Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula SiO2, commonly found in nature as quartz. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one of the most complex and abundant families of materials, existing as a compound of several minerals and as a synthetic product. Examples include fused quartz, fumed silica, opal, and aerogels. It is used in structural materials, microelectronics, and as components in the food and pharmaceutical industries. All forms are white or colorless, although impure samples can be colored.
Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropical rainforests or temperate rainforests, but other types have been described.
The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large; botanists have described some 5,500 known species in about 90 genera – the largest being the "true sedges", with over 2,000 species.
Iridescence is the phenomenon of certain surfaces that appear gradually to change colour as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. Iridescence is caused by wave interference of light in microstructures or thin films. Examples of iridescence include soap bubbles, feathers, butterfly wings and seashell nacre, and minerals such as opal. Pearlescence is a related effect where some or most of the reflected light is white. The term pearlescent is used to describe certain paint finishes, usually in the automotive industry, which actually produce iridescent effects.
Nanomaterials describe, in principle, chemical substances or materials of which a single unit is sized between 1 and 100 nm.
Gnetum is a genus of gymnosperms, the sole genus in the family Gnetaceae within the Gnetophyta. They are tropical evergreen trees, shrubs and lianas. Unlike other gymnosperms, they possess vessel elements in the xylem. Some species have been proposed to have been the first plants to be insect-pollinated as their fossils occur in association with extinct pollinating scorpionflies. Molecular phylogenies based on nuclear and plastid sequences from most of the species indicate hybridization among some of the Southeast Asian species. Fossil-calibrated molecular-clocks suggest that the Gnetum lineages now found in Africa, South America and Southeast Asia are the result of ancient long-distance dispersal across seawater.
Carex is a vast genus of over 2,000 species of grass-like plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges. Other members of the family Cyperaceae are also called sedges, however those of genus Carex may be called true sedges, and it is the most species-rich genus in the family. The study of Carex is known as caricology.
Heliconius cydno, the cydno longwing, is a nymphalid butterfly that ranges from Mexico to northern South America. It is typically found in the forest understory and deposits its eggs on a variety of plants of the genus Passiflora. It is a member of the Heliconiinae subfamily of Central and South America, and it is the only heliconiine that can be considered oligophagous. H. cydno is also characterized by hybridization and Müllerian mimicry. Wing coloration plays a key role in mate choice and has further implications in regards to sympatric speciation. Macrolide scent gland extracts and wing-clicking behavior further characterize this species.
Nepenthes rhombicaulis is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra. The specific epithet rhombicaulis is formed from the Latin words rhombicus, meaning "rhomboid", and caulis, "stem". It refers to the cross-sectional shape of the stem internodes.
Connaraceae is a pan-tropical plant family of 19 genera and more than 180 species of largely evergreen trees, woody shrubs and climbers.
Mapania ferruginea is a species of plant in the sedge family, Cyperaceae. It is found in Cameroon and São Tomé and Príncipe. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.
In botany and ecology, a graminoid refers to a herbaceous plant with a grass-like morphology, i.e., elongated culms with long, blade-like leaves. They are contrasted with forbs, herbaceous plants without grass-like features.
Hydrophobic silica is a form of silicon dioxide that has hydrophobic groups chemically bonded to the surface. The hydrophobic groups are normally alkyl or polydimethylsiloxane chains. Hydrophobic silica can be processed in different ways; such as fumed silica, precipitated silica, and aerosol assisted self assembly, all existing in the form of nanoparticles.
Polyspatha is a genus of perennial monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Commelinaceae. It is restricted to tropical Africa consists of three recognized species.
Scleria biflora is a plant in the family Cyperaceae. It grows as a tufted annual grass.
Selaginella willdenowii is a species of vascular plant in the Selaginellaceae family. It is a spikemoss known by the common names Willdenow's spikemoss and peacock fern due to its iridescent blue leaves. Like other Selaginallales, it is fern ally and not a true fern.
Cyperus dubius, the soft sedge, is one of around 700 species of Cyperus in the sedge family, Cyperaceae. It is found throughout in tropical Africa, South India, and Indo-China to Malesia. It grows in seasonally flooded areas and in pockets of soil among rocks. It is not confined to wetlands and is sometimes found as a weed in fields, near the sea on sandy beaches and also seen in open shady places.
Begonia pavonina, or peacock begonia, is a species of rhizomatous plant in the family Begoniaceae. It is endemic to the dim understory in the montane forests of peninsular Malaysia.
Carex chlorosaccus is a species of sedge in the family Cyperaceae, native to the Gulf of Guinea islands, southwestern Cameroon, and central and eastern tropical Africa. It is typically found in upland grasslands and the understories of montane forests.
Microsorum thailandicum is a fern in the family Polypodiaceae. Like several other shady understory plant species, its leaves display blue iridescence. Initially unknown, the mechanism was later described as resulting from cellulose microfibrils stacked into helicoidal structures. Those structures appear on both the adaxial and abaxial epidermal surface, differing, with adaxial (top) epidermis being more blue, white abaxial (bottom) being red-shifted and less intense.
