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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Wiktionary's word of the day:
novity (n):
1. An innovation; a novelty.
2. Novelty; newness
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/novity>
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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>
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