Aquilegia is a genus of perennial flowering plants commonly known as
columbines. Part of the buttercup family, Aquilegia contains between 70
and 400 described species and subspecies with natural ranges across the
Northern Hemisphere. Aquilegia first evolved in Asia, with natural and
introduced populations present on all continents except Antarctica. The
flowers of most columbines feature nectar spurs; variation in the length
of spurs, alongside other flower attributes, evolved to attract
pollinators. Popular as garden plants, columbines may have first entered
cultivation 1,700 years ago. Their high physical variability and ease of
hybridization has resulted in the development of many cultivated
varieties. Several cultures have used columbines for medicinal purposes.
Columbines have also taken on symbolic connotations: the horn-like shape
of the nectar spurs has resulted in associations with cuckoldry, while
the species Aquilegia coerulea (pictured) is the state flower of
Colorado. (Full article...).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquilegia>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1814:
Britain celebrated the Grand Jubilee to mark 100 years since
the accession of George I and 16 years since the start of the Battle of
the Nile.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Jubilee_of_1814>
1971:
The Concert for Bangladesh, a pair of benefit concerts
organised by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar for refugees of the
Bangladesh genocide, took place at Madison Square Garden in New York.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Concert_for_Bangladesh>
2004:
Nearly 400 people died in a supermarket fire in Asunción,
Paraguay, when exits were locked to prevent people from stealing
merchandise.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ycu%C3%A1_Bola%C3%B1os_supermarket_fire>
2007:
Bridge 9340, carrying Interstate 35W across the Mississippi
River in Minneapolis, United States, suffered a catastrophic failure and
collapsed (aftermath pictured), killing 13 people and injuring 145
others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-35W_Mississippi_River_bridge>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
nautical:
1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of sailing, sailors, or the sea.
2. (now archaic and rare) A nautical person or writer; a sailor.
3. About Word of the Day
4. Nominate a word
5. Leave feedback
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nautical>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Says a writer whom few know, "Forty years after a battle it is easy for
a non-combatant to reason about how it ought to have been fought. It is
another thing personally and under fire to direct the fighting while
involved in the obscuring smoke of it. Much so with respect to other
emergencies involving considerations both practical and moral, and when
it is imperative promptly to act."
--Herman Melville
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Herman_Melville>