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Lecythis Zabucajo
''Lecythis zabucajo'', the sapucaia or paradise nut, is a large nut-producing tree occurring in the Guianas, Suriname, Venezuela, Ecuador, Honduras and Brazil, and which distribution range is much the same as that of the greater spear-nosed bat (''Phyllostomus hastatus''). Although not singling out ''Lecythis zabucajo'', Jacques Huber noted in 1909 that fruit bats played the most important role in seed dispersal in Amazonian forests. The quality of its nuts led to the species' being introduced to numerous tropical countries, notably Trinidad, where it has flourished. The nuts are a valuable food resource and yield oil suitable for cooking and domestic use. This species is closely related to the Brazil nut, both belonging to the family Lecythidaceae and having coconut-sized fruits. The tree's large woody gourd-like fruits with edible white flesh are used for water vessels and for ornamental purposes. The fruit is called 'monkey pot', a name used for a number of other species, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean Baptiste Christophore Fusée Aublet
Jean Baptiste Christophore Fusée Aublet (November 4, 1720 – May 6, 1778) was a French pharmacist, botanist and one of the earliest botanical explorers in South America.JSTOR He was one of the first botanists to study ethnobotany in the Neotropics. Born in Salon-de-Provence, Aublet left home early and traveled to Grenada, then a French colony, where he became an apothecary's assistant and learned about medicinal plants. A year later he returned to France and continued his studies in natural history, chemistry, and pharmacology. One of his mentors was Bernard de Jussieu, a French naturalist who would later help him with plant identification.Mori He joined the French East India Company and in 1752 was sent to Mauritius (then known as ''l'Île de France'') to establish a pharmacy and a botanical garden. He became involved in an intense rivalry with Pierre Poivre, a fellow botanist at the Mon Plaisir garden, and eventually left to establish a new garden at Le Réduit. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Capsule (fruit)
In botany a capsule is a type of simple, dry, though rarely fleshy dehiscent fruit produced by many species of angiosperms (flowering plants). Origins and structure The capsule (Latin: ''capsula'', small box) is derived from a compound (multicarpeled) ovary. A capsule is a structure composed of two or more carpels. In (flowering plants), the term locule (or cell) is used to refer to a chamber within the fruit. Depending on the number of locules in the ovary, fruit can be classified as uni-locular (unilocular), bi-locular, tri-locular or multi-locular. The number of locules present in a gynoecium may be equal to or less than the number of carpels. The locules contain the ovules or seeds and are separated by septa. Dehiscence In most cases the capsule is dehiscent, i.e. at maturity, it splits apart (dehisces) to release the seeds within. A few capsules are indehiscent, for example those of ''Adansonia digitata'', '' Alphitonia'', and ''Merciera''. Capsules are often classifi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island which it shares with the Dominican Republic. To its south-west lies the small Navassa Island, which is claimed by Haiti but is disputed as a United States territory under federal administration."Haiti" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Haiti is in size, the third largest country in the by area, and has an estimated population of 11.4 million, making it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antioxidant
Antioxidants are compounds that inhibit oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals. This can lead to polymerization and other chain reactions. They are frequently added to industrial products, such as fuels and lubricants, to prevent oxidation, and to foods to prevent spoilage, in particular the rancidification of oils and fats. In cells, antioxidants such as glutathione, mycothiol or bacillithiol, and enzyme systems like superoxide dismutase, can prevent damage from oxidative stress. The only dietary antioxidants are vitamins A, C, and E, but the term ''antioxidant'' has also been applied to numerous other dietary compounds that only have antioxidant properties in vitro, with little evidence for antioxidant properties in vivo. Dietary supplements marketed as antioxidants have not been shown to maintain health or prevent disease in humans. History As part of their adaptation from marine life, terrestrial plants began producing non-marine anti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Selenoproteins
In molecular biology a selenoprotein is any protein that includes a selenocysteine (Sec, U, Se-Cys) amino acid residue. Among functionally characterized selenoproteins are five glutathione peroxidases (GPX) and three thioredoxin reductases, (TrxR/TXNRD) which both contain only one Sec. Selenoprotein P is the most common selenoprotein found in the plasma. It is unusual because in humans it contains 10 Sec residues, which are split into two domains, a longer N-terminal domain that contains 1 Sec, and a shorter C-terminal domain that contains 9 Sec. The longer N-terminal domain is likely an enzymatic domain, and the shorter C-terminal domain is likely a means of safely transporting the very reactive selenium atom throughout the body. Species distribution Selenoproteins exist in all major domains of life, eukaryotes, bacteria and archaea. Among eukaryotes, selenoproteins appear to be common in animals, but rare or absent in other phyla -one has been identified in the green alga '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Selenium
