 10-centimeter-) long foliage with heart-shaped, wide bases. The aquatic herb sometimes has alternate arrangements for leaves within 3.94- to 39.37-inch- (10- to 100-centimeter-) long inflorescences, called racemes, with same-sized stalklets off central stalks. Purple loosestrife, scientifically named Lythrum salicaria (blood willow-like), only includes whorled arrangements of perfect, pink-purple, regular flowers 0.59 to 0.79 inches (15 to 20 millimeters) across.

Every flower in June- to November-blooming Americanized purple loosestrife gardens joins one pistil, four to eight each of petals and sepals and eight to 16 stamens.

Purple loosestrife, nicknamed purple lythrum, rainbow weed and spiked loosestrife, knows 8- 10-, 12-nerved green sepals and 0.28- to 0.39- inch- (7- to 10-millimeter-) long petals.

The flowering herb in the Lythraceae family of loosestrife herbs, shrubs and trees lifts branched, soft-haired, square, 19.68- to 94.49-inch- (50- to 240-centimeter-) tall stems upward. Its sturdy stems manage effective circulation of dissolved hormones and photosynthetic products because its extensive, oxygen-rich, spongy tissue-covered, submerged root system moves dissolved soil nutrients upward. They nourish fruiting stages of dry, explosive, multi-seeded, 0.16- to 0.24-inch- (4- to 6-millimeter-) long, 0.06-inch- (1.5-millimeter-) wide fruits called capsules during expected 22-year life cycles.

Purple loosestrife, described by Råsholt-born Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1778), offers 900 to 1,000 capsules per plant in Americanized purple loosestrife gardens.

Water and wind sometimes and wildlife always provide the main dispersal means for brown to black, buoyant, lightweight, 0.008- to 0.158-inch- (0.2- to 0.4-millimeter-) long seeds.

The germination of 83 to 130 seeds per capsule, and of 2.7 million seeds per plant, per year quickens at 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius). It remains likely for 20-year viable seeds down through temperatures of 57.2 degrees Fahrenheit (14 degrees Celsius) in the top 0.79 inches (2 centimeters) of soil. Its endproduct stresses native swamp loosestrife differentiated by 1.97- to 5.91-inch- (5- to 15-centimeter-) long whorled leaves and 0.39- to 0.59-inch- (10- to 15-millimeter-) long petals.

Aquaria, confined ponds and contained pools tether weed-designated European wand and purple loosestrifes and weedy Indian toothcup to minimum growth-friendly conditions in Americanized purple loosestrife gardens.

purple loosestrife's flowers and leaves: Leslie J. Mehrhoff, University of Connecticut, Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Forestry Images

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

purple loosestrife's flowers and leaves: Leslie J. Mehrhoff, University of Connecticut, Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Forestry Images @ http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=5479711

For further information:

Dickinson, Richard; and Royer, France. 2014. Weeds of North America. Chicago IL; London, England: The University of Chicago Press.

Linnaeus, Carl. 1753. "1. Lythrum salicaria." Species Plantarum, vol. I: 446. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii [Laurentius Salvius].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358465

"Lythrum salicaria L." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/19200254

Modzelevich, Martha. "Lythrum salicaria, Purple Loosestrife, Purple Lythrum, Rainbow Weed, Spiked Loosestrife," Hebrew: שנית גדולה." Flowers in Israel.
Available @ http://www.flowersinisrael.com/lythrumsalicaria_page.htm

Weakley, Alan S.; Ludwig, J. Christopher; and Townsend, John F. 2012. Flora of Virginia. Edited by Bland Crowder. Fort Worth TX: BRIT Press, Botanical Research Institute of Texas.

Saturday, November 18, 2017

Thanksgiving Turkey Tail Mushrooms Fight Cancers and Contaminants

Summary: Thanksgiving turkey tail mushrooms supply thanksgivers with casseroles, salads, soups and teas and woodlands with pollution-reducing nutrient recycling.

turkey tails mushrooms (Trametes versicolor); Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area, Lincoln County, Central Coast region, Oregon; Tuesday, May 6, 2003, 10:07:46: Ron Exeter/Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washington (BLMOregon), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Thanksgiving turkey tail mushrooms, a fungal species native to North America, assume high profiles continent-wide in time for Thanksgiving celebrations in Anglophone-loving areas of Mexico, in Canada and in the United States.

