Lambertia formosa is a shrub found in New South Wales, Australia, from
the family Proteaceae. It is commonly named mountain devil, after the
small devil-figures that were made from its horned woody follicles.
Specimens were collected during Lieutenant James Cook's landing at
Botany Bay in 1770. First described in 1798 by English botanist James
Edward Smith, it is the type species of the small genus Lambertia. It is
generally found in heathland or open forest, growing in sandstone-based
soils. It grows as a multistemmed shrub to around 2 m (7 ft) with a
woody base known as a lignotuber, from which it regrows after bushfire.
It has stiff narrow leaves and pink to red flowerheads made up of seven
individual tubular flowers that generally appear in spring and summer.
The flowers hold profuse amounts of nectar and are pollinated by
honeyeaters. Although L. formosa is uncommon in cultivation, it is
straightforward to grow in soils with good drainage and a partly shaded
to sunny aspect. It is readily propagated by seed. Unlike all other
members of the genus Lambertia, L. formosa is resistant to the soil
pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambertia_formosa>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
314:
Sylvester I, during whose pontificate the great churches of Rome
were built, began his reign as pope.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Sylvester_I>
1862:
American astronomer Alvan Graham Clark first observed the faint
white dwarf companion of Sirius (pictured), the brightest star in the
night sky.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirius>
1900:
Datu Muhammad Salleh, leader of a series of major disturbances
in North Borneo, was shot dead in Tambunan, but his followers did not
give up for five more years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mat_Salleh_Rebellion>
1945:
Second World War: The British 3rd Commando Brigade's victory in
the Battle of Hill 170 was crucial in causing the 28th Japanese Army to
withdraw from the Arakan peninsula of Burma.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hill_170>
2001:
Scottish judges sitting in court in the Netherlands convicted
Libyan national Abdelbaset al-Megrahi of 270 counts of murder in the
bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdelbaset_al-Megrahi>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
smaragdine:
Having the colour of emeralds.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/smaragdine>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
To bear up under loss — to fight the bitterness of defeat
and the weakness of grief — to be victor over anger — to smile when
tears are close — to resist evil men and base instincts — to hate
hate and to love love — to go on when it would seem good to die — to
seek ever after the glory and the dream — to look up with unquenchable
faith in something evermore about to be — that is what any man can do,
and so be great.
--Zane Grey
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Zane_Grey>