May 6, 2010
Gum arabic , mesk
Flower parts
Flower part
Petal : Petals are used to attract insects into the flower, they may have guidelines on them and be scented.Stigma: Is covered in a sticky substance that the pollen grains will adhere to.
Style :The style raises the stigma away from the Ovary to decrease the likelihood of pollen contamination. It varies in length.
Ovary :This protects the ovule and once fertilisation has taken place it will become the fruit.
Ovule: The Ovule is like the egg in animals and once fertilisation has taken place will become the seed.
Receptacle: This is the flower's attachment to the stalk and in some cases becomes part of the fruit after fertilisation e.g. strawberry.
Flower stalk: Gives support to the flower and elevates the flower for the insects.
Nectary: This is where a sugary solution called nectar is held to attract insects.
Sepal :Sepals protect the flower whilst the flower is developing from a bud.
Filament: This is the stalk of the Anther.
Anther :The Anthers contain pollen sacs. The sacs release pollen on to the outside of the anthers that brush against insects on entering the flowers. The pollen once deposited on the insect is transferred to the stigma of another flower or the same flower. The ovule is then able to be fertilised.
Please note:
The stigma, style, ovary, and ovule are often known collectively as the carpel or female parts of the flower.
The filament and the Anthers are collectively known as the Stamen or the male parts of the plant
May 5, 2010
Phyllanthus maderaspatensis
scientific name:
Common Arabic Name: Am al halib
description
Rigid forb 30-50 cm high, with slender angular branches. Leaves arranged in 2 regular rows on opposite sides of the branches, oblong-linear or wedge-shaped, 10-25 mm long, rounded or with a short point at tip, with white-rimmed stipules at the base. Flowers tiny and without petals, male and female on the one plant, borne in clusters in the leaf axils. Fruit a slightly flattened 3-lobed capsule about 3 mm in diameter, containing seeds covered with 10-12 rows of minute warts.Importance:
• Grows in floodplain areas on heavy soils and may rely on appropriate and intermittent rainfall and flooding events for its survival. The species is described as being a summer-growing annual and is thus dependent on seasonal conditions.Often associated with open grasslands and eucalypt woodlands in or near creek beds, and grassy flats and levees near watercourses.
• Flowering time is spring to summer, and the species is a summer-growing annual. Seeding is recorded in March. Occurs after summer rains and readily drops its leaves as it dries off.
• Plants are usually infrequent in abundance but have been recorded as common in disturbed areas.
Control measures:
CULTURAL PRACTICES: by pulling or cutting them
CHEMICAL CONTROL
• Glyphosate
• dicamba + MCPA or bromoxynil + MCPA
Kerosene,
sources :
www.threatenedspecies.environment.nsw.gov
Euphorbia hirta
scientific name
Euphorbia hirta Common Arabic Name: Dudhi
Common English Name: Common Spurge, Asthma weed, Cats Hair
description:
• Native to India and most tropical countries.
• 15-50cm long.
• Common annual herb.
• Leaves: Vary from green to coppery-red, depending on its habitat.
• Flower: 7x6mm across.
• Seen along roadside from coast to plains, up to 1,400m on the hills.
• The sap contains a latex which is toxic on ingestion and highly irritant externally, causing photosensitive skin reactions and severe inflammation, especially on contact with eyes or open cuts.
Importance
Asthma Weed is common on wasteground, in moist gullies, in and around sandstone outcrops, and as a groundcover in disturbed areas. Is also commonly found in gardens, often growing out of rock crevices, walls and cracks in cement. Plants grow and produce seed very rapidly (within 2-3 weeks under favourable conditions). Regrowth is persistent, and plants can flower and set seed most of the year.
Control measures:
Manual:Hand pull
Chemical : glyphosate-based herbicides
sources:
www.pfaf.orgwww.sydneyweeds.org
May 3, 2010
Colorado State Flower
Columbine Flower or Rocky Mountain Columbine-White and Lavender (Aquilegia caerules) is the official Colorado State Flower. Columbine flower is a spring-blooming flower. The Columbine flower (Colorado Blue Columbine) was designated as the Colorado state flower in April, 1899. The Columbine Flower, also known as the Colorado Columbine, was named from a Latin word Columba, which means dove, as it looked like the bird of peace.
Kingdom :Plantae
Division ;Magnoliophyta
Class :Magnoliopsida
Order :Ranunculales
Family :Ranunculaceae
Genus: Aquilegia
Columbine flowers grow from Nova Scotia to the Northwest territories and continue South into areas of Florida and Texas. Several species of Columbine flowers are grown in gardens for ornamental and landscaping purposes. Aquilegia vulgaris - a European Columbine is a traditional garden flower in British Isles, and several of the species that are native to North America are popular garden plants. Columbine flowers are known for their distinctive bell-shaped flowers, with each petal modified into an elongated nectar spur, and are very fragrant. In 1925, the General Assembly prohibited the destruction of this rare species - Columbine flowers. Columbine flowers are very variable in color, from pale blue (as in the species name caerulea) to white, pale yellow and pinkish. Very commonly the Columbine flowers are bicolored, with the sepals a different shade to the petals. The Columbine flower is the most honored state flower in all of the United States. The Columbine flower transforms into a fruit with in five erect follicles and shiny black seeds.
