|
Grinde (landform)
A ''grinde'' (plural: ''grinden'') is an almost treeless area of wet heathland found on the rounded bunter sandstone ridges of the Northern Black Forest in Germany. The ''grinden'' reached their greatest extent in the early 19th century when they ran from the Kniebis mountain near Freudenstadt in the south to the heights near Dobel in the north. Today they are restricted to the highest parts of the Northern Black Forest around the summits of the Hornisgrinde, Schliffkopf and Kniebis (900 to ). They still cover an area of about 180 ha. Conservation measures and careful grazing by robust breeds of cattle (especially the Hinterwald), goats and sheep should enable the remaining ''grinden'' to be preserved for their great ecological value and as an important feature of the landscape. Most of them are under conservation orders. Derivation and meaning of the word The German term ''"Grinde"'' comes from Old High German and is related to the Swabian-Alemannic word ''"Grind"'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nardus Stricta
''Nardus'' is a genus of plants belonging to the grass family, containing the single species ''Nardus stricta'', known as matgrass. It is placed in its own tribe Nardeae within the subfamily Pooideae. The name derives from ancient Greek ' () from the earlier Akkadian ''lardu''. It is not to be confused with spikenard, '' Nardostachys jatamansi''. Distribution and ecology ''Nardus stricta'' is native to Eurasia (from Iceland and the Azores to Mongolia), North Africa (Algeria, Morocco), and northeastern North America (Greenland, eastern Canada, and the northeastern United States). ''Nardus stricta'' occurs on heath, moorland, hills, and mountains on nutrient poor acidic sandy to peaty soils and is strongly calcifuge, avoiding calcareous soils. It can occur from low elevations to over , becoming a community-dominant in late snow patches on mountains. ''Nardus stricta'' may also become a dominant species in habitats grazed by cattle or sheep because it is tough and unpalatable. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Capercaillie
''Tetrao'' is a genus of birds in the grouse subfamily known as capercaillies. They are some of the largest living grouse. Feathers from the bird were used to create the characteristic hat of the bersaglieri, an Italian ace infantry formation. Taxonomy The genus ''Tetrao'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. The genus name is the Latin word for a game bird, probably a black grouse. The black grouse was included by Linnaeus in the genus ''Tetrao'' but is now placed in the genus '' Lyrurus''. The type species was designated as the western capercaillie (''Tetrao urogallus'') by George Robert Gray in 1840. Species The genus contains two species: The fossil record A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, object ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cottongrass
''Eriophorum'' (cottongrass, cotton-grass or cottonsedge) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cyperaceae, the sedge family. They are found in the cool temperate, alpine, and Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, primarily in the middle latitudes of North America, Europe, and Asia. Description ''Eriophorium'' species are perennial herbaceous plants that persist by means of underground rhizomes. Stems (called culms) grow singly or in clumps (i.e., cespitose). Both basal leaves and stem leaves are present, although the latter are bladeless in some species. The terminal inflorescence is either a single erect spikelet or multiple spikelets on peduncles of various lengths. In the case of multiple spikelets, the inflorescence is subtended by one or more leaf-like bracts. Individual flowers have 10 or more smooth perianth bristles that greatly elongate and remain attached to the achene during fruiting. The bristles facilitate seed dispersal by wind. In cold Arctic region ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peat Moss
''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store water, since both living and dead plants can hold large quantities of water inside their cells; plants may hold 16 to 26 times as much water as their dry weight, depending on the species.Bold, H. C. 1967. Morphology of Plants. second ed. Harper and Row, New York. p. 225–229. The empty cells help retain water in drier conditions. As ''Sphagnum'' moss grows, it can slowly spread into drier conditions, forming larger mires, both raised bogs and blanket bogs. Thus, ''Sphagnum'' can influence the composition of such habitats, with some describing ''Sphagnum'' as 'habitat manipulators' or 'autogenic ecosystem engineers'. These peat accumulations then provide habitat for a wide array of peatland plants, including sedges and ericaceous shrubs, as well as or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bog Bilberry
''Vaccinium uliginosum'' (bog bilberry, bog blueberry, northern bilberry or western blueberry) is a Eurasian and North American flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae. Description ''Vaccinium uliginosum'' is a small deciduous shrub growing to tall, rarely tall, with brown stems (unlike the green stems of the closely related bilberry). The leaves are oval, long and wide, blue-green with pale net-like veins, with a smooth margin and rounded apex. The flowers are pendulous, urn-shaped, pale pink, long, produced in mid-spring. The fruit is a dark blue-black berry in diameter, with a white sweet flesh, ripe in late summer. Cytology is 2n = 24. Its fruit persists for an average of 26.1 days, and bears an average of 24.7 seeds per fruit. Fruits average 86.8% water, and their dry weight includes 38.4% carbohydrates and 3.9% lipids. Subspecies Three subspecies have been described, but not all authorities distinguish them: *''Vaccinium uliginosum'' subsp. ''microphyllum'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cowberry
