Banksia aculeata, the prickly banksia, is a plant of the family
Proteaceae native to the Stirling Range in the southwest of Western
Australia. A bushy shrub up to 2 m (7 ft) tall, it has fissured grey
bark on its trunk and branches, and dense foliage and leaves with very
prickly serrated margins. Its unusual pinkish, pendent (hanging) flower
spikes, known as inflorescences, are generally hidden in the foliage and
appear during the early summer. Unlike many other banksia species, it
does not have a woody base, or lignotuber. Although it was collected in
the 1840s by the naturalist James Drummond, it was not formally
described until 1981, in Alex George's monograph of the genus. A rare
plant, B. aculeata is found in gravelly soils in elevated areas. Native
to a habitat burnt by periodic bushfires, it is killed by fire and
regenerates from seed afterwards. In contrast to other Western
Australian banksias, it appears to have some resistance to Phytophthora
cinnamomi, a soil-borne water mould.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksia_aculeata>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1862:
Robert Smalls escaped from slavery in Charleston, South
Carolina, by commandeering the CSS Planter and sailing it from
Confederate-controlled waters to the U.S. blockade.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Smalls>
1888:
Princess Isabel of the Empire of Brazil signed the Lei Áurea
into law, formally abolishing slavery in Brazil.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Brazil>
1913:
Russian-American Igor Sikorsky flew the world's first four-
engine fixed-wing aircraft, the Russky Vityaz, which he designed
himself.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Sikorsky>
1958:
Australian Ben Carlin became the only person to circumnavigate
the world in an amphibious vehicle, having travelled over 80,000 km
(50,000 mi) by land and sea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Carlin>
2008:
Nine bombs placed by the previously unknown terrorist group
Indian Mujahideen exploded in 15 minutes in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India,
killing 80 and injuring more than 200 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaipur_bombings>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
sultry:
1. (weather) Hot and humid.
2. (weather) Very hot and dry; torrid.
3. (figuratively) Sexually enthralling.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sultry>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The higher order edition of the Pattern I encountered in the
Jewel … There were aspects of it I simply could not understand. This
led to considerations of chaos theory, then to Menninger and all the
others for its manifestations in consciousness. … Either it possesses
a certain element of irrationality itself, like living things, or it is
an intelligence of such an order that some of its processes only seem
irrational to lesser beings. Either explanation amounts to the same
thing from a practical standpoint.
--Prince of Chaos
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Amber#Prince_of_Chaos_(1991)>