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Areca

Areca

A. catechu (Betel nut palm)
and about 50 more Areca is a genus of about 50 species of single-stemmed palms in the family Arecaceae, found in humid tropical forests from Malaysia to the Solomon Islands. The best-known member of the genus is A. catechu, the betel nut palm. Several species of areca nuts, known for their bitter and tangy taste, are routinely used for chewing, especially along with tobacco and calcium oxide (lime). This practice is popular among elderlies in South East Asia, often the main cause of oral cancer in the region. Category:Palms

Betel-Nut

Betel nut, also known as pinang or Areca nut, is the seed of the Betel Palm (Areca catechu), a species of palm which grows throughout the Pacific, Asia, and parts of east Africa. It is a medium-sized tree growing to 20 m tall, with a trunk 20-30 cm diameter. The leaves are 1.5-2 m long, pinnate, with numerous, crowded leaflets.

Constituents

leaves The most important active principles of betel nut are arecaine and arecoline, alkaloids which are comparable to nicotine in its stimulating, mildly intoxicating and appetite-suppressing effects on the mind. It also contains the alkaloids arecaidine, arecolidine, guracine (guacine), guvacoline and a number of others that have not yet been studied extensively.

Betel chewing

Betel chewing is a part of many Asian cultures, and preparation techniques vary from region to region. The nut is either slivered or grated, often flavored with spices according to local tradition and usually wrapped in a betel leaf (note: betel leaf comes from the betel pepper plant, Piper betle, which is not botanically related to the betel palm, Areca catechu), along with some lime (calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide) to better extract the alkaloids. Some people also chew tobacco with betel nut. After about 20 minutes of chewing, the fibrous residue which remains of the nut is spat on the street, where it remains visible due to its characteristic bright red dye. Trails of bright red sputum lining the sidewalks are a sure indication of the popularity of betel chewing in an area. dye Regular betel chewing causes the teeth and gums to be stained red; however, it may also reduce cavities. Betel chewing is addictive. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) regards betel nut to be a known human carcinogen.

Uses

carcinogen Powdered betel nut is a constituent in tooth powders. Other medicinal uses include the removal of tapeworms and other intestinal parasites by swallowing a few teaspoons of powdered betel nut, or by taking tablets containing the extracted alkaloids. In Taiwan, betel nut shops stereotypically have large picture windows behind which a young attractive woman who is usually not wearing very much is wrapping betel nuts (see betel nut beauty). Shops are often identified by several green flourescent tubes arranged in a radial pattern. In India, betel (called paan or pan) chewing is as popular as tobacco smoking once was in the United States. Paan is often served wrapped in a betel leaf, as described above. A ground mixture of betel nuts and other spices, called paan masala is increasingly popular. Also popular in India is a concoction of ground (or thin sliced) betel nuts (supari), tobacco and flavorings known as gutkha. One of the biggest misconception about Paan, the leaf as seen in the picture, is not actually the leaf of betel nut but of a plant that produces a type of peppers called Piper betle. In hindi the plant is called 'Naagarvel' [http://www.henriettesherbal.com/pictures/p11/pages/piper-betel-1.htm]. When you eat the leaf by itself you can taste pepsin. Betel Nut tree is type of a palm tree and has large fan shaped leaves. Betel Nuts are the fruits of that tree. In the United States, betel nut is not a controlled or specially taxed substance and may be found in some Asian grocery stores. Penang Island, off the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia, is named after pinang.

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2137938.stm Indian states ban some betel nut products for health reasons.]
- [http://www.chennaionline.com/columns/DownMemoryLane/diary124.asp Paan chewing as an Indian cultural tradition.]
- [http://monographs.iarc.fr/htdocs/announcements/vol85.htm IARC evaluation of betel nut]
- [http://www.epistola.com/sfowler/scholar/scholar-betel.html Betel nut: an essay]
- [http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20050115/bob10.asp Palm-Nut Problem: Asian chewing habit linked to oral cancer] Category:Palms Category:Indian culture Category:Herbal & fungal drugs/medicines Category:Herbal & fungal stimulants ja:ビンロウ zh-min-nan:Pun-nn̂g

Palm tree


Many; see list of Arecaceae genera Arecaceae (also known as Palmae), the Palm Family, is a family of flowering plants, belonging to the monocot order, Arecales. There are 202 currently known genera with around 2,600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical or subtropical climates. Of all the families of plants, the Arecaceae is the most easily recognizable as distinct by most persons. The type member of this family is the areca palm, the fruit of which is chewed with the betel leaf and often confused with it. The Date Palm, Rattan, and Coconut also belong to this family. Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil produced by the oil palms in the genus Elaeis. Several species are harvested for heart of palm. Palm sap is sometimes fermented to produce palm wine. The Palm Sunday festival uses palms, hence the name. Palms first appear in the fossil record around 70-80 million years ago, during the Cretaceous Period, making them one of the older families of flowering plants. Economically important genera include:
- Areca
- Arenga
- Attalea
- Bactris
- Borassus (Palmyra Palm)
- Calamus - rattan palm
- Cocos - coconut
- Copernicia - carnauba wax palm
- Elaeis - oil palm
- Euterpe Cabbage Heart Palm, and Açaí Palm
- Jessenia
- Jubaea Chilean Wine Palm and Coquito Palm
- Orbignya
- Phoenix - date palms
- Rhapis
- Roystonea - royal palm
- Sabal - palmetto
- Salacca - salak
- Trachycarpus
- Veitchia
- Wallichia
- Washingtonia See list of Arecaceae genera for a complete listing. list of Arecaceae genera list of Arecaceae genera Few palms tolerate severe cold, and the majority of the species are tropical or subtropical. The most cold-tolerant are Trachycarpus, native to eastern Asia, and Rhapidophyllum, native to the southeastern United States. For more details, see hardy palms. In the United States, different types of palm trees can be seen in tropical and mediterranean climate areas, such as Florida, (southern) California and Hawaii and along the Gulf Coast through southern Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana to Texas. The southeastern state of South Carolina is nicknamed the Palmetto State because of the number of palms that line the state's Atlantic coast. Some palms can be grown as far north as Maryland, Arkansas, and even up along the Pacific coast to Oregon and Washington. There have even been known species of transplanted palms that have survived as far north as southern New Jersey [http://www.bg-map.com/palms/woodbury.html]. The desert areas of Nevada, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico are also home to some native palms. Southern Europe has two native palms, Chamaerops humilis (widespread, but mainly seen in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Malta) and Phoenix theophrastii (Crete; also southern Turkey). Many other palms are widely planted, with the Japanese Trachycarpus wagnerianus being grown successfully as far north as Iceland.

