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Vangueria Infausta
''Vangueria infausta'', the medlar or African medlar, is a species of plant in the family Rubiaceae, which is native to the southern and eastern Afrotropics. Some other names for ''V. infausta'' in Southern African languages include mmilo in Northern Sotho, muzwilu in Venḓa, umviyo in Southern Ndebele, mothwani in Tswana and umtulwa in Zulu. The fruits are consumed by humans and have a pleasant apple-like flavor. The specific name ''infausta'' alludes to a superstition that an evil spirit lives within the tree and the misfortune from its use as firewood which is said to 'unlock' the evil spirit from the wood. Many indigenous african names for ''V. infausta'' come from the Prot-Bantu mìdìdò (plural "fires"). Description The trees are low-branching and mostly smallish but may reach 8 m in height. They have drooping branchlets and have pale greyish brown, flaky bark. The fairly large, dull leaves have entire margins and are somewhat variable in shape. They have an oppos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William John Burchell
__NOTOC__ William John Burchell (23 July 1781 – 23 March 1863) was an English explorer, naturalist, traveller, artist, and author. His thousands of plant specimens, as well as field journals from his South African expedition, are held by Kew Gardens, and his insect collection by the Oxford University Museum. Early life and education William John Burchell was born in Fulham, London, the son of Matthew Burchell, botanist and owner of Fulham Nursery, and his wife. His father owned nine and a half acres of land adjacent to the gardens of Fulham Palace. Burchell served a botanical apprenticeship at Kew and was elected F.L.S. (Fellow of the Linnaen Society) in 1803. At about this time, he became enamoured of Lucia Green of Fulham, but faced strong disapproval from his parents when he broached the idea of an engagement. Career On 7 August 1805 Burchell at the age of 24 sailed for St. Helena aboard the East Indiaman intending to set up there as a merchant with a partner from Lond ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to the south; Zambia to the southwest; and Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, is in northeastern Tanzania. According to the United Nations, Tanzania has a population of million, making it the most populous country located entirely south of the equator. Many important hominid fossils have been found in Tanzania, such as 6-million-year-old Pliocene hominid fossils. The genus Australopithecus ranged across Africa between 4 and 2 million years ago, and the oldest remains of the genus ''Homo'' are found near Lake Olduvai. Following the rise of '' Homo erectus'' 1.8 million years ago, humanity spread ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flora Of Uganda
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 Phyt ... [...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] |
Vangueria
''Vangueria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The genus is named for , as '' V. madagascariensis'' is known in Malagasy. Distribution The genus contains over 50 species distributed in Africa south of the Sahara with one species occurring in Madagascar ('' V. madagascariensis''). The centre of diversity is in East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania) and they are rare in West Africa. Bacterial leaf symbiosis Endophytic bacteria are housed in the intercellular space of the leaf mesophyll tissue. The presence of these bacteria can only be microscopically ascertained. The bacteria are identified as ''Burkholderia'', which is a genus that is also found in the leaves of other Rubiaceae species. The hypothesis is that these endophytic bacteria provide chemical protection against insect herbivory. Gousiekte Several ''Vangueria'' species - '' V. latifolia'', '' V. pygmaea'', '' V. thamnus'' - are known to cause , a cardiotoxicosis of ruminants characterised by heart failure ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fruits Originating In Africa
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propagated using the movements of humans and animals in a symbiotic relationship that is the means for seed dispersal for the one group and nutrition for the other; in fact, humans and many animals have become dependent on fruits as a source of food. Consequently, fruits account for a substantial fraction of the world's agricultural output, and some (such as the apple and the pomegranate) have acquired extensive cultural and symbolic meanings. In common language usage, "fruit" normally means the seed-associated fleshy structures (or produce) of plants that typically are sweet or sour and edible in the raw state, such as apples, bananas, grapes, lemons, oranges, and strawberries. In botanical usage, the term "fruit" also include ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acalitus
