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Quiver Tree
''Aloidendron dichotomum'', formerly ''Aloe dichotoma'', the quiver tree or kokerboom, is a tall, branching species of succulent plant, indigenous to Southern Africa, specifically in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, and parts of Southern Namibia. Naming Known as ''choje'' to the indigenous San people, the quiver tree gets its English common name from the San people practice of hollowing out the tubular branches of ''Aloidendron dichotomum'' to form quivers for their arrows. The specific epithet ''"dichotomum"'' refers to how the stems repeatedly branch into two (" dichotomous" branching) as the plant grows. This species was moved to the genus '' Aloidendron'' as ''Aloidendron dichotomum'' in 2013. Related species Three separate species, ''A. dichotomum'', '' A. pillansii'' and '' A. ramosissimum'' inhabit the same arid areas of the Richtersveld and the Namib Desert around the South African-Namibian border. The three have been given different ratings on the IUCN Red L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis Masson
Francis Masson (August 1741 – 23 December 1805) was a Scotland, Scottish botanist and gardener, and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Kew Gardens’ first Botanical expedition, plant hunter. Life Masson was born in Aberdeen. In the 1760s, he went to work at Kew Gardens as an under-gardener. Masson was the first plant collector to be sent abroad by the newly appointed director Sir Joseph Banks; he sailed with James Cook on HMS Resolution (1771), HMS ''Resolution'' to South Africa, landing in October 1772. Masson stayed until 1775, during which time he sent back to England over 500 species of plant. In 1776, Banks sent Masson abroad again, this time to Madeira, Canary Islands, the Azores and the Antilles. Whilst in Grenada, Masson was captured and imprisoned by the French, a traumatic experience which haunted him for the rest of his life. Although he was eventually released, his collections deteriorated during the delay in securing a passage home, and a hurricane in St. Lucia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quiver Tree Forest
The Quiver Tree Forest (Kokerboom Woud in Afrikaans) is a forest and tourist attraction of southern Namibia. It is located about 14 km north-east of Keetmanshoop, on the road to Koës, on the Gariganus farm. It comprises about 250 specimens of ''Aloidendron dichotomum'', a species that is also locally known as the quiver tree (Afrikaans: ''kokerboom'') because San people traditionally used its branches to make quivers. The forest is spontaneous; the tallest quiver trees are two to three centuries old. The forest was declared a national monument of Namibia in 1995. The quiver tree is also known for looking upside down because the "leaves" look somewhat similar to roots. This tree has a long history of beliefs that it will bring good luck to anybody that worships a tree and nurtures it. Since diamonds are very rich in Namibia, people say that if one of these trees is dug up, one will get diamonds in their lifetime, but since these trees are blessed nobody wants to dig them up ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trees Of South Africa
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are usable as lumber or plants above a specified height. In wider definitions, the taller palms, tree ferns, bananas, and bamboos are also trees. Trees are not a taxonomic group but include a variety of plant species that have independently evolved a trunk and branches as a way to tower above other plants to compete for sunlight. The majority of tree species are angiosperms or hardwoods; of the rest, many are gymnosperms or softwoods. Trees tend to be long-lived, some reaching several thousand years old. Trees have been in existence for 370 million years. It is estimated that there are some three trillion mature trees in the world. A tree typically has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground by the trunk. This trunk typically ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flora Of Namibia
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. Etymology The word "flora" comes from the Latin name of Flora, the goddess of plants, flowers, and fertility in Roman mythology. The technical term "flora" is then derived from a metonymy of this goddess at the end of the sixteenth century. It was first used in poetry to denote the natural vegetation of an area, but soon also assumed the meaning of a work cataloguing such vegetation. Moreover, "Flora" was used to refer to the flowers of an artificial garden in the seventeenth century. The distinction between vegetation (the general appearance of a community) and flora (the taxonomic composition of a community) was first made by Jules Thurmann (1849). Prior to this, the two terms were used indiscriminately.Thurmann, J. (1849). ''Essai de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flora Of The Cape Provinces
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. Etymology The word "flora" comes from the Latin name of Flora, the goddess of plants, flowers, and fertility in Roman mythology. The technical term "flora" is then derived from a metonymy of this goddess at the end of the sixteenth century. It was first used in poetry to denote the natural vegetation of an area, but soon also assumed the meaning of a work cataloguing such vegetation. Moreover, "Flora" was used to refer to the flowers of an artificial garden in the seventeenth century. The distinction between vegetation (the general appearance of a community) and flora (the taxonomic composition of a community) was first made by Jules Thurmann (1849). Prior to this, the two terms were used indiscriminately.Thurmann, J. (1849). ''Essai de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asphodeloideae
