An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus Quercus of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere; it includes some 500 species, both deciduous and evergreen. Fossil oaks date back to the Middle Eocene. Molecular phylogeny shows that the genus is divided into Old World and New World clades, but many oak species hybridise freely, making the genus's history difficult to resolve.
Quercus kelloggii, the California black oak or Kellogg oak, is an oak in the red oak section native to western North America. Although genetically separated from them for more than 20 million years, its leaves are remarkably similar in appearance to several other members of the red oak section including the red oak and the black oak found in eastern and central North America.
Quercus douglasii, known as blue oak, is a species of oak endemic to California, common in the Coast Ranges and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. It is California's most drought-tolerant deciduous oak, and is a dominant species in the blue oak woodland ecosystem. It is occasionally known as mountain oak and iron oak.
Quercus falcata, also called southern red oak, spanish oak, bottomland red oak or three-lobed red oak is an oak. Native to the southeastern United States, it gets its name the "Spanish Oak" as these are the areas of early Spanish colonies, whilst "southern red oak" comes from both its range and leaf color during late summer and fall. The southern red oak is a deciduous angiosperm, so has leaves that die after each growing period and come back in the next period of growth.
Pterospora, commonly known as pinedrops, woodland pinedrops, Albany beechdrops, or giant bird's nest, is a North American genus in the subfamily Monotropoideae of the heath family, and includes only the species Pterospora andromedea. It grows as a mycoheterotroph in coniferous or mixed forests. It is widespread across much of Canada as well as the western and northeastern United States to Mexico. Along with Monotropa it is one of the more frequently encountered genera of the Monotropoideae.
Cicuta maculata is a highly poisonous species of flowering plant in the carrot family known by several common names, including spotted water hemlock, spotted parsley, spotted cowbane, and the suicide root by the Iroquois. It is native to nearly all of North America, from northern Canada to southern Mexico.
Krameria is the only genus in the Krameriaceae family, of which any of the approximately 18 species are commonly known as rhatany, ratany or rattany. Rhatany is also the name given to krameria root, a botanical remedy consisting of the dried root of para rhatany or Peruvian rhatany.
Conopholis is a small genus of flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae.
A parasitic plant is a plant that derives some or all of its nutritional requirements from another living plant. They make up about 1% of angiosperms and are found in almost every biome. All parasitic plants develop a specialized organ called the haustorium, which penetrates the host plant, connecting them to the host vasculature – either the xylem, phloem, or both. For example, plants like Striga or Rhinanthus connect only to the xylem, via xylem bridges (xylem-feeding). Alternately, plants like Cuscuta and some members of Orobanche connect to both the xylem and phloem of the host. This provides them with the ability to extract resources from the host. These resources can include water, nitrogen, carbon and/or sugars. Parasitic plants are classified depending on the location where the parasitic plant latches onto the host, the amount of nutrients it requires, and their photosynthetic capability. Some parasitic plants can locate their host plants by detecting volatile chemicals in the air or soil given off by host shoots or roots, respectively. About 4,500 species of parasitic plants in approximately 20 families of flowering plants are known.
Epifagus virginiana, commonly called beech drops, is an obligate parasitic plant which grows and subsists on the roots of American beech. It is a member of the family Orobanchaceae. The genus Epifagus is monotypic—containing only E. virginiana. The name Epifagus derives from Greek "epi" meaning "on" or "upon", and "Fagus" which is the genus name of beech.
Senecio ampullaceus, also known as Texas ragwort, Texas squaw-weed, Texas groundsel, and Texas butterweed, is a species of Senecio in the family Asteraceae, receiving its Latin name ampullaceus from its flask shaped flower-head. It is recommended for landscape use in its native Texas.
Carya myristiciformis, the nutmeg hickory, a tree of the Juglandaceae or walnut family, also called swamp hickory or bitter water hickory, is found as small, possibly relict populations across the Southern United States and in northern Mexico on rich moist soils of higher bottom lands and stream banks. Little is known of the growth rate of nutmeg hickory. Logs and lumber are sold mixed with other hickories. The nuts are an oil-rich food for wildlife.
Pedicularis groenlandica is a showy flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae commonly known as elephant's head, little pink elephant, elephantella, or similar common names inspired by the resemblance of the flower to the head of an elephant. It is also less commonly known as butterfly tongue for the long beak on the flower. Like many other plants in genus Pedicularis, it is a parasitic plant and depends on host plants to survive.
Phoradendron macrophyllum is a species of flowering plant in the sandalwood family known by the common names Colorado Desert mistletoe, bigleaf mistletoe, and Christmas mistletoe. It is native to western United States and northern Mexico from Oregon to Colorado to Texas to Baja California, where it grows in many types of wooded habitat at elevations up to 1700 m.
Phoradendron villosum is a species of flowering plant in the sandalwood family known by the common names Pacific mistletoe and oak mistletoe. It is native to western North America from Oregon south into Mexico, where it grows in oak woodland and similar habitat.
Buchnera americana, commonly known as American bluehearts or bupleurum, is a locally endangered herbaceous perennial plant of the broomrape family Orobanchaceae. Found widely across the eastern United States, it also occurs in one location in the Canadian province of Ontario.
The northeastern interior dry–mesic oak forest is a forest system found in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. These forests cover large areas at low and middle elevations, typically on flat to gently rolling terrain.
Thonningia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Balanophoraceae containing the single species Thonningia sanguinea. It is distributed throughout much of southern and western Africa, particularly the tropical regions. Common names for the plant include ground pineapple. A familiar plant to humans, it has an extremely long list of common names in many African languages. Many names are inspired by the resemblance of the plant's inflorescence to a pineapple or palm tree. Some of the names can be translated as pineapple of the bush, duiker's kolanut, and crown of the ground.
Aureolaria pedicularia, the fernleaf yellow false foxglove, fern-leaved false foxglove, or fernleaf false foxglove, is a parasitic plant of the family Orobanchaceae. Aureolaria pedicularia is native to parts of the eastern US, the Midwest, and adjacent Canada. This plant is known for its distinct leaf shape and overall plant size. The common names for Aureolaria pedicularia come from its fern-like leaves.
