Quote of the Day

When a man wantonly destroys one of the works of man we call him a vandal.  When he destroys one of the works of god we call him a sportsman.  


~Joseph Wood Krutch

Plant of the Day: Phragmites

DESCRIPTION: These tall, aquatic perennials, commonly known as the Common Reed Grass, are natives of North America and many other regions. P. maxima is an attractive Grass for landscape planting. Growing up to 15 feet high, this variety is too invasive and large for most water gardens. It produces plumed flower heads that can be dried and used for decoration. This plant grows naturally in marshes with brackish or sweet water. P. australis 'Aurea', the Variegated Dwarf Common Reed, is a handsome Grass with green foliage variegated with yellow. Its flower plumes may also be dried and used in floral arrangements. This species isn't as vigorous growing as P. Maxima and only grows 3 to 4 feet in height. It is suitable for growing in your water garden.

VARIETIES:

P. maxima & var. variegata;

P. australis & var. Aurea.

Phragmites, the Common reed, is a large perennial grass found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Phragmites australis is sometimes regarded as the sole species of the genus Phragmites, though some botanists divide Phragmites australis into three or four species. In particular the South Asian Khagra Reed – Phragmites karka – is often treated as a distinct species.

{[http://www.botany.com/phragmites.html]}

{[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phragmites]}

Quote of the Day

"A virgin forest is where the hand of man has never set foot." 

~Author Unknown

 

 

Plant of the Day: Echinocereus

DESCRIPTION: This group consists of about fifty cacti from the southern U.S. and Mexico. These pretty cacti come in a wide range of shapes and colors. Some species form round, spiny mounds and are commonly called Hedgehog Cacti, while others develop thin, rambling stems. The flower buds of these succulents form inside the stems, bursting out near the stem tips in late spring and early summer. The flowers open completely in full sun and come in an array of colors such as yellow, orange, red, pink, purple and white. Since the flowers break through the skin as they open, a small scar may be left behind. Sometimes the dead flowers can cause a stem to rot; therefore, remove any withered flowers. E. chloranthus (Cylinder Bells) is an interesting species that grows up to 5 inches high. Its colorful spines range from red or brown to cream. In the spring, an abundance of brownish-green flowers are produced at the plant's crown. This variety needs a dry winter dormancy. E. rigidissimus var. rubrispinus (Rainbow Cactus) is a very pretty variety that grows up to 8 inches high with a 2-inch diameter. In good light, the short spines of this plant will grow in red and white bands. This plant will blossom when fairly young. In early summer, a ring of 23/4-inch, pink to magenta, light-throated flowers are produced at the crown of each stem. E. triglochidiatus (Claret Cup Hedgehog) grows up to 8 inches high producing corrugated ribs armed with formidable spines. The beautiful, cup-shaped flowers of this plant have brilliant scarlet petals and contrasting bright green stigmas. Small, pink berries follow the blossoms. E. papillosus forms clumps of sprawling stems, 3/4- to 11/4-inch thick and 12 inches long. This species is excellent for growing in hanging baskets. In early summer, 41/2-inch, yellow flowers with red centers are produced.

VARIETIES: E. coccineus & var. neomexicanus; E. papillosus; E. pentalophus; E. rigidissimus & var. rubrispinus; E. poselgeri; E. pulchellus; E. reichenbachii; E. subinermis; E. viridiflorus; E. schmollii; E. chloranthus (Cylinder Bells); E. stramineus (Porcupine Hedgehog); E. knippelianus; E. scheeri; E. cinerascens; E. triglochidiatus (Claret Cup Hedgehog); E. subinermis; E. enneacanthus & var. conglomeratus (Strawberry Cactus); E. engelmanii; E. pectinatus & var. neomexicanus, rigidissimus; E. reichenbachii (Lace Cactus) & var. albispinus.

Echinocereus is a genus of ribbed, usually small to medium-sized cylindrical cacti, comprising about 70 species from the southern United States and Mexico in very sunny rocky places. Usually the flowers are large and the fruit edible.

