|
Gurney's Sugarbird
Gurney's sugarbird (''Promerops gurneyi'') is a medium-sized passerine endemic to the mid- and high-altitude grassland velds in southern Africa. It belongs to the family Promeropidae, which contains one genus, ''Promerops'', and two species. Gurney's sugarbird feeds on nectar from ''Protea'' bushes as well as on small insects. This bird is characterized by its long, graduated tail and decurved beak. The common name and Latin binomial commemorate the British banker and amateur ornithologist John Henry Gurney (1819-1890). Description Gurney's sugarbird has a long, decurved bill characteristic of nectarivores. It has a chestnut-coloured forehead, along with a faint white eyestripe and white mustachial stripe. A white throat stands out against the russet breast. This species of sugarbird has a dark grey back, and a conspicuous bright yellow rump makes this bird easy to spot. The tail is long and graduated, ranging from 11 to 19.3 cm in length. This species measures between 23 a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jules Verreaux
Jules Pierre Verreaux (24 August 1807 – 7 September 1873) was a French botanist and ornithologist and a professional collector of and trader in natural history specimens. He was the brother of Édouard Verreaux and nephew of Pierre Antoine Delalande. Career Verreaux worked for the family business, Maison Verreaux, established in 1803 by his father, Jacques Philippe Verreaux, at Place des Vosges in Paris, which was the earliest known company that dealt in objects of natural history. The company funded collection expeditions to various parts of the world. Maison Verreaux sold many specimens to the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle to add to its collections. In 1830, while travelling in modern-day Botswana, Verreaux witnessed the burial of a Tswana warrior. Verreaux returned to the burial site under cover of night to dig up the African's body where he retrieved the skin, the skull and a few bones. Verreaux intended to ship the body back to France and so prepared and preser ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Onychognathus
''Onychognathus'' is a genus of starlings, most of which are found in Africa. All the species are quite similar, and characterised by rufous primary wing feathers, very obvious in flight. The males are typically mainly glossy black, and the females have dull (sometimes dark, depending on species) grey heads. The genus was introduced by the German physician and ornithologist Gustav Hartlaub in 1849 with the chestnut-winged starling as the type species. The name ''Onychognathus'' combines the Ancient Greek words ''onukhos'' "claw" or "nail" and ''gnathos'' "jaw". The genus contains 11 species. *Red-winged starling, ''Onychognathus morio'' *Slender-billed starling, ''Onychognathus tenuirostris'' * Chestnut-winged starling, ''Onychognathus fulgidus'' *Waller's starling, ''Onychognathus walleri'' *Somali starling, ''Onychognathus blythii'' *Socotra starling, ''Onychognathus frater'' *Tristram's starling, ''Onychognathus tristramii'' * Pale-winged starling, ''Onychognathus nabouroup' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brachystegia
''Brachystegia'' is a genus of tree of the subfamily Detarioideae that is native to tropical Africa. Trees of the genus are commonly known as miombo, and are dominant in the miombo woodlands of central and southern tropical Africa. The Zambezian region is the centre of diversity for the genus.Emmanuel N. Chidumayo and Davison J. Gumbo, eds. (2010). ''The dry forests and woodlands of Africa: managing for products and services''. Earthscan, 2010. Description Hybridisation between the species occurs and taxa show considerable variation in leaflet size, shape and number, making identification difficult. New leaves show a great range of red colours when immature, later turning to various shades of green. Species * '' Brachystegia allenii'' * '' Brachystegia angustistipulata'' * '' Brachystegia bakeriana'' * '' Brachystegia bequaertii'' * ''Brachystegia boehmii'' * '' Brachystegia bussei'' * '' Brachystegia cynometroides'' * ''Brachystegia eurycoma'' * '' Brachystegia floribunda'' * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aloe
''Aloe'' (; also written ''Aloë'') is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering succulent plants.WFO (2022): Aloe L. Published on the Internet;http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000001341. Accessed on: 06 Nov 2022 The most widely known species is '' Aloe vera'', or "true aloe". It is called this because it is cultivated as the standard source for assorted pharmaceutical purposes. Other species, such as ''Aloe ferox'', are also cultivated or harvested from the wild for similar applications. The APG IV system (2016) places the genus in the family Asphodelaceae, subfamily Asphodeloideae. Within the subfamily it may be placed in the tribe Aloeae.Stevens, P.F. (2001 onwards).Asphodelaceae. ''Angiosperm Phylogeny Website''. Retrieved 2016-06-09. In the past, it has been assigned to the family Aloaceae (now included in the Asphodeloidae) or to a broadly circumscribed family Liliaceae (the lily family). The plant ''Agave americana'', which is sometimes called "Americ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protea Caffra
''Protea caffra'' (sometimes called the common protea), native to South Africa, is a small tree or shrub which occurs in open or wooded grassland, usually on rocky ridges. Its leaves are leathery and hairless. The flower head is solitary or in clusters of 3 or 4 with the involucral bracts a pale red, pink or cream colour. The fruit is a densely hairy nut. The species is highly variable and has several subspecies. ''Protea'' is a flowering plant genus in the family Proteaceae. The species epithet ''caffra'' is derived from Kaffraria, the 17th century geographical name for the eastern regions of South Africa, especially Natal where the shrub was first discovered by Ferdinand Krauss in December/January 1839/40. ''P. caffra'' has never attracted much attention from horticulturalists. It was induced to flower at Kew Gardens in May 1893, but this failed to kindle any further interest in the species. Its chief claim to fame is that it was illustrated on the reverse of a South African co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protea Roupelliae
