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Croton Gratissimus
''Croton gratissimus'' (commonly known as lavender croton or lavender fever berry), is a tropical African shrub or small tree with corky bark, growing to 8 m and belonging to the family of Euphorbiaceae or spurges. Young twigs are slender and angular and covered in silver and rust-coloured scales. The species occurs in Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the northern parts of South Africa. It is often found in rocky terrain. Description The crushed, slender-petioled leaves are pleasingly and distinctively fragrant with an aromatic oil reminiscent of sweet flag. The leaves are strikingly silver on the under surface and dotted with brown glands. The inflorescence is a yellow-flowered raceme up to 10 cm long and borne terminally. Rust-coloured flower buds, which are present throughout winter, open after the first rains. The fruit is a 3-lobed capsule, ab ...
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William John Burchell
__NOTOC__ William John Burchell (23 July 1781 – 23 March 1863) was an English explorer, naturalist, traveller, artist, and author. His thousands of plant specimens, as well as field journals from his South African expedition, are held by Kew Gardens, and his insect collection by the Oxford University Museum. Early life and education William John Burchell was born in Fulham, London, the son of Matthew Burchell, botanist and owner of Fulham Nursery, and his wife. His father owned nine and a half acres of land adjacent to the gardens of Fulham Palace. Burchell served a botanical apprenticeship at Kew and was elected F.L.S. (Fellow of the Linnaen Society) in 1803. At about this time, he became enamoured of Lucia Green of Fulham, but faced strong disapproval from his parents when he broached the idea of an engagement. Career On 7 August 1805 Burchell at the age of 24 sailed for St. Helena aboard the East Indiaman intending to set up there as a merchant with a partner from Lond ...
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Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = Portuguese , languages2_type = National languages , languages2 = , ethnic_groups = , ethnic_groups_ref = , ethnic_groups_year = 2000 , demonym = , government_type = Unitary dominant-party presidential republic , leader_title1 = President , leader_name1 = João Lourenço , leader_title2 = Vice President , leader_name2 = Esperança da CostaInvestidura do Pr ...
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Makwassie
Makwassie is a small farming town situated in North West Province of South Africa that produces maize, sorghum, groundnuts and milk. The word ''makwassie'' is a corruption of the San word for an aromatic wild spearmint. In 1822 the town was established as a mission station by Samuel Broadbent and Thomas Hodgson of the Wesleyan Missionary Society and the town was laid out in 1907. Makwasi is a centre for maize, groundnuts, sorghum and milk production Makwassie is located south of Wolmaransstad and north-west of Wesselsbron. It was laid out in 1907 and proclaimed in 1910. At first spelt Maquassi, it was standardized as Makwassie in 1937. The first white child in Transvaal was born there, and the first printing undertaken. The town claims four distinctions in Transvaal history: * the first Christian mission station north of the Vaal River - built by Wesleyans Samuel Broadbent and Thomas Hogson in 1822. * the first White person born - July 1823 * the first printed matter - a Tswa ...
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San People
The San peoples (also Saan), or Bushmen, are members of various Khoe, Tuu, or Kxʼa-speaking indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures that are the first cultures of Southern Africa, and whose territories span Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and South Africa. In 2017, Botswana was home to approximately 63,500 San people (roughly 2.8% of the population) making it the country with the highest number of San people. Definition The term "San" has a long vowel and is spelled Sān (in Khoekhoegowab orthography). It is a Khoekhoe exonym with the meaning of "foragers" and was often used in a derogatory manner to describe nomadic, foraging people. Based on observation of lifestyle, this term has been applied to speakers of three distinct language families living between the Okavango River in Botswana and Etosha National Park in northwestern Namibia, extending up into southern Angola; central peoples of most of Namibia and Botswana, extending into Zambia and Zimbabwe ...
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Croton Farinosus
Croton may refer to: Biology *Crotoneae, a tribe of the flowering plant subfamily Crotonoideae * ''Croton'' (plant), a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae **''Croton capitatus'', also known as the woolly croton **''Croton hancei'', a species of ''Croton'' endemic to Hong Kong *'' Caperonia'', a genus of plants of the family Euphorbiaceae commonly known as "false croton" *'' Codiaeum variegatum'', an ornamental plant formerly classified in the genus ''Croton'', and commonly called "croton" * German cockroach (''Blattella germanica''), known as the Croton bug Places In Italy * Crotone, ancient Kroton, a city in Calabria * Crotone Airport, an airport serving the above city * Province of Crotone, a province in Calabria In the United States In New York * Croton-on-Hudson, New York, a village in Westchester County ** Croton–Harmon (Metro-North station) ** Croton North Railroad Station **Croton Point, a peninsula in the Hudson River *Croton Falls, a hamlet in North Salem, New Y ...
