Banksia brownii, commonly known as feather-leaved banksia or Brown's banksia, is a species of shrub that grows in the southwest of Western Australia. A banksia with fine feathery leaves and large red-brown flower spikes, it usually grows as an upright bush around two metres (7 ft) high, but can also occur as a small tree or a low spreading shrub. First collected in 1829, it is placed in Banksia subgenus Banksia, section Oncostylis, series Spicigerae. It is considered critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature; all major populations are threatened by Phytophthora cinnamomi dieback, a disease to which the species is highly susceptible. Other threats include habitat loss, commercial exploitation and changes to the fire regime. Highly valued by Australia's horticultural and cut flower industries, B. brownii is cultivated in areas not exposed to dieback. It prefers a sheltered position in soil with good drainage, and must be provided with some moisture over summer.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksia_brownii
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1831:
The Broughton Suspension Bridge near Manchester, England, collapsed, reportedly because of mechanical resonance induced by troops marching in step across it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broughton_Suspension_Bridge
1993:
Bosnian War: NATO forces began Operation Deny Flight (aircraft pictured) to enforce a no-fly zone over Bosnia and Herzegovina ordered by the United Nations Security Council. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Deny_Flight
2012:
The Guinea-Bissau military seized control in a coup amid a presidential election, later handing power to a transitional administration under Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Guinea-Bissau_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat
2013:
Four Chadian soldiers were killed in a suicide bombing by jihadist rebels in Kidal, Mali. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Kidal_suicide_attack
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
rocket scientist: 1. An aerospace engineer. 2. (hyperbolic, chiefly in the negative) One qualified to handle or understand things which are very complex or confusing; a very intelligent person. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rocket_scientist
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
The one Reality takes manifold names and forms as a result of human ignorance. It is one and the same Thing that a Bhakta calls God, a Jnani calls Brahman, a Shakta calls Shakti, an Atheist calls Nature, a Scientist calls Force or Energy, a Christian calls Father in Heaven, a Mussulman calls Allah, some others call Infinity or Truth and a Vedantin calls Atman or Self. Whatever different names there may be, the fact remains that the Thing is one and the same. The difference is only in names. The Absolute Thing, which is beyond name and form, is birthless, growthless, decayless, deathless, sexless, All-pervading, All-knowing, All-blissful, without beginning, without end, changeless, beyond time, space and causation. The One Thing or the Ocean of Consciousness by Itself is ever the same — One only without a second. --Swami Narayanananda https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Swami_Narayanananda