In geography, an oasis is a fertile land in a desert or semi-desert environment. Oases also provide habitats for animals and plants.
Quinoa is a flowering plant in the amaranth family. It is a herbaceous annual plant grown as a crop primarily for its edible seeds; the seeds are rich in protein, dietary fiber, B vitamins, and dietary minerals in amounts greater than in many grains. Quinoa is not a grass, but rather a pseudocereal botanically related to spinach and amaranth, and originated in the Andean region of northwestern South America. It was first used to feed livestock 5,200–7,000 years ago, and for human consumption 3,000–4,000 years ago in the Lake Titicaca basin of Peru and Bolivia.
The avocado, a tree likely originating from south-central Mexico, is classified as a member of the flowering plant family Lauraceae. The fruit of the plant, also called an avocado, is botanically a large berry containing a single large seed. Avocado trees are partially self-pollinating, and are often propagated through grafting to maintain predictable fruit quality and quantity.
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.
Capsicum baccatum is a member of the genus Capsicum, and is one of the five domesticated chili pepper species. The fruit tends to be very pungent, and registers 30,000 to 50,000 on the Scoville Heat Unit scale.
Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, leaves, roots, and seeds. An alternate definition of the term is applied somewhat arbitrarily, often by culinary and cultural tradition. It may exclude foods derived from some plants that are fruits, flowers, nuts, and cereal grains, but include savoury fruits such as tomatoes and courgettes, flowers such as broccoli, and seeds such as pulses.
Iriartea is a genus in the palm family Arecaceae, native to Central and South America. The best-known species – and probably the only one – is Iriartea deltoidea, which is found from Nicaragua, south into Bolivia and a great portion of Western Amazonian basin. It is the most common tree in many forests in which it occurs.
Ceroxylon is a genus of flowering plants in the family Arecaceae, native to the Andes in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, known as Andean wax palms.
Ammandra is a monotypic genus of flowering plant in the palm family found in Colombia and Ecuador, where it is endangered. The sole species is Ammandra decasperma, although another species name has been proposed. They are a pinnate-leaved, dioecious palm whose seeds and petioles are used in button and basket making, respectively. It is commonly called ivory palm or cabecita.
Krameria bicolor is a perennial shrub or subshrub of the family Krameriaceae, the rhatanies. It is commonly known as white rhatany, crimson-beak, and chacate in Spanish. It is found in drier environments of the southwestern United States from California to Texas, and in northern Mexico.
Krameria ixine is a perennial shrub of the family Krameriaceae, the Rhatanies. It is native to Puerto Rico, Haiti, Netherlands Antilles, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Central America, and in South America.
Lepidocaryum is a monotypic genus of flowering plant in the palm family from South America where the lone species, Lepidocaryum tenue, is commonly called poktamui. Nine species names have been published, but palm taxonomists currently agree that just one variable species includes them all. The most reduced member of the Lepidocaryeae, it is similar in appearance to three closely related genera, Mauritia, Mauritiella, and Lytocaryum. The genus name combines the Greek words for "scale" and "nut" and the species epithet is Latin for "thin".
Krameria erecta is a species of rhatany known by several common names, including Pima rhatany, purple heather, and littleleaf rhatany. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows in dry areas such as desert flats and chaparral slopes. This is a small, tangled shrub under a meter in height with blunt, thorny branches covered in silky hairs and fuzzy linear leaves. The shrub flowers in the spring and again in the fall during wetter years. The showy flower has four or five bright pink cup-shaped sepals and usually five smaller, triangular petals which are pink with green bases. The three upper petals are held erect and the lower two are glandular structures next to the ovary. Next to these are four curving stamens. The fruit is a furry heart-shaped body covered in pink spines. It reproduces by seed. This species and others in its genus are root parasites, tapping the tissues of nearby plants for nutrients, especially water. This helps it survive in soil that is almost totally dry.
Attalea phalerata is a species of palm tree known by the English common name urucuri palm, the Portuguese common name urucurizeiro, and the Spanish common name shapaja. Other common names include motacu and bacuri. It is native to Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Peru, where it grows along southern and western Amazonia. It is the most common palm tree on the Pantanal.
Bougainvillea spectabilis, also known as great bougainvillea, is a species of flowering plant. It is native to Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina's Chubut Province.
Cannabis in Chile is illegal for all production and public consumption, though private at-home consumption is allowed. It is widely consumed, with the highest per-capita use in Latin America. In 2014 Chile began clinical trials on medical marijuana, and in 2015 a decriminalization bill successfully passed the lower house of the Chilean Congress.
The Marañón dry forests (NT0223) is an ecoregion in northern Peru. It covers the lower valley of the Marañón River and its tributaries along the eastern edge of the Andes. It has a dry climate due to rain shadow from mountains further east. The habitat has long been modified by farming, ranching and logging and is now threatened by construction of hydroelectric and irrigation dams.
Krameria lanceolata, commonly called trailing krameria, is a flowering plant in the rhatany family (Krameriaceae). It is native to North America, where it is found in the southwestern and south-central United States, and the state states of Chihuahua and Coahuila in Mexico. It has populations disjunct eastward in the U.S. states of Florida and Georgia on the Coastal Plain. Its natural habitat is in sandy or rocky calcareous grasslands.
Astrebla lappacea, commonly known as curly Mitchell grass, is a herb of the family Poaceae from the order Poales. The most common of the Astrebla species, a widespread Australian inland plant. Named in honour of Thomas Mitchell. Often seen on floodplains and heavy self mulching clay soils, growing to 0.9 metres tall. Flowering is in response to rain or flooding. This grass is palatable to livestock, even when dry. The Latin specific epithet of lappacea is derived from lappa meaning with burrs.
Tourrettia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Bignoniaceae. It only contains one known species, Tourrettia lappacea(L'Hér.) Willd. The genus of Tourrettia has 2 known synonyms, DombeyaL'Hér. and MedicaCothen. It is also in Tribe Tourrettieae.
