Plant of the Week: Devil's Betelnut Box

Rafflesia arnoldii is a member of the genus Rafflesia. It is noted for producing the largest individual flower on earth. It has a very strong and horrible odour of decaying flesh, earning it the nickname "corpse flower". It is endemic to the rainforests of Sumatra and possibly Borneo. Although there are some plants with larger flowering organs like the titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) and talipot palm (Corypha umbraculifera), those are technically clusters of many flowers.

Rafflesia arnoldii (Indonesian: padma raksasa), also called Kerubut (Devil's Betelnut Box) is one of the three national flowers in Indonesia, the other two being the white jasmine and moon orchid. It was officially recognized as a national "rare flower"

The first botanist to find a specimen of a Rafflesia was the French explorer Louis Auguste Deschamps (1765-1842). He was a member of a French scientific expedition to Asia and the Pacific. During the expedition he spent three years on Java, where in 1797 he collected a specimen of what is now known as R. patma. During the return voyage in 1798, his ship was taken by the British, with whom France was at war, and all his papers and notes were confiscated. They did not see the light of day until 1954 when they were rediscovered in the Natural History Museum, London.

The British botanist Joseph Arnold (1782-1818) and the statesman Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (1781-1826, founder of modern Singapore) collected a specimen of another Rafflesia species found by a Malay servant in Sumatra in 1818. Arnold contracted a fever and died soon after the discovery. Lady Raffles, who had also been present when the specimen was collected, finished the colour drawing that Arnold had started of the plant, and it was sent to Joseph Banks, along with the preserved material. Banks passed all the materials on to Robert Brown (1773-1858) of the British Museum and Kew's resident botanical artist Franz Bauer (1758-1840).

William Jack (1795-1822), who was Arnold's successor in Sumatra, being aware that Deschamps, despite his loss of notes, could formally publish a name for the newly discovered genus at any moment, rushed to draft a description to ensure the credit went to a British botanist. This draft description was held in readiness, in case there was word that the French were about to publish, whilst waiting for the British Museum to produce a better-prepared version.

The generic name, Rafflesia (given in honour of Raffles), proposed by Brown (who had originally wanted to call it Arnoldii) after Joseph Arnold, was validated by S.F. Gray in his report of the June 1820 meeting of the Linnean Society of London, as published in the Annals of Philosophy in September that year. The species Rafflesia arnoldii was officially described for the first time in 1821 by Brown, so that Arnold was commemorated after all

The flower of Rafflesia arnoldii grows to a diameter of around 3 feet, but the greatest measurement from a reliable source is 3.4 feet for one at Palupah Nature Reserve near Bukittinggi, Sumatra measured by Prof. Syabuddin of Andalas University. R. arnoldi weighs up to 24 pounds. These flowers emerge from very large, cabbage-like, maroon or magenta buds typically about 12 inches wide, but the largest (and the largest flower bud ever recorded) found at Mount Sago, Sumatra in May 1956 was 17 inches in diameter. It lives as a parasite on several vines of the genus Tetrastigma , which grow only in primary (undisturbed) rainforests. Rafflesia lacks any observable leaves, stems or even roots, yet is still considered a vascular plant. Similar to fungi, individuals grow as thread-like strands of tissue completely embedded within and in intimate contact with surrounding host cells from which nutrients and water are obtained. This plant produces no leaves, stems or roots and does not have chlorophyll. It can only be seen when it is ready to reproduce. Perhaps the only part of Rafflesia that is identifiable as distinctly plant-like are the flowers; although, even these are unusual since they attain massive proportions, have a reddish-brown coloration and stink of rotting flesh. This scent attracts insects such as flies which then pollinate the rare plant. It is not to be confused with the titan arum, Amorphophallus titanum, which is also commonly referred to as the "corpse flower" because of its repulsive odor. 

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Fall Weed Control

Weed control is the botanical component of pest control, which attempts to stop weeds, especially noxious or injurious weeds, from competing with domesticated plants and livestock. Many strategies have been developed in order to contain these plants.

