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Babiana Scabrifolia
''Babiana scabrifolia'' is a perennial plant of high that annually forms leaves and flowers from an underground corm and is assigned to the Iris family. It produces relatively large, pale lilac or blue flowers slightly above the soil, and soft, lightly pleated leaves that reach beyond the flowers. These leaves are lance-shaped to oblong in adults, but line-shaped and twisted in non-flowering specimens. Flowering occurs from June to August. The species can be found in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Description ''Babiana scabrifolia'' is a geophyte with an underground corm from which annually the leaves and stems appear above ground, forming a plant of high including the leaves. The stem is mostly underground, simple or branched and enveloped by a thick fibrous collar. The above ground parts are hairy. The leaf blades have a soft texture and are lightly pleated, lance-shaped to oblong, long and wide, reaching beyond the flowers. The blade sits at an angle atop a s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joachim Brehm
Joachim Brehm (30 January 1789, Bamberg – 16 April 1860, Uitenhage) was a pharmacist and plant collector who collected extensively in South Africa. He graduated in 1807 in Bad Dürkheim and worked as assistant apothecary at Rastatt, Geneva, Strassbourg and Bern from 1811 till 1815. He emigrated to work in Cape Town, and was registered as an apothecary chemist in 1820. He developed an interest in botany shortly after his arrival in the Cape, started collecting and did experiments to establish possible medical uses of these plants. In 1822 and 1824, Franz von Paula Schrank published two articles on the collections of seeds, plants and bulbs that were sent to him by Brehm. He later opened a pharmacy in Uitenhage, created a garden and became general practitioner. He also bought two farms near Groot Winterhoek. He was commemorated by William Henry Harvey in the genus ''Brehmia'' (a junior synonym of '' Strychnos''), and by Julius Hermann Schultes Julius Hermann Schultes (4 Februa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Babiana Ambigua
''Babiana ambigua'' is a species of plant in the Iridaceae. It is endemic to the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is a geophyte, that appears from an underground corm every year and grows to a hight of or occasionally up to . Its leaves are pleated, hairy, lance-shaped, reaching higher than the inflorescence. The fragrant, mirror-symmetric, blue to mauve flowers, consist of six tepals merged into a tube at their base, but with free lobes at the top. The lower lateral tepals have whitish markings accentuated by a more intense blue line along their margin. Each flower is supported by two green bracts sometimes with a brownish tip, and the inner bract is divided entirely to its base. There are three anthers crowded to the dorsal side of the perianth and a style divided in three branches on top of a smooth ovary. Flowers can be found from late July at sea level to the end of September at high altitude. Description ''Babiana ambigua'' is a perennial plant of , occasionall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karroo
The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe !Orakobab or Khoemana word ''ǃ’Aukarob'' "Hardveld") is a semi- desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent is also not precisely defined. The Karoo is partly defined by its topography, geology and climate, and above all, its low rainfall, arid air, cloudless skies, and extremes of heat and cold.Potgieter, D.J. & du Plessis, T.C. (1972) ''Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa''. Vol. 6. pp. 306–307. Nasou, Cape Town.''Reader’s Digest Illustrated Guide to Southern Africa''. (5th Ed. 1993). pp. 78–89. Reader’s Digest Association of South Africa Pty. Ltd., Cape Town. The Karoo also hosted a well-preserved ecosystem hundreds of million years ago which is now represented by many fossils. The ǃ’Aukarob formed an almost impenetrable barrier to the interior from Cape Town, and the early adventurers, explorers, hunters, and travelers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fynbos
Fynbos (; meaning fine plants) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean climate and rainy winters. The fynbos ecoregion is within the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome. In fields related to biogeography, fynbos is known for its exceptional degree of biodiversity and endemism, consisting of about 80% (8,500 fynbos) species of the Cape floral kingdom, where nearly 6,000 of them are endemic. This land continues to face severe human-caused threats, but due to the many economic uses of the fynbos, conservation efforts are being made to help restore it. Overview and history The word fynbos is often confusingly said to mean "fine bush" in Afrikaans, as "bos" means "bush". Typical fynbos foliage is ericoid rather than fine. The term, in its pre-Afrikaans, Dutch form, ''fynbosch'', was recorded by Nob ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Citrusdal
Citrusdal is a town of 5,000 people in the Olifants River Valley in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is situated at the base of the Cederberg mountains about north of Cape Town. Agriculture in the area is dominated by citrus fruit farming, hence the town's name. Natural hot water springs occur in the area. History Citrusdal was established in 1916 by the Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk to serve the upper Olifants River valley. The church bought a portion of Middelpost farm, on which a township was laid out. A town council was established in 1957. Demographics In the 2001 Census the population of Citrusdal was recorded as 5,023 people in 1,401 households. 73% of the residents described themselves as "Coloured", 21% as "White" and 6% as "Black African". The dominant language is Afrikaans, spoken as the first language of 95% of the population, while 4% speak isiXhosa and 1% speak English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olifants River (Western Cape)
