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Pietra Perduca
The Pietra Perduca, or Perducca, is a mountain in the Ligurian Apennines located in Val Trebbia, in the Italian commune of Travo, in the Province of Piacenza. Ophiolite of black serpentine, 659 m a.s.l., it prominently emerges from the slope between the left bank of the Trebbia river and the right bank of the Dorba stream., a tributary of the Trebbia, not far from the Pietra Parcellara, with which it forms part of the SIC- ZSC site of Pietra Parcellara and Pietra Perduca Geography Geology It is a fragment of the Earth's mantle, serpentine in nature, that ended up on the floor of the Piemont-Liguria Ocean before its closure, about 200 million years ago, following an underwater landslide (olistostrome) that affected a relief formed on the mantle constituting the ocean floor. This fragment was thus incorporated, as an olistolith, into the geological formation, rich in clayey components, that was depositing on the floor at that time, known as the chaotic complex or Pietra Parce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ligurian Apennines
The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; or – a singular with plural meaning; )Latin ''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which would be segmented ''Apenn-inus'', often used with nouns such as ("mountain") or Greek (), but ''Apenninus'' is just as often used alone as a noun. The ancient Greeks and Romans typically but not always used "mountain" in the singular to mean one or a range; thus, "the Apennine mountain" refers to the entire chain and is translated "the Apennine mountains". The ending can vary also by gender depending on the noun modified. The Italian singular refers to one of the constituent chains rather than to a single mountain, and the Italian plural refers to multiple chains rather than to multiple mountains. are a mountain range consisting of parallel smaller chains extending the length of peninsular Italy. In the northwest they join the Ligurian Alps at Altare. In the southwest they end at Reggio di Cal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impurities, such as a reddish or brownish colour from small amounts of iron oxide. Clays develop plasticity (physics), plasticity when wet but can be hardened through Pottery#Firing, firing. Clay is the longest-known ceramic material. Prehistoric humans discovered the useful properties of clay and used it for making pottery. Some of the earliest pottery shards have been radiocarbon dating, dated to around 14,000 BCE, and Clay tablet, clay tablets were the first known writing medium. Clay is used in many modern industrial processes, such as paper making, cement production, and chemical filtration, filtering. Between one-half and two-thirds of the world's population live or work in buildings made with clay, often baked into brick, as an essenti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pinus Nigra
''Pinus nigra'', the Austrian pine or black pine, is a moderately variable species of pine, occurring across Southern Europe from the Iberian Peninsula and Lower Austria to the eastern Mediterranean, on the Anatolian peninsula of Turkey, Corsica and Cyprus, as well as Crimea and in the high mountains of Northwest Africa. Description ''Pinus nigra'' is a large coniferous evergreen tree, growing to high at maturity and spreading to wide. The Bark (botany), bark is gray to yellow-brown, and is widely split by flaking fissures into scaly plates, becoming increasingly fissured with age. The leaves ('needles') are thinner and more flexible in western populations. The ovulate and pollen cones appear from May to June. The mature seed cones are (rarely to 11 cm) long, with rounded scales; they ripen from green to pale gray-buff or yellow-buff in September to November, about 18 months after pollination. The seeds are dark gray, long, with a yellow-buff wing long; they are wind-d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conifers
Conifers () are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All extant conifers are perennial woody plants with secondary growth. The majority are trees, though a few are shrubs. Examples include cedars, Douglas-firs, cypresses, firs, junipers, kauri, larches, pines, hemlocks, redwoods, spruces, and yews.Campbell, Reece, "Phylum Coniferophyta". ''Biology''. 7th ed. 2005. Print. p. 595. As of 2002, Pinophyta contained seven families, 60 to 65 genera, and more than 600 living species. Although the total number of species is relatively small, conifers are ecologically important. They are the dominant plants over large areas of land, most notably the taiga of the Northern Hemisphere, but also in similar cool climates in mountains further south. Boreal conifers have many wintertime adaptations. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amelanchier Ovalis
''Amelanchier ovalis'', commonly known as snowy mespilus (a name which is also attached to the related ''Amelanchier lamarckii, A. lamarckii'') or serviceberry, is a deciduous shrub in the Family (biology), family Rosaceae. Its pome fruits are edible and can be eaten raw or cooked. The species is native to central and southern Europe, as well as North Africa and the Middle East. Description There are 25 species of the genus ''Amelanchier'' reported from the northern hemisphere, and ''A. ovalis'' is the only naturally occurring species of that genus within Europe. A wide morphological variability has been reported for the flowers and leaves. There are two subspecies which can be distinguished by the number of chromosomes: * the diploid (2n=34) ''A. ovalis'' subsp. ''ovalis'' * the tetraploid (2n = 68) ''A. ovalis'' subsp. ''embergeri'' ''Amelanchier ovalis'' is a thornless, summer-green shrub with an irregular spreading growth. It reaches heights of , rarely . The branches are sl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quercus Pubescens