The Thanksgiving fruiting body bears its common name because of its special prominence in late November's woodlands and because of its turkey tail-like colors and shapes. It can be considered drinkable as a tea complemented by flavorful, non-mushroom-smelling ingredients and edible as a fresh snack or in a casserole, sauce and soup. Collaborative research at Bastyr University in Kenmore, Washington and the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and traditional medicine in China and Japan describe human health benefits.

Bract-like, fungal Thanksgiving turkey tail mushrooms encourage back-to-nature lifestyles as emanators of blue and green fabric and wool dyes and extractors of environmental pathogens and pollutants.

Thanksgiving turkey tail mushrooms flourish year-round as rosettes basally clustered on branches, logs and stumps in hardwood forests and open woodlands and sometimes in coniferous stands.

The polypore group member grabs chemical pollutants and heavy metals from air, soil and water and Escherichia coli bacteria and poisonous mercury ions from woodland waters. It hinders proliferation of anthracenes, candida albicans, chromated copper arsenate, cryptococcus neoformans, dimethyl phosphonate, dioxin, listeria monocytogenes, organophosphates, pentachlorophenols, pseudomonas aeruginosa, staphylococcus aureus and streptococcus pneumoniae. Its ecofriendliness, as kawaratake in Japanese, Trametes versicolor (thin-sectioned, several-colored) scientifically and yun zhi in Chinese, includes recycling food chain and web nutrients from decaying wood.

Thanksgiving mushrooms, described by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1778) and Kentucky-born mycologist Curtis Gates Lloyd (July 17, 1859-Nov. 11, 1926), jumpstart immunity.

Polysaccharide-K keeps immunity strong in patients with cervical, colorectal, liver, prostate and stomach cancers, hepatatis B and C, leukemia, malaria and non-small- and small-cell lung carcinomas.

Phase I Clinical Trial of Trametes versicolor Women with Breast Cancer, in the 2012-published International Scholarly Research Notices (ISRN) Oncology journal, lists breast cancer recovery properties. Carolyn Torkelson, Juliette Gay, Mark Martzen, Amy Putiri, Imasa Sasagawa, Leanna Standish, Erin Sweet and Cynthia Wenner mention polysaccharide-K mobilizing natural killer cells against cancerous cells. The two researchers in Minneapolis and six in Kenmore note breast cancer recovery-enhancing killer cell count increases from daily 0.32-ounce (9-gram) Thanksgiving turkey tail mushroom preparations.

Health and Ministry approval and Kureha company patents offer similar optimism despite polysaccharide-K's assorted sugars and attached proteins obstructing standard drug-making's active principal ingredient (API) identification.

Turkey tail mushrooms present three to eight, and related species one to three, gray-white, spore-emitting, unbruised pores, with 0.12-inch- (3-millimeter-) deep tubes per 0.04 inch (millimeter).

The flexible, thin mushroom's 0.12-inch- (3-millimeter-) thick, 3.93-inch- (10-centimeter-) across cap qualifies as circular, kidney-shaped or triangular, with contrasting blue-, buff, cinnamon-, green-, maroon-, orange-colored rings. It retains algae with age, cobwebby, compacted cells called mycelia, contrastingly fuzzy, velvety textural rings and fungus moths (Nemaxera betulinella) and Platypezid fly maggots (Polyprivora picta). Gray-white caps, inflexible shapes, one-colored textural rings and poreless, smooth surfaces respectively separate out otherwise similar-looking Trametes hirsuta, T. ochracea, T. pubescens and Stereum ostrea mushrooms.

Thanksgiving turkey tail mushrooms treat thanksgivers to casseroles, sauces, soups and, when spices tether indistinctive odors and mushroomy tastes, teas and woodlands to pollution-reducing nutrient recycling.

turkey tails; Nescopek State Park, Luzerne County, northeastern Pennsylvania; Saturday, March 23, 2013, 16:12: Nicolas A. Tonelli (Nicholas_T), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

turkey tails; Nescopek State Park, Luzerne County, northeastern Pennsylvania; Saturday, March 23, 2013, 16:12: Nicholas_T, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicholas_t/8585845387/;
Nicholas A. Tonelli from Northeast Pennsylvania, USA, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Turkey_Tails_(8585845387).jpg

For further information:

"Boletus versicolor L." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/100387485

Kuo, Michael. March 2005. "Trametes versicolor: The Turkey Tail." Mushroom Expert.
Available @ http://www.mushroomexpert.com/trametes_versicolor.html