''Acalitus'' is a genus of mites in the family Eriophyidae. These cosmopolitan, microscopic arthropods form galls on various plants, and some species such as ''Acalitus essigi'' and ''Acalitus vaccinii'' are pests of agricultural significance associated with berry crops. This genus includes the following species: *''Acalitus acanthus'' Smith-Meyer, 1990 *''Acalitus accolus'' Flechtmann, Amrine & Stasny, 1995 *''Acalitus acnistii'' (Keifer, 1953) *''Acalitus aethiopicus'' Smith-Meyer, 1990 *''Acalitus amicorum'' Flechtmann ''in'' Flechtmann, Kreiter, Etienne & Moraes, 2000 *''Acalitus amydros'' Flechtmann & Etienne, 2001 *''Acalitus ancyrivalis'' Smith-Meyer, 1990 *''Acalitus anthonii'' Keifer, 1972 *''Acalitus australis'' (Lamb, 1952) *''Acalitus avicenniae'' (Lamb, 1952) *''Acalitus batissimus'' Wilson, 1970 *''Acalitus bosquieae'' (Farkas, 1961) *''Acalitus brevitarsus'' (Fockeu, 1890) *''Acalitus calycophthirus'' (Nalepa, 1891) *''Acalitus capparidis'' Flechtmann ''in'' Flechtm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Froghopper
The froghoppers, or the superfamily Cercopoidea, are a group of hemipteran insects in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha. Adults are capable of jumping many times their height and length, giving the group their common name, but they are best known for their plant-sucking nymphs which encase themselves in foam in springtime. Taxonomy Traditionally, most of this superfamily was considered a single family, the Cercopidae, but this family has been split into three families for many years now: the Aphrophoridae, Cercopidae, and Clastopteridae. More recently, the family Epipygidae has been removed from the Aphrophoridae. Spittlebug nymphs These families are best known for the nymphal stage, which produces a cover of foamed-up plant sap visually resembling saliva; the nymphs are therefore commonly known as spittlebugs and their foam as cuckoo spit, frog spit, or snake spit. This characteristic spittle production is associated with the unusual trait of xylem feeding. Whereas most insec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area and 20% of its land area.Sayre, April Pulley (1999), ''Africa'', Twenty-First Century Books. . With billion people as of , it accounts for about of the world's human population. Africa's population is the youngest amongst all the continents; the median age in 2012 was 19.7, when the worldwide median age was 30.4. Despite a wide range of natural resources, Africa is the least wealthy continent per capita and second-least wealthy by total wealth, behind Oceania. Scholars have attributed this to different factors including geography, climate, tribalism, colonialism, the Cold War, neocolonialism, lack of democracy, and corruption. Despite this low concentration of wealth, recent economic expansion and the large and young population make Afr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to the west and north, and Zimbabwe to the northeast. It is connected to Zambia across the short Zambezi River border by the Kazungula Bridge. A country of slightly over 2.3 million people, Botswana is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. About 11.6 percent of the population lives in the capital and largest city, Gaborone. Formerly one of the world's poorest countries—with a GDP per capita of about US$70 per year in the late 1960s—it has since transformed itself into an upper-middle-income country, with one of the world's fastest-growing economies. Modern-day humans first inhabited the country over 200,000 years ago. The Tswana ethnic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. Although Kazungula, it does not border Zimbabwe, less than 200 metres (660 feet) of the Botswanan right bank of the Zambezi, Zambezi River separates the two countries. Namibia gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990, following the Namibian War of Independence. Its capital and largest city is Windhoek. Namibia is a member state of the United Nations (UN), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU) and the Commonwealth of Nations. The driest country in sub-Saharan Africa, Namibia has been inhabited since pre-historic times by the San people, San, Damara people, Damara and Nama people. Around the 14th century, immigration, immigrating Bantu peoples arrived as part of the Bantu expansion. Since ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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