References


- C. H. Schultz-Schultzenstein (1832). Natürliches System des Pflanzenreichs..., 317. Berlin, Germany.
- N. W. Uhl, J. Dransfield (1987). Genera palmarum: a classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore, Jr. (Allen Press, Lawrence, Kansas)

External links


- [http://www.kew.org/cgi-bin/web.dbs/genlist.pl?PALMAE Kew Botanic Garden's Palm Genera list] A list of the currently acknowledged genera by Kew Royal Botanic Gardens in London, England.
- [http://www.plantapalm.com/vpe/taxonomy/vpe_taxonomy3.htm Taxonomy of the family Arecaceae]
- [http://www.pacsoa.org.au/palms/ PACSOA] Palm and Cycad Societies of Australia palm species listing with images.
- [http://www.plantapalm.com/vpe/photos/vpe_photos.htm Plant a Palm] A website with a large amount of information on palms, their cultivation and uses. This link goes to the photo gallery via species listing. Category:Plant families Category:Palms ja:ヤシ (植物) th:ปาล์ม

Arecaceae


Many; see list of Arecaceae genera Arecaceae (also known as Palmae), the Palm Family, is a family of flowering plants, belonging to the monocot order, Arecales. There are 202 currently known genera with around 2,600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical or subtropical climates. Of all the families of plants, the Arecaceae is the most easily recognizable as distinct by most persons. The type member of this family is the areca palm, the fruit of which is chewed with the betel leaf and often confused with it. The Date Palm, Rattan, and Coconut also belong to this family. Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil produced by the oil palms in the genus Elaeis. Several species are harvested for heart of palm. Palm sap is sometimes fermented to produce palm wine. The Palm Sunday festival uses palms, hence the name. Palms first appear in the fossil record around 70-80 million years ago, during the Cretaceous Period, making them one of the older families of flowering plants. Economically important genera include:
- Areca
- Arenga
- Attalea
- Bactris
- Borassus (Palmyra Palm)
- Calamus - rattan palm
- Cocos - coconut
- Copernicia - carnauba wax palm
- Elaeis - oil palm
- Euterpe Cabbage Heart Palm, and Açaí Palm
- Jessenia
- Jubaea Chilean Wine Palm and Coquito Palm
- Orbignya
- Phoenix - date palms
- Rhapis
- Roystonea - royal palm
- Sabal - palmetto
- Salacca - salak
- Trachycarpus
- Veitchia
- Wallichia
- Washingtonia See list of Arecaceae genera for a complete listing. list of Arecaceae genera list of Arecaceae genera Few palms tolerate severe cold, and the majority of the species are tropical or subtropical. The most cold-tolerant are Trachycarpus, native to eastern Asia, and Rhapidophyllum, native to the southeastern United States. For more details, see hardy palms. In the United States, different types of palm trees can be seen in tropical and mediterranean climate areas, such as Florida, (southern) California and Hawaii and along the Gulf Coast through southern Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana to Texas. The southeastern state of South Carolina is nicknamed the Palmetto State because of the number of palms that line the state's Atlantic coast. Some palms can be grown as far north as Maryland, Arkansas, and even up along the Pacific coast to Oregon and Washington. There have even been known species of transplanted palms that have survived as far north as southern New Jersey [http://www.bg-map.com/palms/woodbury.html]. The desert areas of Nevada, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico are also home to some native palms. Southern Europe has two native palms, Chamaerops humilis (widespread, but mainly seen in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Malta) and Phoenix theophrastii (Crete; also southern Turkey). Many other palms are widely planted, with the Japanese Trachycarpus wagnerianus being grown successfully as far north as Iceland.

References


- C. H. Schultz-Schultzenstein (1832). Natürliches System des Pflanzenreichs..., 317. Berlin, Germany.
- N. W. Uhl, J. Dransfield (1987). Genera palmarum: a classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore, Jr. (Allen Press, Lawrence, Kansas)

External links


- [http://www.kew.org/cgi-bin/web.dbs/genlist.pl?PALMAE Kew Botanic Garden's Palm Genera list] A list of the currently acknowledged genera by Kew Royal Botanic Gardens in London, England.
- [http://www.plantapalm.com/vpe/taxonomy/vpe_taxonomy3.htm Taxonomy of the family Arecaceae]
- [http://www.pacsoa.org.au/palms/ PACSOA] Palm and Cycad Societies of Australia palm species listing with images.
- [http://www.plantapalm.com/vpe/photos/vpe_photos.htm Plant a Palm] A website with a large amount of information on palms, their cultivation and uses. This link goes to the photo gallery via species listing. Category:Plant families Category:Palms ja:ヤシ (植物) th:ปาล์ม

Tropical forest

Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, also known as tropical rain forests, are a tropical and subtropical biome. Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests are found in a belt around the equator and in the humid subtropics, and are characterized by warm, humid climates with high year-round rainfall. Tropical and subtropical regions with lower rainfall or distinct wet and dry seasons are home to Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests and Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests. Temperate rain forests also occur in certain humid temperate coastal regions. Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests are common in several terrestrial ecozones, including parts of the Afrotropic (equatorial Africa), Indomalaya (parts of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia), the Neotropic (northern South America and Central America), Australasia (eastern Indonesia, New Guinea, and northern Australia), and Oceania (the tropical islands of the Pacific Ocean). About half of the world's tropical rainforests are in the South American countries of Brazil and Peru. Rain forests now cover less than 6% of Earth's land surface. Scientists estimate that more than half of all the world's plant and animal species live in tropical rain forests. Tropical rainforests produce 40% of Earth's oxygen.
- rainfall : high, year round, sometimes with seasonal variation.
- temperature : always warm
- soil : generally poor and leached.
- plants : high diversity
- animals : high diversity Threats: The most severe threat to the Tropical Rainforest is Human intervention. Clearing and degradation of tropical rain forests for timber, grazing land and agriculture, continues to lead towards severe soil erosion of already nutrient-poor soils. The rapid rate of clearing is destroying the homes and biodiversity in one of the most animal and plant prolific biomes on earth. Due to all of this, tropical rainforests now only cover 6% of the earth’s surface. [http://mbgnet.mobot.org/ link MGBnet]

Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregions

Afrotropic ecozone
Albertine Rift montane forests (Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda)
Atlantic Equatorial coastal forests (Angola, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon)
Cameroonian Highlands forests (Cameroon, Nigeria)
Central Congolian lowland forests (Democratic Republic of Congo)
Comoros forests (Comoros)
Cross-Niger transition forests (Nigeria)
Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests (Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria)
East African montane forests (Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania)
Eastern Arc forests (Tanzania, Kenya)
Eastern Congolian swamp forests (Democratic Republic of Congo)
Eastern Guinean forests (Benin, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Togo)
Ethiopian montane forests (Ethiopia)
Granitic Seychelles forests (Seychelles)
Guinean montane forests (Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone)
Knysna-Amatole montane forests (South Africa)
KwaZulu-Cape coastal forest mosaic (South Africa)
Madagascar lowland forests (Madagascar)
Madagascar subhumid forests (Madagascar)
Maputaland coastal forest mosaic (Mozambique, Swaziland, South Africa)
Mascarene forests (Mauritius, Réunion)
Mount Cameroon and Bioko montane forests (Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea)
Niger Delta swamp forests (Nigeria)
Nigerian lowland forests (Benin, Nigeria)
Northeastern Congolian lowland forests (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Republic of Congo)
Northern Zanzibar-Inhambane coastal forest mosaic (Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania)
Northwestern Congolian lowland forests (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Republic of Congo)
São Tomé and Príncipe moist lowland forests (São Tomé and Príncipe)
Southern Zanzibar-Inhambane coastal forest mosaic (Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zimbabwe)
Western Congolian swamp forests (Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo)
Western Guinean lowland forests (Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone)
Australasia ecozone
Admiralty Islands lowland rain forests (Papua New Guinea)
Banda Sea Islands moist deciduous forests (Indonesia)
Biak-Numfoor rain forests (Indonesia)
Buru rain forests (Indonesia)
Central Range montane rain forests (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea)
Halmahera rain forests (Indonesia)
Huon Peninsula montane rain forests (Papua New Guinea)
Japen rain forests (Indonesia)
Lord Howe Island subtropical forests (Australia)
Louisiade Archipelago rain forests (Papua New Guinea)
New Britain-New Ireland lowland rain forests (Papua New Guinea)
New Britain-New Ireland montane rain forests (Papua New Guinea)
New Caledonia rain forests (New Caledonia)
Norfolk Island subtropical forests (Australia)
Northern New Guinea lowland rain and freshwater swamp forests (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea)
Northern New Guinea montane rain forests (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea)
Queensland tropical rain forests (Australia)
Seram rain forests (Indonesia)
Solomon Islands rain forests (Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands)
Southeastern Papuan rain forests (Papua New Guinea)
Southern New Guinea freshwater swamp forests (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea)
Southern New Guinea lowland rain forests (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea)
Sulawesi lowland rain forests (Indonesia)
Sulawesi montane rain forests (Indonesia)
Trobriand Islands rain forests (Papua New Guinea)
Vanuatu rain forests (Solomon Islands, Vanuatu)
Vogelkop montane rain forests (Indonesia)
Vogelkop-Aru lowland rain forests (Indonesia)
Indomalaya ecozone
Andaman Islands rain forests (India)
Borneo lowland rain forests (Indonesia, Malaysia)
Borneo montane rain forests (Indonesia, Malaysia)
Borneo peat swamp forests (Indonesia, Malaysia)
Brahmaputra Valley semi-evergreen forests (India)
Cardamom Mountains rain forests (Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam)
Chao Phraya freshwater swamp forests (Thailand)
Chao Phraya lowland moist deciduous forests (Thailand)
Chin Hills-Arakan Yoma montane forests (India, Myanmar)
Christmas and Cocos Islands tropical forests (Australia)
Eastern highlands moist deciduous forests (India)
Eastern Java-Bali montane rain forests (Indonesia)
Eastern Java-Bali rain forests (Indonesia)
Greater Negros-Panay rain forests (Philippines)
Hainan Island monsoon rain forests (China)
Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests (Bhutan, India, Nepal)
Irrawaddy freshwater swamp forests (Myanmar)
Irrawaddy moist deciduous forests (Myanmar)
Jian Nan subtropical evergreen forests (China)
Kayah-Karen montane rain forests (Myanmar, Thailand)
Lower Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests (Laos, Thailand, Vietnam)
Luang Prabang montane rain forests (Laos)
Luzon montane rain forests (Philippines)
Luzon rain forests (Philippines)
Malabar Coast moist forests (India)
Maldives-Lakshadweep-Chagos Archipelago tropical moist forests (British Indian Ocean Territory, India, Maldives)
Meghalaya subtropical forests (India)
Mentawai Islands rain forests (Indonesia)
Mindanao montane rain forests (Philippines)
Mindanao-Eastern Visayas rain forests (Philippines)
Mindoro rain forests (Philippines)
Mizoram-Manipur-Kachin rain forests (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar)
Myanmar coastal rain forests (Myanmar)
Nansei Islands subtropical evergreen forests (Japan)
Nicobar Islands rain forests (India)
North Western Ghats moist deciduous forests (India)
North Western Ghats montane rain forests (India)
Northern Annamites rain forests (Laos, Vietnam)
Northern Indochina subtropical forests (China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam)
Northern Khorat Plateau moist deciduous forests (Laos, Thailand)
Northern Thailand-Laos moist deciduous forests (Laos, Thailand)
Northern Triangle subtropical forests (Myanmar)
Northern Vietnam lowland rain forests (Vietnam)
Orissa semi-evergreen forests (India)
Palawan rain forests (Philippines)
Peninsular Malaysian montane rain forests (Malaysia, Thailand)
Peninsular Malaysian peat swamp forests (Malaysia, Thailand)
Peninsular Malaysian rain forests (Indonesia, Malaysia)
Red River freshwater swamp forests (Vietnam)