''Quercus pubescens'' (Synonym (taxonomy), synonyms ''virgiliana''), commonly known as the downy oak, pubescent oak or Italian oak, is a species of white oak (genus ''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus'') native to southern Europe and southwest Asia. It is found from northern Spain (Pyrenees) and France in the West to Turkey and the Caucasus in the East. Description ''Quercus pubescens'' is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing up to . Forest-grown trees grow tall, while open-growing trees develop a very broad and irregular crown. They are long-lived, to several hundred years, and eventually grow into very stout trees with trunks up to in diameter. Open-grown trees frequently develop several trunks. The Bark (botany), bark is very rough, light gray and divided into small flakes. Large trees develop very thick whitish bark cracked into deep furrows, similar to the pedunculate oak but lighter in colour. The twigs are light purple or whitish, with tomentum. The buds are small () and blu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ostrya Carpinifolia
''Ostrya carpinifolia'', the European hop-hornbeam, is a tree in the family Betulaceae. It is the only species of the genus ''Ostrya'' that is native to Europe. The specific epithet ''carpinifolia'' means "hornbeam-leaved", from , the Latin word for "hornbeam". Common name The name hophornbeam is derived from the ancient Greek name of a hard wood tree. Description ''Ostrya carpinifolia'' is a broadleaf deciduous tree, that can reach up to . It has a conical or irregular crown and a scaly, rough bark, and alternate and double-toothed birch-like leaves 3–10 cm long. The leaves are many-veined with 11-15 pairs and have a slightly hairy or smooth underside. The flowers are produced in spring, with male catkins long and female catkins long. The fruit form in pendulous clusters long with 6–20 seeds; each seed is a small nut long, fully enclosed in a bladder-like involucre. Distribution and habitat ''Ostrya carpinifolia'' is found in Lebanon, Italy, France, Austria ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linum Campanulatum
''Linum campanulatum'' is a perennial plant belonging to the Linaceae family. Description ''Linum campanulatum'' reaches on average in height.Pignatti S. - Flora d'Italia – Edagricole – 1982. Vol. II, pag. 22 The short stem is perennial, woody and glabrous, with long herbaceous annual branches. Leaves are alternate, up to 4 cm long and 1 cm wide. The shape of lower cauline leaves is quite variable. Usually they are obovate-obtuse, but in some cases may be spatulate-lanceolate. The upper cauline leaves are gradually reduced in width to become almost linear. The inflorescence has 3-5 campanulate actinomorphic flowers, about in diameter, with five free sepals and five free petals. Petals are yellow, oblong-oval, 2.5-3.5 cm long. The flowering period extends from May through June. The flowers are hermaphrodite and pollinated by insects (entomophily). Fruit is a capsule with ten compartments, each containing one seed. Distribution This plant is widespread in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buteo Buteo
The common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') is a medium-to-large bird of prey which has a large range. It is a member of the genus ''Buteo'' in the family Accipitridae. The species lives in most of Europe and extends its breeding range across much of the Palearctic as far as northwestern China (Tian Shan), far western Siberia and northwestern Mongolia.Ferguson-Lees, J., & Christie, D. A. (2001). ''Raptors of the world''. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Over much of its range, it is a year-round resident. However, buzzards from the colder parts of the Northern Hemisphere as well as those that breed in the eastern part of their range typically migrate south for the northern winter, many journeying as far as South Africa.Bildstein, K. L., & Zalles, J. I. (2005). ''Old World versus New World long-distance migration in accipiters, buteos, and falcons''. Birds of two worlds: the ecology and evolution of migration. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, 154–167. The common buzza ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Short-toed Snake Eagle
The short-toed snake eagle (''Circaetus gallicus''), also known as the short-toed eagle, is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, buzzards and harriers. The genus name ''Circaetus'' is from the Ancient Greek ''kirkos'', a type of hawk, and ''aetos'', "eagle". The specific ''gallicus'' means "of Gallia". Taxonomy The short-toed snake eagle was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's ''Systema Naturae''. He placed it with the falcons, eagles and their relatives in the genus '' Falco'' and coined the binomial name ''Falco gallicus''. Gmelin based his description on the "Jean le Blanc" that had been described by the English ornithologist John Latham and the French ornithologists Mathurin Jacques Brisson and the Comte de Buffon. The short-toed snake eagle is now placed in the genus '' Circaetus'' that was introduc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sparrowhawk
Sparrowhawk (sometimes sparrow hawk) may refer to several species of small hawk in the subfamily Accipitrinae The Accipitrinae are the Family (biology), subfamily of the Accipitridae often known as the "true" hawks. The subfamily contains 73 species that are divided into 11 genera. It includes the genus ''Accipiter'' which formerly included many more sp .... "Sparrow-hawk" or sparhawk originally referred to '' Accipiter nisus'', now called "Eurasian" or "northern" sparrowhawk to distinguish it from other species. The American kestrel (''Falco sparverius''), a North American falcon species, is also commonly referred to as a "sparrow hawk", although it is not closely related. Sparrowhawk species include: {{Animal common name Accipitrinae Birds by common name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kestrel
The term kestrel (from , derivative from , i.e. ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviour which is to hover at a height of around over open country and swoop down on ground prey, usually small mammals, lizards or large insects, while other falcons are more adapted for active hunting during flight. Description Most species termed kestrels appear to form a distinct clade among the falcons, as suggested by comparison of mtDNA cytochrome ''b'' sequence data and morphology. This seems to have diverged from other ''Falco'' around the Miocene–Pliocene boundary (Messinian to Zanclean, or about 7–3.5 mya). The most basal "true" kestrels are three species from Africa and its surroundings which lack a malar stripe, and in one case have—like other falcons but unlike other true kestrels—large areas of grey in their wings. Approximately du ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