 The original strategy was manual removal including ploughing, which can cut the roots of weeds. More recent approaches include herbicides (chemical weed killers) and reducing stocks by burning and/or pulverizing seeds.

A plant is often termed a "weed" when it has one or more of the following characteristics:

Little or no recognized value (as in medicinal, material, nutritional or energy)

Rapid growth and/or ease of germination

Competitive with crops for space, light, water and nutrients

The definition of a weed is completely context-dependent. To one person, one plant may be a weed, and to another person it may be a desirable plant. In one place, a plant may be viewed as a weed, whereas in another place, the same plant may be desirable.

Weeds compete with productive crops or pasture, ultimately converting productive land into unusable scrub. Weeds can be poisonous, distasteful, produce burrs, thorns or otherwise interfere with the use and management of desirable plants by contaminating harvests or interfering with livestock.

Weeds compete with crops for space, nutrients, water and light. Smaller, slower growing seedlings are more susceptible than those that are larger and more vigorous. Onions are one of the most vulnerable, because they are slow to germinate and produce slender, upright stems. By contrast broad beans produce large seedlings and suffer far fewer effects other than during periods of water shortage at the crucial time when the pods are filling out. Transplanted crops raised in sterile soil or potting compost gain a head start over germinating weeds.

Weeds also vary in their competitive abilities and according to conditions and season. Tall-growing vigorous weeds such as fat hen (Chenopodium album) can have the most pronounced effects on adjacent crops, although seedlings of fat hen that appear in late summer produce only small plants. Chickweed (Stellaria media), a low growing plant, can happily co-exist with a tall crop during the summer, but plants that have overwintered will grow rapidly in early spring and may swamp crops such as onions or spring greens.

The presence of weeds does not necessarily mean that they are damaging a crop, especially during the early growth stages when both weeds and crops can grow without interference. However, as growth proceeds they each begin to require greater amounts of water and nutrients. Estimates suggest that weed and crop can co-exist harmoniously for around three weeks before competition becomes significant. One study found that after competition had started, the final yield of onion bulbs was reduced at almost 4% per day.[1]

Weeds can also host pests and diseases that can spread to cultivated crops. Charlock and Shepherd's purse may carry clubroot, eelworm can be harboured by chickweed, fat hen and shepherd's purse, while the cucumber mosaic virus, which can devastate the cucurbit family, is carried by a range of different weeds including chickweed and groundsel.

Insect pests often do not attack weeds. However pests such as cutworms may first attack weeds then move on to cultivated crops.

Some plants are considered weeds by some farmers and crops by others. Charlock, a common weed in the southeastern US, are weeds according to row crop growers, but are valued by beekeepers, who seek out places where it blooms all winter, thus providing pollen for honeybees and other pollinators. Its bloom resists all but a very hard freeze, and recovers once the freeze ends.

In domestic gardens, methods of weed control include covering an area of ground with a material that creates a hostile environment for weed growth, known as a weed mat.

Several layers of wet newspaper prevent light from reaching plants beneath, which kills them. Daily saturating the newspaper with water plant decomposition. After several weeks, all germinating weed seeds are dead.

In the case of black plastic, the greenhouse effect kills the plants. Although the black plastic sheet is effective at preventing weeds that it covers, it is difficult to achieve complete coverage. Eradicating persistent perennials may require the sheets to be left in place for at least two seasons.

Some plants are said to produce root exudates that suppress herbaceous weeds. Tagetes minuta is claimed to be effective against couch and ground elder,[3] whilst a border of comfrey is also said to act as a barrier against the invasion of some weeds including couch. A 5–10 centimetres (2.0–3.9 in)} layer of wood chip mulch prevents most weeds from sprouting.

Gravel can serve as an inorganic mulch.

Irrigation is sometimes used as a weed control measure such as in the case of paddy fields to kill any plant other than the water-tolerant rice crop.

It doesn’t matter to us whether you want desert landscaping, lush lawns or some type of landscaping in between, we can help.  We serve businesses like yours all over the Phoenix Metro Area. To find out how give us a call at 623-848-8277.

