Melampyrum pratense

Melampyrum pratense

Melampyrum pratense, common cow-wheat, is a plant species in the family Orobanchaceae.

The seed of the plant has an elaiosome, which is attractive to wood ants (Formica spp.). The ants disperse the seeds of the plant when they take them back to their nests to feed their young.[1] The plant is an Ancient Woodland indicator, as the ants rarely carry the seeds more than a few yards, seldom crossing a field to go to a new woodland.

M. pratense is a food plant of the caterpillars of the Heath Fritillary (Melitaea athalia), a butterfly.[2]

M. pratense herb has been used in the traditional Austrian medicine internally as tea or externally as pillow filling for treatment of rheumatism and blood vessels calcification.[3]

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References

[1]^ Puplett, D. Symbiosis. Trees for Life. Accessed 22 June 2013.
[2]^ Heath Frittilary (Melitaea athalia). UK Butterflies. Accessed 22 June 2013.
[3]^ Vogl S, Picker P, Mihaly-Bison J, Fakhrudin N, Atanasov AG, Heiss EH, Wawrosch C, Reznicek G, Dirsch VM, Saukel J, Kopp B. Ethnopharmacological in vitro studies on Austria's folk medicine - An unexplored lore in vitro anti-inflammatory activities of 71 Austrian traditional herbal drugs. J Ethnopharmacol.2013 Jun13. doi:pii: S0378-8741(13)00410-8. 10.1016/j.jep.2013.06.007. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 23770053. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23770053

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melampyrum_pratense

Siberian chrysanthemum

Siberian chrysanthemum

Geranium maculatum

Geranium maculatum

Geranium maculatum, the Spotted Geranium, Wood Geranium, or Wild Geranium is a woodland perennial plant native to eastern North America, from southern Manitoba and southwestern Quebec south to Alabama and Georgia and west to Oklahoma and South Dakota.[1][2] It is known as Spotted Cranesbill or Wild Cranesbill in Europe, but the Wood Cranesbill is another plant, the related G. sylvatium (a European native called "Woodland Geranium" in North America). Colloquial names are Alum Root, Alum Bloom and Old Maid's Nightcap.

It grows in dry to moist woods and is normally abundant when found. It is a perennial herbaceous plant growing to 60 cm tall, producing upright usually unbranched stems and flowers in spring to early summer. The leaves are palmately lobed with five or seven deeply cut lobes, 10–12.5 cm broad, with a petiole up to 30 cm long arising from the rootstock. They are deeply parted into three or five divisions, each of which is again cleft and toothed. The flowers are 2.5–4 cm diameter, with five rose-purple, pale or violet-purple (rarely white) petals and ten stamens; they appear from April to June in loose clusters of two to five at the top of the stems. The fruit capsule, which springs open when ripe, consists of five cells each containing one seed joined to a long beak-like column 2–3 cm long (resembling a crane's bill) produced from the center of the old flower. The rhizome is long, and 5 to 10 cm thick, with numerous branches. The rhizomes are covered with scars, showing the remains of stems of previous years growth. When dry it has a somewhat purplish color internally. Plants go dormant in early summer after seed is ripe and dispersed.[2][3][4]

The plant has been used in herbal medicine, and is also grown as a garden plant. Wild Geranium is considered an astringent, a substance that causes contraction of the tissues and stops bleeding. The Mesquakie Indians brewed a root tea for toothache and for painful nerves and mashed the roots for treating hemorrhoids.[5]

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References

[1]^ Germplasm Resources Information Network: Geranium maculatum
[2]^ a b BorealForest: Geranium maculatum
[3]^ Missouriplants: Geranium maculatum
[4]^ Gleason, H. A. (1952). The New Britton and Brown Illustrated Flora of the Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada, Vol. 2, page 457. Hafner Press, New York. 63-16478.
[5]^ Plants for a Future: Geranium maculatum

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geranium_maculatum

Lycoris radiata

Lycoris radiata

Scientific classification	.
Kingdom	Plantae
Clade	Angiosperms
Clade	Monocots
Order	Asparagales
Family	Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily	Amaryllidoideae
Genus	Lycoris
Species	L. radiata
Binomial name	.
Binomial name	Lycoris radiata (L'Hér.) Herb.

