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Encephalartos Concinnus
''Encephalartos concinnus'' is a species of cycad in the family Zamiaceae. It is endemism, endemic to Zimbabwe. It is known as the Runde cycad. Description It is an arborescent plant, with erect or decumbent stem, without branches, up to 2.5–3 m tall and with a diameter of 35–45 cm, covered with tomentose cataphylls. The pinnate leaves, arranged in a crown at the apex of the stem, are 150–200 cm long, composed of about 50 pairs of lanceolate leaflets, with margins endowed with small spines and arranged on the rachis at an angle of 45-80°. It is a dioecious species, endowed with 1-4 fusiform male cones, sessile, green in color, 30–50 cm long and with a diameter of 7–10 cm, with broad and rhombic-shaped microsporophylls, and 1-2 female cones, ovoid, always green, but 35–45 cm long and with a diameter of 15–20 cm, with macrosporophylls with a warty surface. The seeds have an oblong shape, are 30–35 mm long, have a width of 8–23 mm and are covered with a brown s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. The most recent rigorous estimate for the total number of species of eukaryotes is between 8 and 8.7 million. However, only about 14% of these had been described by 2011. All species (except viruses) are given a two-part name, a "binomial". The first part of a binomial is the genus to which the species belongs. The second part is called the specific name or the specific epithet (in botanical nomenclature, also sometimes i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cycad
Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk (botany), trunk with a crown (botany), crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants of a species are either male or female. Cycads vary in size from having trunks only a few centimeters to several meters tall. They typically grow very slowly and live very long. Because of their superficial resemblance, they are sometimes mistaken for Arecaceae, palms or ferns, but they are not closely related to either group. Cycads are gymnosperms (naked-seeded), meaning their fertilization, unfertilized seeds are open to the air to be directly fertilized by pollination, as contrasted with angiosperms, which have enclosed seeds with more complex fertilization arrangements. Cycads have very specialized pollinators, usually a specific species of beetle. Both male and female cycads bear cones (strobilus, strobili), somewhat similar to conife ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zamiaceae
The Zamiaceae are a family of cycads that are superficially palm or fern-like. They are divided into two subfamilies with eight genera and about 150 species in the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Australia and North and South America. The Zamiaceae, sometimes known as zamiads, are perennial, evergreen, and dioecious. They have subterranean to tall and erect, usually unbranched, cylindrical stems, and stems clad with persistent leaf bases (in Australian genera). Their leaves are simply pinnate, spirally arranged, and interspersed with cataphylls. The leaflets are sometimes dichotomously divided. The leaflets occur with several sub-parallel, dichotomously branching longitudinal veins; they lack a mid rib. Stomata occur either on both surfaces or undersurface only. Their roots have small secondary roots. The coralloid roots develop at the base of the stem at or below the soil surface. Male and female sporophylls are spirally aggregated into determinate cones that gro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemism
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can be also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or in scientific literature as an ''endemite''. For example '' Cytisus aeolicus'' is an endemite of the Italian flora. '' Adzharia renschi'' was once believed to be an endemite of the Caucasus, but it was later discovered to be a non-indigenous species from South America belonging to a different genus. The extreme opposite of an endemic species is one with a cosmopolitan distribution, having a global or widespread range. A rare alternative term for a species that is endemic is "precinctive", which applies to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sarcotesta
The sarcotesta is a fleshy seedcoat, a type of testa. Examples of seeds with a sarcotesta are pomegranate and some cycad seeds. The sarcotesta of pomegranate seeds consists of epidermal cells derived from the integument, and there are no aril An aril (pronounced ), also called an arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode or false aril is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the see ...s on these seeds. References External links * Fruit morphology Plant anatomy {{Botany-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Local Extinction
Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinctions. Local extinctions mark a change in the ecology of an area. In recent times, local extinction has sometimes been followed by a replacement of the species taken from other locations; wolf reintroduction is an example of this. The term "local extinction" is highly vernacular. The more proper biological term is ''extirpation''. Discussion Glaciation can lead to local extinction. This was the case during the Pleistocene glaciation event in North America. During this period, most of the native North American species of earthworm were killed in places covered by glaciation. This left them open for colonization by European earthworms brought over in soil from Europe. Species naturally become extirpated from islands over time. The number ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gwanda