Columbine plants are popular for their distinctly unique Columbine flowers, which range in a variety of colors and spur lengths. The Columbine flowers are nodding at the tips with spurs that point upwards, and numerous yellow stamens project downward, well past the petals and sepals. The unique Columbine flower shape makes the plant well suited for attracting long-tongued nectar feeders, especially hawk moths and hummingbirds, while at the same time preventing small bees from reaching the nectar directly. Because of the hummingbird's slender bill and long tongue, the petite bird is able to reach the Columbine flower nectar from the base of the spur, ultimately acting as the Columbine Flower's most efficient pollinator.
Facts About Columbine Flowers
•Columbine plants grow from long carrot-like taproots, which aid in making them drought tolerant, and also caus the plant to be more difficult to move once established.
•The Columbine plant grows best in light shade but will tolerate full sun if daytime temperatures are not too hot.
•Columbine plants grow best in enriched garden soils that are well drained, avoiding heavy, slow draining clay soils. Columbine likes evenly moist soil.Columbine plants grow best in enriched garden soils that are well drained, avoiding heavy, slow draining clay soils. Columbine likes evenly moist soil.
•Columbine is grown easily from seed and typically blooms in the months of April thru July .
•Numerous other species and hybrids exist and range in a variety of climatic zones, colors, and heights.
•Columbines thrive in full sun or partial shade with rich, evenly moist, well-drained soils.
•If grown in full sun, Columbine Flowers generally bloom more extensively and are more compact in growth than those grown in shade.
•Columbine flowers have a rich history in the herbal market. Native Americans were said to have used infusions from different parts of the plant for a variety of diseases ranging from heart problems to fever, and even to help relieve the pain of poison ivy.
•Columbine species cross pollinate easily, ultimately producing a variety of different hybrids.
•Similar in origin to Aquilegia canadensis (wild columbine), Aquilegia chrysantha (golden columbine) originated in southwest North America and is known for its large golden flowers and tall stems, reaching 3-4 feet tall.
•Aquilegia vulgaris, or Granny's bonnet, is typically 1-3 feet tall with short-spurred, purplish blue flowers that bloom in late spring and early summer.
•One common problem often seen among Columbine Flowers species is the presence of leaf miners, which produce unsightly, pale green lines on the leaves.
•Columbine flower' plants are used as food plants by some Lepidoptera species
Hyacinthoides hispanica | Spanish Bluebells
Hyacinthoides hispanica, or Spanish Bluebells, is a bulbous perennial plant native to the Iberian Peninsula. Plants in the garden will reach from 1-2 feet (0.3-0.6 m) tall with an individual spread of 0.75-1 feet (0.22-0.30 m). I have heard horror stories about this plant being very invasive, but here in Oklahoma that doesn't seem to be the case. I have had these beautiful plants in my yard for over twenty years now. As long as plants are deadheaded so that they don't produce seed, invasiveness does not seem to be a problem. NOTE: All plant parts are poisonous if ingested, and handling of bulbs and foliage should be done with gloves on or they may cause skin irritation. The bulb is hardy in USDA zones 3-8. Blooming Time: Spanish Bluebells bloom here in zone 7 in mid April into May. The purplish blue flowers are a little larger than regular hyacinths, but they lack the powerful fragrance that regular hyacinths have.
Culture: Hyacinthoides hispanica or Spanish Bluebells need partial shade to full sun with a slightly acidic soil. When we planted them in our yard, we work the soil with a compost to loosen it up. Bulbs were planted 6 inches (15 cm) deep and 3 inches (7.5 cm) apart. A handful of bone meal was added to each bulb before covering it with soil. After planting, they were watered well and need no supplemental water except in periods of extreme drought. We do fertilize them once every growing season, but other than that, they do not require a lot of care. After the foliage dies back after blooming, they are cut back.
Propagation: Hyacinthoides hispanica are propagated by division of large clumps or from seed.
Mango : Mangifera indica L.