''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'' is a small evergreen shrub in the heath family, Ericaceae. It is known colloquially as the lingonberry, partridgeberry, foxberry, mountain cranberry, or cowberry. It is native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Commercially cultivated in the United States Pacific Northwest and the Netherlands, the edible berries are also picked in the wild and used in various dishes, especially in Nordic cuisine. Description ''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'' spreads by underground stems to form dense clonal colonies. Slender and brittle roots grow from the underground stems. The stems are rounded in cross-section and grow from in height. Leaves grow alternately and are oval, long, with a slightly wavy margin, and sometimes with a notched tip. The flowers are bell-shaped, white to pale pink, long. ''V. vitis-idaea'' begins to produce flowers from five to ten years of age. They are pollinated by multiple insect species, including '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bilberry
Bilberries () are Eurasian low-growing shrubs in the genus ''Vaccinium'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae that bear edible, dark blue berries. They resemble but are distinct from North American blueberries. The species most often referred to is ''Vaccinium myrtillus'' L., but the term describes several other closely related species. Etymology and regional names The name "bilberry" appears to have a Scandinavian languages, Scandinavian origin, possibly from as early as 1577, being similar to the Danish word ''bølle'' for whortleberry with the addition of "berry". In Scandinavian languages, terms for bilberries have names that carry the meaning "blueberry": e.g. ''blåbär'' in Swedish and ''blåbær'' in Danish and Norwegian. The bilberry (especially ''Vaccinium myrtillus'') is generally known as blaeberry in Scottish and Northern English regional dialects, and whortleberry in southern England. Description Bilberries—which are native to Europe—are dif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erica (plant)
''Erica'' is a genus of roughly 857 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. The English common names heath and heather are shared by some closely related genera of similar appearance. The genus '' Calluna'' was formerly included in ''Erica'' – it differs in having even smaller scale-leaves (less than 2–3 millimetres long), and the flower corolla consisting of separate petals. ''Erica'' is sometimes referred to as "winter (or spring) heather" to distinguish it from ''Calluna'' "summer (or autumn) heather". Description Most of the species of ''Erica'' are small shrubs from high, though some are taller; the tallest are '' E. arborea'' (tree heath) and '' E. scoparia'' (besom heath), both of which can reach up to tall. All are evergreen, with minute, needle-like leaves long. Flowers are sometimes axillary, and sometimes borne in terminal umbels or spikes, and are usually outward or downward facing. The seeds are very small, and in some species may survi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moor Grass
''Molinia'', or moor grass, is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the grass family, native to damp moorland in Eurasia and northern Africa. They are both herbaceous perennial grasses. The genus is named after Juan Ignacio Molina, a 19th-century Chilean naturalist. ; Species * ''Molinia caerulea'' (L.) Moench - (purple moor grass) - Eurasia + northern Africa from Ireland + Morocco to Ethiopia + Kazakhstan; naturalized in parts of United States + Canada * ''Molinia japonica'' Hack. (Japanese moor grass) - Japan, Korea, Anhui, Zhejiang, Sakhalin, Kuril ; formerly included see '' Arctophila Catabrosa Cleistogenes Diarrhena Disakisperma Festuca Glyceria Poa Puccinellia ''Puccinellia'' is a genus of plants in the Poaceae, grass family, known as alkali grass or salt grass. These grasses grow in wet environments, often in Saline water, saline or alkaline conditions. They are native to temperate to Arctic regions ...'' References Molinieae Bunchgrasses of Africa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deergrass '' - a species in the sedge family native to Europe, Asia and North America
{{Plant common name ...
Deergrass or deer grass is a common name for several plants and may refer to: *''Muhlenbergia rigens'' - a perennial bunchgrass native to the southwestern United States and Mexico *''Rhexia'' - a genus of plants in the family Melastomataceae *''Trichophorum cespitosum ''Trichophorum cespitosum'', commonly known as deergrass or tufted bulrush, is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family. It was originally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1753 as ''Scirpus cespitosus'', but was trans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conglomerate (rock)
Conglomerate () is a sedimentary rock made up of rounded gravel-sized pieces of rock surrounded by finer-grained sediments (such as sand, silt, or clay). The larger fragments within conglomerate are called clasts, while the finer sediment surrounding the clasts is called the matrix. The clasts and matrix are typically cemented by calcium carbonate, iron oxide, silica, or hardened clay. Conglomerates form when rounded gravels deposited by water or glaciers become solidified and cemented by pressure over time. They can be found in sedimentary rock sequences of all ages but probably make up less than 1 percent by weight of all sedimentary rocks. They are closely related to sandstones in origin, and exhibit many of the same types of sedimentary structures, such as tabular and trough cross-bedding and graded bedding.Boggs, S. (2006) ''Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy.'', 2nd ed. Prentice Hall, New York. 662 pp. Friedman, G.M. (2003) ''Classification of sediments and sedim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