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Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa across the Mozambique Channel. At Madagascar is the world's List of island countries, second-largest island country, after Indonesia. The nation is home to around 30 million inhabitants and consists of the island of Geography of Madagascar, Madagascar (the List of islands by area, fourth-largest island in the world), along with numerous smaller peripheral islands. Following the prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, Madagascar split from the Indian subcontinent around 90 million years ago, allowing native plants and animals to evolve in relative isolation. Consequently, Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot; over 90% of wildlife of Madagascar, its wildlife is endemic. Human settlement of Madagascar occurred during or befo ...
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Olifantshoek
Olifantshoek is a town in John Taolo Gaetsewe District Municipality in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. The village is 60 km northwest of Postmasburg and 80 km southwest of Kuruman. It developed from a police post and is administered by a village management board. The name is of Afrikaans origin and means "elephants' corner" or "elephants' glen", referring to the many elephant skeletons that Dutch settlers found in the area. It may also be translated from Tswana "ditlou". History The town was officially founded in 1912. The town was allegedly named after the tusk of an elephant that was used to purchase the farm on which the town was built. Many other elephant bones were found in the area. Geography Olifantshoek lies at the foot of the Lange Mountains on the Namakwari Route in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. For millions of years, a natural reservoir beneath the dunes has washed the red oxide out of the sand leaving white dunes which remain. T ...
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Diterpene
Diterpenes are a class of chemical compounds composed of four isoprene units, often with the molecular formula C20H32. They are biosynthesized by plants, animals and fungi via the HMG-CoA reductase pathway, with geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate being a primary intermediate. Diterpenes form the basis for biologically important compounds such as retinol, retinal, and phytol. They are known to be antimicrobial and antiinflammatory. Structures As with most terpenes a huge number of potential structures exists, which may be broadly divided according to the number of rings present. Biosynthesis Diterpenes are derived from the addition of one IPP unit to FPP to form geranylgeranyl-pyrophosphate (GGPP). From GGPP, structural diversity is achieved mainly by two classes of enzymes; the diterpene synthases and cytochromes P450. Several diterpenes are produced by plants and cyanobacteria. GGPP is also the precursor for the synthesis of the phytane by the action of the enzyme geranylger ...
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Toxalbumin
Toxalbumins are toxic plant proteins that disable ribosomes and thereby inhibit protein synthesis, producing severe cytotoxic effects in multiple organ systems. They are dimers held together by a disulfide bond and comprise a lectin (carbohydrate-binding protein) part which binds to the cell membrane and enables the toxin part to gain access to the cell contents. Toxalbumins are similar in structure to AB toxins found in cholera, tetanus, diphtheria, botulinum and others; and their physiological and toxic properties are similar to those of viperine snake venom. Toxalbumins were first described in about 1890 by Ludwig Brieger (1849–1919) and Sigmund Fraenkel (1868–1939), associates of the organic chemist Eugen Baumann. Brieger first used the term toxin. Toxalbumins notably are present in the plant families Leguminosae and Euphorbiaceae, occurring for instance in ''Robinia pseudoacacia'', ''Abrus precatorius'', ''Jatropha curcas'', '' Croton gratissimus'' and ''Ricinus ...
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Acorus Calamus
''Acorus calamus'' (also called sweet flag, sway or muskrat root, among many common names) is a species of flowering plant with psychoactive chemicals. It is a tall wetland monocot of the family Acoraceae, in the genus ''Acorus.'' Although used in traditional medicine over centuries to treat digestive disorders and pain, there is no clinical evidence for its safety or efficacy – and ingested calamus may be toxic – leading to its commercial ban in the United States. Description Sweet flag is a herbaceous perennial, tall. Its leaves resembles those of the iris family. Sweet flag consists of tufts of basal leaves that rise from a spreading rhizome. The leaves are erect yellowish-brown, radical, with pink sheathing at their bases, sword-shaped, flat and narrow, tapering into a long, acute point, and have parallel veins. The leaves have smooth edges, which can be wavy or crimped. The sweet flag can be distinguished from iris and other similar plants by the crimpe ...
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South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of . South Africa has three capital cities, with the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government based in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town respectively. The largest city is Johannesburg. About 80% of the population are Black South Afri ...
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Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozambique to the east. The capital and largest city is Harare. The second largest city is Bulawayo. A country of roughly 15 million people, Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, with English, Shona language, Shona, and Northern Ndebele language, Ndebele the most common. Beginning in the 9th century, during its late Iron Age, the Bantu peoples, Bantu people (who would become the ethnic Shona people, Shona) built the city-state of Great Zimbabwe which became one of the major African trade centres by the 11th century, controlling the gold, ivory and copper trades with the Swahili coast, which were connected to Arab and Indian states. By the mid 15th century, the city-state had been abandoned. From there, the Kingdom of Zimbabwe was established, fol ...
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