Agaricus deserticola is a species of fungus found only in dry or semi-
arid habitats in southwestern and western North America. It is similar
to, and sometimes confused with, the mushrooms of the desert fungus
species Podaxis pistillaris and Montagnea arenaria. Unlike other
Agaricus species, it produces fruit bodies with a networked system of
spore-producing tissue called a gleba, instead of true gills. When the
cap splits, or the partial veil breaks or pulls away from the stem, the
blackish-brown gleba is exposed, and spores are dispersed. The fruit
bodies can reach heights of 18 cm (7.1 in) with caps up to 7.5 cm
(3.0 in) wide. The tough woody stems are 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 in)
wide, thickening towards the base. Fruit bodies grow singly or scattered
on the ground in fields, grasslands, or arid ecosystems. The edibility
of A. deserticola is not known definitively. The fungus was transferred
to the genus Agaricus in 2004 after molecular analysis. In 2010, its
species name was changed to deserticola after it was discovered that the
previous name, texensis, had already been taken for a different species.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agaricus_deserticola>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1180:
The Byzantine Empire was weakened by the death of Emperor
Manuel I Komnenos.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_I_Komnenos>
1877:
The Imperial Japanese Army defeated Saigō Takamori and the
Satsuma clan samurai at the Battle of Shiroyama in Kagoshima, the
decisive engagement of the Satsuma Rebellion.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shiroyama>
1911:
His Majesty's Airship No. 1, Britain's first rigid airship, was
wrecked by strong winds before her maiden flight at Barrow-in-Furness.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMA_No._1>
1946:
Clark Clifford and George Elsey, military advisers to US
President Harry S. Truman, presented him with a top-secret report on the
Soviet Union that would form the basis of the US policy of containment.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Containment>
1996:
Representatives from 71 nations signed the Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which has not yet come into force because not
enough signatories have ratified it.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_Nuclear-Test-Ban_Treaty>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
rooibos:
1. (South Africa) A shrub (Aspalathus linearis) from which a tisane (herbal
tea) is made.
2. The tisane (herbal tea) made from this plant.
3. (South Africa) Various shrubs of the genus Combretum.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rooibos>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
If a passion for freedom is not in vogue, patriots may sound the
alarm till they are weary. The Act of Habeas Corpus, by which prisoners
may insist on being brought to trial within a limited time, is the
corner-stone of our liberty.
--Horace Walpole
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Horace_Walpole>