South China Sea Islands (disputed between China, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam)
South China-Vietnam subtropical evergreen forests (China, Vietnam)
South Taiwan monsoon rain forests (Taiwan)
South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests (India)
South Western Ghats montane rain forests (India)
Southern Annamites montane rain forests (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam)
Southwest Borneo freshwater swamp forests (Indonesia)
Sri Lanka lowland rain forests (Sri Lanka)
Sri Lanka montane rain forests (Sri Lanka)
Sulu Archipelago rain forests (Philippines)
Sumatran freshwater swamp forests (Indonesia)
Sumatran lowland rain forests (Indonesia)
Sumatran montane rain forests (Indonesia)
Sumatran peat swamp forests (Indonesia)
Sundaland heath forests (Indonesia)
Sundarbans freshwater swamp forests (Bangladesh, India)
Taiwan subtropical evergreen forests (Taiwan)
Tenasserim-South Thailand semi-evergreen rain forests (Malaysia' Myanmar, Thailand)
Tonle Sap freshwater swamp forests (Cambodia, Vietnam)
Tonle Sap-Mekong peat swamp forests (Cambodia, Vietnam)
Upper Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests (India)
Western Java montane rain forests (Indonesia)
Western Java rain forests (Indonesia)
Neotropic ecozone
Araucaria moist forests (Argentina, Brazil)
Atlantic Coast restingas (Brazil)
Bahia coastal forests (Brazil)
Bahia interior forests (Brazil)
Bolivian Yungas (Bolivia, Peru)
Caatinga Enclaves moist forests (Brazil)
Caqueta moist forests (Brazil, Colombia)
Catatumbo moist forests (Venezuela)
Cauca Valley montane forests (Colombia)
Cayos Miskitos-San Andrés and Providencia moist forests (Colombia, Nicaragua)
Central American Atlantic moist forests (Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama)
Central American montane forests (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua)
Chiapas montane forests (Mexico)
Chimalapas montane forests (Mexico)
Chocó-Darién Moist Forests (Colombia, Ecuador, Panama)
Cocos Island moist forests (Costa Rica)
Cordillera La Costa montane forests (Venezuela)
Cordillera Oriental montane forests (Colombia, Venezuela)
Costa Rican seasonal moist forests (Costa Rica, Nicaragua)
Cuban moist forests (Cuba)
Eastern Cordillera real montane forests (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru)
Eastern Panamanian montane forests (Colombia, Panama)
Fernanda de Noronha-Atol das Rocas moist forests (Brazil)
Guayanan highlands forests (Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela)
Guianan moist forests (Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela)
Gurupa varzea (Brazil)
Hispaniolan moist forests (Dominican Republic, Haiti)
Iquitos varzea (Bolivia, Brazil, Peru)
Isthmian-Atlantic moist forests (Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama)
Isthmian-Pacific moist forests (Costa Rica, Panama)
Jamaican moist forests (Jamaica)
Japurá-Solimoes-Negro moist forests (Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela)
Juruá-Purus moist forests (Brazil)
Leeward Islands moist forests (Antigua, British Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Nevis, Saint Kitts, British Virgin Islands)
Madeira-Tapajós moist forests (Bolivia, Brazil)
Magdalena Valley montane forests (Colombia)
Magdalena-Urabá moist forests (Colombia)
Marajó varzea (Brazil)
Maranhão Babaçu forests (Brazil)
Mato Grosso tropical dry forests (Brazil)
Monte Alegre varzea(Brazil)
Napo Moist Forests (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru)
Negro-Branco moist forests (Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela)
Northeastern Brazil restingas (Brazil)
Northwestern Andean montane forests (Colombia, Ecuador)
Oaxacan montane forests (Mexico)
Orinoco Delta swamp forests (Guyana, Venezuela)
Pantanos de Centla (Mexico)
Paramaribo swamp forests (Guyana, Suriname)
Parañá-Paraíba interior forests (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay)
Pernambuco coastal forests (Brazil)
Pernambuco interior forests (Brazil)
Peruvian Yungas (Peru)
Petén-Veracruz moist forests (Mexico)
Puerto Rican moist forests (Puerto Rico)
Purus varzea (Brazil)
Purus-Madeira moist forests (Brazil)
Rio Negro campinarana (Brazil, Colombia)
Santa Marta montane forests (Colombia)
Serra do Mar coastal forests (Brazil)
Sierra de los Tuxtlas (Mexico)
Sierra Madre de Chiapas moist forest (El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico)
Solimões-Japurá moist forest (Brazil, Colombia, Peru)
South Florida rocklands (United States)
Southern Andean Yungas (Argentina, Brazil)
Southwest Amazon moist forests (Bolivia, Brazil, Peru)
Talamancan montane forests (Costa Rica, Panama)
Tapajós-Xingu moist forests (Brazil)
Tepuis (Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela)
Tocantins-Araguaia-Maranhão moist forests (Brazil)
Trinidad and Tobago moist forests (Trinidad and Tobago)
Trinidade-Martin Vaz Islands tropical forests (Brazil)
Uatuma-Trombetas moist forests (Brazil, Guyana, Suriname)
Ucayali moist forests (Peru)
Venezuelan Andes montane forests (Colombia, Venezuela)
Veracruz moist forest (Mexico)
Veracruz montane forests (Mexico)
Western Ecuador moist forests (Colombia, Ecuador)
Windward Islands moist forests (Dominica, Grenada, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)
Xingu-Tocantins-Araguaia moist forests (Brazil)
Yucatán moist forests (Belize, Guatemala, Mexico)
Oceania ecozone
Carolines tropical moist forests (Federated States of Micronesia)
Central Polynesian tropical moist forests (Cook Islands, Johnston Atoll, Kiribati, Palmyra Atoll)
Cook Islands tropical moist forests (Cook Islands)
Eastern Micronesia tropical moist forests (Marshall Islands, Nauru, Kiribati, Wake Island)
Fiji tropical moist forests (Fiji)
Hawaii tropical moist forests (Hawaii)
Kermadec Islands subtropical moist forests (New Zealand)
Marquesas tropical moist forests (French Polynesia)
Ogasawara subtropical moist forests (Japan)
Palau tropical moist forests (Palau)
Rapa Nui and Sala-y-Gomez subtropical broadleaf forests (Chile)
Samoan tropical moist forests (American Samoa, Western Samoa)
Society Islands tropical moist forests (French Polynesia)
Tongan tropical moist forests (Tonga)
Tuamotu tropical moist forests (French Polynesia)
Tubuai tropical moist forests (French Polynesia)
Western Polynesian tropical moist forests (Kiribati, Tokelau, Tuvalu)
Palearctic ecozone
Gizhou Plateau broadleaf and mixed forests (China)
Yunnan Plateau subtropical evergreen forests (China)

