In 1998 a massive gold signet ring was found by metal detecting in the parish of Raglan, Monmouthshire (Gwent), close to Raglan Castle. Now generally known as the Raglan ring, it is a remarkable example of late medieval goldsmiths’ work. This paper considers its motifs, legend, date and stylistic affinities. Its findspot is close to the castle-building programme at Raglan continued by William Herbert (executed 1469), who projected his position as premier supporter of the House of York in a variety of ways. Possible ownership is discussed, as is its wider context (including newly discovered signet rings from Wales).

Cascading effects of high trophic levels onto lower trophic levels have been documented in many ecosystems. Some studies also show evidence of extended trophic cascades, in which guilds dependent on lower trophic levels, but uninvolved in the trophic cascade themselves, are affected by the trophic cascade due to their dependence on lower trophic levels. Top-down effects of large mammals on plants could lead to a variety of extended trophic cascades on the many guilds dependent on plants, such as pollinators. In this study, floral-visitor and floral abundances and assemblages were quantified within a series of 1-ha manipulations of large-mammalian herbivore density in an African savanna. Top-down effects of large mammals on the composition of flowers available for floral visitors are first shown, using regressions of herbivore activity on metrics of floral and floral-visitor assemblages. An extended trophic cascade is also shown: the floral assemblage further altered the assemblage of floral visitors, according to a variety of approaches, including a structural equation modelling approach (model with an extended trophic cascade was supported over a model without, AICc weight = 0.984). Our study provides support for extended trophic cascades affecting floral visitors, suggesting that trophic cascades can have impacts throughout entire communities.

Bermudagrass plugs were transplanted from the greenhouse to the field at monthly intervals from March through October at Shafter, CA. Emergence began from the March plantings when soil temperatures at a depth of 5 cm reached 17 C. Although the initial growth of March, April, and May plantings was very slow, these plantings eventually produced about 60% more dry matter (2100 g/m2) than June, July, and August plantings (1300 g/m2) when harvested in December. At 8 weeks after planting, June to August plantings accumulated 120% more dry matter (460 g/m2) than March to May plantings (210 g/m2). At 12 weeks, dry matter accumulation was greatly reduced by shorter photoperiods and cool temperatures for March and September plantings (160 g/m2) when compared to all intermediate plantings (700 g/m2). All plantings, except October, produced rhizomes (15 to 120/m2) and seeds (154 to 73400/m2) before killing frosts occurred in late November. Although rhizomes and seeds were not collected until the 12-week harvest for the March to May plantings, these plantings produced or tended to produce the greatest number of rhizomes (85/m2) and seeds (49300/m2) by December. Rhizomes and seeds from the June to September plantings were collected within 8 weeks, indicating that declining photoperiods hastened rhizome and seed production.

Black nightshade (Solanum nigrum L.) planted in the field at monthly intervals from March through October at Shafter, California, began to emerge in March when soil temperatures at a depth of 5 cm reached 17C. With the exception of August plantings, emergence remained constant for all plantings. Average weights of plants of May, June, and July plantings at 12 weeks were 60% greater than March and August plantings and 30% greater than April plantings. Plants began flowering 7 to 9 weeks after planting for the March through June plantings and 5 to 6 weeks after planting for the July through September plantings. Killing frosts in November prevented black nightshade planted in October from flowering. Black nightshade planted in April through July produced an average of 1000 berries/plant, which was 40 to 95% greater than those planted in March, August, and September. Seed production ranged from 20000 to 30000 seed/plant for the May through July plantings, and 600 to 8000 seed/plant for the March, April, August, and September plantings.

Plants produced by yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus L. # CYPES) tubers planted in a field at the U.S. Cotton Research Station, Shafter, CA, at monthly intervals were harvested 2, 4, or 8 weeks after planting or at the end of a full season that varied from 12 to 37 weeks. In the 2 yr of the study, 1982 and 1983, tubers were slow to sprout in March and April, taking up to 8 weeks. From June through October about 60% of the plants emerged within 2 weeks of the planting date. Parent plants produced daughter plants by the 4-week harvest except for March, April, and October 1982, and March 1983 planting periods. All planting periods had daughter plants by the 8-week harvest. In 1982, plants of the June full-season planting had significantly more daughter plants than plants of other full-season treatments even though the June full season was 12 weeks shorter than the March full season. In 1983, the number of daughter plants produced by plants for the full-season harvest was equal for all monthly plantings regardless of the length of the full season. In 1982, for the May through September plantings, more tubers were produced by plants at the 8-week harvest than the number of tubers originally planted. In 1983, only plants of the June and August plantings produced more tubers by the 8-week harvest than had been planted. In both years, plants that grew for a full season produced more tubers than the number planted, up to 200-fold more.

