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Botanical Information
BOTANY NEWS
Botanical
Information
Welcome to this seventh edition of Botany News!
TOPICS:
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A note from the editor
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The aquatic plants of Iceland
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Green Tabloid Speaking of acid rain
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The Figs
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The Flower Box
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A special announcement to Icelandic readers
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Submit your own Botany News
article!
Visit our website:
Eco-Logy.com
A note from the editor
Have a nice summer and welcome to Botany News! I
hope you will enjoy the material and I welcome feedback from you. If you like
this new e-zine you could let your botanical friends know about it. Some of you
are already signed up for receiving Botany News. I
am pleased to see that readers of
Botany News and the
Eco-Logy.com website come from all over the world! During the past year our
readers have come from over twenty European countries, more than ten countries
of North, South and Central America, quite a few Asian countries, two African
countries and both Australia and New Zealand. I welcome you all! I have
already received some suggestions from readers on material for this e-zine. Why
not send me your letters and articles to be published in Botany News and share
your joy of plants with readers worldwide? Perhaps, you have your own website
on plants, if so
contact us for possible link exchange.
The aquatic plants of Iceland
Ponds and streams are often well suited for plant and animal life. On Reykjavik
Pond, Tjörnin, there are Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos),
other ducks, and Whooper Swans (Cygnus cygnus). In the vicinity of the
city, there is Įstjörn a pond with several characteristic aquatic species and
further outsite Reykjavik there are many lakes and ponds.
Everywhere in ponds and on
lake banks there are emergent, submerged and floating aquatic plants. Ponds are
often situated in
wetlands, where you find plant species such as Narrow Smallreed (Calamagrostis
stricta), the tiny Northern bedstraw (Galium boreale), Tea-leaved
Willow (Salix phylicifolia) and the colourful Marsh Violet (Viola
palustris).
Commonly by pond banks and shallow ponds, you find the yellow-flowered Marsh
Marigold (Caltha palustris), Marsh Cinquifoil (Potentilla palustris),
Garden Angelica (Angelica archangelica), and grasses such as Orange
Foxtail (Alopecuris aequalis) and Fiorin (Agrostis stolonifera). Robust
sedges such as Lyngebye's Sedge (Carex lyngbyei) and Beaked Sedge (Carex
rostrata) grow on lake banks, while the thread-formed Arctic Rush (Juncus
arcticus) and Common Cottongrass (Eriophorum angustifolium) form
large mats or smaller tufts. Tall pond bank vegetation is an excellent place
for various ducks and waders to hide.
In lowland marshes and shallow ponds you may find the delicate Whorl-grass (Catabrosa
aquatica) and more rarely the large Floating Sweet-grass (Glyceria
fluitans). Nesting near the ponds, there are ducks, phalaropes, and
grebes. On a quiet early morning you may hear the song of the Common Loon (Gavia
immer).
On muddy soils, in wet
meadows and shallow ponds in South Iceland you will see the occasional Water
Speedwell (Veronica anagallis-aquatica), while the puny, white-flowered
Starwort Mouse-ear (Cerastium cerastoides) and Common Spike-rush (Eleocharis
palustris) grow on pond banks.
The true aquatic plants, the
pondweeds (Potamogeton) and bur-reeds (Sparganium), are found
deeper in the pond. Pondweeds often have leaves floating in the surface, while
the plants remain attached on their long stem. Submerged water-milfoils (Myriophyllum)
are found even further out in the pond water. In the water surface, there are
free-floating species such as the Lesser Bladderwort (Utricularia minor),
a mysterious insecteating plant, and swarms of tiny algae and bluegreen
bacteria.
Green Tabloid Speaking of acid rain
Industry and cars are a part of our modern existence. However,
there is a constant need to try to control and minimize our impact on the
living environment and the world's precious water resources.
Although, industries and cars are now equipped with improved technology to
reduce the adverse effects of pollution, the impact of car pollution and
industrial activities is increasing. One of the consequences of industrial and
car emissions is the rising concentration of sulphur dioxide in the air we
breathe. Sulphur dioxide contributes to the formation of acid rain. In turn,
acid rain may cause local pollution or be carried with prevailing wind systems
to remote areas. In the cities of Europe and North America acid rain changes
the appearance of trees by destroying the delicate epiphytic lichens. Acid rain
also leaves scars by eroding the stones of buildings and artwork. While the
effects of acid rain and other pollution is often pronounced in cities, the
destructive effect of acid rain often reaches natural lake systems harming fish
and other aquatic creatures.
The Figs
The edible figs are much grown in the Mediterranean region
and are the compound fruits of the Common Fig Tree (Ficus carica. Figs
are consumed either fresh or dry, while the most delicious figs are only partly
dried and remain soft in the centre. The Common Fig tree is a robust tree
reaching 6-8 meters; it carries very large hand-shaped leaves. The Common Fig
Tree is also a pioneer in semi-natural successional habitat. The most commonly
grown variety grown in Spain and elsewhere in the Mediterranean is pollinated by
wasps. While the Common Fig Tree grows best in dry climate, it requires
patches of humidity found within dry regions. Figs are eaten as sweets, pickles,
fillings of cookies and ingredients of cakes. Figs and fig delicatessens are
sometimes flavoured with cinnamon and other spices.
Many species of fig trees grow in
tropical countries, both in East Asia and South America, and are consumed by
birds, monkeys and bats. In South-East Asia the Malayan Banyan (Ficus
microcarpa) grows inland from the mangrove swamps. This beautiful fig tree
produces flowers from the trunk. Another fig tree, the sacred Bo-Tree (Ficus
religiosa), is a native of India; this woody plant grows as a strangling fig
on other tree trunks and on maconary. Rubber Tree (Ficus elastica)
contains sap from which natural rubber is made. Rubber Tree is a popular house
plant in Iceland and other northerly countries. It is currently the largest
plant I am growing indoors and is about one meter tall!
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