''Protea roupelliae'' is a species of ''Protea'' in the large family Proteaceae, and was named to commemorate Arabella Elizabeth Roupell (1817-1914) who spent two years in Cape Town and painted local flowers for her own pleasure. This species is also known as the ''silver sugarbush''. Description It is a small tree which grows from three to five metres high on average. Taxonomy This species has two subspecies, ''P. roupelliae hamiltonii'' and ''P. roupelliae roupelliae''. ''P. roupelliae hamiltonii'' is a single-stemmed small shrublet which grows up to 0.3 metres tall. ''P. roupelliae roupelliae'', on the other hand, may grow to be a small tree of about 8 metres in height. ''Protea roupelliae'' is placed in the subfamily Proteoideae, which is found mainly in Southern Africa. This subfamily is defined as those species having cluster roots, solitary ovules and indehiscent fruits. Proteoideae is further divided into four tribes: Conospermeae, Petrophileae, Proteae and Leucadend ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Altitudinal Migration
Altitudinal migration is a short-distance animal migration from lower altitudes to higher altitudes and back. Altitudinal migrants change their elevation with the seasons making this form of animal migration seasonal. Altitudinal migration can be most commonly observed in species inhabiting temperate or tropical ecosystems. This behavior is commonly seen among avian species but can also be observed within other vertebrates and some invertebrates. It is commonly thought to happen in response to climate and food availability changes as well as increasingly due to anthropogenic influence. These migrations can occur both during reproductive and non-reproductive seasons. The patterns of altitudinal migration may be affected by climate change resulting in potentially life-threatening situations for some species. Deforestation can affect the migration corridors of altitudinal migrant and could lead to smaller areas for these species to migrate. Changes the environment of altitudinally mig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Limpopo
Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is situated in Lebowakgomo. The province is made up of 3 former homelands of Lebowa, Gazankulu and Venda and the former parts of the Transvaal province. The Limpopo province was established as one of the new nine provinces after South Africa's first democratic election on the 27th of April 1994. The province's name was first "Northern Transvaal", later changed to "Northern Province" on the 28th of June 1995, together with two other provinces. The name was later changed again in 2002 to the Limpopo province. Limpopo is made up of 3 main ethnic groups namely; Pedi people, Tsonga and Venda people. Traditional leaders and chiefs still form a strong backbone of the province's political landscape. Established in terms of the Limpopo House of Tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in 1994 out of the Xhosa homelands or bantustans of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province. The central and eastern part of the province is the traditional home of the indigenous Xhosa people. In 1820 this area which was known as the Xhosa Kingdom began to be settled by Europeans who originally came from England and some from Scotland and Ireland. Since South Africa's early years, many Xhosas believed in Africanism and figures such as Walter Rubusana believed that the rights of Xhosa people and Africans in general, could not be protected unless Africans mobilized and worked together. As a result, the Eastern Cape is home to many anti-apartheid leaders such as Robert Sobukwe, Oliver Tambo, Nelson Mandel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Highland
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is usually reserved for ranges of low mountains. However, the two terms are sometimes interchangeable. Highlands internationally Probably the best-known area officially or unofficially referred to as ''highlands'' in the Anglosphere is the Scottish Highlands in northern Scotland, the mountainous region north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault. The Highland council area is a local government area in the Scottish Highlands and Britain's largest local government area. Other highland or upland areas reaching 400-500 m or higher in the United Kingdom include the Southern Uplands in Scotland, the Pennines, North York Moors, Dartmoor and Exmoor in England, and the Cambrian Mountains in Wales. Many countries and regions also have areas referre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transvaal (province)
The Province of the Transvaal ( af, Provinsie van Transvaal), commonly referred to as the Transvaal (; ), was a province of South Africa from 1910 until 1994, when a new constitution subdivided it following the end of apartheid. The name "Transvaal" refers to the province's geographical location to the north of the Vaal River. Its capital was Pretoria, which was also the country's executive capital. History In 1910, four British colonies united to form the Union of South Africa. The Transvaal Colony, which had been formed out of the bulk of the old South African Republic after the Second Boer War, became the Transvaal Province in the new union. Half a century later, in 1961, the union ceased to be part of the Commonwealth of Nations and became the Republic of South Africa. The PWV (Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeniging) conurbation in the Transvaal, centred on Pretoria and Johannesburg, became South Africa's economic powerhouse, a position it still holds today as Gauteng Province ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Highveld
The Highveld (Afrikaans: ''Hoëveld'', where ''veld'' means "field") is the portion of the South African inland plateau which has an altitude above roughly 1500 m, but below 2100 m, thus excluding the Lesotho mountain regions to the south-east of the Highveld. It is home to some of the country's most important commercial farming areas, as well as its largest concentration of metropolitan centres, especially the Gauteng conurbation, which accommodates one-third of South Africa's population. Location and description The Highveld constitutes almost the whole of the Free State, and Gauteng Provinces, and portions of the surrounding areas: the western rim of Lesotho, and portions of the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, North West, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga Provinces of South Africa. The highest part of the Highveld, around 2100 m, is its northeastern well-defined boundary, where the plateau escarpment (the Mpumalanga Drakensberg) separates it from the Mpumalanga Lowveld, (containing, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