Selenium is a chemical element with the symbol Se and atomic number 34. It is a nonmetal (more rarely considered a metalloid) with properties that are intermediate between the elements above and below in the periodic table, sulfur and tellurium, and also has similarities to arsenic. It seldom occurs in its elemental state or as pure ore compounds in the Earth's crust. Selenium – from Greek ( 'Moon') – was discovered in 1817 by , who noted the similarity of the new element to the previously discovered tellurium (named for the Earth). Selenium is found in metal sulfide ores, where it partially replaces the sulfur. Commercially, selenium is produced as a byproduct in the refining of these ores, most often during production. Minerals that are pure selenide or selenate compounds are known but rare. The chief commercial uses for selenium today are glassmaking and pigments. Selenium is a semiconductor and is used in photocells. Applications in electronics, once important, h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lecythis
''Lecythis'' is a genus of woody plant in the Lecythidaceae The Lecythidaceae comprise a family of about 20 genera and 250–300 species of woody plants native to tropical South America, Africa (including Madagascar), Asia and Australia. The most important member of the family in world trade is the B ... family first described as a genus in 1758. It is native to Central America and South America. Species Uses Several species produce edible seeds and referred to by a variety of common names including paradise nut, monkey pot, cream nut, and sapucaia nut. ''Lecythis zabucajo'' is perhaps the most important edible species, but the seeds of ''L. ollaria'' and ''L. pisonis'' are also used. References External linksA website with an exhaustive list of links about Lecythidaceae*Kubitzki (ed.) 2004. ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants. Volume VI. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Celastrales, Oxalidales, Rosales, Cornales, Ericales.'' Springer. Google Books: https: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phyllostomus Hastatus
The greater spear-nosed bat (''Phyllostomus hastatus'') is a bat species of the family Phyllostomidae from South and Central America. It is one of the larger bats of this region and is omnivorous. Habitat ''Phyllostomus hastatus'' lives in tropical regions of the Americas. The species ranges from Guatemala and Belize south to Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina and Brazil. It also occurs in Trinidad and Tobago and on Margarita Island (Venezuela). Although most commonly found around streams and other bodies of water, these bats are also present in drier areas. They inhabit both open and forested regions. Appearance The greater spear-nosed bat has a body length of around , with a wing span of . Despite the large size, it is very light, weighing on average . Its long, thick hair is dark brown, with a slight orange tinge on the ventral side. It has a well-developed nose shaped like a spear-head, which gives it its more common name. The ears are spread far apart and ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arils
An aril (pronounced ), also called an arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode or false aril is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the seed to the ovary (from the funiculus or '' hilum''), an arillode forms from a different point on the seed coat. The term "aril" is sometimes applied to any fleshy appendage of the seed in flowering plants, such as the mace of the nutmeg seed. Arils and arillodes are often edible enticements that encourage animals to transport the seed, thereby assisting in seed dispersal. Pseudarils are aril-like structures commonly found on the pyrenes of Burseraceae species that develop from the mesocarp of the ovary. The fleshy, edible pericarp splits neatly in two halves, then falling away or being eaten to reveal a brightly coloured pseudaril around the black seed. The aril may create a fruit-like structure, called (among other names) a '' false fruit' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eschweilera
''Eschweilera'' is a genus of woody plants in the family Lecythidaceae first described as a genus in 1828. in Latin It is native to southern , , , and |
Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. or Amazonia is a moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome The Amazon biome ( pt, Bioma Amazônia) contains the Amazon rainforest, an area of tropical rainforest, and other ecoregions that cover most of the Amazon basin and some adjacent areas to the north and east. The biome contains blackwater and white ... that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin encompasses , of which are covered by the rainforest. This region includes territory belonging to nine nations and 3,344 formally acknowledged Indigenous territory (Brazil), indigenous territories. The majority of the forest is contained Amazônia Legal, within Brazil, with 60% of the rainforest, followed by Peruvian Amazonia, Peru with 13%, Amazon n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grias
''Grias'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lecythidaceae, described by Linnaeus in 1759. It is native to northwestern South America, Central America, and Jamaica. They are small to medium-sized trees, growing to 5–15 m tall. The leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ... are evergreen, alternate, simple, broad lanceolate, very large, up to 1 m long, with an entire or waved margin. The flowers are creamy white to yellow, with four petals; they are cauliflorous, produced in clusters on the trunk and stouter branches. The fruit is 6–15 cm long, with a fleshy coat; it is edible in several species. Grias neuberthii extracts show in vitro activity against human cancer cells. ;Accepted species References External linksField Museum: ''Gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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