In 1979 and 1980, ivyleaf morningglory [Ipomoea hederacea (L.) Jacq. # IPOHE] seed were planted in field plots at monthly intervals beginning with March and continuing through October. During the first 9 weeks, seedlings from the July plantings grew more rapidly than those from the other monthly plantings and produced the heaviest fresh weights. Vegetative growth slowed after the 9-week harvest and seedlings from June plantings had heavier fresh weights at the 12-week harvest. Plants from the July planting produced the greatest number of seed at both the 9- and 12-week harvests. After scarifying, seed produced by plants from April through August (12-week harvest) germinated best with the 27/32 C night/day air temperature regime, but also germinated at 15/21, 21/27, and 27/32 C regimes. Ivyleaf morningglory seed did not germinate at an air temperature regime of 10/15 C. With an air temperature regime of 32/38 C the germination of some lots began to decrease.

Barnyardgrass seeded in field plots at monthly intervals from March through October at Shatter, CA, began to emerge in March when soil temperatures reached 17 C at a depth of 5 cm. For all plantings, most of the seeds germinated and produced seedlings within 2 weeks. Increasing day lengths favored vegetative growth, with April, May, and June plantings producing the tallest plants, the most dry matter, and the largest number of tillers. July and August plantings, the first to flower, began flowering and producing seeds within 5 to 6 weeks after planting, but the greatest number of seeds (15 000 to 25 000/plant) was produced by the larger plants of the April, May, and June plantings. September plantings produced few seeds/plant (37), when compared to March (5900), July (9800), and August (9700) plantings. The earliest that seed production would be expected from seedlings emerging in March and April would be early June, and seedlings emerging in September could produce seeds before killing frosts.

To assess the impact of the carpenter bee, Xylocopa olivacea Fabricius 1787, on the pod and seed yields of Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp. 1900, in this study, its foraging and pollinating activities were examined in Nkolbisson during two seasons (July 2008–January 2009 and June–December 2009). Observations were made on 180 inflorescences per treatment. The treatments included unlimited floral access to all visitors, bagging of flowers to prevent access to all visitors, and floral access to limited visits by X. olivacea only. In addition, information on all floral visitors was recorded. The carpenter bee's seasonal rhythm of activity, its foraging behaviour on flowers, its pollination efficiency, the fruiting rate (Fr) and the number of seeds per pod were recorded. Nineteen species of insects were recorded visiting the flowers of C. cajan.Chalicodoma cincta cincta was the most prominent one, followed by X. olivacea, Apismellifera adansonii, Megachile bituberculata and Xylocopa albiceps, and the bees were the most frequent floral visitors. Xylocopa olivacea mainly foraged for nectar and pollen and its foraging speed was 11.75 flowers/min. The Fr, the number of seeds/pod and the percentage of normal seeds of unprotected inflorescences were significantly higher than those of inflorescences protected from insects. The foraging activity of X. olivacea resulted in a significant increase in the Fr by 22.26%, as well as the number of seeds/pod by 34.98% and the percentage of normal seeds by 12.09% in the two study years. Placing X. olivacea nests close to C. cajan fields is recommended to increase pod and seed production in Cameroon.

A multiscale approach combining phase-contrast X-ray micro- and nanotomography is applied for imaging a Cretaceous fossil inflorescence in the resolution range from 0.75 μm to 50 nm. The wide range of scale views provides three-dimensional reconstructions from the external gross morphology of the inflorescence fragment to the finest exine sculptures of in situ pollen. This approach enables most of the characteristics usually observed under light microscopy, or with low magnification under scanning and transmission electron microscopy, to be obtained nondestructively. In contrast to previous tomography studies of fossil and extant flowers that used resolutions down to the micron range, we used voxels with a 50 nm side in local tomography scans. This high level of resolution enables systematic affinities of fossil flowers to be established without breaking or slicing specimens.