Linnaeus, Carl. 1753. "4. Boletus versicolor." Species Plantarum, vol II: 1176. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii [Laurentius Salvius].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/359197#page/618/mode/1up

Lloyd, Curtis Gates. May 1921. "Trametes Versicolor From Prof. Marcial R. Espinosa, Chile (Fig. 1927)." Mycological Notes (Cincinnati), no. 65: 1045.
Available via HathiTrust @ https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112018144953?urlappend=%3Bseq=407

Marriner, Derdriu. Feb. 25, 2017. "Garden Hobbies Growing Mushrooms: Kit Or Spawn? With Substrate Or Not?" Earth and Space News Blog. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/02/garden-hobbies-growing-mushrooms-kit-or.html

O'Reilly, Pat, "Trametes versicolor (L.) Pilát - Turkeytail." First Nature > Fungi.
Available @ http://www.first-nature.com/fungi/trametes-versicolor.php

Stamets, Paul. 5 June 2012. Updated 26 October 2012. "Turkey Tail Mushrooms Help Immune System Fight Cancer."
Available @ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-stamets/mushrooms-cancer_b_1560691.html

"Terrific Turkey Tails (Trametes versicolor)."
Available @ http://www.iowamushroom.org/featured_mushrooms/Trametes_versicolor

Torkelson, Carolyn J.; Sweet, Erin; Martzen, Mark R.; et al. 2012. Phase I Clinical Trial of Trametes versicolor Women with Breast Cancer. ISRN Oncology Journal, Vol. 2012, Article ID 251632, 7 pages. doi:10.5402/2012/251632.
Available @ https://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn/2012/251632/

"Trametes versicolor." November 1920. Mycological Notes: Plates for No. 65, plate 177, fig. 1927.
Available via HathiTrust @ https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112018144953?urlappend=%3Bseq=366

"Trametes versicolor (L.) Lloyd." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/100405693

"Turkey Tail, a Powerful Medicinal Mushroom." Eat the Planet: Exploring Earth's Forgotten Edibles.
Available @ http://eattheplanet.org/turkey-tail-a-powerfull-medicinal-mushroom/

Sunday, November 12, 2017

Americanized Field Bindweed Gardens: Fragrant Bloom on Frightful Sites

Summary: Americanized field bindweed gardens always reduce ground reflection and surface runoff, and never crop yields and species diversity, on frightful sites.

closeup of field bindweed's flower and foliage; Red Butte slopes, northern Salt Lake County, north central Utah; Thursday, June 18, 2009, 17:17:54: Andrey Zharkikh (andrey_zharkikh), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Americanized field bindweed gardens achieve what weeds accomplish as ground reflection-abating, surface runoff-absorbing ground covers on problem soils and unpopular sites and as resourceful weedy rivals in croplands, orchards, pastures and vineyards.

The perennial trailing, twining vine native to Europe belongs with five other weedy members of the Convolvulaceae family of morning glory-related herbs, shrubs, trees and vines. The Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey and New Mexico state governments consider field bindweed a weed. The Canadian and Mexican federal and the North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming state governments likewise deem it an unwelcome weed.

Field bindweed, introduced into New England in 1739 and naturalized in western Canada by the 1890s, endures additional Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan provincial sanctions.

Heart- to kidney-shaped, long-stalked, 0.35- to 0.87-inch- (9- to 22-millimeter-) long, 0.14- to 0.39-inch- (3.5- to 10-millimeter-) wide cotyledons flourish atop stems reddening near soil levels.

Arrowhead-shaped, round-tipped, stalked first leaf stages get frost tolerances to 17.6 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 8 degrees Celsius) and 17.72- to 23.62-inch- (45- to 60-centimeter-) deep roots. Alternate-arranged, arrowhead-shaped to triangular, long-stalked, mature, round-tipped, veined, 0.79- to 2.36-inch- (2- to 6-centimeter-) long, 0.79- to 1.38-inch- (2- to 3.5-centimeter-) wide foliage has smooth margins. The foliar stalks incline from counterclockwise-twisting, hairless stems, frost-tolerant to 14 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 10 degrees Celsius), on slender, trailing, 22.97-foot- (7-meter-) long, twining, twisted vines.

Americanized field bindweed gardens juggle cordlike, creeping, white, 98.42-foot- (30-meter-) long, 29.53-foot- (9-meter-) deep underground stems called rhizomes and flowering stages within six weeks of germination.

