Telopea truncata, commonly known as the Tasmanian waratah, is a plant in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to Tasmania where it is found on moist acidic soils at altitudes of 600 to 1200 m (2000–4000 ft). A component of alpine eucalypt forest, rainforest, and scrub communities,T. truncata grows as a multistemmed shrub to a height of 3 metres (10 ft), or occasionally as a small tree, with red flower heads, known as inflorescences, that appear over the Tasmanian summer (November to February) and bear 10 to 35 individual flowers. Yellow-flowered forms are occasionally seen, but do not form a population distinct from the rest of the species. Collected by French botanist Jacques Labillardière in 1792–93, T. truncata was first described in 1805. Genetically the most distinctive of the five waratah species, Tasmanian waratah can be cultivated in temperate climates, requiring soils with ample moisture and good drainage and in partly shaded or sunny positions. Several commercially available cultivars have been developed that are hybrids of T. truncata with the New South Wales waratah (T. speciosissima) and Gippsland waratah (T. oreades).

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telopea_truncata

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1567:

After an explosion destroyed the house in Kirk o' Field, Edinburgh, where he was staying, the strangled body of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, the King consort of Scotland, was found in a nearby orchard. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Stuart,_Lord_Darnley

1763:

Britain, France, and Spain signed the Treaty of Paris to end the Seven Years' War, significantly reducing the size of the French colonial empire while at the same time marking the beginning of an extensive period of British dominance outside of Europe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Paris_(1763)

1936:

Second Italo-Abyssinian War: The Battle of Amba Aradam began, ending nine days later in a decisive tactical victory for Italy and the neutralisation of almost the entire Ethiopian army as a fighting force. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Amba_Aradam

1962:

"Rudolf Abel" (pictured on stamp), a Soviet spy arrested by the FBI, was exchanged for Gary Powers, the pilot of the CIA spy plane that had been shot down over Soviet airspace two years earlier. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Abel

2009:

The first accidental hypervelocity collision between two intact satellites in low Earth orbit took place when Iridium 33 and Kosmos-2251 collided and destroyed each other. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_satellite_collision

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

beholden: 1. Obligated to provide, display, or do something for another; indebted, obliged. 2. Bound by external expectations, such as fashion or morality. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/beholden

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Courage is poorly housed that dwells in numbers; the lion never counts the herd that are about him, nor weighs how many flocks he has to scatter.   --Aaron Hill https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aaron_Hill