Banksia verticillata or Albany banksia is a species of shrub of the genus Banksia in the Proteaceae family. It is native to the southwest of Western Australia and can reach up to 3 m (10 ft) in height, or even 5 m (16 ft) in sheltered areas; it is shorter in more exposed areas. This species has elliptic green leaves and large, bright golden yellow flower spikes that appear in summer and autumn. The New Holland honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae) is the most prominent pollinator although several other species of honeyeater, as well as bees, visit the flower spikes. Listed as a vulnerable species by the Australian Government, it occurs in two disjunct populations on granite outcrops along the south coast of Western Australia, with the main population near Albany and a smaller population near Walpole. It is threatened by root rot (specifically Phytophthora cinnamomi) and aerial canker (Zythiostroma). B. verticillata is killed by bushfire, following which new plants regenerate from seed. Populations take over a decade to produce seed, and fire intervals of more than twenty years are needed to allow the canopy seed bank to accumulate.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

202 BC:

Publius Cornelius Scipio, a consul of the Roman Republic, decisively defeated Hannibal and the Carthaginians at Zama, ending the Second Punic War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Zama

1469:

Ferdinand II of Aragon married Isabella I of Castile (both pictured), a marriage that paved the way to the unification of Aragon and Castile into a single country, Spain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_I_of_Castile

1781:

American Revolutionary War: British forces led by Lord Cornwallis officially surrendered to Franco-American forces under George Washington, ending the Siege of Yorktown. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Yorktown

1943:

Allied aircraft sank the cargo ship Sinfra, killing over 2,000 people, mostly Italian POWs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Sinfra

2005:

Hurricane Wilma became the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record with a minimum atmospheric pressure of 882 mbar. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Wilma

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

cacoethes: 1. Compulsion; mania. 2. (medicine, obsolete) A bad quality or disposition in a disease; a malignant tumour or ulcer. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cacoethes

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I could never divide myself from any man upon the difference of an opinion, or be angry with his judgement for not agreeing with me in that, from which perhaps within a few days I should dissent myself.   --Thomas Browne https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Browne