Field bindweed, commonly named barbine, corn bind, corn lily, cornbine, creeping Jenny, devil's guts, European bindweed, European glorybind and greenvine, keeps March through November bloom times.

Inflorescences called racemes line up one flower, or two to four flowers, atop same-sized stalklets on central, four-sided stalks linked to leaf-to-stem attachment angles called axils. They maintain funnel-shaped, perfect, regular, white to pink, 0.59- to 0.79-inch- (1.5- to 2-centimeter-) long flowers, each 0.79 to 1.18 inches (2 to 3 centimeters) across. They need one pistil, two leaflike bractlets, five stamens, five fused 0.59- to 1.18-inch- (1.5- to 3-centimeter-) long petals and five fused 0.12-inch- (3-millimeter-) long sepals.

Americanized field bindweed gardens offer dry, egg-shaped, explosive, one- to four-seeded, two-celled, 0.08- to 0.16-inch- (2- to 4-millimeter-) long capsules 10 days after pollinating one-day blooms.

Perennial field bindweed, commonly named hedge bells, laplove, lesser bindweed and small-flowered morning glory, produces 500 bumpy, dull, egg-shaped, gray-brown, three-sided seeds with 50-year in-soil viabilities.

Temperatures between 41 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit (5 and 40 degrees Celsius) in the top 0.79 inches (2 centimeters) of soil quicken field bindweed seed germination. Field bindweed, described by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1778) and named Convolvulus arvensis (twining fields), releases 1,763.7 pounds (800 kilograms) of seeds. Rooted, 1.97-inch (5-centimeter) rhizomes serve 25 shoots, within four months, alongside 0.12- to 0.19-inch- (3- to 5-millimeter-) long, 0.03- to 0.12-inch- (0.7- to 3-millimeter-) thick seeds.

Americanized field bindweed gardens transform troublesome soils and troubling sites through pink-blooming hedge bindweed, red-blossoming morning-glory, purple-flourishing water spinach, white-flowering field bindweed and yellow-blooming water spinach.

Field bindweed's flowers may open as white, pink-tinged or pink; Bozeman, Gallatin County, southwestern Montana; Friday, June 8, 2007, 09:58:16: Matt Lavin, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Field bindweed's flowers may open as white, pink-tinged or pink; Bozeman, Gallatin County, southwestern Montana; Friday, June 8, 2007, 09:58:16: Matt Lavin, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/plant_diversity/5258214884/

For further information:

"Convolvulus arvensis L." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/8500005

Dickinson, Richard; and Royer, France. 2014. Weeds of North America. Chicago IL; London, England: The University of Chicago Press.

"Field Bindweed: Convolvulus arvensis." Virginia Tech Weed Identification Guide.
Available @ https://oak.ppws.vt.edu/~flessner/weedguide/conar.htm

Linnaeus, Carl. 1753. "1. Convolvulus arvensis." Species Plantarum, vol I: 153. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii [Laurentius Salvius].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358172

Modzelevich, Martha. "Convolvulus arvensis, Corn Bind, Lesser Bindweed, Hebrew: חבלבל השדה, Arabic: ضيبأ دادح." Flowers in Israel.
Available @ http://www.flowersinisrael.com/Convolvulusarvensis_page.htm

Weakley, Alan S.; Ludwig, J. Christopher; and Townsend, John F. 2012. Flora of Virginia. Edited by Bland Crowder. Fort Worth TX: BRIT Press, Botanical Research Institute of Texas.

Sunday, November 5, 2017

Americanized Leafy Spurge Gardens: Juicy, Rooty, Seedy Ground Cover

Summary: Americanized leafy spurge gardens sometimes harm crops and livestock and always help hopeless soils and hint of practical and pretty plant relatives.

closeup of leafy spurge's flowers and immature fruit capsules; Butte County, southeastern Idaho; Wednesday, June 23, 2010, 16:19:47: Matt Lavin, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Rhizomes, sap and seeds in Americanized leafy spurge gardens augur poorly for cereal, corn, cucumber, sorghum, soybean and sugarcane croplands and for pastures and rangelands but well for railways, roadsides and wastelands.

