Barley

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain. Important uses include use as animal fodder, as a source of fermentable material for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods. It is used in soups and stews, and in barley bread of various cultures. Barley grains are commonly made into malt in a traditional and ancient method of preparation. In a 2007 ranking of cereal crops in the world, barley was fourth both in terms of quantity produced (136 million tons) and in area of cultivation (566,000 km²).

 Barley

 Barley

 Barley

 Barley

Wheat

Wheat (Triticum spp.) is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East and Ethiopian Highlands, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2010 world production of wheat was 651 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize (844 million tons) and rice (672 million tons). In 2009, world production of wheat was 682 million tons, making it the second most-produced cereal after maize (817 million tons), and with rice as close third (679 million tons). This grain is grown on more land area than any other commercial crop and is the most important staple food for humans. World trade in wheat is greater than for all other crops combined.

 Wheat

 Wheat

 Wheat

Wheat

Maize

Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a starch. The Olmec and Mayans cultivated it in numerous varieties throughout Mesoamerica, cooked, ground or processed through nixtamalization. Beginning about 2500 BC, the crop spread through much of the Americas. The region developed a trade network based on surplus and varieties of maize crops. Maize spread to the rest of the world because of its ability to grow in diverse climates.

 Maize

 Maize

 Maize

 Maize

Gaillardia

Gaillardia, the blanket flowers, is a genus of drought-tolerant annual and perennial plants from the sunflower family (Asteraceae), native to North and South America. It was named after M. Gaillard de Charentonneau, an 18th-century French magistrate who was a patron of botany. The common name refers to the inflorescence's resemblance to brightly patterned blankets made by native Americans. These plants form wiry, branched stems with lanceolate to linear basal leaves. The plant grows to 11⁄2 to 2 ft (46 to 61 cm) tall, with bright, daisy-like single color and bicolor blooms in shades from buff to red to brown. The flowers bloom in the summer. There are more than two dozen known species of Gaillardia.

 Gaillardia

 Gaillardia

 Gaillardia

 Gaillardia

Gagea

Gagea is a large genus of spring flowers in the Liliaceae found in Europe and western Asia. It is named after the English naturalist Sir Thomas Gage. They were originally described as species of Ornithogalum, which, together with the usual yellow colour of the flowers, explains the English name Yellow Star-of-Bethlehem for the most common species in Europe, Gagea lutea, which grows in damp deciduous woodland.

 Gagea

 Gagea

 Gagea

Gagea

Fagus (Beech)

Beech (Fagus) is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America. F. sylvatica is the most commonly cultivated, although there are few important differences between species aside from detail elements such as leaf shape. Beeches may get to as tall as 27 meters and 18 meters in width, although usually much smaller. The southern beeches (Nothofagus genus) previously thought closely related to beeches, are now treated as members of a separate family, Nothofagaceae. They are found in Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Argentina and Chile (principally Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego).

 Fagus (Beech)

 Fagus (Beech)

 Fagus (Beech)

Fagus (Beech)

Fabiana

Fabiana is a genus of plants in the nightshade family. Fabianas are evergreen shrubs. This genus is composed of mainly sub-tropical and tropical plants that have been grown as ornamental plants. The common name of this genus is false heath because the leaves resembles the unrelated heaths.

 Fabiana

 Fabiana

 Fabiana

Fabiana

Echeveria

Echeveria is a large genus of flowering plants in the Crassulaceae family, native to semi-desert areas of central America, from Mexico to northwestern South America. The genus is named after the 18th century Mexican botanical artist Atanasio Echeverría y Godoy. Plants may be evergreen or deciduous. Flowers on short stalks (cymes) arise from compact rosettes of succulent fleshy leaves, themselves often brightly coloured. Species are polycarpic, meaning that they may flower and set seed many times over the course of their lifetimes. Often numerous offsets are produced, and are commonly known as 'Hen and chicks', which can also refer to other genera such as Sempervivum that are significantly different from Echeveria.

 Echeveria

 Echeveria

 Echeveria

Echeveria

Ecballium

Ecballium elaterium, also called the squirting cucumber or exploding cucumber, is a plant in the cucumber family. It gets its unusual name from the fact that, when ripe, it squirts a stream of mucilaginous liquid containing its seeds, which can be seen with the naked eye. It is thus considered to have rapid plant movement. It is native to Europe, northern Africa, and temperate areas of Asia. It is grown as an ornamental plant elsewhere, and in some places it has naturalized.It is suspected to provide food for the caterpillars of the tortrix moth Phtheochroa rugosana.

 Ecballium

 Ecballium

 Ecballium

Ecballium

Dactylis

Dactylis is a genus of grasses in the subfamily Pooideae, native to Europe, Asia, and northern Africa. They are known in English as cock's-foot or cocksfoot grasses, also sometimes as orchard grasses. The genus has been treated as containing only a single species D. glomerata by many authors, treating variation in the genus at only subspecific rank within D. glomerata, but more recently, there has been a trend to accept two species, while some authors accept even more species in the genus, particularly island endemic species in Macaronesia.

 Dactylis

 Dactylis

 Dactylis

 Dactylis

Daboecia

Daboecia, St. Dabeoc's heath, is a small genus of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, containing two evergreen shrubs, closely related to the genus Erica. They are native to cliffs and heathland in western Ireland, western France, northwestern Spain, Portugal and the Azores.They produce urn-shaped flowers in shades of white, pink and red. Daboecia differ from European Erica species in having a substantially larger corolla. The leaves are always alternate in Daboecia, never whorled. The generic name comes from the Irish Saint Dabheog. Like Erica, Daboecia are calcifuges (ericaceous), but will tolerate neutral soils.

 Daboecia

 Daboecia

 Daboecia

Daboecia

Caladium

Caladium  is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. They are often known by the common name elephant ear (which they share with the closely related genera Alocasia, Colocasia, and Xanthosoma), Heart of Jesus, and Angel Wings. There are over 1000 named cultivars of Caladium bicolor from the original South American plant.The genus Caladium includes seven species, which are indigenous to Brazil and to neighboring areas of South America and Central America. They grow in open areas of the forest and on the banks of rivers and go dormant during the dry season. The wild plants grow to 15–35 inches (40–90 cm) tall, with leaves mostly 6-18 inches (15–45 cm) long and broad.

 Caladium

 Caladium

 Caladium

Caladium

Caesalpinia

Caesalpinia is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. Membership within the genus is controversial, with different publications including anywhere from 70 to 165 species, depending largely on the inclusion or exclusion of species alternately listed under genera such as Hoffmannseggia. It contains tropical or subtropical woody plants. The generic name honors the botanist, physician and philosopher Andrea Cesalpino (1519-1603).The name Caesalpinaceae at family level, or Caesalpinioideae at the level of subfamily, is based on this generic name.

 Caesalpinia

 Caesalpinia

 Caesalpinia

Caesalpinia