Lycoris radiata (red spider lily) is a plant in the amaryllis family, Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae.[1] Originally from China, it was introduced into Japan and from there to the United States and elsewhere. It flowers in the late summer or autumn, often in response to heavy rainfall. The common name hurricane lily refers to this characteristic, as do other common names, such as resurrection lily; these may be used for the genus as a whole.[2]

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References

[1]^ Stevens, P.F. (2001 onwards), Angiosperm Phylogeny Website: Asparagales: Amaryllidoideae
[2]^ Knox, Gary W. (2011), Hurricane Lilies, Lycoris Species, in Florida, Environmental Horticulture Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, retrieved 2012-04-12

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycoris_radiata

A depot with Mexican Asters

A depot with Mexican Asters

Hadong Bookchun in Korea

Impatiens balsamina

Impatiens balsamina

Impatiens balsamina (garden balsam, garden jewelweed, rose balsam, touch-me-not) is a species of Impatiens native to southern Asia in India and Burma. Other common names include ‘elepe in Hawaiian, mírame lindo in Spanish, pongsona in Korean, and kamantigi in Chamorro.[1]

It is an annual plant growing to 20–75 cm tall, with a thick, but soft stem. The leaves are spirally-arranged, 2.5–9 cm long and 1–2.5 cm broad, with a deeply toothed margin. The flowers are red, pink, purple, or white, and 2.5–5 cm diameter; they are pollinated by bees and other insects, and also by nectar-feeding birds.[2] The ripe seed capsules undergo explosive dehiscence.[1]

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References

[1]^ Jump up to: a b c Impatiens balsamina. Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER).
[2]^ Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_balsam

Morning Glory

Morning Glory

Morning glory is the common name for over 1,000 species of flowering plants in the family Convolvulaceae, whose current taxonomy and systematics are in flux. Morning glory species belong to many genera, some of which are:

Calystegia
Convolvulus
Ipomoea
Merremia
Rivea
Astripomoea
Operculina
Stictocardia
Argyreia
Lepistemon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_glory

Plantain Lily

Plantain Lily

Hosta (/ˈhɒstə/, syn. Funkia) is a genus of about 23–45 species of plants commonly known as hostas, plantain lilies (particularly in Britain) and occasionally by the Japanese name giboshi. Hostas are widely cultivated as shade-tolerant foliage plants. The genus is currently placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae, and is native to northeast Asia. Like many "lilioid monocots", the genus was once classified in the Liliaceae. The name Hosta is in honor of the Austrian botanist Nicholas Thomas Host. The rejected generic name Funkia, also used as a common name, can be found in some older literature.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosta

Advice, Chinese Proverb

留得青山在，不怕没柴烧。[liúdéqīngshānzài, búpàméicháishāo]

- 中國俗談

You don't have to worry about firewood in forest.

- Chinese Proverb

Where there is life, there is hope.

Flower, Antoine de Saint-Exupery

One should never listen to the flowers. One should simply look at them and breathe their fragrance.

- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944)

Rose, Anonymous

If you call a rose a stinkweed, it might not smell as sweet.

- Anonymous

Life, Albert Einstein

Let us not forget that knowledge and skills alone cannot lead humanity to a happy and dignified life. ... I claim credit for nothing. Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insects as well as for the stars, Human beings, vegetables or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper.

- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Flower, Georgia O'Keeffe

Nobody sees a flower - really - it is so small it takes time - we haven't time - and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.

- Georgia O'Keeffe

Carnation

Carnation

Description	English: Carnation, Dianthus caryophyllus, Clove Pink Korean: 카네이션, 다이안서스 Russian: Гвоздика
Date	8 July 2007
Source	http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:P1050432.JPG
Author	Yakovlev Sergey
Permission	Public Domain
Licensing	This work has been released into the public domain by its author.

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From Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/

Mother's Day Postcard

Mother's Day Postcard

Description	Postcard issued by the Northern Pacific Railway for Mother's Day 1915.
Date	1915
Source	http://commons.wikimedia.org/
Author	Great Northern Railway
Permission	Public Domain
Licensing	This media file is in the public domain in the United States.

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From Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/

Carnation

Carnation

Description	English: Carnation, Dianthus caryophyllus, Clove Pink Korean: 카네이션, 다이안서스 Russian: Гвоздика
Date	18 April 2009
Source	http://commons.wikimedia.org/
Author	InGenTech
Permission	Public Domain
Licensing	The copyright holder of this work has released this work into the public domain.

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From Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/

Appearance, James Russell Lowell (1819-1891)

A weed is no more than a flower in disguise.

- James Russell Lowell (1819-1891)

Trees, Dutch Proverb

Tall trees catch much wind.

Dutch Proverb