The perennial native of west Asia's Caucasus Mountains belongs with 10 other species on lists of weedy spurge-related herbs, shrubs and trees in the Euphorbiaceae family. The Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho and Iowa state governments consider leafy spurge, not native hairy spurge, three-seeded mercury and thyme-leaved spurge, a weed. The Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming state governments describe leafy spurge as weedy.

Leafy spurge, not nonnative castor bean, experiences sanctions from the Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Saskatchewan provincial and Canadian and Mexican federal governments.

Grainy, oblong, 0.51- to 0.75-inch- (13- to 19-millimeter-) long, 0.08- to 0.16-inch- (2- to 4-millimeter-) wide cotyledons fit onto pale green stems red-browning at soil levels.

Lance-shaped, opposite-arranged, stalkless first leaf stages get the embryonic leaf stage's milky, toxic juice that generates food poisoning in livestock and skin rashes in susceptible people. Mature lance-shaped, 0.79- to 2.76-inch- (2- to 7-centimeter-) long, 0.12- to 0.19-inch- (3- to 5-millimeter-) wide, stalkless foliage, whether alternate-arranged, opposite-positioned or whorled, has smooth margins. It inclines from blue-green, branched, 11.81- to 39.37-inch- (30- to 100-centimeter-) tall, hairless, juice-oozing, somewhat woody stems atop deep, 16.4-foot- (5-meter-) long underground stems called rhizomes.

Pink buds jumpstart land invasions with rhizome fragments rooting from 9.19-foot (2.8-meter) depths and join seeding stages as main reproduction means in Americanized leafy spurge gardens.

Leafy spurge, named faitours grass, Hungarian spurge and wolf's-milk commonly and Euphorbia esula (Euphorbus's [52 B.C.-A.D. 23] sharp [juice]), knows flower-clustered, April- to November-blooming, umbrella-shaped cyathia.

Green-yellow, imperfect, regular clusters each lay claim to four crescent-shaped, nectar-secreting glands and lie within cuplike, flower-protecting, leaflike, opposite-arranged, 0.47-inch- (1.2-centimeter-) long, 0.39-inch- (1-centimeter-) wide bracts. They must mix female flowers, maintaining one pistil each and merged into groups of three and male flowers maintaining one stamen each and merged into foursomes. Leafy spurge, described by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1778), nudges into fruiting and seeding stages within 30 days of the first flowerings.

Americanized leafy spurge gardens offer the 16.4-foot (5-meter) area around each plant 250 seeds per stem from dry, explosive, fruiting, nodding, three-seeded, 0.16-inch- (4-millimeter-) long capsules.

Brown- and yellow-flecked, glossy, gray, oval to oblong, smooth, 0.08- to 0.09-inch- (2- to 2.4-millimeter-) long, 0.067- to 0.07-inch- (1.7- to 1.8-millimeter-) wide seeds prove buoyant.

Leafy spurge germination quickens at ambient temperatures of 78.8 degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees Celsius) at 0.59- to 1.97-inch (1.5- to 5-centimeter) depths and on water surfaces.

Rhizome reproduction, seed buoyancy and seed viability 5 to 8 years in soil result in dense stands along canal, ditch and river shorelines and in paddies. They sprout leafy spurge during floods and rains and on waterlogged soils and, with cypress purge, on drier croplands, fencelines, gardens, pastures, railways, rangelands and wastelands.

Americanized leafy spurge gardens treat ground reflection and surface runoff on problem soils away from such nonweedy relatives as cassava, croton, crown-of-thorns, poinsettia, rubber and tapioca.

Leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula) populates such disturbed sites as the edges of gravelly draws where they abut sagebrush steppes; Butte County, southeastern Idaho; Tuesday, Aug. 18. 2009, 11:10:14: Matt Lavin, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

closeup of leafy spurge's flowers and immature fruit capsules; Butte County, southeastern Idaho; Wednesday, June 23, 2010, 16:19:47: Matt Lavin, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/plant_diversity/5144348570/

Dickinson, Richard; and Royer, France. 2014. Weeds of North America. Chicago IL; London, England: The University of Chicago Press.

"Euphorbia esula L." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/12802082

Linnaeus, Carl. 1753. "48. Euphorbia esula." Species Plantarum, vol. I: 461. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii [Laurentius Salvius].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358480

Weakley, Alan S.; Ludwig, J. Christopher; and Townsend, John F. 2012. Flora of Virginia. Edited by Bland Crowder. Fort Worth TX: BRIT Press, Botanical Research Institute of Texas.