Latest Flora of the United States Stories
COLLEGE STATION, Texas, Aug. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Energy industry executives joined investors and policymakers near Houston, Texas earlier today to take a firsthand look at energy grasses and research developments that are expected to push bioenergy to the forefront of renewable power and transportation fuels. The bioenergy field day, hosted by Ceres, Inc., provides a unique opportunity for industry leaders who may not be familiar with agricultural production to walk among towering energy...
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have developed a new tool for deciphering the genetics of a native prairie grass being widely studied for its potential as a biofuel. The genetic map of switchgrass, published by Christian Tobias, a molecular biologist at the ARS Western Regional Research Center in Albany, Calif., and his colleagues, is expected to speed up the search for genes that will make the perennial plant a more viable source of bioenergy.Switchgrass is now grown as a...
Proper and timely burning of some Eastern U.S. forests could help revitalize flowering dogwood trees, which benefits a wide range of species, a Purdue University report shows.Dogwood trees act as a calcium pump, pulling the nutrient from deep in the soil and depositing it on the forest floor with their fallen leaves each autumn. It's an important source of nutrition for a variety of species in a forest ecosystem, said Michael Jenkins, assistant professor of forestry and natural resources....
What happens to the soil when you remove the plants?Crop residues, perennial warm season grasses, and short-rotation woody crops are potential biomass sources for cellulosic ethanol production. While most research is focused on the conversion of cellulosic feedstocks into ethanol and increasing production of biomass, the impacts of growing energy crops and the removal of crop residue on soil and environmental quality have received less attention. Moreover, effects of crop residue removal on...
EDF, Ranchers Praise Plan to Focus Conservation Programs on Species Recovery WASHINGTON, March 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Conservation and rancher groups say a special initiative announced today by USDA's National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) could help recover the greater sage-grouse. The initiative is designed to focus resources from two voluntary federal conservation programs NRCS administers: the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and Wildlife Habitat Incentive...
ATHENS, Ga., Jan. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Turbulent times characterized by plummeting pine sawtimber prices could soon be over for timber sellers. A new stumpage price forecast published by Forisk signals climbing prices for pine sawtimber in the US South beginning in 2010. The ForiskFORECAST pine sawtimber price forecast and "Forecasting Timber Prices" workshop provide insights for timberland owners, investors, and wood procurement managers in planning future pricing and management strategies...
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Nov. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Energy crop company Ceres, Inc. announced today that it is working with CHOREN, an international leader in Biomass to Liquids technology, to optimize energy crops for thermochemical conversion to advanced low-carbon biofuels. The two-year bioenergy project is funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The thermochemical process does not require enzymes or microorganisms; instead, the biomass is gasified under certain heat and...
Biomass feedstock nitrogen study compares four grasses; switchgrass is most efficient.A USDOE and USDA study concluded that 50 million U.S. acres of cropland, idle cropland, and cropland pasture could be converted from current uses to the production of perennial grasses, such as switchgrass, from which biomass could be harvested for use as a biofuel feedstock. Economically viable production of a perennial grass monoculture from which substantial quantities of biomass are removed annually is...
Ancient high-altitude trees grow faster as temperatures rise Increasing temperatures at high altitudes are fueling the post-1950 growth spurt seen in bristlecone pines, the world's oldest trees, according to new research. Pines close to treeline have wider annual growth rings for the period from 1951 to 2000 than for the previous 3,700 years, reports a University of Arizona-led research team. Regional temperatures have increased, particularly at high elevations, during the same 50-year...
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Nov. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Energy crop company Ceres, Inc. announced today that it plans to expand an advanced trait development project to increase biomass yields of several energy grasses by as much as 40% in coming years, while simultaneously decreasing the use of inputs such as nitrogen fertilizers. The project, which was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) from among 3,700 renewable energy proposals, will be funded in part by a $5 million advanced...
Latest Flora of the United States Reference Libraries
The Gunnison Grouse (Centrocercus minimus) is a species of grouse endemic to the United States, where it is known as the Gunnison Sage-Grouse. It’s similar to the closely related Greater Sage-Grouse in its appearance but about a third smaller in size, with much thicker plumes behind its head; it also has a less complex courtship dance. It’s restricted in range to southwestern Colorado and extreme southeastern Utah, with the largest population residing in the Gunnison Basin region in...
The Redwood National and States Parks, also known as RNSP, are located along the northern coasts of California in the United States. RNSP is comprised of the Prairie Creek Redwoods State, Del Norte Coast, and Jedediah Smith State Parks, created in the 1920’s, and Redwood National Park, encompassing an area of 133,000 acres. These areas protect 45 percent of the red wood old growth forests that occur along 38,982 acres of California’s coastline. Many Native American tribes including the...
Symbol: PHNO2 Group: Dicot Family: Verbenaceae Duration: Perennial Growth Habit: Forb/herb Native Status: L48 N HI I PR N VI N Synonyms: LIIN6 Lippia incisa (Small) Tidestr. LINO2 Lippia nodiflora (L.) Michx. LINOR Lippia nodiflora (L.) Michx. var. reptans (Kunth) Kuntze LIRE9 Lippia reptans Kunth PHIN6 Phyla incisa Small PHNOI Phyla nodiflora (L.) Greene var. incisa...
Symbol: CYACC2 Group: Dicot Family: Cactaceae Duration: Perennial Growth Habit: Shrub Native Status: L48 N Synonyms: OPACC Opuntia acanthocarpa Engelm. & J.M. Bigelow var. coloradensis L.D. Benson Colorado buckhorn cholla Distribution: County distributions for the following U.S. states are available at PLANTS:AZ, CA, NV, UT Classification: Kingdom Plantae – Plants Subkingdom Tracheobionta –...
Hercules' Club (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis), also known as Pepperwood, Southern Prickly Ash, and other common names, is a species of shrub native to the southeastern United States. This tree is also called Z. macrophyllum. It is commonly nicknamed "toothache tree" or "tingle tongue" because of the numbness to the mouth, teeth and tongue it induces when the leaves or bark is chewed on. The Hercules' Club grows to 32.5 to 55.75 feet tall. The bark is thick, spined and has cork-like lumps...
