Tapinanthus Rubromarginatus
''Tapinanthus rubromarginatus'', commonly known as red mistletoe, is a species of plant in the family Loranthaceae. The leaf margins are red as reflected by the specific name ''rubro-'', meaning "red", and ''marginatus'' meaning "margin". Range and hosts It is native to northern South Africa, northwards of the Vaal and Pongola Rivers, and to the uplands of western and northern Eswatini. The host plants include ''Protea caffra'', ''Protea roupelliae'' and ''Faurea saligna''. Description 250px, left, Sunbird feeding on ''T. rubromarginatus'' nectar, and assisting in pollination. This is a deciduous, semi-parasitic aerial shrub, that attaches itself to the host plant by haustoria In botany and mycology, a haustorium (plural haustoria) is a rootlike structure that grows into or around another structure to absorb water or nutrients. For example, in mistletoe or members of the broomrape family, the structure penetrates t .... The leaves are clustered in groups, and have narro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Adolf Engler
Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (25 March 1844 – 10 October 1930) was a German botanist. He is notable for his work on alpha taxonomy, plant taxonomy and phytogeography, such as ''Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'' (''The Natural Plant Families''), edited with Karl Anton Eugen Prantl, Karl A. E. von Prantl. Even now, his system of plant classification, the Engler system, is still used by many Herbarium, herbaria and is followed by writers of many manuals and Flora (plants), floras. It is still the only system that treats all 'plants' (in the wider sense, algae to flowering plants) in such depth. Engler published a prodigious number of taxonomic works. He used various artists to illustrate his books, notably Joseph Pohl (1864–1939), an illustrator who had served an apprenticeship as a wood-engraver. Pohl's skill drew Engler's attention, starting a collaboration of some 40 years. Pohl produced more than 33 000 drawings in 6 000 plates for ''Die naturlichen Pflanzenfamilien''. He ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Benedictus Hubertus Danser
Benedictus Hubertus Danser (May 24, 1891, Schiedam – October 18, 1943, Groningen), often abbreviated B. H. Danser, was a Dutch taxonomist and botanist. Danser specialised in the plant families Loranthaceae, Nepenthaceae, and Polygonaceae. In 1928, Danser published an exhaustive revision of the genus ''Nepenthes'', recognising 65 species in "The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies". While nowadays more than 140 species of ''Nepenthes'' are known,McPherson, S.R. 2011. '' New Nepenthes: Volume One''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. Danser's work is still referenced by specialists in the field.Clarke, C.M. 2006. Introduction. In: Danser, B.H. ''The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies''. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu. pp. 1–15. Danser died in Groningen on October 18, 1943. The genus ''Dansera'' (Fabaceae) and the species ''Nepenthes danseri'' (Nepenthaceae), ''Rumex danseri'' (Polygonaceae) and ''Taxillus danseriana'' (Loranthaceae Loranth ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclude the fungi and some algae, as well as the prokaryotes (the archaea and bacteria). By one definition, plants form the clade Viridiplantae (Latin name for "green plants") which is sister of the Glaucophyta, and consists of the green algae and Embryophyta (land plants). The latter includes the flowering plants, conifers and other gymnosperms, ferns and their allies, hornworts, liverworts, and mosses. Most plants are multicellular organisms. Green plants obtain most of their energy from sunlight via photosynthesis by primary chloroplasts that are derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria. Their chloroplasts contain chlorophylls a and b, which gives them their green color. Some plants are parasitic or mycotrophic and have lost the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Loranthaceae
Loranthaceae, commonly known as the showy mistletoes, is a family of flowering plants. It consists of about 75 genera and 1,000 species of woody plants, many of them hemiparasites. The three terrestrial species are ''Nuytsia floribunda'' (the Western Australian Christmas tree), ''Atkinsonia ligustrina'' (from the Blue Mountains of Australia), and '' Gaiadendron punctatum'' (from Central/South America.) Loranthaceae are primarily xylem parasites, but their haustoria may sometimes tap the phloem, while '' Tristerix aphyllus'' is almost holoparasitic. For a more complete description of the Australian Loranthaceae, seFlora of Australia online, for the Malesian Loranthaceae seFlora of Malesia Originally, Loranthaceae contained all mistletoe species, but the mistletoes of Europe and North America (''Viscum'', ''Arceuthobium'', and ''Phoradendron'') belong to the family Santalaceae. The APG II system 2003 assigns the family to the order Santalales in the clade core eudicots. Phylog ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of . South Africa has three capital cities, with the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government based in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town respectively. The largest city is Johannesburg. About 80% of the population are Black South Afri ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vaal River
