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Carpobrotus Acinaciformis
''Carpobrotus acinaciformis'' (commonly known as Elands sourfig, Elandssuurvy or Sally-my-handsome) is a succulent perennial of the family Aizoaceae, native to South Africa. Description All species of ''Carpobrotus'' ("sour fig") form sprawling succulent groundcovers. The flowers of ''C. acinaciformis'' are a bright pink-purple colour. The five calyx lobes are all short, and of relatively similar length (unlike those of '' C. edulis''). The receptacle is sub-globose in shape (rarely slightly oblong), tapering only slightly down to where it meets the stalk. The top of the ovary is often slightly depressed in the centre. The leaves of ''C. acinaciformis'' are stout, scimitar-shaped ("acinaciform") and have the shape of an isosceles triangle in cross-section, if cut perpendicularly. They have a dull glaucous-green colour (sometimes with reddish edges or angles). Distribution This species is naturally endemic to the Western Cape, South Africa. Its natural habitat is coastal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organisms. He is known as the "father of modern taxonomy". Many of his writings were in Latin; his name is rendered in Latin as and, after his 1761 ennoblement, as . Linnaeus was born in Råshult, the countryside of Småland, in southern Sweden. He received most of his higher education at Uppsala University and began giving lectures in botany there in 1730. He lived abroad between 1735 and 1738, where he studied and also published the first edition of his ' in the Netherlands. He then returned to Sweden where he became professor of medicine and botany at Uppsala. In the 1740s, he was sent on several journeys through Sweden to find and classify plants and animals. In the 1750s and 1760s, he continued to coll ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Peninsula
The Cape Peninsula ( af, Kaapse Skiereiland) is a generally mountainous peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the African continent. At the southern end of the peninsula are Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. On the northern end is Table Mountain, overlooking Table Bay and the city bowl of Cape Town, South Africa. The peninsula is 52 km long from Mouille point in the north to Cape Point in the south. The Peninsula has been an island on and off for the past 5 million years, as sea levels fell and rose with the ice age and interglacial global warming cycles of, particularly, the Pleistocene. The last time that the Peninsula was an island was about 1.5 million years ago. Soon afterwards it was joined to the mainland by the emergence from the sea of the sandy area now known as the Cape Flats. The towns and villages of the Cape Peninsula and Cape Flats, and the undeveloped land of the rest of the peninsula now form part ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Garden Plants Of Southern Africa
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both natural and artificial materials. Gardens often have design features including statuary, follies, pergolas, trellises, stumperies, dry creek beds, and water features such as fountains, ponds (with or without fish), waterfalls or creeks. Some gardens are for ornamental purposes only, while others also produce food crops, sometimes in separate areas, or sometimes intermixed with the ornamental plants. Food-producing gardens are distinguished from farms by their smaller scale, more labor-intensive methods, and their purpose (enjoyment of a hobby or self-sustenance rather than producing for sale, as in a market garden). Flower gardens combine plants of different heights, colors, textures, and fragrances to create interest and delight the se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renosterveld
Renosterveld is a term used for one of the major plant communities and vegetation types of the Cape Floristic Region (Cape Floral Kingdom) which is located in southwestern and southeastern South Africa, in southernmost Africa. It is an ecoregion of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome. Etymology Renosterveld directly translated in the Afrikaans language means "rhinoceros-field", a possible reference to the high number of rhinoceroses seen by the Afrikaner settlers at the time. It may also derive its name from the renosterbos ("rhinoceros bush - ''Elytropappus rhinocerotis''), which is a common species of shrub found here. The dull grey colour of renosterbos is similar to the colour of a rhino's hide. Geology Renosterveld plants grow on rich soil, which makes them more nutritious than typical fynbos plants. Typically, renosterveld is largely confined to fine-grained soils - mainly clays and silts - which are derived from the shales of the Malmesbury and Bok ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fynbos
Fynbos (; meaning fine plants) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean climate and rainy winters. The fynbos ecoregion is within the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome. In fields related to biogeography, fynbos is known for its exceptional degree of biodiversity and endemism, consisting of about 80% (8,500 fynbos) species of the Cape floral kingdom, where nearly 6,000 of them are endemic. This land continues to face severe human-caused threats, but due to the many economic uses of the fynbos, conservation efforts are being made to help restore it. Overview and history The word fynbos is often confusingly said to mean "fine bush" in Afrikaans, as "bos" means "bush". Typical fynbos foliage is ericoid rather than fine. The term, in its pre-Afrikaans, Dutch form, ''fynbosch'', was recorded by N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemic Flora Of South Africa
