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BOTANY NEWS
BOTANY NEWS
Botanical
Information
Welcome to this fifth edition of
Botany News!
TOPICS:
- A note from the editor
- Plants growing in the
interior of Iceland
- The worlds of beans
The green tabloid
Submit your own Botany News
article!
The flower box
Visit our website:
Eco-Logy.com
A note from the editor
Season's Greetings! Welcome back to Botany News the new
botanical online e-zine. I hope you are enjoying still enjoying the
outdoors, park visits and garden walks, wherever you are in the world! I
am still looking for more communications from readers, telling us their
own stories from the summer! If you like
Botany News feel free to forward it to your plant-loving friends.
Some of you are already signed up and are receiving this ezine via email.
The future of Botany News depends on enthusiastic readers, willing to
exchange information on plants and events in botany. I strongly
encourage you to send in information of mutual benefit to botanists and
all suggestions for improving the ezine are welcome. Enjoy
reading Botany News during the holiday season!
Plants growing in the
interior of Iceland
In Iceland, tundra is largely confined to the interior
that has very short summers as well as extensive sands interspersed with
stretches of
wetlands along rivers. The barrens in the
central highlands of Iceland have very sparse vegetation. The species
growing there are well adapted to the short summer. The plants need to
tolerate drifting sand and extreme soil conditions. Some of the species
form dense cushions. Among them are Moss Campion (Silene acaulis)
and Tufted Saxifrage (Saxifraga caespitosa), while Thrift (Armeria
maritima) forms a smaller rosette. Moss Campion forms a dense
cushion with small but fragrant pink flowers. When the flowers are
absent the bright green leaves in the cushion are more pronounced.
Tufted Saxifrage carries white flowers. This species is widespread in
Iceland. Thrift carries a rosette of fleshy leaves.
Grasses, rushes and sedges grow as stoloniferous or tussock-forming
species on the tundra sand. These species depend on vegetative growth
for many years but also reproduce sexually. Facilitation may occur when
aggregations of some species, for example, Moss Campion, form cushions
that provide shelter or otherwise suitable conditions for the
establishment of other plant species. Plants of the barrens growing as
perennial rosettes, cushions and tussocks may reproduce by seed and
disperse into new sites in the vast sands of the interior.
The world of beans
B road
Bean (Vicia faba), is confined mostly to tropical regions of the
world, while requiring a cool season for its development. This plant is
grown as a winter annual in the warm temperate and subtropical regions
and is cultivated for its seeds that are consumed either immature or
mature. The beans are marketed in their green pods. Broad Beans are very
popular in Europe, including the Mediterranean and in many tropical
countries.
French Bean (Phaseolus
vulgaris) is a twinning plant believed to be derived from
Central America and Mexico. These beans were brought to Europe by
the Spanish and Portuguese. The beans tolerate a wide range of
conditions in tropical and temperate countries, but do poorly in the
very wet tropics where rain causes disease and flower drop. These plants
are sensitive to diurnal fluctuations, folding their leaves together at
night, while at dawn the leaves unfold towards the sun. Some cultivars
yield yellow pods, but pods are more commonly green.
Snap Beans are a cultivar
of French Beans used as entire pods, other cultivars are eaten as
immature green seeds, while the third group consists of dry beans. Lima
Beans (Phaseolus lunatus) are
climbing perennial plants. They grow over adjacent vegetation in the
wet season and then die back in the dry season. The
seeds are large and variable in colour. These beans are now cultivated
in South America, Asia and Africa. They are now a very important crop
plant in Africa. White Lima Beans contain smaller amounts of cyanogens
and need less cooking. Mung Bean (Phaeseolus aureus) is an annual
plant and is commonly grown in Asia, especially China, while also being
a popular food plant in western countries. Sprouts are popular in salads
and stir-fries.
Soybean
(Glycine max) is a source of edible oil and is now cultivate on a
large scale in the United States. In Indonesia fermented soybeans are
consumed as tempe, and as tofu in China and Japan. Soy sauce is a
Soybean product. Soybeans are very popular nowadays, partly because they
are very rich in protein.
Most beans are nutritive and rich in proteins, they are a good source of
B vitamins, mineral and fibre. Beans are best cooked in plenty of water
and often require soaking before being cooked.
The Green Tabloid
Water, soil and Earth's green biosphere are the support
system for animal life on planet Earth. Plants are a part of the
continuum of life, where the important interactions of plants and
animals occur. While both herbicides and pesticides have been with us
for decades, and provide us humans with partial control over nature, the
use of these compounds must constantly be reconsidered to improve
methods for reducing their harmful effects to living beings in
ecological food chains. Our garden hedges are homes for pollinating
butterflies, beetles, bees and dipteran flies. Many of these insects are
necessary for our cultivation efforts and the destruction of their homes
remains questionable. Similarly, herbicides may destroy fertile soils,
and as much as we would like to clear our gardens of weeds, the weeds
are an indication of a healthy, organic garden.
Herbicides and pesticides
often end up in undesirable places in nature. Many toxic chemicals also
have a way of persisting in the environment, both in food and water
supplies for wildlife and humans.
A toxic chemical, an insecticide or
herbicide, may be sprayed or dusted onto crop plants. The chemical may
enter the soil or remain on the plant's leaves until rain or irrigation
washes the chemical further into ground-water, rivers and oceans. While
high concentrations of toxic chemicals seldom accumulate in the
hydrological systems, many compounds are found in higher concentration
in fish and waterfowl as well as human beings. All in all, caution is
needed in the use of pesticides and herbicides, while exploring
alternative ways of keeping our garden and crop plants healthy.
Submit
your own Botany News article!
You can write on any topic related to botany. Short essays on plant
biology are especially popular. It can also be a review of recent
botanical developments. Anything that will help your fellow botanists
and make it possible for them progress in their work!
The articles need be approximately 300-1000 words. If needed or
requested editing will be made of English and style. The editor may
request some changes and articles that do not fit the profile or purpose
of Botany News are not published. Your article is still yours and you
keep the full copyright.
Submit your Botany News article!
The Flower
Box
The
Iceland Touring Association was founded in the early 20th
century and its goal is to promote travel in Iceland. All are welcome to
join the society and members enjoy privilages when it comes to
accommation in huts and trips offered by the society.
If you feel like visiting Iceland
during the summer you could also sign up for
Customized Botanical Tours in Iceland. Please, remember to fill in
the
Expession of Interest Form as this will greatly help us to make your
visit better. The spring, summer, and autumn are good times to explore
the nature of Iceland. Updated information about the tours will be
published in this section. If you wish to participate and are planning a
trip to Iceland
contact us well in advance.
For vegetarians visiting Iceland there are
several options. You could visit some of the downtown Reykjavik
vegetarian restaurants including the modern
Grænn kostur or more traditional
Á næstu grösum. Alternatively, try
Lækjarbrekka a cozy restaurant serving some vegetarian dishes or
check the world's most northerly Indian restaurant,
AusturIndíafélagið! However, if would like to leave the Reykjavik
city consider
staying on farms and enjoying the tranquil countryside.
This section publishes brief
announcements about botany and related issues. Announcements about
meetings, excursions, courses, jobs and other important items are
consider for publication here. Announcements are generally less than 300
words.
Readers located in Iceland are
encouraged to check out
Thund’s sales page for new botanical health products.
Submit your Botany News announcement!
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Best wishes,
Soffia Arnthorsdottir
BOTANY NEWS is published by Thund,
Reykjavik, Iceland
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