The name comes from the Ancient Greek ἐχῖνος (echinos), meaning "hedgehog," and the Latin cereus meaning "candle." They are sometimes known as hedgehog cacti, a term also used for the Pediocactus and Echinopsis.

{[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinocereus]}

{[http://www.botany.com/echinocereus.html]}

Plant of the Day: Amelan'chier

DESCRIPTION: This group consists of beautiful, flowering shrubs and trees mostly native of North America. They are commonly known as Serviceberries, Juneberries, Shadbush, Shad-blow and Snowy Mespilus. Serviceberries are some of the earliest spring-blooming trees. These trees have slender branches and smooth, pale gray bark. They begin to bloom in their first year producing a profusion of short spikes of pure-white, 1-inch flowers. The flowers are followed, in early summer, by small, sweet, red or purple berries. The berries are hidden among the dark green leaves and birds tend to devour them before gardeners realize they are ripening. They were a source of food in the pioneer days and are sometimes used in making jellies. A. canadensis (Downy Serviceberry) grows up 20 or 30 feet high and has an oval shape. It is covered in smooth, green leaves that are clothed with soft gray hairs when they first unfurl, thus the common name.

VARIETIES: A. canadensis (20-30 ft); A. oblongifolia (5-6 ft); A. laevis (30-40 ft); A. asiatica (30-40 ft); A. ovalis (6-9 ft); A. alnifolia (20 ft); A. grandiflor

Amelanchier (pronounced /æməˈlænʃɪər/ am-ə-lan-sheer), also known as shadbush, shadwood or shadblow, service- or sarvisberry, juneberry, saskatoon, sugarplum or wild-plum, and chuckley pear is a genus of about 20 species of shrubs and small deciduous trees in the Rosaceae (Rose family).

The genus is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, growing primarily in early successional habitats. It is most diverse taxonomically in North America, especially in the northern United States and in Canada, and is native to every US state except Hawaii. Two species also occur in Asia, and one in Europe. The systematics (taxonomy) of shadbushes has long perplexed botanists, horticulturalists, and others, as suggested by the range in number of species recognized in the genus from 6 to 33 in two recent publications. A major source of complexity comes from the occurrence of apomixis (asexual seed production), polyploidy, and hybridization.

These plants are valued horticulturally, and their fruits are important to wildlife. Amelanchier species grow to 0.2–20 m tall, arborecent or suckering and forming loose colonies or dense clumps to single-stemmed. The bark is gray or less often brown, smooth or fissuring in older trees. The leaves are deciduous, cauline, alternate, simple, lanceolate to elliptic to orbiculate, 0.5–10 x 0.5–5.5 cm, thin to coriaceous, with surfaces abaxially glabrous or densely tomentose at flowering, abaxially glabrous or more or less hairy at maturity. The inflorescences are terminal, with 1–20 flowers, erect or drooping, either in clusters of one to four flowers, or in racemes with 4–20 flowers. The flowers have five white (rarely somewhat pink, yellow, or streaked with red), linear to orbiculate petals, 2.6–25 mm long, occasionally andropetalous (bearing apical microsporangia adaxially; only known in this genus in A. nantucketensis). The flowers appear in early spring, "when the shad run" according to tradition (leading to names such as "shadbush"). The fruit is a berry-like pome, red to purple to nearly black at maturity, 5–15 mm diameter, insipid to delectably sweet, maturing in summer.

