Monday, April 23, 2012

Beautiful Flower - Anopterus

 Anopterus is a genus of two species of shrubs or small trees.


 




Beautiful Flower - Anoda, mallow family

Anoda is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family. There are 23 or 24 species of these herbs, most native to Mexico and South America. They are generally erect plants with a variety of leaf shapes, and many bear colorful flowers. Most bear distinctive disk-shaped segmented fruits.



 




Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Beautiful Flower - Aechmea, subfamily Bromelioideae

Aechmea is a genus of the botanical family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae. The name comes from the Greek “aichme” (a spear). Aechmea has 8 subgenera and 255 species distributed from Mexico through South America. Most of the species in this genus are epiphytes.







Beautiful Flower - Adonis, the family Ranunculaceae

Adonis is a genus of about 20-30 species of flowering plants of the family Ranunculaceae, native to Europe and Asia.

The species grow to 10-40 cm in height, with feathery, finely divided leaves. Their flowers are red, yellow or orange and have 5-30 petals.



 





Thursday, April 5, 2012

Beautiful Flower - Adenocarpus

Adenocarpus is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the sub family Faboideae. The plants are broom-like shrubs with bright yellow flowers. The genus is native to Macaronesia, Portugal and southern Spain, and three species are endemic to the western Canary islands where they are known by the common name Codeso.






Beautiful Flower - Adenium

Adenium is a genus of flowering plants in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae.

Adenium obesum is grown as a houseplant in temperate regions. Numerous hybrids have been developed. Adeniums are appreciated for their colorful flowers, but also for their unusual, thick caudexes. They can be grown for many years in a pot and are commonly used for bonsai.

Because seed-grown plants are not genetically identical to the mother plant, desirable varieties are commonly propagated by grafting. Genetically identical plants can also be propagated by cutting. However, cutting-grown plants do not tend to develop a desirable thick caudex as quickly as seed-grown plants.

The sap of Adenium boehmianum, A. multiflorum, and A. obesum contains toxic cardiac glycosides and is used as arrow poison throughout Africa for hunting large game.







Beautiful Flower - Firs (Abies)

Firs (Abies) are a genus of 48–55 species of evergreen conifers in the family Pinaceae. They are found through much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, occurring in mountains over most of the range. Firs are most closely related to the cedars (Cedrus); Douglas-firs are not true firs, being of the genus Pseudotsuga.

All are trees, reaching heights of 10–80 m (30–260 ft) tall and trunk diameters of 0.5–4 m (2–12 ft) when mature. Firs can be distinguished from other members of the pine family by their needle-like leaves, attached to the twig by a base that resembles a small suction cup; and by erect, cylindrical cones 5–25 cm (2–10 in) long that disintegrate at maturity to release the winged seeds. Identification of the species is based on the size and arrangement of the leaves, the size and shape of the cones, and whether the bract scales of the cones are long and exserted, or short and hidden inside the cone.






Colorful Flower - Abelmoschus

Abelmoschus is a genus of about fifteen species of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae, native to tropical Africa, Asia and northern Australia. It was formerly included within Hibiscus, but is now classified as a distinct genus.

The genus comprises annual and perennial herbaceous plants, growing to 2 m tall. The leaves are 10–40 cm long and broad, palmately lobed with 3-7 lobes, the lobes are very variable in depth, from barely lobed, to cut almost to the base of the leaf. The flowers are 4–8 cm diameter, with five white to yellow petals, often with a red or purple spot at the base of each petal. The fruit is a capsule, 5–20 cm long, containing numerous seeds.

Abelmoschus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Chionodes hibiscella which has been recorded on A. moschatus.

Several species are edible, with both the young seed pods and the young leaves being eaten as a vegetable. The most important commercially-grown species is okra.

Abelmoschus manihot (aibika) furnishes cordage like jute, and Abelmoschus moschatus (musk mallow) is grown for musk seeds (musk ambrette, which causes photoallergy).