Introduction. ‘Orange Red’ is an apricot cultivar released in the United States and characterised by large fruit of very good quality for both the fresh market and processing. For this reason, this cultivar is greatly appreciated in Europe, especially in France. However, its production is erratic under Mediterranean climate conditions. Materials and methods. The influence of two rootstocks (‘Manicot’ apricot and ‘GF31’ Myrobolan plum) on the productive behaviour of ‘Orange Red’ was studied under Mediterranean conditions in Murcia (Southeast Spain). Results and discussion. ‘Orange Red’ grafted onto ‘GF31’ Myrobolan flowered slightly later than those grafted onto ‘Manicot’ apricot. However, differences in the date of ripening of fruits were small. On the other hand, the percentage of flower bud retention and levels of floral fertility were higher when ‘Orange Red’ was grafted onto ‘GF31’ than onto ‘Manicot’, resulting in higher yields and fruits with a smaller weight. The increase in flower bud retention of ‘Orange Red’ grafted onto the rootstock ‘GF31’ was the main factor responsible for the increase in yield observed with this rootstock. Conclusion. Interaction between the cultivar and rootstock is presented as an interesting strategy for cultivar adaptation to different climatic areas.

Current knowledge of flower visitors and pollination in the Oriental Region is summarised. Much less is known about pollination than seed dispersal and the coverage of habitats and taxa in the region is very uneven. The available evidence suggests that pollination in lowland forests is dominated by highly social bees (mainly Trigona and Apis species), with beetles probably the next most important group, followed by other bees and flies. In comparison with the better-studied Neotropics, large solitary bees, moths, Lepidoptera and vertebrates are relatively less important. These differences are greatest in the canopy of the lowland dipterocarp forests of Southeast Asia, where they probably reflect the unique temporal pattern of floral resource availability resulting from ‘general flowering’ at supra-annual intervals. Apis bees (but not Trigona species) are also important in most montane, subtropical and non-forest habitats. Apart from the figs (Ficus spp.), there are few well-documented examples of plant species visited by a single potential pollinator and most plant-pollinator relationships in the region appear to be relatively generalised. The small sizes of most pollinators and the absence of direct human exploitation probably make pollination mutualisms less vulnerable to failure as a result of human impacts than dispersal mutualisms, but more subtle impacts, as a result of altered gene flows, are likely to be widespread. On current evidence, pollination systems in the Oriental Region do not require any specific conservation action, but this review reinforces arguments for making the preservation (or restoration) of habitat connectivity the major focus of Oriental conservation.

Introduction. Litter on the ground is a primary source of Botrytis cinerea inoculum in boysenberry (Rubus hybrid) gardens. The effect of litter management on primary inoculum production, and flower and berry infections was determined. Materials and methods. A series of experiments ranging from laboratory to large-scale field evaluations were conducted in New Zealand during 1997-2002 to evaluate litter management options for control of B. cinerea. The laboratory trial investigated the effect of litter size (shredded vs. unshredded litter) and debris amendments on tissue degradation and B. cinerea colonization. The field trial (four sites) investigated the effect of litter amendments (compost, urea and fungicide) and piling litter on B. cinerea sporulation. In the 4-year commercial-scale study (three properties), the effect of litter treatment (piling, compost and microbial extracts/suspensions) on primary inoculum, flower and berry infections was assessed. Results and discussion. The laboratory trial showed that bark + sewage sludge compost amendment enhanced litter decomposition and reduced B. cinerea sporulation on infected tissue after 8 weeks. The field trial indicated that piling of shredded boysenberry debris was more important than litter amendments in reducing the amount of B. cinerea harbored within the litter. Commercial field-scale evaluation of litter management options verified that piling of shredded litter is the most important step in B. cinerea inoculum control from debris. It also showed that microbial litter amendments (compost, solutions or extracts) can be beneficial. While B. cinerea inoculum control also reduced the amount of flower infections, berry infections at harvest were not affected, indicating that other sources of B. cinerea inoculum contribute to berry infection post-flowering.

