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Triodia Irritans
''Triodia irritans'' is a species of plant that forms low and dense mounds of tough grassy vegetation. It is found on sandplains in arid regions of southern and central Australia. The species was first described by Robert Brown in 1810. A common name for this and other species of '' Triodia'' is porcupine grass. ''Triodia irritans'' is found on red and grey sands in Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory, where it dominates a plain, dune or rocky hill as tussocks. Flowering occurs throughout the year. Its leaves are sharp and can easily penetrate human skin. The plant's flammability can lead to extremely fast-moving wildfires. A minute species of dasyurid marsupial, ''Ningaui yvonneae The southern ningaui (''Ningaui yvonneae'') is a tiny marsupial carnivore belonging to the Dasyuridae family. Similar in appearance to '' Ningaui ridei'', found throughout central Australia, this species occurs in spinifex on semi-arid sandplai ...'', favours the prot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Brown (botanist, Born 1773)
Robert Brown (21 December 1773 – 10 June 1858) was a Scottish botanist and paleobotanist who made important contributions to botany largely through his pioneering use of the microscope. His contributions include one of the earliest detailed descriptions of the cell nucleus and cytoplasmic streaming; the observation of Brownian motion; early work on plant pollination and fertilisation, including being the first to recognise the fundamental difference between gymnosperms and angiosperms; and some of the earliest studies in palynology. He also made numerous contributions to plant taxonomy, notably erecting a number of plant families that are still accepted today; and numerous Australian plant genera and species, the fruit of his exploration of that continent with Matthew Flinders. Early life Robert Brown was born in Montrose on 21 December 1773, in a house that existed on the site where Montrose Library currently stands. He was the son of James Brown, a minister in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sandplain
A sandplain is an area where the soil is sand deposited from elsewhere by processes such as wind or ocean, rather than direct weathering of bedrock. Sandplains are quite flat. There may be dune systems, and given time and the right conditions these may form eolianite ridges, but other than that there is little to give a sandplain any topographical character. Inland sandplains are often extremely infertile, because the sand is often low in nutrients when deposited, plus the good drainage means any nutrients are rapidly leached away. Coastal sandplains in intertidal zones like those seen in the Wadden Sea in western Europe for example, are wet with nutrients added continuously, so they can often support a very rich and important fauna of birds, worms, mussels, etc.. In North America, sandplains are often vegetated by pine barrens. In Western Australia, kwongan is the dominant vegetation. See also *Outwash plain An outwash plain, also called a sandur (plural: ''sandurs''), s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, sixth-largest country. Australia is the oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. It is a Megadiverse countries, megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, with Deserts of Australia, deserts in the centre, tropical Forests of Australia, rainforests in the north-east, and List of mountains in Australia, mountain ranges in the south-east. The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south east Asia approximately Early human migrations#Nearby Oceania, 65,000 years ago, during the Last Glacial Period, last i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triodia (plant)
''Triodia'' is a large genus of hummock-forming bunchgrass endemic to Australia. They are known by the common name spinifex, although they are not a part of the coastal genus '' Spinifex''. Many of the soft-leaved members of this species were formerly included in the genus ''Plectrachne''. It is known as ''tjanpi'' in central Australia, and is used for basket weaving by the women of various Aboriginal Australian peoples. A multiaccess key (SpiKey) is available as a free application for identifying the ''Triodia'' of the Pilbara (28 species and one hybrid). Description ''Triodia'' is a perennial Australian tussock grass that grows in arid regions. Its leaves (30–40 centimetres long) are subulate ( awl-shaped, with a tapering point). The leaf tips, that are high in silica, can break off in the skin, leading to infections. Uses Spinifex has traditionally had many uses for Aboriginal Australians. The seeds were collected and ground to make seedcakes. Spinifex resin was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Australia is Australia's largest state, with a total land area of . It is the second-largest country subdivision in the world, surpassed only by Russia's Sakha Republic. the state has 2.76 million inhabitants percent of the national total. The vast majority (92 percent) live in the south-west corner; 79 percent of the population lives in the Perth area, leaving the remainder of the state sparsely populated. The first Europeans to visit Western Australia belonged to the Dutch Dirk Hartog expedition, who visited the Western Australian coast in 1616. The first permanent European colony of Western Australia occurred following the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, and second smallest state by population. It has a total of 1.8 million people. Its population is the second most highly centralised in Australia, after Western Australia, with more than 77 percent of South Australians living in the capital Adelaide, or its environs. Other population centres in the state are relatively small; Mount Gambier, the second-largest centre, has a population of 33,233. South Australia shares borders with all of the other mainland states, as well as the Northern Territory; it is bordered to the west by Western Australia, to the north by the Northern Territory, to the north-east by Queensland, to the east by New South Wales, to the south-east by Victoria, and to the south by the Great Australian Bight.M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Australia to the west (129th meridian east), South Australia to the south (26th parallel south), and Queensland to the east (138th meridian east). To the north, the territory looks out to the Timor Sea, the Arafura Sea and the Gulf of Carpentaria, including Western New Guinea and other islands of the Indonesian archipelago. The NT covers , making it the third-largest Australian federal division, and List of country subdivisions by area, the 11th-largest country subdivision in the world. It is sparsely populated, with a population of only 249,000 – fewer than half as many people as in Tasmania. The largest population center is the capital city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin. The archaeological hist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tussock (grass)
Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennial plants, most species live more than one season. Tussock grasses are often found as forage in pastures and ornamental grasses in gardens. Many species have long roots that may reach or more into the soil, which can aid slope stabilization, erosion control, and soil porosity for precipitation absorption. Also, their roots can reach moisture more deeply than other grasses and annual plants during seasonal or climatic droughts. The plants provide habitat and food for insects (including Lepidoptera), birds, small animals and larger herbivores, and support beneficial soil mycorrhiza. The leaves supply material, such as for basket weaving, for indigenous peoples and contemporary artists. Tussock and bunch grasses occur in almost any habitat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dasyurid
The Dasyuridae are a family of marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea, including 71 extant species divided into 17 genera. Many are small and mouse-like or shrew-like, giving some of them the name marsupial mice or marsupial shrews, but the group also includes the cat-sized quolls, as well as the Tasmanian devil. They are found in a wide range of habitats, including grassland, underground, forests, and mountains, and some species are arboreal or semiaquatic. The Dasyuridae are often called the 'marsupial carnivores', as most members of the family are insectivores. Characteristics Most dasyurids are roughly the size of mice, but a few species are much larger. The smallest species is the Pilbara ningaui, which is from in length, and weighs just , while the largest, the Tasmanian devil, is long, and weighs from . The smaller dasyurids typically resemble shrews or mice in appearance, with long tails and narrow, pointed noses. The larger species bear a resemblance to such plac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ningaui Yvonneae
The southern ningaui (''Ningaui yvonneae'') is a tiny marsupial carnivore belonging to the Dasyuridae family. Similar in appearance to '' Ningaui ridei'', found throughout central Australia, this species occurs in spinifex on semi-arid sandplains across the southern coast of the continent. The fur is a tawny or greyish olive colour, light grey below, and distinguished by shades of cinnamon. The southern ningaui prefers smaller prey, including insects and spiders, but capable of killing and consuming larger animals such as cockroaches and skinks. Their narrow muzzle is used with quick and fierce bites about the head to despatch their meal. The species was first described in 1983, and placed within the genus '' Ningaui''. Taxonomy The first description of the species was published in 1983 in a revision of a genus describing two species. An analysis of skull morphology revealed a third species in the widely distributed populations, which is not evident in examination of external ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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