Grevillea juniperina, the prickly spider-flower, is a plant of the
family Proteaceae native to eastern New South Wales and south-eastern
Queensland in Australia. It is a small prickly-leaved shrub from 0.2 to
3 m (8 in to 10 ft) high, generally growing on clay-based or alluvial
soils in eucalypt woodland. Scottish botanist Robert Brown described
G. juniperina in 1810, and seven subspecies are recognised. The flower
heads (inflorescences) appear from winter to early summer and are red,
orange or yellow. Birds visit and pollinate the flowers. G. juniperina
plants are killed by bushfire, regenerating afterwards from seed. The
species adapts readily to cultivation and has been important in
horticulture as it is the parent of many popular garden hybrids.
G. j. juniperina, a subspecies restricted to western Sydney and
environs, has its habitat threatened by housing development and other
factors.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grevillea_juniperina>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1678:
Venetian philosopher Elena Cornaro Piscopia became the first
woman to receive a Doctor of Philosophy degree.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elena_Cornaro_Piscopia>
1944:
World War II: U.S. Navy and Royal Navy ships bombarded
Cherbourg, France, to support U.S. Army units engaged in the Battle of
Cherbourg.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardment_of_Cherbourg>
1978:
The rainbow flag representing gay pride was first flown at the
San Francisco Gay Freedom Day parade.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_flag_%28LGBT%29>
2013:
In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the CIA
acknowledged the existence of Area 51 (diagram pictured), a secretive
U.S. Air Force facility in Nevada and a subject of various UFO and other
conspiracy theories.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_51>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
a mite:
(informal) To a small extent; in a small amount; rather.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/a_mite>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection,
that one is sometimes willing to commit sins for the sake of loyalty,
that one does not push asceticism to the point where it makes friendly
intercourse impossible, and that one is prepared in the end to be
defeated and broken up by life, which is the inevitable price of
fastening one's love upon other human individuals.
--George Orwell
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Orwell>
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