Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is paraphyletic with respect to butterflies and neither subordinate taxon is used in modern classifications. Moths make up the vast majority of the order. There are approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of which have yet to be described. Most species of moth are nocturnal, although there are also crepuscular and diurnal species.
Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example beetles or butterflies; birds, and bats; water; wind; and even plants themselves. Pollinating animals travel from plant to plant carrying pollen on their bodies in a vital interaction that allows the transfer of genetic material critical to the reproductive system of most flowering plants. When self-pollination occurs within a closed flower. Pollination often occurs within a species. When pollination occurs between species, it can produce hybrid offspring in nature and in plant breeding work.
Asclepias is a genus of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants known as milkweeds, named for their latex, a milky substance containing cardiac glycosides termed cardenolides, exuded where cells are damaged. Most species are toxic to humans and many other species, primarily due to the presence of cardenolides. However, as with many such plants, some species feed upon them or from them. The most notable of them is the monarch butterfly, which uses and requires certain milkweeds as host plants for their larvae.
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), formerly known as the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that provides technical assistance to farmers and other private landowners and managers.
Valeriana is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caprifoliaceae, members of which may by commonly known as valerians. It contains many species, including the garden valerian, Valeriana officinalis. Species are native to all continents except Antarctica, with centers of diversity in Eurasia and South America.
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.
Butterfly gardening is a way to create, improve, and maintain habitat for lepidopterans including butterflies, skippers, and moths. Butterflies have four distinct life stages—egg, larva, chrysalis, and adult. In order to support and sustain butterfly populations, an ideal butterfly garden contains habitat for each life stage.
Rhododendron calendulaceum, the flame azalea, is a species of Rhododendron. It is a deciduous shrub that grows up to 120–450 cm tall. This species of Rhododendron is native to the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States, ranging from southern Pennsylvania and Ohio to northern Georgia. It may be extirpated from Pennsylvania and Alabama. It occurs naturally in mixed deciduous forests and is typically found in woodland slopes and mountain balds in the Appalachians, where it prefers dry and rocky mountain woods. The inflorescences of Rhododendron calendulaceum are visited by many animals such as bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and small mammals. It is a popular cultivated plant due to its bright yellow, orange or red flowers.
Pinguicula primuliflora, commonly known as the southern butterwort or primrose butterwort, is a species of carnivorous plant belonging to the genus Pinguicula. It is native to the southeastern United States. The typical variety forms a white flower in blooming. Like other butterworts, it has sticky adhesive leaves which attract, capture and digest arthropod prey in order to supply the plant with nutrients such as nitrogen not found in the nutrient poor, acidic soil that it grows in. Its name derives from the fact it is usually the first one to flower in the spring.
Stachys palustris, commonly known as marsh woundwort, marsh betony, clown's woundwort, clown's heal-all, marsh hedgenettle, or hedge-nettle, is an edible perennial grassland herb growing to 80 centimeters tall. It is native to parts of Eurasia but has been introduced to North America. The species epithet palustris is Latin for "of the marsh" and indicates its common habitat.
Platanthera yosemitensis, the Yosemite bog orchid, is a species of orchid that is endemic to nine wet montane meadows between the main stem and the South Fork of the Merced River in Yosemite National Park.
Frankenia pauciflora, the common sea-heath or southern sea-heath, is an evergreen shrub native to southern Australia. It is part of the Frankenia genus of the Frankeniaceae family.
Packera pauciflora is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name alpine groundsel. It is native to northern North America, where it can be found in parts of western and eastern Canada and the northwestern United States. It grows in subalpine and alpine climates, such as mountain meadows.
Stephanomeria pauciflora is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names brownplume wirelettuce, few-flowered wirelettuce, and prairie skeletonplant. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows in many types of habitat, including many desert areas, woodlands, and plains. It is a perennial herb or bushy subshrub producing one or more sturdy, stiff stems with many spreading branches, taking a rounded but vertical form. The leaves are mostly basal and ephemeral, with smaller, scale-like leaves occurring on the upper stem. Flower heads occur at intervals along the mostly naked stems, especially near the tips. Each has a cylindrical base covered in hairless phyllaries. It contains 3 to 6 florets, each with an elongated tube and a flat pink ligule. The fruit is an achene tipped with a spreading cluster of plumelike pappus bristles. These are usually brownish, but are sometimes white. The specific epithet pauciflora, refers to the Latin term for 'few flowered'.
Thalictrum alpinum is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common names alpine meadow-rue and arctic meadow-rue. It is native to Arctic and alpine regions of North America and Eurasia, including Alaska, northern Canada, and Greenland, and it occurs in cold, wet, boggy habitats in high mountains farther south.
Gesneria pauciflora is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Gesneriaceae known by the common name yerba maricao de cueva. It is endemic to Puerto Rico, where there are only three populations remaining. It was federally listed as a threatened species of the United States in 1995.
Digitaria pauciflora is a species of grass known by the common names twospike crabgrass, Florida pineland crabgrass, Everglades grass, few-flowered fingergrass, and particular grass. It is endemic to Florida in the United States, where it is found only in the Everglades.
Phacelia covillei is a North American species of annual forbs in the borage family. It is native to the eastern and central United States in scattered locations from Missouri to Maryland and North Carolina.
Liparis liliifolia, known as the brown widelip orchid, lily-leaved twayblade, large twayblade, and mauve sleekwort, is a species of orchid native to eastern Canada and the eastern United States. It can be found in a variety of habitats, such as forests, shrublands, thickets, woodlands, and mountains. The orchid is considered globally secure, but it is considered rare or endangered in many northeastern states.
Valeriana dioica, the marsh valerian, is a species of flowering plant in the family Caprifoliaceae, native to North America, Europe and Anatolia. It is typically found in calcareous fens. It is a dioecious species, with male and female flowers on separate individuals, and it is pollinated by small flies.