{[http://www.botany.com/amelanchier.html]}

{[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelanchier]}

Plant of the Day: Acacia

DESCRIPTION: This group consists of about 1,000 species that are found in tropical and subtropical regions, especially in Australia and Africa. These evergreens should not be confused with the trees and shrubs commonly known as acacia, which belong to the group Robinia. These tender evergreens are totally different and are commonly known as Mimosas and Wattles. The Australian types are called Wattles because their lumber was used by early settlers in the wattle-and-daub method of building homes. The attractive leaves of these plants are usually bipinnate, giving them a feathery appearance. Some, however, are phyllodes; these are expanded, flattened leaf stems that carry out the same functions of true leaves. Wattles mostly bear flowers in the winter or spring. The tiny yellow flowers are produced in small, fluffy, round- or bottlebrush-shaped clusters. A. armata (Kangaroo Thorn) is a large, thorny, dense shrub with small, slender, dark green phyllodes. In the spring, the length of the branches are clothed with tons of yellow flowers. A. baileyana var. Purpurea is a large shrub or small tree with pretty, feathery leaves that are deep purple when young, contrasting beautifully with the older, blue-green leaves. A. pravissima (Ovens Wattle) forms a small tree or large shrub with blue-green, triangular phyllodes. Each phyllode is equipped with a single thorn on its under side. Tons of small clusters of yellow flowers are borne early in the spring. Some of these plants are valued for their timber such as A. homalophylla (Myall Wood), A. melanoxylon (Australian Blackwood), A. decurrens dealbata (Silver Wattle), and A. acuminata (Raspberry Jam Wood). The hard, durable wood from some is used in different countries for building purposes, making furniture, tool handles and much more. Some Acacias are valued for the tannin in their bark or wood. Gum Arabic is a gum that exudes from the stems and branches of A. nilotica; this plant is found wild in the dry areas of tropical Africa and India. This gum is used for dyeing and printing. A perfume is obtained from the flowers of A. Farnesiana. This plant is grown commercially in southern France.

VARIETIES

A. acinacea : GOLD DUST WATTLE. Shade light to filrered

A. adunca : WALLANGARRA WATTLE.

A. amblygona

A. aneura : MULGA; YARRAN.

A. armata ;

A. baileyana & var. Purpurea : COOTAMUNDRA WATTLE.

A. beckleri : BARRIER RANGE WATTLE.

A. binervata : TWO-VEINED HICKORY.

A. binervia : COASTAL MYALL.

A. boormanii : SNOWY RIVER WATTLE.

A. brachybotrya : GREY MULGA.

A. buxifolia : BOX-LEAF WATTLE.

A. calamifolia : WALLOWA.

A. cardiophylla : WYALONG WATTLE.

A. conferta : GOLDEN TOP.

A. cultriformis : KNIFE-LEAF WATTLE.

A. dealbata : SILVER WATTLE.

A. deanei : DEANS WATTLE.

A. decurrens : EARLY BLACK WATTLE, GREEN WATTLE.

A. drummondii : DRUMMONDS WATTLE.

A. elata : CEDAR WATTLE.

A. fimbriata : FRINGED WATTLE.

A. flexifolia : BENT LEAF WATTLE.

A. floribunda : WHITE SALLOW WATTLE.

A. glaucoptera : CALY WATTLE , FLAT WATTLE.

A. gracilifolia :

A. gunnii : PLOUGHSHARE WATTLE.

A. howittii : STICKY WATTLE.

A. hubbardiana.

A. iteaphylla : FLINDERS RANGE WATTLE.

A. lanuginoisa.

A. longifolia : SYDNEY GOLDEN WATTLE, SALLOW WATTLE.

A. melanoxylon : BLACKWOOD WATTLE.

A. mucronata;

A. myrtifolia : MYRTLE WATTLE

A. paradoxa : KANGAROO THORN

A. pendula : WEEPING MYALL; BOREE

A. perangusta : BRISBANE WATTLE

A. podalyriifolia : QUEENSLAND SILVER WATTLE

A. pravissima : OVENS WATTLE

A. prominens : GOLDEN RAIN WATTLE; GOSFORD WATTLE

A. pubescens : DOWNY WATTLE

A. pycnantha : GOLDEN WATTLE

A. retinodes :

A. riceana :

A. saligna : GOLDEN WREATH WATTLE

A. sophorae : COASTAL WATTLE

A. spectabilis : MUDGEE WATTLE

A.suaveolens : SWEET SCENTED WATTLE

A. terminalis : SUNSHINE WATTLE

A. triptera : SPUR-WING WATTLE

A. uncinata : WEEPING WATTLE

A. verniciflua : VARNISH WATTLE

A. vestita : HAIRY WATTLE

Acacia ( /əˈkeɪʃə/ or /əˈkeɪsiə/) is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not. They are pod-bearing, with sap and leaves typically bearing large amounts of tannins and condensed tannins that historically in many species found use as pharmaceuticals and preservatives.