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Choose Your Commercial Property Care Carefully

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Greens Keeper Landscape Maintenance has been maintaining commercial properties in the Valley of the Sun, here in Arizona, to the highest level. We have many years of experience here in the valley caring for plants in our desert climate and in commercial property landscapes.  

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Famous City Parks: Bukit Timah Nature Preserve, Singapore

The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is a small 400 acre nature reserve near the geographic centre of the city-state of Singapore, located on the slopes of Bukit Timah Hill, Singapore's highest hill standing at a height of 500 feet, and parts of the surrounding area. The nature reserve is about 9 miles from the Downtown Core, Singapore's central business district.

Despite its small size, it is considered one of the most productive pieces of nature. Alfred Russel Wallace also thought highly of the place. Together with the neighbouring Central Catchment Nature Reserve, it houses over 840 species of flowering plants and over 500 species of fauna. Today, it is one of the largest patches of primary rainforest left in Singapore. The forest reserve was formally declared as an ASEAN Heritage Park on 18 October 2011.

The name Bukit Timah is borrowed from the tallest hill found in the area of the same name, which is also the tallest geographical location in all of Singapore. Bukit means hill in the Malay language, while Timah means tin, although tin deposits are not found in the area. The hill served as a granite quarry for many years, but since the mid-1900s, all operations of which has since been abandoned and converted into recreational areas and even filming locations.

In 1882, Nathaniel Cantley, then Superintendent of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, was commissioned by the Government of the Straits Settlements to prepare a report on the forests of the settlements. On Cantley's recommendation, several forest reserves were created on Singapore island over the next few years. Bukit Timah was one of the first forest reserves established in 1883.

All the reserves were worked for timber with the exception of Bukit Timah Reserve. By 1937, the forest reserves were depleted under economic pressures for development. However, three areas, including the Bukit Timah Reserve, were retained for the protection of flora and fauna under the management of the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

In 1951, further protection of the reserves were provided by the enactment of a Nature Reserves Ordinance and the establishment of a Nature Reserves Board for the administration of the reserves, now designated as nature reserves, which total some 11 square miles in area.

Today, the nature reserves are set aside for the propagation, protection and preservation of the indigenous flora and fauna of Singapore under the National Parks Act and are managed by the National Parks Board.

The primary activities at Bukit Timah are strolling, running and hiking. There are also smaller groups of people who rock-climb and abseil at the Dairy Farm quarry as well as mountain biking. There are specially-allocated mountain-bike trails around the area and Bukit Timah Mountain Bike (MTB) Trail  is located within the Reserve. The 6.5 KM MTB trail loop around Bukit Timah Hill and stretched between Hinhinde Park and Dairy Farm Road. The trail represent a tropical rocky terrain with extended technical climbs and difficult descent at short intervals. For MTB Map trail rating, it is largely made up of black diamond sections with intermittent blue square sections. There are also short alternative double black diamond sections.

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Plant of the Week: Baseball Plant Euphorbia obesa

Euphorbia obesa is a subtropical succulent species of Euphorbia genus. It comes from South Africa, especially in the Cape Province. In the wild, it is endangered because of over-collection and poaching, because of its slow growth, and the fact that the pod contains only 2 to 3 seeds. However, it is widely cultivated in botanical gardens.

Euphorbia obesa resembles a ball, thornless and decorative. It is commonly known as 'baseball plant' due to its shape. Its diameter is between 2.4 and 7 inches depending on its age. Young Euphorbia obesas are spherical, but become cylindrical with age. They contain water reservoirs for periods of drought. It almost always shows 8 ridges adorned with small deep gibbosity regularly planted on the edges. It is green with horizontal lighter or darker stripes. In the wild, and with exposure to direct sunlight, it shows red and purple areas.

The plant is dioecious, which means that a subject has only male or female flowers. The small flowers are insignificant in apex. In fact, like all Euphorbia, flowers are called cyathia. As in all Euphorbia species, the latex is toxic. Living in similar conditions on two different continents, Euphorbia obesa presents a form of convergence with Astrophytum asterias which is a cactus from Mexico.

