Xerochrysum bracteatum, commonly known as the golden everlasting, is a flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae, native to Australia. It grows as a woody or herbaceous perennial or annual shrub up to a metre (3 ft) tall with green or grey leafy foliage. Golden yellow or white flower heads are produced from spring to autumn; their distinctive feature is the papery bracts that resemble petals. The species is widespread, growing in a variety of habitats across the country, from rainforest margins to deserts and subalpine areas. The golden everlasting serves as food for various larvae of lepidopterans (butterflies and moths), and adult butterflies, hoverflies, native bees, small beetles and grasshoppers visit the flower heads. The golden everlasting has proven very adaptable to cultivation. It was propagated and developed in Germany in the 1850s, and annual cultivars in a host of colour forms from white to bronze to purple flowers became available. Many of these are still sold in mixed seed packs. In Australia, many cultivars are perennial shrubs, which have become popular garden plants. Sturdier, long-stemmed forms are used commercially in the cut flower industry.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerochrysum_bracteatum
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
630:
Muslims led by Muhammad conquered Mecca from the Quraysh. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conquest_of_Mecca
1789:
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (The Old Well pictured), one of the oldest public universities in the United States and the only one to award degrees in the 18th century, received its charter. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_North_Carolina_at_Chapel_Hill
1905:
In support of the December Uprising in Moscow, the Council of Workers' Deputies of Kiev stage a mass uprising, establishing the Shuliavka Republic in the city. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuliavka_Republic
1962:
Convicted murderers Ronald Turpin and Arthur Lucas were the last two persons to be executed in Canada. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Canada
2006:
The first action in the Mexican Drug War took place as President Felipe Calderón ordered Mexican military and Federal Police units into the state of Michoacán. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Drug_War
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
stigmatize: (transitive) To characterize as disgraceful or ignominious; to mark with a stigma or stigmata. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stigmatize
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Of course God is endlessly multi-dimensional so every religion that exists on earth represents some face, some side of God. One must not have any negative attitude to any religion but nonetheless the depth of understanding God and the depth of applying God's commandments is different in different religions. --Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Solzhenitsyn