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Wittunga Botanic Garden
The Wittunga Botanic Garden is one of three Botanic Gardens in Adelaide, South Australia administered by the Botanic Gardens of South Australia, a State Government statutory authority; the other two are the Adelaide Botanic Garden located in the inner city's parklands, and the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden. The Wittunga garden is located on Shepherds Hill Road, Blackwood, on the western scarp of the Adelaide Hills. Beginning as a formal English garden at the home of Edwin Ashby in 1901, it changed over the years assisted by the efforts of Edwin's son, Arthur Keith Ashby to include South African and native Australian plants. Wittunga’s displays of these plants are especially spectacular in spring and include rich collections of Erica, Leucadendron, and Protea, complemented by displays of exotic and unusual bulbs and colourful annuals. The majority of the South African plants in the garden come from the Cape Province district which has a climate similar to that of Adelaide. The ... [...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] |
Zen Knights
Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and later developed into various sub-schools and branches. From China, Chán spread south to Vietnam and became Vietnamese Thiền, northeast to Korea to become Seon Buddhism, and east to Japan, becoming Japanese Zen. The term Zen is derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the Middle Chinese word 禪 (''chán''), an abbreviation of 禪那 (''chánnà''), which is a Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit word ध्यान ''dhyāna'' ("meditation"). Zen emphasizes rigorous self-restraint, meditation-practice and the subsequent insight into nature of mind (見性, Ch. ''jiànxìng,'' Jp. '' kensho,'' "perceiving the true nature") and nature of things (without arrogance or egotism), and the personal expression of this insight in dail ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bearded Gypsy Band
A beard is the hair that grows on the jaw, chin, upper lip, lower lip, cheeks, and neck of humans and some non-human animals. In humans, usually pubescent or adult males are able to grow beards. Throughout the course of history, societal attitudes toward male beards have varied widely depending on factors such as prevailing cultural-religious traditions and the current era's fashion trends. Some religions (such as some sects of Islam, and Sikhism) have considered a full beard to be essential and mandate it as part of their observance. Other cultures, even while not officially mandating it, view a beard as central to a man's virility, exemplifying such virtues as wisdom, strength, sexual prowess and high social status. In cultures where facial hair is uncommon (or currently out of fashion), beards may be associated with poor hygiene or an unconventional demeanor. In countries with colder climates, beards help protect the wearer's face from the elements. Beards also provide sun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major form of musical expression in traditional and popular music. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, complex chords, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in European harmony and African rhythmic rituals. As jazz spread around the world, it drew on national, regional, and local musical cultures, which gave rise to different styles. New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass band marches, French quadrilles, biguine, ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation. But jazz did not begin as a single musical tradition in New Orleans or elsewhere. In the 1930s, arranged dance-oriented swing big bands, Kansas City jazz (a hard-swinging, bluesy, improvisationa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Register Of The National Estate
The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritage List were created and by 2007 the Register had been replaced by these and various state and territory heritage registers. Places listed on the Register remain in a non-statutory archive and are still able to be viewed via the National Heritage Database. History The register was initially compiled between 1976 and 2003 by the Australian Heritage Commission, after which the register was maintained by the Australian Heritage Council. 13,000 places were listed. The expression "national estate" was first used by the British architect Clough Williams-Ellis, and reached Australia in the 1970s.Heritage of Australia, pp. 9–13 It was incorporated into the ''Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975'' and was used to describe a collection o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Murray River Turtle
''Emydura macquarii'' (common names include Murray River turtle, Macquarie River turtle, eastern short-necked turtle, eastern short-neck turtle and southern river turtle) is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae. It is a wide-ranging species that occurs throughout many of the rivers of the eastern half of Australia. It is found primarily in the Macquarie River basin and all its major tributaries, along with a number of coastal rivers up the New South Wales Coast. It is also found in the coastal Queensland rivers and the Cooper Creek ecosystem, along with Fraser Island. It is often infected with the flatworm '' Choanocotyle elegans''. Sue, Lindsay Jue (1998). "Description and life-cycle of two new species of ''Choanocotyle'' n. g. (Trematoda: Plagiorchiida), parasites of Australian freshwater turtles, and the erection of the family Choanocotylidae". ''Systematic Parasitology'' 41 (1): 47–61. Collection history and discovery This species has a long and complicated nomenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurasian Coots
The Eurasian coot (''Fulica atra''), also known as the common coot, or Australian coot, is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. It is found in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and parts of North Africa. It has a slaty-black body, a glossy black head and a white bill with a white frontal shield. The sexes are similar. Similar looking coot species are found throughout the world, with the largest variety of coot species living in South America. Taxonomy The Eurasian coot was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under its current binomial name ''Fulica atra''. Linnaeus specified the locality as Europe but this is now restricted to Sweden. The binomial name is from Latin: ''Fulica'' means "coot", and ''atra'' means "black". Four subspecies are recognised: * ''F. a. atra'' Linnaeus, 1758 – Europe and north Africa to Japan, India, southeast Asia, Philippines and Borneo * ''F. a. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australasian Grebes
The Australasian grebe (''Tachybaptus novaehollandiae'') is a small waterbird A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabi ... common on fresh water lakes and rivers in greater Australia, New Zealand and on nearby Pacific islands. At in length, it is one of the smallest members of the grebe family, along with the least grebe and little grebe. Taxonomy Subspecies *''Tachybaptus novaehollandiae'', (James Francis Stephens, Stephens, 1826) **''Tachybaptus novaehollandiae javanicus'', (Ernst Mayr, Mayr, 1943), Java **''Tachybaptus novaehollandiae fumosus'', (Ernst Mayr, Mayr, 1943), Talaud Islands, Talaud & Sangihe Islands **''Tachybaptus novaehollandiae incola'', (Ernst Mayr, Mayr, 1943), northern New Guinea **''Tachybaptus novaehollandiae novaehollandiae'', (James Francis Stephe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