See also


- Forest
- Trees of the world

External link


- [http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/where_we_work/ecoregions/global200/pages/habitat/habitat01.htm Info on this biome] Category:Terrestrial biomes ja:熱帯雨林

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is a nation in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea and is part of the Commonwealth of Nations. It consists of more than 990 islands, which together cover a land mass of 28,000 square kilometres.

History

Main article: History of the Solomon Islands The United Kingdom established a protectorate over Solomon Islands in the 1890s. Some of the most intense fighting of World War II occurred on these islands. Self-government was achieved in 1976 and independence was granted on July 7, 1978. Current issues include corruption, land relations, government deficits, deforestation, and malaria control. Continuing civil unrest led to an almost complete breakdown in normal activity: civil servants remained unpaid for months at a time, and cabinet meetings had to be held in secret to prevent local warlords from interfering. The security forces were unable to reassert control, largely because many police and security personnel are associated with one or another of the rival gangs. In July 2003 the Governor General of Solomon Islands issued an official request for international help, which was subsequently endorsed by the government. A sizable international security contingent of 2,200 police and troops, led by Australia and New Zealand, and with representatives from about 20 other Pacific nations began arriving the next month under Operation Helpem Fren, the Australian contribution is known as Operation Anode.

Politics

Main article: Politics of the Solomon Islands Politics of the Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is a Constitutional Monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom recognised as the head of the State of Solomon Islands, a Commonwealth Realm. The Queen is represented by the governor general, chosen by the Parliament for a 5-year term. The government is a parliamentary democracy with a unicameral Parliament and a ministerial system of government and is represented by a national Parliament of 50 members, elected for 4-year terms. However, Parliament may be dissolved by majority vote of its members before the completion of its term. Parliamentary representation is based on single-member constituencies. Suffrage is universal for citizens over age 18. The prime minister, elected by Parliament, chooses the other members of the cabinet. Each ministry is headed by a cabinet member, who is assisted by a permanent secretary, a career public servant, who directs the staff of the ministry. Solomon Islands governments are characterized by weak political parties and highly unstable parliamentary coalitions. They are subject to frequent votes of no confidence, and government leadership changes frequently as a result. Cabinet changes are common.

Provinces

prime minister

Geography

Main article: Geography of the Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is a wide island nation that lies East of Papua New Guinea and consists of many islands: Choiseul, the Shortland Islands; the New Georgia Islands; Santa Isabel; the Russell Islands; Ngela (the Florida Islands); Malaita; Guadalcanal; Sikaiana; Maramasike; Ulawa; Uki; Makira (San Cristobal); Santa Ana; Rennell and Bellona; the Santa Cruz Islands and three remote, tiny outliers, Tikopia, Anuta and Fataka. The distance between the most western and most eastern islands is about 1500 km. Especially the Santa Cruz Islands, north of Vanuatu, (of which Tikopia is part) are isolated at more than 200 km from the other islands. Volcanoes with varying degrees of activity are situated on some of the larger islands, while many of the smaller islands are simply tiny atolls covered in sand and palm trees. Bougainville is geographically part of the Solomon Islands, but politically Papua New Guinea.

Ecology

The Solomon Islands archipelago is part of two distinct terrestrial ecoregions. Most of the islands are part of the Solomon Islands rain forests ecoregion, which also includes the islands of Bougainville and Buka, which are part of Papua New Guinea. The Santa Cruz Islands, which are east of the main group of the Solomons, are part of the Vanuatu rain forests ecoregion, together with the neighboring archipelago of Vanuatu. Both ecoregions are part of the Australasia ecozone, which also includes neighboring New Caledonia, the Bismarck Archipelago, and New Guinea, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

Economy

Main article: Economy of the Solomon Islands Economy of the Solomon Islands] The bulk of the population depend on agriculture, fishing, and forestry for at least part of their livelihood. Most manufactured goods and petroleum products must be imported. The islands are rich in undeveloped mineral resources such as lead, zinc, nickel, and gold. Economic troubles in Southeast Asia led to a steep downturn in the timber industry, and economic output declined by about 10% in 1998. The government instituted public service pay cuts and other retrenchments. The economy partially recovered in 1999 on the strength of rising international gold prices and the first full year of the Gold Ridge mining operation. However, the closure of the country's major palm oil plantation in mid-year cast a shadow over future prospects.

Culture

Main article: Culture of the Solomon Islands In the traditional culture of the Solomon Islands, age-old customs are handed down from one generation to the next, allegedly from the ancestral spirits themselves, to form the cultural values to Solomon Islands. See also: Music of the Solomon Islands

Language

Solomon Islanders speak 80 to 100 languages, the exact number depending on the definition. On the central islands, Melanesian languages are spoken, on the outliers Rennell and Bellona to the south, Tikopia, Anuta and Fataka to the far east, Sikaiana to the north east, and Luaniua (Ontong Java, Lord Howe Atoll) to the north, Polynesian languages. Immigrant populations of Gilbertese (i-Kiribati) and Tuvaluans speak Micronesian languages. While English is the official language, the lingua franca is Solomons Pijin.

Religion

The religion of Solomon Islands is about 96% Christian (Anglican 45%, Roman Catholic 18%, United 12%, Baptist 10%, Seventh Day Adventist 7%, Other Christian 4%) and about 4% indigenous religious beliefs.

National flag

The national flag of Solomon Islands is divided diagonally by a thin yellow stripe from the lower hoist-side corner representing the sun; the upper triangle (hoist side) is blue representing the blue sky with five white five-pointed stars in an X pattern; the lower triangle is green representing the greeny patch of lands. The width exceeds the height of the flag by a ratio of 2:1.

Miscellaneous topics


- Communications in the Solomon Islands
- Demographics of the Solomon Islands
- Foreign relations of the Solomon Islands
- List of Solomon Islanders
- List of Solomon Islands-related topics
- Military of the Solomon Islands
- Solomons Baptist Association
- Public holidays in the Solomon Islands
- Transportation in the Solomon Islands

External links


- [http://www.pmc.gov.sb/ Solomon Island Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet]
- [http://www.solomonstarnews.com/ The Solomon Star - Solomons Leading Daily Newspaper]
- [http://www.solomonline.com/ SolomOnline.com - Solomon Islands Business and Tourism Portal]
- [http://www.southpacific.org/text/finding_solomons.html Finding Solomon Islands]
- [http://www.commerce.gov.sb/ Government of the Solomon Islands]
- [http://www.janeresture.com/solhome/index.htm Jane's Solomon Islands Home Page]
- [http://www.mapsouthpacific.com/solomons/index.html Map of the Solomon Islands]
- [http://www.peoplefirst.net.sb/ The People First Network, PFnet]
- [http://honours.homestead.com/solo.html Medals and awards of the Solomon Islands] Category:Island nations Category:Melanesia Category:Monarchies Category:Oceanic countries
- Category:Archipelagoes zh-min-nan:Solomon Kûn-tó ko:솔로몬 제도 ms:Kepulauan Solomon ja:ソロモン諸島 simple:Solomon Islands th:หมู่เกาะโซโลมอน