The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Ocean. It then flows westwards to its conjunction with the Orange River southwest of Kimberley in the Northern Cape. It is long, and forms the border between Mpumalanga, Gauteng and North West Province on its north bank, and the Free State on its south. It is the third largest river in South Africa after the Orange River (2200 km long) and the Limpopo River (1750 km long) and was established as the main source of water for the great Witswatersrand area after the gold rush during the 19th century. The Vaal Dam lies on the Vaal River in Deneysville just south of the border between Gauteng and the Free State. It is also important to note that the Vaal River is the longest river wholly within the borders of South Africa. ''Vaal'' is a D ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pongola River
The Phongolo River is a river in South Africa. It is a tributary of the Maputo River. It rises near Utrecht in northern KwaZulu-Natal, flows east through Pongolo, is dammed at Pongolapoort, and crosses the Ubombo Mountains; then it flows north towards Mozambique, joining the Maputo River. Its main tributaries are the Bivane River and the Mozana River in South Africa, as well as the Ngwavuma in Eswatini. See also * 1305 Pongola * Pongolapoort Dam * List of rivers of South Africa This is a list of rivers in South Africa. It is quite common to find the Afrikaans word ''-rivier'' as part of the name. Another common suffix is "''-kamma''", from the Khoisan term for "river" Meiring, Barbara"South African Toponymic Guideline ... References Maputo River Rivers of KwaZulu-Natal {{SouthAfrica-river-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Eswatini
Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its north, west, south, and southeast. At no more than north to south and east to west, Eswatini is one of the smallest countries in Africa; despite this, its climate and topography are diverse, ranging from a cool and mountainous highveld to a hot and dry lowveld. The population is composed primarily of ethnic Swazis. The prevalent language is Swazi (''siSwati'' in native form). The Swazis established their kingdom in the mid-18th century under the leadership of Ngwane III. The country and the Swazi take their names from Mswati II, the 19th-century king under whose rule the country was expanded and unified; its boundaries were drawn up in 1881 in the midst of the Scramble for Africa. After the Second Boer War, the kingdom, under the name of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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]   |
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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]   |
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Faurea Saligna
''Faurea saligna'' is a graceful, semi-deciduous tree of the family Proteaceae growing to about 10 metres, or up to 20 metres under forest conditions. Found from tropical Africa south to the Transvaal, Swaziland and Natal, often in large communities on sandy soil and along stream beds. Its dark-grey to black bark is rough and deeply fissured, while the narrow drooping leaves are reminiscent of a willow (''saligna'' meaning Salix-like). The timber was much-prized by the Voortrekkers for furniture and they named it ''Transvaal Boekenhout'' for the timber's resemblance to that of the European Beech. There are some 15 species of ''Faurea'' occurring in Africa and Madagascar. William Henry Harvey named the genus after William Caldwell Faure (1822-1844), a young soldier and enthusiastic botanist who was killed in India, and was the son of Cape Town Dutch Reformed minister Abraham Faure. Faure had accompanied Harvey on numerous botanising excursions, and had left the Cape for India ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Amethyst Sunbird, Chalcomitra Amethystina, Female At Kloofendal Nature Reserve, Johannesburg, South Africa (21354148246), Crop
Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz. The name comes from the Koine Greek αμέθυστος ''amethystos'' from α- ''a-'', "not" and μεθύσκω (Ancient Greek) / μεθώ (Modern Greek), "intoxicate", a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness. Ancient Greeks wore amethyst and carved drinking vessels from it in the belief that it would prevent intoxication. Amethyst, a semiprecious stone, is often used in jewelry and is the traditional birthstone for February. Structure Amethyst is a purple variety of quartz (SiO2) and owes its violet color to irradiation, impurities of iron and in some cases other transition metals, and the presence of other trace elements, which result in complex crystal lattice substitutions.Michael O'Donoghue (2006), ''Gems'', Butterworth-Heinemann, 6th ed. The hardness of the mineral is the same as quartz, thus making it suitable for use in jewelry. Hue and tone Amethyst occurs in primary hues from a lig ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |