Dracophyllum fiordense, the Fiordland grass tree, is a tree or shrub
endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. A heath, it is 1.5–5.0
metres (5–16 feet) tall and has tufts of distinctive long leaves at
the ends of its branches. It has pyramidal flower spikes hidden under
each clump of leaves, with over 100 pink flowers on each spike that
later produce reddish-brown fruit. It inhabits shrubland, forests, and
tussock grassland. Its range is mainly within Fiordland, Aoraki / Mount
Cook and Westland Tai Poutini National Parks. D. fiordense was first
described by the New Zealand naturalist Walter Oliver in 1928 and placed
by him in the subgenus Dracophyllum, in a group with D. menziesii,
which genetic sequencing later confirmed. In 2017, it was classed as a
declining species. The kākāpō, a flightless bird, feeds on the bases
of the leaves by making incisions in new shoots. D. fiordense is likely
pollinated by insects and its seeds are dispersed by the wind.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracophyllum_fiordense>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1675:
King Philip's War: The colonial militia of New England and
their Pequot allies attacked a Narragansett fort in Rhode Island,
killing many warriors and hundreds of non-combatants.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Swamp_Fight>
1956:
British physician and suspected serial killer John Bodkin Adams
was arrested in connection with the death of Edith Alice Morrell.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bodkin_Adams>
1985:
Aeroflot Flight 101/435 was hijacked by the co-pilot and landed
in a rice field in China, where he was apprehended.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroflot_Flight_101/435>
2016:
Andrei Karlov, Russia's ambassador to Turkey, was assassinated
at an art gallery in Ankara.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Andrei_Karlov>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
scut:
1. (obsolete) A hare; (hunting, also figuratively) a hare as the game in
a hunt.
2. A short, erect tail, as of a hare, rabbit, or deer.
3. (by extension) The buttocks or rump; also, the female pudenda, the
vulva. […]
4. (chiefly Ireland, colloquial) A contemptible person. […]
5. (also attributively) Distasteful work; drudgery; specifically
(medicine, slang) some menial procedure left for a doctor or medical
student to complete, sometimes for training purposes.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scut>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Show me a prison, show me a jail Show me a pris'ner whose face
has grown pale And I'll show you a young man With many reasons why
There but for fortune, go you or I.
--Phil Ochs
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Phil_Ochs>