The generic name derives from ακακία (akakia), the name given by early Greek botanist-physician Pedanius Dioscorides (ca. 40-90) to the medicinal tree A. nilotica in his book Materia Medica.[2] This name derives from the Greek word for its characteristic thorns, ακις (akis, thorn).[3] The species name nilotica was given by Linnaeus from this tree's best-known range along the Nile river.

Acacias are also known as thorntrees, whistling thorns or wattles, including the yellow-fever acacia and umbrella acacias.

Until 2005, there were thought to be roughly 1300 species of acacia worldwide, about 960 of them native to Australia, with the remainder spread around the tropical to warm-temperate regions of both hemispheres, including Europe, Africa, southern Asia, and the Americas. However, the genus was then divided into five, with the name Acacia retained for the Australian species (and a few in tropical Asia, Madagascar and Pacific Islands), and most of the species outside Australia divided into Vachellia and Senegalia. The two final genera, Acaciella and Mariosousa, only contain about a dozen species from the Americas each.

Scientific classification 

Kingdom: Plantae  

clade: Angiosperms

clade: Eudicots  

clade: Rosids

Order: Fabales

Family: Fabaceae

Subfamily: Mimosoideae

Tribe: Acacieae

Genus: Acacia

{[http://www.botany.com/acacia.html]}

{[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acacia]}

Plant of the Day: Thuja

DESCRIPTION: These evergreen trees are found wild in North America, Korea, Japan and China. They are very pretty trees and are hardy in most parts of North America where the soil is suitable and atmospheric conditions are fairly clean. The leaves of this tree, also known as Arborvitae, Northern White Cedar, and Swamp Cedar, are scale-like and overlap each other tightly against the twig. They are yellowish-green, one-eighth to one-fourth of an inch long and ovate with a pointed or blunt tip. The branchlets spread out in fan-shaped sprays. The small cone is about ½-inch long and matures during the first fall but remains on the tree throughout the winter. The bark of the trunks is thin and ashy to light reddish-brown. It is shed in long, narrow, shredded strips. When bruised, the branches of some kinds, notably T. plicata and T. occidentalis, give off a scent that resembles a mixture of Tansy and Turpentine. The wood of these trees is used for construction, cabinet work and cooperage. It is preferred when great durability is required to endure exposure to all kinds of weather. This wood is very resistant to decay. Some Thujas form good hedge plants and screens.

VARIETIES: T. occidentalis (American Arborvitae) & var. w/ golden leaves - aurea, Douglasii aurea, lutea, lutescens, semperaurea, Vervaeneana, Buchananii, compacta, conica, fastigata, filicoides, Riversii, robusta, Rosenthalii & viridis. Dwarf var. - Boothii, dumosa, globosa, Hoveyi, nana, pumila, pygmaea, recurva nana, umbraculifera, filiformis, Ohlendorfii, pendula, Ellwangeriana, ericoides.

T. orientalis (Oriental Arborvitae) & var. aurea, semperaurescens, bonita, elegantissima, Hillieri, minima glauca, Rosedalis, flagelliformis, meldensis & stricta.

T. plicata (Giant Arborvitae) & var. atrovirens, aurea or zebrina, fastigiata, Hillieri, pendula.

T. Standishii (Japanese Arborvitae).

T. koraiensis.

Thuja ( /ˈθuːdʒə/ or /ˈθjuːdʒə/) is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). There are five species in the genus, two native to North America and three native to eastern Asia. The genus is monophyletic and sister to Thujopsis.

They are commonly known as arborvitaes (from Latin for tree of life) or thujas; several species are widely known as cedar but because they are not true cedars (Cedrus) it has been recommended to call them redcedars or whitecedars.

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Plantae

Division: Pinophyta

Class: Pinopsida

Order: Pinales

Family: Cupressaceae

Subfamily: Cupressoideae

Genus: Thuja

{[http://www.botany.com/thuja.html]}

{[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuja]}