Barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli)

Barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli) is a species of plant in the Poaceae, herbaceous, mostly erect stem, up to 1.5 m high, ribbon leaves often purplish at base. Most stems are erect but some will spread over the ground, producing up to 40,000 seeds per year.

E. crus-galli has stems erect to stooped, tall, often thin and branched at the base. The leaves are ribbon-shaped, flat, glabrous, 30-50 cm long, 1-2 cm wide, scaly and slightly thickened at the edges. The sheath is smooth and often reddish.

Panicle 8-30 cm long, green or purple, prominent, slightly nodding, tightly branched, 5 cm long and erect. The spines are 3-4 mm long, densely arranged on the branches, ovate, often long-stemmed, pale green to dull purple and short hairs along the veins.

Racemes spreading, 10 cm long and sometimes branched. The glume and lower lemma are finely haired on the surface with stiffer hairs in the veins.

The first glume is about two-fifths along the spikelet, deltoid, the second glume is along the spikelet, short-awned. The sterile lemma is webbed with straight scabrous awns, 2-4 cm long or without awn. The lemma is fertile ovate-elliptic, pointed, pale yellow, shiny, smooth, 3-3.5 mm long.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Panicoideae
Tribe: Paniceae
Subtribe: Boivinellinae
Genus: Echinochloa
Species: Echinochloa crus-galli
Subspecies: Echinochloa crus-galli ssp. spiralis
Varieties: Echinochloa crus-galli var. crus-galli

A deep-sea isopod Bathyopsurus nybelini adapted to feed submerged Sargassum algae

NEWS - Incredible footage shows a marine species, Bathyopsurus nybelini , feeding on something that sinks from the ocean’s surface. Researchers using the submersible Alvin found the isopod swimming 3.7 miles down using its paddle-like legs to catch an unexpected food source: Sargassum. Researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the University of Montana, SUNY Geneseo, Willamette University and the University of Rhode Island found the algae sinking, while the isopod waited and adapted specifically to find and feed on the sinking nutrient source. The Sargassum lives on the surface for photosynthesis. The discovery of a deep-sea animal that relies on food that sinks from the waters miles above underscores the close relationship between the surface and the deep. “It’s fascinating to see this beautiful animal actively interacting with sargassum, so deep in the ocean. This isopod is extremely rare; only a handful of specimens were collected during the groundbreaking Swedis...

Black jumping spider (Hyllus diardi)

Black jumping spider ( Hyllus diardi ) is an animal species in the Salticidae, black and white spiders, long hair, round head, elongated belly, relatively small, arboreal, perched on leaves in bushes and low trees in forests and agricultural lands. H. diardi has black and white color, shiny surface and white hair all over the body. The head is round, shiny black with a linear white line in the middle. Black eyes on the front of the head. The stomach has an elongated, jointed, black cylindrical shape with black plots at the top of each segment. The legs are long, segmented, shiny black or brownish in color and hairy. Black jumping spiders live arboreal, perch on leaf surfaces, low bushes, trees in forests, agricultural land, roadsides and shade. Very sensitive to human presence and will hide behind leaves to avoid sight. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Chelicerata Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae Suborder: Araneomorphae Infraorder: Entelegynae Superfamily: Salticoi...

Hairy senna (Senna hirsuta)

Hairy senna ( Senna hirsuta ) is a species of plant in the Fabaceae family. It is an upright shrub, growing up to 2.5 meters tall. The leaves are compound on petioles up to 13 cm long. They usually have 2-6 pairs of leaflets, are egg-shaped, and have white hairs, up to 10 cm long and 5 cm wide. The flowers are yellow and arranged at the tips of branches and in the upper leaf axils in clusters of 2-5. The petals are 12-16 mm long, have 6 stamens, 3-8 mm long anthers, and 4 staminodes. Flowering occurs almost monthly. The pods are cylindrical, up to 15 cm long, 4-6 mm wide, and curved. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Fabales Family: Fabaceae Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae Tribe: Cassieae Subtribe: Cassiinae Genus: Senna Mill. in Gard. Dict. Abr., ed. 4.: [s.p.] (1754) Species: Senna hirsuta (L.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby in Phytologia 44: 499 (1979) Variety: Senna hirsuta var. acuminata (Benth.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby, Senna ...

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