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>
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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>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
garlicky:
Tasting or smelling of garlic.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/garlicky>
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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>