Tobacco


N. acuminata
N. alata
N. attenuata
N. clevelandii
N. excelsior
N. forgetiana
N. glauca
N. glutinosa
N. langsdorffii
N. longiflora
N. obtusifolia
N. paniculata
N. plumbagifolia
N. quadrivalvis
N. repanda
N. rustica
N. suaveolens
N. sylvestris
N. tabacum
N. tomentosa
Ref: [http://www.itis.usda.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=30562 ITIS 30562]
as of August 26, 2005 Tobacco (Nicotiana spp., L.) refers to a genus of broad-leafed plants of the nightshade family indigenous to North and South America or to the dried and cured leaves. Such leaves are often smoked (see tobacco smoking) in the form of a cigar or cigarette, or in a smoking pipe, or in a water pipe or a hookah. Tobacco is also chewed, "dipped" (placed between the cheek and gum), and consumed as finely powdered snuff tobacco, which is sniffed into the nose. The Spanish word "tabaco" is thought to have its origin in Arawakan language, particularly, in the Taino language of the Caribbean, said to refer to a roll of these leaves (according to Bartolome de Las Casas, 1552) or to the "tabago", a kind of y-shaped pipe for sniffing tobacco smoke (according to Oviedo), but Sp. tabaco (also It. tobacco) was comonly used to define medicinal herbs from 1410, originating from the Arabic "tabbaq", reportedly since the 9th c., as the name of various herbs. The word might then be European, and later applied to this plant from the Americas. Tobacco contains the alkaloid nicotine, a powerful neurotoxin that is particularly harmful to insects. All means of consuming tobacco result in the absorption of nicotine in varying amounts into the user's bloodstream, and over time the development of tolerance and dependence. Absorption quantity, frequency and speed seem to have a direct relationship with how strong a dependence and tolerance, if any, might be created. A lethal dose of nicotine is contained in as little as one half of a cigar or three cigarettes; however, only a fraction of the nicotine contained in these products is actually released into the smoke, and most clinically significant cases of nicotine poisoning are the result of concentrated forms of the compound used as insecticides. Other active alkaloids in tobacco include harmala. Major hazards of tobacco use, however, involve carcinogenic compounds in tobacco and tobacco smoke. Many jurisdictions have enacted smoking bans in an effort to minimize possible damage to public health caused by tobacco smoking.

History

tobacco smoking Native Americans used tobacco before Europeans arrived in America, and early European settlers in America learned to smoke and brought the practice back to Europe, where it became hugely popular. At extremely high doses, tobacco becomes hallucinogenic; accordingly, Native Americans generally did not use the drug recreationally. Rather, it was often consumed in extraordinarily high quantities and used as an entheogen; generally, this was done only by experienced shamans or medicine men. In addition to being smoked, uncured tobacco was often eaten, drunk as tobacco juice, or used in enemas. Early missionaries often reported on the state caused by tobacco, but as it spread into the west, it was no longer used in such large quantities or for entheogenic purposes. Religious use of tobacco is still common among many indigenous peoples, particularly those of South America. With the arrivial of Europeans, tobacco became one of the primary products fueling the colonization of the future America South, long before the creation of the United States. The initial colonial expansion, fueled by the desire to increase tobacco production, was one cause of the first colonial conflicts with Native Americans, and also soon became one reason for the use of African slaves for cheap labor. In 1609, John Rolfe arrived at the Jamestown Settlement in Virginia. He was the first man to successfully raise tobacco at Jamestown. The tobacco raised in Virginia at that time, Nicotiana rustica, was not to the liking of the Europeans, but Rolfe had brought some seed for Nicotiana tabacum with him from Bermuda. Shortly after arriving, his first wife died, and he married Pocahontas, a daughter of Chief Powhatan. Although most of the settlers wouldn't touch the tobacco crop, Rolfe was able to make his fortune farming it for export at Varina Farms Plantation. When he left for England with Pocahontas, he was wealthy. When Rolfe returned to Jamestown following Pocahontas's death in England, he continued to improve the quality of tobacco. By 1620, 40,000 pounds of tobacco were shipped to England. By the time John Rolfe died in 1622, Jamestown was thriving as a producer of tobacco and Jamestown's population would top 4,000. Tobacco led to the importation of the colony's first black slaves as well as women from England in 1619. The importation of tobacco into Europe was not without resistance and controversy, even in the 17th century. King James I of England (James VI of Scotland) published a famous polemic titled A Counterblaste to Tobacco in 1604. In his essay, the king denounced tobacco use as "[a] custome lothsome to the eye, hatefull to the Nose, harmefull to the braine, dangerous to the Lungs, and in the blacke stinking fume thereof, neerest resembling the horrible Stigian smoke of the pit that is bottomelesse." In that same year, an English statute was enacted that placed a heavy protective tariff on every pound of tobacco brought into England. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, tobacco continued to be the "cash crop" of the Virginia Colony. Large tobacco warehouses filled the areas near the wharfs of new thriving towns such as Richmond and Manchester at the fall line (head of navigation) on the James River, and Petersburg on the Appomattox River. Until 1883, tobacco excise tax accounted for one third of internal revenue collected by the United States government.

Cultivation

Sowing

Tobacco seeds are started very early in the year. The seeds are scattered onto the surface of the soil, as their germination is activated by light. In colonial Virginia, seedbeds were fertilized with wood ash or animal manure (frequently powdered horse manure). Seedbeds were then covered with branches to protect the young plants from frost damage. These plants were left to grow until around April. In the nineteenth century, young plants came under increasing attack from the flea beetle (Epitrix cucumeris or Epitrix pubescens), causing destruction of half the United States tobacco crop in 1876. In the years afterward, many experiments were attempted and discussed to control the flea beetle. By 1880 it was discovered that replacing the branches with a frame covered by thin cloth would effectively protect plants from the beetle. This practice spread until it became ubiquitous in the 1890s. Today, in the United States, unlike other countries, tobacco is often fertilized with the mineral apatite in order to partially starve the plant for nitrogen, which changes the taste. This accounts for the different flavor of American cigarettes from those available in other countries. There is, however, some suggestion that this may have adverse health effects attributable to the polonium content of apatite.

Transplanting

After the plants have reached a certain height, they are transplanted into fields. This was originally done by making a relatively large hole in the tilled earth with a tobacco peg, then placing the small plant in the hole. Various mechanical tobacco planters were invented throughout the late 19th and early 20th century to automate this process, making a hole, fertilizing it, and guiding a plant into the hole with one motion.

Topping and suckering

Once the tobacco plants are growing well, they will begin to produce shoots from the joint of each leaf with the stalk. These secondary shoots — known as "suckers" — are undesirable as they divert energy that could be directed into the leaves. They are removed in a process known as "suckering" (sometimes spelled "succoring" in older writing). Generally this is done by hand several times during the season. Recently anti-suckering compounds have come into use. At a certain stage of maturity, the plant will produce a flower cluster from its tip, as well as the tips of any suckers that remain on the plant. In order to divert more energy into the leaves, the plant is "topped" — the top is cut off.