The mango tree is erect, 30 to 100 ft (roughly 10-30 m) high, with a broad, rounded canopy which may, with age, attain 100 to 125 ft (30-38 m) in width, or a more upright, oval, relatively slender crown. In deep soil, the taproot descends to a depth of 20 ft (6 in), the profuse, wide-spreading, feeder root system also sends down many anchor roots which penetrate for several feet. The tree is long-lived, some specimens being known to be 300 years old and still fruiting.Nearly evergreen, alternate leaves are borne mainly in rosettes at the tips of the branches and numerous twigs from which they droop like ribbons on slender petioles 1 to 4 in (2.5-10 cm) long. The new leaves, appearing periodically and irregularly on a few branches at a time, are yellowish, pink, deep-rose or wine-red, becoming dark-green and glossy above, lighter beneath. The midrib is pale and conspicuous and the many horizontal veins distinct. Full-grown leaves may be 4 to 12.5 in (10-32 cm) long and 3/4 to 2 1/8 in (2-5.4 cm) wide. Hundreds and even as many as 3,000 to 4,000 small, yellowish or reddish flowers, 25% to 98% male, the rest hermaphroditic, are borne in profuse, showy, erect, pyramidal, branched clusters 2 1/2 to 15 1/2 in (6-40 cm) high. There is great variation in the form, size, color and quality of the fruits. They may be nearly round, oval, ovoid-oblong, or somewhat kidney-shaped, often with a break at the apex, and are usually more or less lop-sided. They range from 2 1/2 to 10 in (6.25-25 cm) in length and from a few ounces to 4 to 5 lbs (1.8-2.26 kg). The skin is leathery, waxy, smooth, fairly thick, aromatic and ranges from light-or dark-green to clear yellow, yellow-orange, yellow and reddish-pink, or more or less blushed with bright-or dark-red or purple-red, with fine yellow, greenish or reddish dots, and thin or thick whitish, gray or purplish bloom, when fully ripe. Some have a "turpentine" odor and flavor, while others are richly and pleasantly fragrant. The flesh ranges from pale-yellow to deep-orange. It is essentially peach-like but much more fibrous (in some seedlings excessively so-actually "stringy"); is extremely juicy, with a flavor range from very sweet to subacid to tart.
May 1, 2010
toxic plant : your animals !!
More than 700 plants have been identified as producing physiologically active or toxic substances in sufficient amounts to cause harmful effects in animals. Poisonous plants produce a variety of toxic substances and cause reactions ranging from mild nausea to death. Certain animal species may have a peculiar vulnerability to a potentially poisonous plant.
downlod the list
downlod the list
Lawn Seed Recommendations
Step into your local gardening store, and you'll be awed by the sheer number of grass seed types sitting on the shelf. Choosing the right variety of grass is vital in growing that Perfect Lawn.the wrong variety will grow poorly or not at all. Rather than leave you wandering the aisles helplessly, we've assembled a list of questions to ask yourself before you plunk your money down for a big bag of seed.What is my climate like?
Grass species are generally divided into cool-season grasses and warm-season grasses. If you live in the southern part of the US, choose a warm-season grass such as Bermuda, Bahia, Centipede or Carpet Grass. If you're in the northern states, you'll want to stick with a cool-season variety like Kentucky Bluegrass, Fescue or Ryegrass.
What am I going to use the lawn for?
If you’re just planning to sit back and look at the lawn, you can select a more delicate species of grass, like Rough-Stalk Bluegrass. If you have active kids who will be tearing back and forth across the lawn all day long, you’ll want a tougher variety like Bermuda – or perhaps a playground mix is the best choice for you. Good choices for a moderately durable lawn are Kentucky Bluegrass and Ryegrass.
How often am I going to mow the lawn?
Consider just how close-mown a lawn you’d like and, more importantly, if you’re ready to put in the mowing time it takes for a really short, neat lawn. Once you’ve decided on the ideal height for your lawn, bring that to bear on your choice of grass seed. Some grasses don’t mind being mown very short, like Carpet Grass, Creeping Bent Grass and Kentucky Bluegrass. Others will sulk if you mow them too often – Bermuda and Creeping Fescue, for example.
What kind of soil do I have?
Scoop up a handful of soil from your front yard and squeeze it in your hand, then open your hand and look at the soil on your palm. If it just sits there in a clump, even after you poke it lightly, you have heavy, clay soil; Creeping Fescue or Rough-Stalk Bluegrass are good choices. If it instantly disintegrates, you have light, sandy soil; Bahia or Zoysia will grow well in this soil type. If it stays more or less intact, but a light poke breaks it into smaller pieces, you have loamy soil and you can grow pretty much any variety!
How much sun will my lawn get?
Step outside and look at your lawn at different times of the day. Are there areas that are constantly in the shade from trees, fences, or your house? If so, you’ll want a grass that doesn’t mind shade, like St. Augustine or one of the Fescues. Varieties to avoid when planting in shady areas are Bermuda and Annual Ryegrass.
Do I have any watering restrictions?
If you live in an area that suffers frequent drought, look for a grass type that is more tolerant of occasional shortages. Bermuda and Fescue can both tolerate brief droughts, while Carpet Grass and Annual Ryegrass will suffer without a regular water supply.
How much time am I willing to spend on weeding?
Some varieties of grass are quite aggressive and will choke out weeds on their own, saving you the effort. Other grasses will not compete well against weeds and will need a little more attention and hand-holding from you. Bermuda and Creeping Fescue tend to out-compete weeds thanks to their fast growth and relatively deep roots, while Creeping Bent Grass (commonly found on golf courses) will need considerably more attention. As a side note, if you let your grass grow to about 3†it will be much more successful at defeating weeds on its own then if you maintain a shorter lawn. Taller grass will shade out young weeds and deny them the sunlight they need to grow.
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