Banksia grossa is a species of shrub in the plant family Proteaceae endemic to Southwest Australia. It is one of fourteen species of banksia of the series Abietinae, all of which bear predominantly round or oval inflorescences. Collected in 1965, it was described in 1981 by Alex George. Its thick leaves and large seeds distinguish it from other members of the Abietinae, and are the basis of its species name. Found in sand or sand over laterite among heath between Eneabba and Badgingarra in Western Australia, it grows as a many-stemmed shrub to 1 m (3 ft) high with narrow leaves and oval brownish flower spikes up to 10 cm (4 in) high, composed of hundreds of individual flowers. Flowering occurs throughout the cooler months of March to September. Old flower spikes develop woody follicles which bear the seeds. The plant takes 5 to 7 years to reach maturity and begin flowering. After bushfire, Banksia grossa regenerates from its woody lignotuber; bushfires also stimulate the release of seeds, which germinate after disturbance. Visitors to (and likely pollinators of) inflorescences include insects and a nocturnal mammal, the white-tailed dunnart.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

65:

The freedman Milichus betrayed Gaius Calpurnius Piso's plot to kill the Emperor Nero and all the conspirators were arrested. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisonian_conspiracy

1809:

War of the Fifth Coalition: The French won a hard-fought victory over Austria in Lower Bavaria when their opponents withdrew from the field of battle that evening. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Teugen-Hausen

1960:

Students in South Korea held a nationwide pro-democracy protest against President Syngman Rhee, eventually forcing him to resign. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Revolution

1984:

Scottish-born composer Peter Dodds McCormick's "Advance Australia Fair", a patriotic song that was first performed in 1878, officially replaced "God Save the Queen" as Australia's national anthem. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_Australia_Fair

1993:

The 51-day siege of the Mount Carmel Center, the home of the Branch Davidian religious sect outside Waco, Texas, ended when a fire broke out, killing over 70 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waco_siege

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

debauch: 1. (transitive) To morally corrupt (someone); to seduce. 2. (transitive) To debase (something); to lower the value of (something). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/debauch

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

 There is a beauty in discovery. There is mathematics in music, a kinship of science and poetry in the description of nature, and exquisite form in a molecule. Attempts to place different disciplines in different camps are revealed as artificial in the face of the unity of knowledge. All literate men are sustained by the philosopher, the historian, the political analyst, the economist, the scientist, the poet, the artisan and the musician.   --Glenn T. Seaborg https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Glenn_T._Seaborg