Reproductive traits of 123 species of rain-forest tree from ultramafic regions of New Caledonia were assessed, mainly from herbarium specimens. Most species had extremely small, simple, pale-coloured flowers that are probably mainly pollinated by small insects, but not including bees. The seeds of most species were considered to be bird dispersed. However, wind is also important for pollination and seed dispersal. The phenological trend was for an increase in the number of species flowering and fruiting around the end of the warm dry season/start of the hot wet season, followed by a decline at the end of the wet season, and lower proportions during the cooler season. Seed size was significantly correlated with fruit size. Other correlations, between flower size and fruit size, and between seed size and seed number, were significant using species as independent observations, but did not hold following phylogenetic correction. Compared with non-dioecious species, dioecious species had significantly larger seeds, and a greater proportion of species with biotic dispersal, abiotic pollination and solitary (female) flowers. The long-term persistence of at least the larger-seeded tree species in New Caledonia is precarious, since the endemic giant pigeon, Ducula goliath, is probably their principal effective disperser, and this species is in decline.

Growth, development and fecundity of Maruca vitrata Fabricius (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) were studied on artificial diet and flowers of two accessions each of three wild Vigna species, namely V. vexillata (TVnu 594 and TVnu 72), V. oblongifolia (TVnu 957 and TVnu 42) and V. unguiculata ssp. dekindtiana (TVnu 979 and TVnu 863) and six accessions of cowpea, V. unguiculata ssp. unguiculata (Moussa Local, VICAM-1, TVu 13731, IT84S-2246, IT89KD-457 and IT91K-180). The percentage survival of the larvae, larval weights as well as growth and development indices were significantly higher on the artificial diet, flowers of cowpea cultivars and those of V. unguiculata ssp. dekindtiana compared to those of V. vexillata and V. oblongifolia. The fecundity of females from larvae reared on artificial diet and flowers of cowpea was also significantly higher than that of females from the wild Vigna genotypes. All variables were included in principal component analysis. Two components accounted for 81.79%. On the basis of this analysis, the diets appeared to fall into four categories based on their suitability for supporting development of M. vitrata: unsuitable (TVnu 42 and TVnu 957), fairly suitable (TVnu 72, TVnu 594, TVnu 979, Moussa Local and TVnu 863), suitable (IT89KD-457, IT91K-180, VICAM-1, TVu 13731 and IT84S-2246), and very suitable (artificial diet). The importance of these findings in the development of host plant resistance of cowpea to M. vitrata is discussed.

Information on the feeding habits of the the lesser dog-faced friut bat, Cynopterus brachyotis, was obtained by the collection of food remains directly beneath daytime and feeding roosts. The bats were found to feed on the fruits of 54 plant species, the leaves of 14 species and the flower parts of four species. The seasonal phenological differences among congeneric plant species led to steady production of fruit throughout the year and the data suggets that Ficus spp. are a key component in the diet. Judging from its wide selection of fruits, C. brachyotis, is considered to be an important seed disperser. Folivory in C. brachyotis appears to be more common than previously thought. Of the leaves consumed by the bats, seven species belonged to the family Leguminosae, followed by Myrtaccae, Moraccae, Rhizophoacae and Euphorbiaccae. Friuts in general, provide an energy rich diet for phytophagous bats but most are low in protein. In contrast, leaves consumed by bats have a relatively high protein content. We suggest that folivory (by leaf fractionation) should be energetically more advantageous than the ingestion of large amounts of low protein friut or the active pursuit of mobile insects.

Coffee canopy damage studies with the yellow-headed borer, Dirphya nigricornis Olivier were conducted on mature plants. Single borer infestation of the pest in coffee plantations were established. Age-induced destruction of the coffee canopy was evidenced by the withering of branches, stems and nodes and were correlated to larval developmental days 0–260. Larval frass excretion was immense being 16,214.91 and 12,076.90 g for female and male beetles, respectively and represented direct physical damage by the pest to plants. Analysis of accumulated data of physical measurement on coffee yield components in the three categories of canopy partitions relative to height of the stem above the ground showed that damage to plants by the pest adversely affected them. Generalized non-linear equations relating berries, pinheads, flowers and leaves (P = 0.05 to P = 0.001) to heights of canopy partition above ground level are described. The physical model developed approximates the responses of the canopy to infestation by the beetle, and shows that these were either depressed or enhanced depending on whether the yield components measured were in the bottom, mid or top partitions of the canopy. Threshold damage constants for leaves (0.34), berries (0.41), pinheads (1.54) and flowerbuds (1.07) which caused variability were established.