Harvest

Tobacco is harvested in one of two ways. In the oldest method, the entire plant is harvested at once by cutting off the stalk at the ground with a curved knife. In the nineteenth century, bright tobacco began to be harvested by pulling individual leaves off the stalk as they ripened. The leaves ripen from the ground upwards, so a field of tobacco may go through several "pullings" before the tobacco is entirely harvested, and the stalks may be turned into the soil. "Cropping" is the term for pulling leaves off tobbacco. Originally workers cropped the tobacco and placed it on mule-pulled sleds. Later "tobacco harvesters" were invented - basically a trailer pulled behind a tractor. The harvester is a wheeled sled or trailer that has seats for the croppers to sit on and seats just in front of these for the "stringers" to sit on. The croppers pull the leaves off in handfuls, and pass these to the "stringer", who loops twine around the handfuls of tobacco and hangs them on a long wooden square pole. Traditionally, the croppers, down in the dark and wet, with their faces getting slapped by the huge tobacco leaves, were men, and the stringers seated on the higher elevated seats were women. The harvester has places for 4 teams of workers: 8 people cropping and stringing, plus a packer who takes the heavy strung poles of wet green tobacco from the stringers and packs them onto the pallet section of the harvester, plus a driver, making the total crew of each harvester 10 people. Interstingly, the outer seats are suspended from the harvester - slung out over to fit into the aisles of tobacco. As these seats are suspended it is important to balance the weight of the 2 outside teams (similar to a playground see-saw). Having too heavy or light a person in an unbalanced combination often results in the harvester tipping over especially when turning around at the end of a lane. Leaves are cropped as they ripen, from the bottom of the stalk up. The first crop at the very bottom of the stalks are called "sand lugs", as they are often against the ground and are coated with dirt splashed up when it rains. Sand lugs weigh the most, and are most difficult to work with. Water tanks are a common feature on the harvester due to heat, and danger of de-hydration for the workers. Salt tablets sometimes get used as well.

Pests

Pests of tobacco include the moths Endoclita excrescens, Manduca sexta, and Manduca quinquemaculata. Other Lepidoptera whose larvae use tobacco as a food plant include Angle Shades, Cabbage Moth, Mouse Moth, The Nutmeg, Setaceous Hebrew Character and Turnip Moth.

Curing

Turnip Moth Cut plants or pulled leaves are immediately transferred to tobacco barns, where they will be cured. Curing methods varies with the type of tobacco grown, and tobacco barn design varies accordingly. Air-cured tobacco is hung in well-ventilated barns and allowed to dry over a period of days. Fire-cured tobacco is hung in large barns where smoldering fires of hardwoods are kept burning. Flue-cured tobacco was originally strung onto tobacco sticks, which were hung from tier-poles in large cubical barns (Aus: kilns, also traditionally called [http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/oast Oasts]). These barns have flues which run from externally-fed fire boxes to the roof, heat-curing the tobacco without exposing it to smoke. Curing and subsequent aging allows for the slow oxidation and degradation of carotenoids in tobacco leaf. This produces certain coumpounds in the tobacco leaves and them give a sweet hay, tea, or fruity aromatic flavor that contribute to the "smoothness" of the smoke. The aging process continues for a period of months and often extends into the post-curing process. Unaged or low quality tobacco is often flavoured with these naturally occurring compounds. Tobacco flavoring is a significant part of a multi-million dollar industry.

Post-cure processing

After tobacco is cured, it is moved from the curing barn into a storage area for processing. If whole plants were cut, the leaves are removed from the tobacco stalks in a process called stripping. For both cut and pulled tobacco, the leaves are then sorted into different grades. In colonial times, the tobacco was then "prized" into hogsheads for transportation. In bright tobacco regions, prizing was replaced by stacking wrapped "hands" into loose piles to be sold at auction. Today, most cured tobacco is baled before sales under contract.

Types

Fire-cured

Fire-cured smoking tobacco is a robust variety of tobacco used as a condimental for pipe blends. It is cured by smoking over gentle fires. In the United States, it is grown in the western part of Tennessee, Western Kentucky and in Virginia. Latakia is a produced from oriental varieties of N. tabacum. The leaves are cured and smoked over smoldering fires of local hardwoods and aromatic shrubs in Cyprus and Syria. Latakia has a pronounced flavor and a very distinctive aroma, and is used in the so-called Balkan and English-style pipe tobacco blends. Fire-cured tobacco grown in Kentucky and Tennessee is used in some chewing tobaccos, moist snuff, some cigarettes and as a condiment leaf in pipe tobacco blends. It has a rich, slightly floral taste, and adds body and aroma to the blend. Tennessee]

Brightleaf tobacco

Prior to the American Civil War, the tobacco grown in the US was almost entirely fire-cured dark-leaf. This was planted in fertile lowlands, used a robust variety of leaf, and was fire cured or air cured. Sometime after the War of 1812, demand for a milder, lighter, more aromatic tobacco arose. Ohio and Maryland both innovated quite a bit with milder varieties of the tobacco plant. Farmers around the country experimented with different curing processes. But the breakthrough didn't come until 1854. It had been noticed for centuries that sandy, highland soil produced thinner, weaker plants. Captain Abisha Slade, of Caswell County, North Carolina had a good deal of infertile, sandy soil, and planted the new "gold-leaf" varieties on it. Slade owned a slave, Stephen, who accidentally produced the first real bright tobacco. He used charcoal to restart a fire used to cure the crop. The surge of heat turned the leaves yellow. Using that discovery, Slade developed a system for producing bright tobacco, cultivating on poorer soils and using charcoal for heat-curing. News spread through the area pretty quickly. The worthless sandy soil of the Appalachian piedmont was suddenly profitable, and people rapidly developed flue-curing techniques, a more efficient way of smoke-free curing. By the outbreak of the War, the town of Danville, Virginia actually had developed a bright-leaf market for the surrounding area in Caswell County, North Carolina and Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Danville was also the main railway head for Confederate soldiers going to the front. These brought bright tobacco with them from Danville to the lines, traded it with each other and Union soldiers, and developed quite a taste for it. At the end of the war, the soldiers went home and suddenly there was a national market for the local crop. Caswell and Pittsylvania counties were the only two counties in the South that experienced an increase in total wealth after the war. Confederate]

White burley

In 1864, George Webb of Brown County, Ohio planted Red Burley seeds he had purchased, and found that a few of the seedlings had a whitish, sickly look. He transplanted them to the fields anyway, where they grew into mature plants but retained their light color. The cured leaves had an exceedingly fine texture and were exhibited as a curiosity at the market in Cincinnati. The following year he planted ten acres (40,000 m²) from seeds from those plants, which brought a premium at auction. The air-cured leaf was found to be mild tasting and more absorbent than any other variety. White Burley, as it was later called, became the main component in chewing tobacco, American blend pipe tobacco, and American-style cigarettes. The white part of the name is seldom used today, since red burley, a dark air-cured variety of the mid-1800s, no longer exists.

