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Elaeocarpus Reticulatus
''Elaeocarpus reticulatus'', commonly known as blueberry ash, ash quandong, blue olive berry, fairy petticoats, fringe tree, koda, lily of the valley tree and scrub ash, is species of flowering plant in the family Elaeocarpaceae, and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a shrub or small tree with oblong to elliptic leaves, racemes of white or pink flowers and blue, oval to spherical fruit. Description ''Elaeocarpus reticulatus'' is a shrub or small tree that typically grows to a height of , but up to in some situations, and has a lignotuber at its base. The leaves are simple, (strictly compound with only one leaflet), oblong to elliptic, mostly long and wide on a petiole long. The leaves are more or less glabrous, often turn red before falling, have regular teeth along the edges, small domatia and a prominent network of veins on both surfaces. The flowers are arranged in racemes up to long, with between five and ten flowers, each on a pedicel long. The five sepals are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Edward Smith (botanist)
__NOTOC__ Sir James Edward Smith (2 December 1759 – 17 March 1828) was an English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society. Early life and education Smith was born in Norwich in 1759, the son of a wealthy wool merchant. He displayed a precocious interest in the natural world. During the early 1780s he enrolled in the medical course at the University of Edinburgh where he studied chemistry under Joseph Black and natural history under John Walker. He then moved to London in 1783 to continue his studies. Smith was a friend of Sir Joseph Banks, who was offered the entire collection of books, manuscripts and specimens of the Swedish natural historian and botanist Carl Linnaeus following the death of his son Carolus Linnaeus the Younger. Banks declined the purchase, but Smith bought the collection for the bargain price of £1,000. The collection arrived in London in 1784, and in 1785 Smith was elected Fellow of the Royal Society. Academic career Between 1786 and 1788 Smit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drupe
In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') inside. These fruits usually develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries (polypyrenous drupes are exceptions). The definitive characteristic of a drupe is that the hard, lignified stone is derived from the ovary wall of the flower. In an aggregate fruit, which is composed of small, individual drupes (such as a raspberry), each individual is termed a drupelet, and may together form an aggregate fruit. Such fruits are often termed ''berries'', although botanists use a different definition of ''berry''. Other fleshy fruits may have a stony enclosure that comes from the seed coat surrounding the seed, but such fruits are not drupes. Flowering plants that produce drupes include coffee, jujube, mango, oli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olive-backed Oriole
The olive-backed oriole (''Oriolus sagittatus''), or white-bellied oriole, is a very common medium-sized passerine bird native to northern and eastern Australia and south-central New Guinea. The most wide-ranging of the Australasian orioles, it is noisy and conspicuous. Taxonomy and systematics The olive-backed oriole was originally described in the genus ''Coracias'' by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801. Subspecies Four subspecies are recognized: * ''O. s. magnirostris'' - van Oort, 1910: Found in south-central New Guinea * ''O. s. affinis'' - Gould, 1848: Originally described as a separate species. Found in north-western and north-central Australia * ''O. s. grisescens'' - Schodde & Mason, IJ, 1999: Found on Cape York Peninsula (north-eastern Australia) and islands of the Torres Strait * ''O. s. sagittatus'' - (Latham, 1801): Found in eastern Australia Description Not bright in colour, it is olive-backed with small dark streaks, with a light chest having black ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White-headed Pigeon
The white-headed pigeon (''Columba leucomela'') is a pigeon native to the east coast of Australia. Taxonomy and systematics The pigeon family is a group of stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills with a worldwide distribution. The white-headed pigeon is in the genus ''Columba'', the same as the Rock dove (''C. livia)'' from which the domestic pigeon is derived. It has no subspecies. The white-headed pigeon was originally classified as ''C. norfolciensis'', but the 1953 discovery of an 18th century painting indicated that the description was likely for a different bird on Norfolk Island, perhaps the Pacific emerald dove (''Chalcophaps longirostris)''. It is most closely related to the Metallic pigeon (''C. vitiensis).'' Description The white-headed pigeon draws its name from its distinctive white head, neck, breast, and belly. In males, the wings are slate grey, along with the tail. The upperparts are grey black, with a green or purple iridescence. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australasian Figbird
The Australasian figbird (''Sphecotheres vieilloti''), also known as the green figbird (not to be confused with the Timor figbird), is a conspicuous, medium-sized passerine bird native to a wide range of wooded habitats in northern and eastern Australia, southern New Guinea, and the Kai Islands.Higgins, P. J., L. Christidis, & H. A. Ford (2008). Family Oriolidae (Orioles). pp. 692-731 in: del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, & D. A. Christie. eds. (2008). ''Handbook of the Birds of the World.'' Vol. 13. Pendulin-tits to Shrikes. Lynx Edicions. It is common in large parts of its range, and occurs in numerous protected areas. Consequently, it is rated as least concern by BirdLife International and the IUCN. Taxonomy and systematics Formerly, the Australasian figbird was considered as a subspecies of the green figbird and referred to as simply the figbird, a name still commonly used in Australia, where the Australasian figbird is the only figbird present. The Australasian figbird was spli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crimson Rosella