The Olifants River ( af, Olifantsrivier) is a river in the northwestern area of the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The upper and main catchment area of the Olifants river is around Ceres and the Cederberg mountains. The Clanwilliam and Bulshoek dams are located on the river and provide water for the towns and farms along the watercourse. The river is approximately 285 km long with a catchment area of 46,220 km2 and flows into the Atlantic Ocean at Papendorp, 250 km north of Cape Town. Watershed The Olifants River rises in the Winterhoek Mountains north of Ceres. The mainstem is about 265 km long. The river flows to the north-west through a deep, narrow valley that widens and flattens into a broad floodplain below Clanwilliam. The river eventually drains into the Atlantic Ocean near Papendorp. At the mouth the Olifants river is split in two by an island that exhibits interesting rock formations. Tributaries Its main tributary is the Doring River, ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cederberg
The Cederberg mountains are located near Clanwilliam, approximately 300 km north of Cape Town, South Africa at about . The mountain range is named after the endangered Clanwilliam cedar (''Widdringtonia wallichii''), which is a tree endemic to the area. The mountains are noted for dramatic rock formations and San rock art. The Cederberg Wilderness Area is administered by CapeNature. ''Cederberg'' is now the generally accepted spelling for the area, which combines the English (Cedarberg) and Afrikaans (Sederberg) variants. Geography and climate The Cederberg mountains extend about 50 km north–south by 20 km east–west. They are bordered on the west by the Sandveld, the north by the Pakhuis Mountains, the east by the Springbok Flats and the south by the Kouebokkeveld Mountains and the Skurweberge. The main access road, the N7, runs to the west of the range. The nearest towns are Citrusdal to the southwest and Clanwilliam to the north. The area is spars ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Synonym (taxonomy)
The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name (under the currently used system of scientific nomenclature) to the Norway spruce, which he called ''Pinus abies''. This name is no longer in use, so it is now a synonym of the current scientific name, ''Picea abies''. * In zoology, moving a species from one genus to another results in a different binomen, but the name is considered an alternative combination rather than a synonym. The concept of synonymy in zoology is reserved for two names at the same rank that refers to a taxon at that rank - for example, the name ''Papilio prorsa'' Linnaeus, 1758 is a junior synonym of ''Papilio levana'' Linnaeus, 1758, being names for different seasonal forms of the species now referred to as ''Araschnia le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Charles Manning
John Charles Manning (born 1962) is a South African botanist based in the Compton Herbarium, South African National Biodiversity Institute The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) is an organisation established in 2004 in terms of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, No 10 of 2004, under the South African Department of Environmental Affairs ( ..., Kirstenbosch, South Africa. References External sources 20th-century South African botanists Botanists with author abbreviations Living people 1962 births Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century South African botanists {{botanist-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Goldblatt
Peter Goldblatt (born 1943) is a South African botanist, working principally in the United States. Life Goldblatt was born in Johannesburg, South Africa on October 8, 1943. His undergraduate studies (B.Sc.) were undertaken at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesberg (1965–1966), from where he went on to graduate studies at the University of Cape Town, where he received his doctorate in 1970. He held a position as lecturer in botany at Witwatersrand (1967) and then Cape Town (1968–1971) before emigrating to the United States in 1972. In the US he took up a position as a researcher at the Missouri Botanical Gardens, in St. Louis, where he has remained since, holding the position of Senior Curator since 1990. He returned briefly to South Africa in 2006 as a researcher at the Compton Herbarium, South African National Biodiversity Institute, in Cape Town. He has also held appointments at the University of Missouri, as well as the University of Portland, Oregon (2000–2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microclimate
A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square meters or square feet (for example a garden bed or a cave) or as large as many square kilometers or square miles. Because climate is statistical, which implies spatial and temporal variation of the mean values of the describing parameters, within a region there can occur and persist over time sets of statistically distinct conditions, that is, microclimates. Microclimates can be found in most places but are most pronounced in topographically dynamic zones such as mountainous areas, islands, coastal areas. Microclimates exist, for example, near bodies of water which may cool the local atmosphere, or in heavy urban areas where brick, concrete, and asphalt absorb the sun's energy, heat up, and re-radiate that heat to the ambient air: t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taxonomy (biology)
In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given a taxonomic rank; groups of a given rank can be aggregated to form a more inclusive group of higher rank, thus creating a taxonomic hierarchy. The principal ranks in modern use are domain, kingdom, phylum (''division'' is sometimes used in botany in place of ''phylum''), class, order, family, genus, and species. The Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus is regarded as the founder of the current system of taxonomy, as he developed a ranked system known as Linnaean taxonomy for categorizing organisms and binomial nomenclature for naming organisms. With advances in the theory, data and analytical technology of biological systematics, the Linnaean system has transformed into a system of modern biological classification intended to reflect the evolu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