Shade tobacco

It is not well known that the northern US state of Connecticut is also one of the important tobacco-growing regions of the country. However, long before Europeans arrived in the area, Native Americans harvested wild tobacco plants that grew along the banks of the Connecticut River. Today, the Connecticut River valley north of Hartford, Connecticut is known as Tobacco Valley, and the fields and drying sheds are visible to travelers on the road to and from Bradley Field, the major Connecticut airport. The tobacco grown here is known as shade tobacco, and is used as outer wrappers for some of the world's finest cigars. Early Connecticut colonists acquired from the Native Americans the habit of smoking tobacco in pipes and began cultivating the plant commercially, even though the Puritans referred to it as the "evil weed". The plant was outlawed in Connecticut in 1650, but in the 1800s as cigar smoking began to be popular, tobacco farming became a major industry, employing farmers, laborers, local youths, southern African Americans, and migrant workers. Working conditions varied from pleasant summer work for students, to backbreaking exploitation of migrants. Each tobacco plant yields only 18 leaves useful as cigar wrappers, and each leaf requires a great deal of individual manual attention after harvesting, some of which must be carried out in the drying sheds, where the temperature exceeds 100 degrees Fahrenheit. In 1921, Connecticut tobacco production peaked, at 31,000 acres (125 km²) under cultivation. The rise of cigarette smoking and the decline of cigar smoking has caused a corresponding decline in the demand for shade tobacco, reaching a minimum in 1992 of 2,000 acres (8 km²) under cultivation. Since then, however, cigar smoking has become more popular again, and in 1997 tobacco farming had risen to 4,000 acres (16 km²). The industry has weathered some major catastrophes, including a devastating hailstorm in 1929, and an epidemic of brown spot fungus in 2000. There is a Luddy/Taylor Connecticut Valley Tobacco Museum in Windsor, Connecticut.

Perique

Perhaps the most strongly-flavored of all tobaccos is the Perique, from Saint James Parish, Louisiana. When the Acadians made their way into this region in 1776, the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes were cultivating a variety of tobacco with a distinctive flavor. A farmer called Pierre Chenet is credited with first turning this local tobacco into the Perique in 1824 through the technique of pressure-fermentation. The tobacco plants are manually kept suckerless, and pruned to exactly 12 leaves, through their early growth. In late June, when the leaves are a dark, rich green and the plants are 24-30 inches (600 to 750 mm) tall, the whole plant is harvested in the late evening and hung to dry in a sideless curing barn. Once the leaves have partially dried, but while still supple (usually less than 2 weeks in the barn), any remaining dirt is removed and the leaves are moistened with water and stemmed by hand. The leaves are then rolled into "torquettes" of approximately 1 pound (450 g) and packed into hickory whiskey barrels. The tobacco is then kept under pressure using oak blocks and massive screw jacks, forcing nearly all the air out of the still-moist leaves. Approximately once a month, the pressure is released, and each of the torquettes is "worked" by hand to permit a little air back into the tobacco. After a year of this treatment, the Perique is ready for consumption, although it may be kept fresh under pressure for many years. Extended exposure to air degrades the particular character of the Perique. The finished tobacco is dark brown, nearly black, very moist with a fruity, slightly vinegary aroma. Considered the truffle of pipe tobaccos, the Perique is used as a component of many blended pipe tobaccos, but is too strong to be smoked pure. At one time, the freshly moist Perique was also chewed, but none is now sold for this purpose. Less than 16 acres (65,000 m²) of this crop remain in cultivation, most by a single farmer called Percy Martin, in Grande Pointe, Louisiana. For reasons unknown, the particular flavor and character of the Perique can only be acquired on a small triangle of Saint James Parish, less than 3 by 10 miles (5 by 16 km). Although at its peak, Saint James Parish was producing around 20 tons of the Perique a year, output is now only a few barrelsful. While traditionally a pipe tobacco (and still available from some specialist tobacconists), the Perique may now also be found in the Perique cigarettes of Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co., in an approximately 1 part to 5 blend with lighter tobaccos. A similar tobacco, based on pressure-fermented Kentucky tobacco is available by the name Acadian Green River Perique.

Tobacco products

Snuff

Kentucky Snuff is a generic term for fine-ground smokeless tobacco products. Originally the term referred only to dry snuff, a fine tan dust popular mainly in the eighteenth century. This is often called "Scotch Snuff", a folk-etymology derivation of the scorching process used to dry the cured tobacco by the factor. European (dry) snuff is intended to be sniffed up the nose. Snuff is not "snorted" due to the fact that you do not want the snuff to get past the nose i.e.; into sinuses, throat or lungs. European snuff comes in several varieties: Plain, Toast (fine ground - very dry), "Medicated" (menthol, camphor, eucalyptus, etc.), Scented and Schmalzler (a German variety.) The major brand names of European snuff are: Bernards (Germany), Fribourg & Treyer (UK), Gawith (UK), Gawith Hoggarth (UK), Hedges (UK), Lotzbeck (Germany), McChrystal's (UK), Pöschl (Germany) and Wilsons of Sharrow (UK). Snuff has even been found to be beneficial in some cases of hay fever due to the fact that the snuff may prevent allergins from getting to the mucus membrane within the nose. American snuff is much stronger, and is intended to be dipped. It comes in two varieties -- "sweet" and "salty". Until the early 20th century, snuff dipping was popular in the United States among rural people, who would often use sweet barkless twigs to apply it to their gums. Popular brands are Tube Rose and Navy. The second, and more popular in North America, variety of snuff is moist snuff, or dipping tobacco. This is occasionally referred to as "snoose" derived from the Scandinavian word for snuff, "snus". Like the word, the origins of moist snuff are Scandinavian, and the oldest American brands indicate that by their names. American Moist snuff is made from dark fire-cured tobacco that is ground, sweetened, and aged by the factory. Prominent North American brands are Copenhagen, Skoal, Chisholm, and Kodiak also Grizzly. American moist snuff tends to be dipped. Some modern smokeless tobacco brands, such as Kodiak, have an aggressive nicotine delivery. This is accomplished with a higher dose of nicotine than cigarettes, a high pH level (which helps nicotine enter the blood stream faster), and a high portion of unprotonated (free base) nicotine.

Chewing tobacco

pH] Chewing is one of the oldest ways of consuming tobacco leaves. This practice is also known as dipping. Native Americans in both North and South America chewed the leaves of the plant, fre