Asphodeloideae is a subfamily of the monocot family Asphodelaceae in the order Asparagales. It has previously been treated as a separate family, Asphodelaceae ''sensu stricto''. The family Asphodelaceae has now been proposed to be a nomen conservandum, and the proposal has been recommended for ratification in 2017. In that case, Asphodelaceae will have priority over Xanthorrhoeaceae. This is reflected in the APG IV family lists. The subfamily name is derived from the generic name of the type genus, ''Asphodelus''. Members of group are native to Africa, central and western Europe, the Mediterranean basin, Central Asia and Australia, with one genus ('' Bulbinella'') having some of its species in New Zealand. The greatest diversity occurs in South Africa. The genera ''Aloe'', ''Asphodelus'', and ''Kniphofia'' are perhaps best known from their use in horticulture as ornamental plants. Description The Asphodeloideae are distinguished by a general presence of anthraquinones, s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 staff. Its board of trustees is chaired by Dame Amelia Fawcett. The organisation manages botanic gardens at Kew in Richmond upon Thames in south-west London, and at Wakehurst, a National Trust property in Sussex which is home to the internationally important Millennium Seed Bank, whose scientists work with partner organisations in more than 95 countries. Kew, jointly with the Forestry Commission, founded Bedgebury National Pinetum in Kent in 1923, specialising in growing conifers. In 1994, the Castle Howard Arboretum Trust, which runs the Yorkshire Arboretum, was formed as a partnership between Kew and the Castle Howard Estate. In 2019, the organisation had 2,316,699 public visitors at Kew, and 312,813 at Wakehurst. Its site at Kew ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Checklist Of Selected Plant Families
The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (usually abbreviated to WCSP) is an "international collaborative programme that provides the latest peer reviewed and published opinions on the accepted scientific names and synonyms of selected plant families." Maintained by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, it is available online, allowing searches for the names of families, genera and species, as well as the ability to create checklists. The project traces its history to work done in the 1990s by Kew researcher Rafaël Govaerts on a checklist of the genus ''Quercus''. Influenced by the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, the project expanded. , 173 families of seed plants were included. Coverage of monocotyledon families is complete; other families are being added. There is a complementary project called the International Plant Names Index (IPNI), in which Kew is also involved. The IPNI aims to provide details of publication and does not aim to determine which are accepted spec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aloidendron Barberae
''Aloidendron barberae'', formerly ''Aloe bainesii'' and ''Aloe barberae'', also known as the tree aloe, is a species of succulent plant in the genus ''Aloidendron''. It is native to South Africa northwards to Mozambique. In its native climes this slow-growing tree can reach up to high and in stem diameter. ''Aloidendron barberae'' is Africa's largest aloe-like plant. The tree aloe is often used as an ornamental plant. Its tubular flowers are rose pink (green-tipped); it flowers in winter and in its natural environment is pollinated by sunbirds. Taxonomy ''Aloidendron barberae'' was first collected and submitted for classification by Mary Elizabeth Barber, who was a plant collector in the former Transkei. She sent specimens of the plant and its flowers to the Kew Gardens, Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, where in 1874 it was named by William Turner Thiselton-Dyer (1843–1928) in her honor. Subsequently, it was also found in KwaZulu-Natal by the well known traveller, explorer an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dolerite
Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grained to aphanitic chilled margins which may contain tachylite (dark mafic glass). ''Diabase'' is the preferred name in North America, while ''dolerite'' is the preferred name in the rest of the English-speaking world, where sometimes the name ''diabase'' refers to altered dolerites and basalts. Some geologists prefer to avoid confusion by using the name ''microgabbro''. The name ''diabase'' comes from the French ', and ultimately from the Greek - meaning "act of crossing over, transition". Petrography Diabase normally has a fine but visible texture of euhedral lath-shaped plagioclase crystals (62%) set in a finer matrix of clinopyroxene, typically augite (20–29%), with minor olivine (3% up to 12% in olivine diabase), magnetite (2%), and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sociable Weaver
The sociable weaver (''Philetairus socius'') is a species of bird in the weaver family that is endemic to southern Africa. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Philetairus''. It is found in South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana. but their range is centered within the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. They build large compound community nests, a rarity among birds. These nests are perhaps the most spectacular structure built by any bird. Taxonomy and systematics The sociable weaver was first described by ornithologist John Latham in 1790. Alternative names include the common social weaver, common social-weaver, and social weaver. Formerly, four sub-species were recognised but the species is now considered monotypic. The sociable weaver is the only extant species in the genus ''Philetairus''. Phylogeny Based on a 2017 DNA-analysis, ''Philetairus socius'' belongs to the group of sparrow weavers (subfamily Plocepasserinae) and is most related to the genus ''Pseu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Namib-Naukluft National Park
The Namib-Naukluft Park is a national park in western Namibia, situated between the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and the edge of the Great Escarpment. It encompasses part of the Namib Desert (considered the world's oldest desert), the Naukluft mountain range, and the lagoon at Sandwich Harbour. The best-known area of the park and one of the main visitor attractions in Namibia is Sossusvlei, a clay pan surrounded by dunes, and Sesriem, a small canyon of the Tsauchab. The desert research station of Gobabeb is situated within the park. Location and description With an overall area of , the Namib-Naukluft National Park was at the time of its last expansion the largest game park in Africa and the fourth largest in the world. It consists of a strip of land on the Atlantic Ocean, including of sea, that extends roughly north-to-south from the Swakop River to the B4 road to Lüderitz. Wildlife A surprising collection of creatures survives in the hyper-arid region, including snakes, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
