|
Ficus Henneana
''Ficus henneana'' is a strangler fig only occurring in Australia. Previously considered a variety of ''Ficus superba'' which occurs in China, Japan and parts of South East Asia. The cedar fig or deciduous fig grows in Australia from Milton, New South Wales to northern Queensland and the Northern Territory. The habitat is riverine, littoral or the drier forms of rainforest. The fruit is considered edible for humans, but it is not particularly palatable. Collection and naming This Australian variety was named after Diedrich Henne, who collected this plant at Booby Island in the Torres Strait in 1861. In 1868 it was named ''Ficus henneana''. Joseph Banks also collected this plant from the Booby Island on August 23, 1770. That specimen may have been from the same tree as Henne's specimen, (as the island is so small). Banks' plant was named in 1901 after the Endeavor's artist Sydney Parkinson, (Ficus parkinsonii). However, this name fell out of favour as ''Ficus henneana'' was al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pacific Highway (Australia)
Pacific Highway is a national highway and major transport route along the central east coast of Australia, with the majority of it being part of Australia's Highway 1. The highway and its adjoining Pacific Motorway between Brisbane and Brunswick Heads and Pacific Motorway between Sydney and Newcastle links the state capitals of Sydney in New South Wales with Brisbane in Queensland, approximately paralleling the Tasman Sea of the South Pacific Ocean coast, via Gosford, Newcastle, Taree, Port Macquarie, Kempsey, Coffs Harbour, Grafton, and Ballina. Additionally, between Brunswick Heads and Port Macquarie (excepting for a short stretch around Coffs Harbour), the road is also signed as Pacific Motorway, but has not been legally gazetted as such. Pacific Highway no longer includes former sections of the highway between Brunswick Heads and Brisbane that have been legally renamed. As such, the highway stops short of the Queensland border near the Gold Coast. It is one of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diedrich Henne
Diedrich Henne (1834 – 21 January 1913) was a German-born botanist and plant collector. He emigrated to Australia and was employed as an assistant to the colonial botanist Ferdinand von Mueller at the Melbourne Herbarium. Henne was one of a number of influential German-speaking residents such as William Blandowski, Ludwig Becker, Hermann Beckler, Amalie Dietrich, Gerard Krefft, Johann Luehmann, Johann Menge, Ludwig Preiss, Carl Ludwig Christian Rümker (a.k.a. Ruemker), Moritz Richard Schomburgk, Richard Wolfgang Semon, George Ulrich, Eugene von Guérard, Robert von Lendenfeld, Ferdinand von Mueller, Georg von Neumayer, and Carl Wilhelmi who brought their "epistemic traditions" to Australia, and not only became "deeply entangled with the Australian colonial project", but also "intricately involved in imagining, knowing and shaping colonial Australia" (Barrett, et al., 2018, p.2). He collected six cases of plants when employed as a botanist on the Burke and Wills re ... [...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] |
Fig Wasp
Fig wasps are wasps of the superfamily Chalcidoidea which spend their larval stage inside figs. Most are pollinators but others simply feed off the plant. The non-pollinators belong to several groups within the superfamily Chalcidoidea, while the pollinators are in the family Agaonidae. While pollinating fig wasps are gall-makers, the remaining types either make their own galls or usurp the galls of other fig wasps; reports of their being parasitoids are considered dubious. History Aristotle recorded in his ''History of Animals'' that the fruits of the wild fig (the caprifig) contain ''psenes'' (fig wasps); these begin life as grubs (larvae), and the adult ''psen'' splits its "skin" (pupa) and flies out of the fig to find and enter a cultivated fig, saving it from dropping. He believed that the ''psen'' was generated spontaneously; he did not recognise that the fig was reproducing sexually and that the ''psen'' was assisting in that process. Taxonomy The fig wasps are a pol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Syconium
Syconium (plural ''syconia'') is the type of inflorescence borne by figs (genus ''Ficus''), formed by an enlarged, fleshy, hollow receptacle with multiple ovaries on the inside surface. In essence, it is really a fleshy stem with a number of flowers, so it is considered both a multiple and accessory fruit. Etymology The term ''syconium'' comes from the Ancient Greek word (''sykon''), meaning "fig". Morphology The syconium is an urn-shaped receptacle which contains between 50 and 7000 (depending on the species) highly simplified uniovulate flowers or florets on its inner surface. It is closed off from most organisms by the ostiole, fringed by scale-like bracts. Syconia can be monoecious or functionally dioecious: the former contain female flowers with variable style length and few male flowers, and produce seeds and pollen. The latter have male and female forms in different plants: seed figs contain female flowers with long styles and produce seeds; gall figs contain female ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New South Wales
) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_date = Colony of New South Wales , established_title2 = Establishment , established_date2 = 26 January 1788 , established_title3 = Responsible government , established_date3 = 6 June 1856 , established_title4 = Federation , established_date4 = 1 January 1901 , named_for = Wales , demonym = , capital = Sydney , largest_city = capital , coordinates = , admin_center = 128 local government areas , admin_center_type = Administration , leader_title1 = Monarch , leader_name1 = Charles III , leader_title2 = Governor , leader_name2 = Margaret Beazley , leader_title3 = Premier , leader_name3 = Dominic Perrottet (Liberal) , national_representation = Parliament of Australia , national_representation_type1 = Senat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moreton Bay Fig
