110px|Telopea speciosissima

Telopea speciosissima is a large shrub in the Proteaceae family. Endemic to New South Wales, it is the floral emblem of that state. T. speciosissima grows as a shrub to 3 or 4 m (10–13 ft) high and 2 m (7 ft) wide, with dark green leaves and several stems rising from a pronounced woody base known as a lignotuber. It is most renowned for its striking large red inflorescences (flowerheads) in spring, each made up of hundreds of individual flowers. These are visited by the eastern pygmy possum (Cercartetus nanus), birds such as honeyeaters (Meliphagidae), and insects. Telopea speciosissima has featured prominently in art, architecture and advertising, particularly since federation. Commercially grown in several countries as a cut flower, it is also cultivated in the home garden, although it requires good drainage, yet adequate moisture, and is vulnerable to fungal disease and pests. (more...)

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

69 BC:

Third Mithridatic War: Forces of the Roman Republic captured the Armenian capital city Tigranakert. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tigranocerta

1683:

German immigrants to the Pennsylvania Colony founded Germantown, the first permanent German settlement in North America. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_American

1976:

Two bombs placed by CIA-linked anti-Castro Cuban exiles exploded aboard Cubana Flight 455, killing all 78 aboard. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubana_Flight_455

1981:

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated while attending a parade in Cairo to mark the eighth anniversary of the Crossing of the Bar Lev Line at the start of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anwar_Sadat

1985:

Police constable Keith Blakelock was killed during rioting in the Broadwater Farm housing estate in Tottenham, London. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Keith_Blakelock

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novity (n): 1. An innovation; a novelty. 2. Novelty; newness http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/novity

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Twilight and evening bell,

And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell,

When I embark;

For though from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far,

I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crossed the bar. --Alfred Tennyson http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alfred_Tennyson