Persoonia terminalis, the Torrington geebung, is a rare shrub belonging
to the family Proteaceae, and native to northern New South Wales and
southern Queensland in eastern Australia. Reported as a subspecies of
Persoonia nutans in 1981, it was described as a species by Lawrie
Johnson and his colleague Peter Weston in 1991. Two
subspecies—P. t. terminalis and P. t. recurva—are
recognised; both are found on well-drained acidic soils in sclerophyll
forests, and P. t. terminalis is also found on granite outcrops.
Although similar in appearance, they differ in leaf length and
curvature. Both have a restricted range, with P. t. terminalis found
in an area of under 100 square kilometres (39 square miles).
P. terminalis grows to 1.5 metres (5 feet), with an upright or
spreading habit, and narrow, short leaves up to 1 centimetre (0.4
inches) in length. The yellow flowers mainly appear in December and
January (Australia's temperate zone summer), and are followed by purple-
striped green drupes (stone fruit). The fruit of persoonias are edible,
and dispersed by wild vertebrates.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persoonia_terminalis>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
497 BC:
The temple to the Roman god Saturn was dedicated in the Roman
Forum; its anniversary was celebrated as Saturnalia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia>
546:
After a nearly year-long siege, Ostrogoths led by Totila sacked
Rome.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sack_of_Rome_(546)>
1837:
A fire in the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg broke out,
partially damaging the palace and killing thirty guardsmen.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_in_the_Winter_Palace>
1967:
Harold Holt, Prime Minister of Australia, disappeared while
swimming near Portsea, Victoria; his body was never recovered.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Harold_Holt>
1983:
The Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a car bomb just
outside Harrods Department Store in London, killing six people and
injuring about 90 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrods_bombings>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
cromulent:
(humorous) Fine, acceptable or correct; seamless, relevant, legitimate
or authentic; nonanomalous.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cromulent>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Fortunately science, like that nature to which it belongs, is
neither limited by time nor by space. It belongs to the world, and is of
no country and of no age. The more we know, the more we feel our
ignorance; the more we feel how much remains unknown; and in philosophy,
the sentiment of the Macedonian hero can never apply, — there are
always new worlds to conquer.
--Humphry Davy
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Humphry_Davy>