''Ficus macrophylla'', commonly known as the Moreton Bay fig or Australian banyan, is a large evergreen banyan tree of the family Moraceae native to eastern Australia, from the Wide Bay–Burnett region in the north to the Illawarra in New South Wales, as well as Lord Howe Island. Its common name is derived from Moreton Bay in Queensland, Australia. It is best known for its imposing buttress roots. ''Ficus macrophylla'' is called a strangler fig because seed germination usually takes place in the canopy of a host tree, where the seedling lives as an epiphyte until its roots establish contact with the ground, when it enlarges and strangles its host, eventually becoming a freestanding tree by itself. Individuals may reach in height. Like all figs, it has an obligate mutualism with fig wasps; figs are pollinated only by fig wasps, and fig wasps can reproduce only in fig flowers. Many species of birds, including pigeons, parrots, and various passerines, eat the fruit. ''Ficu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hemi-epiphyte
A hemiepiphyte is a plant that spends part of its life cycle as an epiphyte. The seeds of primary hemiepiphytes germinate in the canopy and initially live epiphytically. They send roots downward, and these roots eventually make contact with the ground. Secondary hemiepiphytes are root-climbers that begin as rooted vines growing upward from the forest floor, but later break their connection to the ground. When this happens, they may send down long roots to the ground.Mayo et al. "Araceae" in Kubitzki (1998b ''The families and genera of vascular plants''): "The root climbers and hemiepiphytes normally grow in humid forests, often very high in the canopy. When losing connection with the forest floor, they may send down long roots to the ground; such plants may be referred to as secondary hemiepiphytes. Hemiepiphytes and root climbers cling tightly to the bark of the host with negatively phototropic roots. Skototropism, an orientation movement towards a well-defined dark area, has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Booby Island Aerial
A booby is a seabird in the genus ''Sula'', part of the family Sulidae. Boobies are closely related to the gannets (''Morus''), which were formerly included in ''Sula''. Systematics and evolution The genus ''Sula'' was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The type species is the brown booby. The name is derived from ''súla'', the Old Norse and Icelandic word for the other member of the family Sulidae, the gannet. The English name "booby" was possibly based on the Spanish slang term ''bobo'', meaning "stupid", as these tame birds had a habit of landing on board sailing ships, where they were easily captured and eaten. Owing to this, boobies are often mentioned as having been caught and eaten by shipwrecked sailors, notably William Bligh of the ''Bounty'' and his adherents during their famous voyage after being set adrift by Fletcher Christian and his followers. Six of the ten extant Sulidae species called ''boobies'' are in the genus ''Sula ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, after flowering; and to the shedding of ripe fruit. The antonym of ''deciduous'' in the botanical sense is evergreen. Generally, the term "deciduous" means "the dropping of a part that is no longer needed or useful" and the "falling away after its purpose is finished". In plants, it is the result of natural processes. "Deciduous" has a similar meaning when referring to animal parts, such as deciduous antlers in deer, deciduous teeth (baby teeth) in some mammals (including humans); or decidua, the uterine lining that sheds off after birth. Botany In botany and horticulture, deciduous plants, including trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials, are those that lose all of their leaves for part of the year. This process is called abscissio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sydney Parkinson
Sydney Parkinson (c. 1745 – 26 January 1771) was a Scottish botanical illustrator and natural history artist. He was the first European artist to visit Australia, New Zealand and Tahiti. Parkinson was the first Quaker to visit New Zealand. Early life and family Parkinson was born in Edinburgh; his parents were the Edinburgh brewer Joel Parkinson, a Quaker, and his wife Elizabeth. His birth year is usually given as , but is somewhat suspect as his mother was born . He had a brother, Stanfield, and a sister, whose name was Britannia. The parents were members of the Edinburgh meeting of Quakers; John Fothergill was another member. Parkinson's father died in 1749, leaving the family in financial difficulties. Parkinson became apprentice of a woollen draper. According to his brother, he took "a particular delight in drawing flowers, fruits and other objects of natural history", becoming "so great a proficient in that stile of painting, as to attract the notice of the most ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Voyage Of James Cook
The first voyage of James Cook was a combined Royal Navy and Royal Society expedition to the south Pacific Ocean aboard HMS ''Endeavour'', from 1768 to 1771. It was the first of three Pacific voyages of which James Cook was the commander. The aims of this first expedition were to observe the 1769 transit of Venus across the Sun (3–4 June that year), and to seek evidence of the postulated ''Terra Australis Incognita'' or "undiscovered southern land". The voyage was commissioned by King George III and commanded by Lieutenant Cook, a junior naval officer with good skills in cartography and mathematics. Departing from Plymouth Dockyard in August 1768, the expedition crossed the Atlantic, rounded Cape Horn and reached Tahiti in time to observe the transit of Venus. Cook then set sail into the largely uncharted ocean to the south, stopping at the Pacific islands of Huahine, Borabora and Raiatea to claim them for Great Britain. In October 1769 the expedition reached New Zealand, be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_world2.png "Click for more on -> Booby Island Aerial")