The crimson rosella (''Platycercus elegans'') is a parrot native to eastern and south eastern Australia which has been introduced to New Zealand and Norfolk Island. It is commonly found in, but not restricted to, mountain forests and gardens. The species as it now stands has subsumed two former separate species, the yellow rosella and the Adelaide rosella. Molecular studies show one of the three red-coloured races, ''P. e. nigrescens'', is genetically more distinct. Taxonomy The crimson rosella was described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in the 13th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' in 1788 as ''Psittacus elegans''. The binomial name had been used by Clusius to describe the hawk-headed parrot in 1605, however this predates the start of Linnean taxonomy. The crimson rosella had been described and named by John Latham in 1781 as the "Beautiful Lory", from a specimen in the collection of Sir Joseph Banks, and then as the "Pennantian Parrot" in 1787 in honour of Thomas Pennant. Howeve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wonga Pigeon
The wonga pigeon (''Leucosarcia melanoleuca'') is a pigeon that inhabits areas in eastern Australia with its range being from Central Queensland to Gippsland, eastern Victoria, Australia. Distribution and habitat Previously they could be found as north as Cairns and as south as the Dandenongs, but due to land clearance, shootings in the 1940s for crop protection, and fox predation, they are rarely seen in these areas, but their populations have improved. Description The wonga pigeon is a large, plump pigeon that has a short neck, broad wings, and a long tail. Its length varies from 38 to 40 centimetres (15.2 to 16 inches). It has pastel blue-grey back feathers. The head fades to a creamy-white colour. The underside is white with dotted dark grey spots such that a white V can be seen on its chest. Their eyes are a dark red-brown colour and they have pink eye-rings that encircle them. Legs are red and the sexes appear identical but immature pigeons are browner with a less d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wilsons Promontory
Wilsons Promontory, is a peninsula that forms the southernmost part of the Australian mainland, located in the state of Victoria. South Point at is the southernmost tip of Wilsons Promontory and hence of mainland Australia. Located at nearby South East Point, () is the Wilsons Promontory Lighthouse. Most of the peninsula is protected by the Wilsons Promontory National Park and the Wilsons Promontory Marine National Park. Human history Wilsons Promontory was first occupied by indigenous Koori people at least 6,500 years prior to European arrival. Middens along the western coast indicate that the inhabitants subsisted on a seafood diet. The first European to see the promontory was George Bass in January 1798. He initially referred to it as "Furneaux's Land" in his diary, believing it to be what Captain Furneaux had previously seen. But on returning to Port Jackson and consulting Matthew Flinders he was convinced that the location was so different it could not be that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flinders Island
Flinders Island, the largest island in the Furneaux Group, is a island in the Bass Strait, northeast of the island of Tasmania. Flinders Island was the place where the last remnants of aboriginal Tasmanian population were exiled by the colonial British government. Today Flinders Island is part of the state of Tasmania, Australia. It is from Cape Portland and is located on 40° south, a zone known as the Roaring Forties. History Prehistory Flinders Island was first inhabited at least 35,000 years ago, when people made their way from Australia across the then land-bridge which is now Bass Strait. A population remained until about 4,500 years ago, succumbing to thirst and hunger following an acute El Niño climate shift. European discovery Some of the south-eastern islands of the Furneaux Group were first recorded in 1773 by British navigator Tobias Furneaux, commander of , the support vessel with James Cook on Cook's second voyage. In February 1798, British navigator Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fraser Island
Fraser Island (Butchulla: ) is a World Heritage-listed island along the south-eastern coast in the Wide Bay–Burnett region, Queensland, Australia. The island is approximately north of the state capital, Brisbane, and is within the Fraser Coast Region local government area. The world heritage listing includes the island, its surrounding waters and parts of the nearby mainland. Fraser Island, and some satellite islands off the southern west coast and thus in the Great Sandy Strait, previously formed the County of Fraser, which was subdivided into six parishes. Among the islands were Slain Island, Tooth Island, Roundbush Island, Moonboom Island, Gardner Island, Dream Island, Stewart Island, and the Reef Islands, all part of the southernmost parish of Talboor. The island is about long and wide. It was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1992. The island is considered to be the largest sand island in the world at . It is also Queensland's largest island, Australia's sixth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Binomial Nomenclature
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, although they can be based on words from other languages. Such a name is called a binomial name (which may be shortened to just "binomial"), a binomen, name or a scientific name; more informally it is also historically called a Latin name. The first part of the name – the '' generic name'' – identifies the genus to which the species belongs, whereas the second part – the specific name or specific epithet – distinguishes the species within the genus. For example, modern humans belong to the genus ''Homo'' and within this genus to the species ''Homo sapiens''. ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' is likely the most widely known binomial. The ''formal'' introduction of this system of naming species is credit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John White (surgeon)
John White (c. 1756 – 20 February 1832) was an Irish surgeon and botanical collector. __NOTOC__ Biography White was born in the townland of Drumaran, near Belcoo, in County Fermanagh in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland, about 1756, and not, as stated in the ''Dictionary of Australian Biography'' and the ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', in Sussex, England. On 18 June 1778 John White qualified as a surgeon's mate, first rate, following examination at the Company of Surgeons in London. He entered the Royal Navy on 26 June 1778 as surgeon's mate aboard . He was promoted surgeon in 1780, serving aboard until 1786 when Sir Andrew Hamond recommended him as principal naval surgeon for the voyage of the First Fleet to Australia. In March 1787 White joined the First Fleet at Plymouth as surgeon for the convict transport ''Charlotte'', where he found that the convicts had been living for some time on salt meat, a bad preparation for a long voyage. He succeeded in obta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
