Acanthaceae is a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species. Most are tropical herbs, shrubs, or twining vines; some are epiphytes. Only a few species are distributed in temperate regions. The four main centres of distribution are Indonesia and Malaysia, Africa, Brazil, and Central America. Representatives of the family can be found in nearly every habitat, including dense or open forests, scrublands, wet fields and valleys, sea coast and marine areas, swamps, and mangrove forests.
Strobilanthes is a genus of about 350 species of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae, mostly native to tropical Asia and Madagascar, but with a few species extending north into temperate regions of Asia. Many species are cultivated for their two-lipped, hooded flowers in shades of blue, pink, white and purple. Most are frost-tender and require protection in frost-prone areas.
Ficus citrifolia, also known as the shortleaf fig, giant bearded fig, Jagüey, wild banyantree and Wimba tree, is a species of banyan native to southern Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America south to Paraguay. It is distinguished from the closely related Florida strangler fig mainly by the finer veining in the leaves.
Monocarpic plants are those that flower, set seeds and then die.
The purple-throated mountaingem is a hummingbird that breeds in the mountains of southern Nicaragua, northern Costa Rica and western Panama. This bird inhabits forested areas in hilly terrain, and is found at altitudes from 800 to 2,500 m.
Strobilanthes kunthiana, kurinji or neelakurinji, is a shrub that is found in the shola forests of the Western Ghats in South India. Nilgiri Hills, which literally means the blue mountains, got their name from the purplish blue flowers of Neelakurinji that blossoms only once in 12 years. Of all long interval bloomers Strobilanthes kunthiana is the most rigorously demonstrated, with documented bloomings in 1838, 1850, 1862, 1874, 1886, 1898, 1910, 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006 and 2018, these have no match to Solar cycles.
Bamboo blossom is a natural phenomenon in which the bamboos in a location blossom and become hung with bamboo seeds. This is commonly found in China, Myanmar and India.
The blue-winged parrotlet is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is the nominate species.
Predator satiation is an anti-predator adaptation in which prey briefly occur at high population densities, reducing the probability of an individual organism being eaten. When predators are flooded with potential prey, they can consume only a certain amount, so by occurring at high densities prey benefit from a safety in numbers effect. This strategy has evolved in a diverse range of prey, including notably many species of plants, insects, and fish. Predator satiation can be considered a type of refuge from predators.
Oxytenanthera is a genus of African bamboo Bamboos are members of the grass family Poaceae.
Semelparity and iteroparity are two contrasting reproductive strategies available to living organisms. A species is considered semelparous if it is characterized by a single reproductive episode before death, and iteroparous if it is characterized by multiple reproductive cycles over the course of its lifetime. Some botanists use the parallel terms monocarpy and polycarpy.
Tachigali versicolor or the suicide tree is a species of tree found from Costa Rica to western Colombia. It is monocarpic, flowering only once before dying, which gives rise to its common name of the "suicide tree".
Strobilanthes callosa Nees (Synonym: Carvia callosa Bremek) is a shrub found mainly in the low hills of the western ghats all along the west coast of India. Its standardized Hindi language name is maruadona (मरुआदोना) by which it is called in the state of Madhya Pradesh where it is also found. In the state of Maharashtra in the Marathi language and other local dialects and in the neighboring state of Karnataka the shrub is locally known as karvi, sometimes spelled in English as karvy.
Isoglossa woodii, commonly known as buckweed, is a monocarpic shrub of the family Acanthaceae, growing up to 4 m tall. It grows in colonies in coastal forest areas of KwaZulu-Natal and marginally into Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Frasera caroliniensis, commonly known as American columbo or yellow gentian, is a herbaceous perennial of the gentian family Gentianaceae found in the deciduous forest of Southern Ontario and throughout the eastern and southeastern United States. It was previously known as Swertia caroliniensis.
Fargesia murielae, the umbrella bamboo, is a species of flowering plant in the family Poaceae. It is a large, clump-forming evergreen bamboo, closely resembling Fargesia nitida in the same genus, but with yellow canes.
Trichanthera is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the acanthus family containing the single species Trichanthera gigantea, which is known by many common names, including madre de agua, suiban, cenicero, tuno, naranjillo, and palo de agua. It is native to Central America and northern South America. It has also been introduced to other tropical regions such as Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Philippines.
Strobilanthes japonica is a flowering herbaceous perennial plant from Asia, one of around 350 plants of the genus Strobilanthes. The 20–50 cm ornamental plant is cultivated in Japan and China, and blooms in autumn with 1.5 cm purple to white funnel-shaped flowers.
Synchronus flowering, also called mast flowering or gregarious flowering, is when plants growing together all flower at the same time. Plietesials exhibit synchronous flowering.
Pachystrobilus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae and the tribe Ruellieae; it is found in south-east Asia. The genus contains a single species, Pachystrobilus involucratus. The Catalogue of Life lists this species under its synonym Strobilanthes involucratus, with a subspecies S. i. tjibodensis.