Gwanda is a town in Zimbabwe. It is the capital of the province of Matabeleland South, one of the ten administrative provinces in the country. It is also the district capital of Gwanda District, one of the seven administrative districts in the province. Location The town is located , by road, south east of the city of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second largest city. This location lies on the Bulawayo–Beitbridge Road and the Beitbridge Bulawayo Railway. The town of Beitbridge, at Zimbabwe's border with the Republic of South Africa, lies approximately , further southeast on Highway A-6. The coordinates of Gwanda, Zimbabwe are: 20°56'20.0"S, 29°01'07.0"E (Latitude:-20.938889; Longitude:29.018611). Gwanda sits at an average elevation of above mean sea level. Gwanda is known to have long, hot summers, and short, cool winters. Gwanda is also quite dry as compared to the rest of the country, and is therefore prone to drought. Overview Gwanda was founded in 1900 as a settlement of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matabeleland South
Matabeleland South is a province in southwestern Zimbabwe. With a population of 683,893 as of the 2012 Zimbabwean census, it is the country's least populous province. After Matabeleland North, it is Zimbabwe's second-least densely populated province. Matabeleland South was established in 1974, when the original Matabeleland Province was divided into two provinces, the other being Matabeleland North. The province is divided into six districts. Gwanda is the capital, and Beitbridge is the province's largest town. The name "Matabeleland" is derived from Ndebele, the province's largest ethnic group. Matabeleland South is bordered by Bulawayo and Matabeleland North to the north, Midlands to the northeast, Masvingo to the southeast, South Africa to the south, and Botswana to the west. It has an area of , equal to 13.86% of the total area of Zimbabwe. It is the fourth-largest of the country's ten provinces in area. Matabeleland South sits on the edge of the Kalahari Desert, giving i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mberengwa
Mberengwa is a district in Midlands province in Zimbabwe. The district is now divided into sub-districts: Mberengwa North, East, West and South. It is bounded by Gwanda in Mberengwa west, and by Zvishavane in its northern zone, to the south it stretches to Neshuro, Chikombedzi and bounded by Manyuchi dam. Local government Mberengwa Rural District Council is the local authority over Mberengwa District. The district comprises 4 parliamentary constituencies with a total of 37 councillors overseeing the same number of wards. the wards are distributed as follows; * Mberengwa-East Constituency has 7 wards 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 20. * Mberengwa-West Constituency has 8 wards; 13, 14, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 and 34. * Mberengwa-North Constituency has 12 wards; 1, 2, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 35, 36 and 37. * Mberengwa-South Constituency has 10 wards; 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28. Background The name "Mberengwa" itself comes from the Karanga (Southern Shona) phrase Mbere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Midlands Province
Midlands is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of and a population of 1,614,941 (2012). It is home to various peoples. Located at a central point in the country, it contains speakers of Shona, Ndebele, Tswana, Sotho and Chewa, as well as of various other languages. Gweru, the third-largest city in Zimbabwe, is the capital of the province. Midlands Province contains Kwekwe, a city of considerable mining and manufacturing industries, in which also the Sable Chemicals Trust maintains a presence. Geography Districts Midlands Provinces is divided into eight districts: * Chirumhanzu * Gokwe North * Gokwe South * Gweru * Kwekwe * Mberengwa * Shurugwi * Zvishavane Local government The Provincial Administrator oversees all eight districts in the province, each district having its own district administrator. District Administrators work with local authorities in their respective districts. Local authorities have their own Chairmen (mayors for municipalities). These urban cou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Runde Rural District Council
Runde Rural District Council is Zvishavane Rural District local government arm taking care of the rural district while Zvishavane Town Council administers the urban district. Zvishavane District has two local government arms, Zvishavane Town Council created under the Zimbabwe Urban Councils Act, Chapter 29.15 and Runde RDC created in terms of the Zimbabwe Rural District Councils Act, Chapter 29.13. Background Runde RDC is one of the 8 rural district councils in the Midlands Province of Zimbabwe. Its name derives from Runde River. It comprises Zvishavane-Ngezi and Zvishavane-Runde. * Zvishavane-Ngezi has wards 3 5 6 11 12 and 19. * Zvishavane-Runde has wards 1 2 4 7 8 9 10 13 14 15 16 17 and 18. 2013 - 2018 Councillors All councillors in this term are from ZANU-PF. Source: Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Zimbabwe Rural District Councils Act; Chapter 29.13. Zimbabwe Urban Councils Act, Chapter 29.15 2008 - 2013 Coincillors All councillors in this term were from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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