Banksia canei (mountain banksia) is a shrub of the subalpine areas of the Great Dividing Range between Melbourne and Canberra in southeastern Australia. First collected on 27 November 1962, it superficially resembles B. marginata, but is more closely related to another subalpine species, B. saxicola. Although no subspecies are recognised, four geographically isolated populations have been described, as there is significant variation in the shape of both adult and juvenile leaves between populations. B. canei is generally encountered as a many- branched shrub with narrow leaves that grows up to 3 m (9.8 ft) high, with yellow inflorescences (flower spikes) from late summer to early winter. The old flowers fall off the spikes, and up to 150 finely furred follicles develop, which remain closed until burnt in a bushfire. Each follicle bears two winged seeds. Birds such as the yellow-tufted honeyeater and various insects forage among the flower spikes. B. canei is frost tolerant in cultivation, but copes less well with aridity or humidity, and is often short-lived in gardens. One cultivar, Banksia "Celia Rosser", was registered in 1978, but has vanished.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksia_canei
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1856:
King-Grand Duke William III unilaterally revised the constitution of Luxembourg, greatly expanding his powers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxembourg_Coup_of_1856
1895:
Swedish chemist and industrialist Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament, setting aside the bulk of his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after his death. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Nobel
1944:
Between 3,500 and 4,000 tonnes of ordnance exploded at the RAF Fauld underground munitions storage depot in the largest non-nuclear explosion in the United Kingdom. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Fauld_explosion
1978:
San Francisco mayor George Moscone and openly gay supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated by supervisor Dan White. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscone%E2%80%93Milk_assassinations
1999:
The Labour Party defeated the governing National Party in the New Zealand general election, making Labour's Helen Clark the first woman to win the office of Prime Minister at an election. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Clark
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
garlicky: Tasting or smelling of garlic. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/garlicky
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Here is a conclusion I’ve come to after many years: among all the errors we may have committed, the greatest of them all was that we believed that someone really knew something about socialism, or that someone actually knew how to build socialism. It seemed to be a sure fact, as well-known as the electrical system conceived by those who thought they were experts in electrical systems. Whenever they said: “That’s the formula”, we thought they knew. --Fidel Castro https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fidel_Castro