7 Nov
2012
7 Nov
'12
4 a.m.
Banksia ilicifolia is a tree in the family Proteaceae. Endemic to
southwest Western Australia, it belongs to Banksia subg. Isostylis, a
subgenus of three closely related Banksia species with inflorescences
that are dome-shaped heads rather than characteristic Banksia flower
spikes. It is generally a tree up to 10 metres (33 ft) tall with a
columnar or irregular habit. Both the scientific and common names arise
from the similarity of its foliage to that of the English holly Ilex
aquifolium; the glossy green leaves generally have very prickly serrated
margins, although some plants lack toothed leaves. The inflorescences
are initially yellow but become red-tinged with maturity; this acts as a
signal to alert birds that the flowers have opened and nectar is
available. Robert Brown described Banksia ilicifolia in 1810. Although
the tree is variable in growth form, with low coastal shrubby forms on
the south coast near Albany, there are no recognised varieties as such.
Distributed broadly, the species is restricted to sandy soils. Unlike
its close relatives which are killed by fire and repopulate from seed,
Banksia ilicifolia regenerates after bushfire by regrowing from
epicormic buds under its bark.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksia_ilicifolia>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1775:
Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of the British Colony of
Virginia, signed a proclamation promising freedom for slaves of Patriots
if they joined the British Armed Forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunmore%27s_Proclamation>
1861:
American Civil War: Future U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant
engaged in his first combat leadership role in the Battle of Belmont in
Mississippi County, Missouri.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Belmont>
1917:
Vladimir Lenin led a Bolshevik insurrection against the
Provisional Government of Alexander Kerensky, starting the Bolshevik
Revolution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_Revolution>
1987:
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali deposed and replaced Habib Bourguiba as
President of Tunisia, declaring him medically unfit for the duties of
the office.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zine_El_Abidine_Ben_Ali>
2007:
A Finnish high school student shot and killed eight people at
Jokela High School in Tuusula before committing suicide.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jokela_school_shooting>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
megaron:
(architecture, historical) The rectangular great hall in a Mycenaean
building, usually supported with pillars.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/megaron>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I don’t know whether this world has a meaning that transcends it. But
I know that I cannot know that meaning and that it is impossible for me
just now to know it. What can a meaning outside my condition mean to me?
I can understand only in human terms. What I touch, what resists me —
that I understand. And these two certainties — my appetite for the
absolute and for unity and the impossibility of reducing this world to a
rational and reasonable principle — I also know that I cannot
reconcile them. What other truth can I admit without lying, without
bringing in a hope I lack and which means nothing within the limits of
my conditions?
--Albert Camus
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Camus>