This species is indigenous to a small range in the arid Karoo region of South Africa. This is a region of summer rainfall. The genus can be found all over the world.[3] The forms range from annual plants laying on the ground, to well-developed tall trees.[3] In deserts in Madagascar and southern Africa, convergent evolution has led to cactus-like forms where the plants occupy the same ecological niche as cacti do in deserts of North and South America.[3] The genus is primarily found in the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa and the Americas, but also in temperate zones worldwide.[citation needed] Succulent species originate mostly from Africa, the Americas, and Madagascar.[citation needed] A wide range[citation needed] of insular species can be found.

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How to Identify Common Weeds On Your Commercial Property

What familiar weeds reveal about your lawn’s growing conditions and how you can control them. Lawn weeds are the No. 1 thing that’s not on any property owner’s wish list. No one wants to endure the battle of the annual bluegrass or the invasion of creeping Charlie. Weeds find their way onto your property through many means. Wind, birds, mowing and even foot traffic can ferry weed seeds. The soil itself contains weed seeds, many of which remain viable for over 50 years. The question isn’t if you’ll have weeds to deal with, but rather when weeds will appear.

Dandelion

Dandelion is a familiar face in spring and fall lawns. These perennial weeds grow long taproots. The best control is to dig them by hand, but be sure to get at least 2 inches of the taproot, or the root will resprout, yielding two plants. A thick, healthy lawn is your best defense against this weed’s wind-borne seeds taking root. Spot-spray dandelions with a post-emergence herbicide that doesn’t kill grass. Treating mature plants in fall sends herbicide directly to roots. If you can’t treat plants, at least gather blooms before they set seed.

Crabgrass

Crabgrass gets it name from the leaves, which form a tight, crab-like circle. This annual weed tends to appear in weak or bare areas of a lawn. Both over and under watering favor its growth, as does consistently mowing the lawn too short. Treat crabgrass in spring with a pre-emergence herbicide to keep seeds from sprouting. Timing is tricky. In regions with forsythia, aim to get the herbicide down as forsythia starts to bloom. Check with your local extension office or a reputable garden center to fine-tune timing in your region.

Ground Ivy

Ground ivy, also known as creeping Charlie, prefers shady, moist areas of a lawn with low fertility, but also grows in sunny areas. Stems spread over the ground like ivy, rooting at leaf nodes (where leaves attach to the stem). This aggressive perennial weed is tough to beat. Use a post-emergent herbicide to spray plants. Follow package directions carefully for treating creeping Charlie. Be sure to apply subsequent applications as required. When you kill off creeping Charlie, establish grass quickly to prevent the weed from returning.

Chickweed

Chickweed is an annual weed that prefers shady, moist soil with higher fertility, although its seeds will sprout in dry soil. Typically, chickweed appears in lawns that are thin and experience poor drainage. The easiest way to control chickweed is to pull individual plants. If you know you have a heavy infestation, you can use a pre-emergent herbicide in early spring and fall to prevent seeds from germinating. Another trick to kill chickweed is to step on stems to crush them slightly, and then sprinkle some lawn fertilizer over the broken plants. The nitrogen kills the plants. Nearby grass tips may show signs of fertilizer burn, but they’ll recover.

Prickly Lettuce

Prickly lettuce is an annual weed that thrives in cool seasons of the year. It’s a winter weed in southern regions. Plants typically appear in disturbed soil, but they’ll also invade thin lawns with irrigated, nutrient-rich soil. Leaves have prickles along their undersides, and plants can be uncomfortable for bare feet. Prickly lettuce spreads by wind-borne seeds, much like a dandelion. Long tap roots make hand-pulling a challenge. Spot spray individual plants using a post-emergent broadleaf herbicide. Seedlings die quickly from herbicide applications. A healthy, well-maintained lawn is the best defense against prickly lettuce.

It doesn’t matter to us whether you want commercial desert landscaping, lush lawns or some type of landscaping in between, we can help.  We serve businesses like yours all over the Phoenix Metro Area. To find out how give us a call at 623-848-8277.

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We Are Looking For New Customers

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