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can be also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or in scientific literature as an ''endemite''. For example ''Cytisus aeolicus'' is an endemite of the Italian flora. ''Adzharia renschi'' was once believed to be an endemite of the Caucasus, but it was later discovered to be a non-indigenous species from South America belonging to a different genus. The extreme opposite of an endemic species is one with a cosmopolitan distribution, having a global or widespread range. A rare alternative term for a species that is endemic is "precinctive", which applies to s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesembryanthemum
''Mesembryanthemum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Aizoaceae; like many members of this family, it is characterized by long-lasting flower heads. Flowers of ''Mesembryanthemum'' protect their gametes from night-time dews or frosts but open in sunlight. There is an obvious evolutionary advantage to doing this; where sun, dew, frost, wind or predators are likely to damage exposed reproductive organs, closing may be advantageous during times when flowers are unlikely to attract pollinators. It is indigenous to southern Africa. Many ''Mesembryanthemum'' species are known as ice plants because of the glistening globular bladder cells covering their stems, fruit and leaves, "... they sparkle like ice crystals". In South Africa, Mesembryanthemums are known as "vygies" (from Afrikaans "vy"), although this term refers to many plants in the family Aizoaceae. Species formerly placed in ''Mesembryanthemum'' have been transferred to other genera, such as ''Cleretum'', '' Carp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight. The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Paleolithic period, but takes its name from the Angles, a Germanic tribe deriving its name from the Anglia peninsula, who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in the 10th century and has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century. The English language, the Anglican Church, and Eng ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carpobrotus Quadrifidus
''Carpobrotus quadrifidus'' (commonly known as west-coast sourfig, ) is a succulent perennial of the family Aizoaceae, native to the west coast of South Africa. A possible synonym is ''Carpobrotus sauerae''. Description This ''Carpobrotus'' ("sour-fig") species has the largest flowers produced by any species in its Mesembryanthemaceae family. The flowers are typically a bright pink colour, although some white-flowered forms can be found in the far northern limits of its distribution range. They appear in spring. The receptacle is typically subclavate, with a base that narrows abruptly into the stalk. The top of the ovary is flat or slightly raised in the centre. Its fruits are sweet when ripe, and are edible raw. They are also grazed by tortoises and other southern African animals. This is an extremely robust species, and its leaves are much larger than those of other ''Carpobrotus'' species. They leaves are glaucous-grey in colour, and have a distinctive smooth, hard, fir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carpobrotus Deliciosus
''Carpobrotus deliciosus'' (commonly known as sweet Hottentots fig, perdevy, ghaukum, ghounavy) is a succulent perennial of the family Aizoaceae, native to a strip along the south coast of South Africa. Description The flowers of this Carpobrotus ("Sour-fig") species range in colour from purple and pink to white, and these are followed by fruits that are less sour and more pleasant tasting that those of its relatives, hence its name. The receptacle is distinctively subglobose or "bowl-shaped", and it constricts abruptly at the base, where it meets the pedicel. The top of the ovary is often raised in the centre. Its leaves are almost straight (slightly subacinaciform) and curve mainly at the tip. They are a green to glaucous-green colour, sometimes becoming reddish. Distribution and habitat It is indigenous to the coastal rocks, dunes and plains along the far southern coast of South Africa. This coastal strip extends along the whole of the Eastern Cape coast, but also extends ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melkbosstrand
Melkbosstrand (Afrikaans for " Milkbush beach") is a coastal town located on the South West Coast of South Africa, 30 km north of Cape Town. It forms part of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality, the municipality governing Cape Town and its greater metropolitan area. Named after the species of Euphorbiaceae bushes which grow on the dunes and give off a milky latex like substance, it is commonly referred to simply as Melkbos. The town and its 7 kilometre stretch of white sand beach is situated on the Atlantic coast with the Blouberg mountain to the east. The beach is popular with surfers. It is one of the landing points for the South Africa-Far East, South Atlantic/West Africa and Equinao submarine cable systems. Melkbosstrand is along the Blaauwberg region of the City of Cape Town within which it became incorporated when metropolitan boundaries were redrawn, following the advent of democracy in 1994. Its nearest neighbouring towns are Bloubergstrand to the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louisa Bolus
Harriet Margaret Louisa Bolus ''née'' Kensit (31 July 1877, Burgersdorp – 5 April 1970, Cape Town) was a South African botanist and taxonomist, and the longtime curator of the Bolus Herbarium, from 1903. Bolus also has the legacy of authoring more land plant species than any other female scientist, in total naming 1,494 species. Early life and education Bolus was born in Burgersdorp, Cape Province, South Africa, on 31 July 1877. She was the daughter of William Kensit and Jane Stuart Kensit. Her parents were both British-born. Her grandfather William Kensit was a serious amateur botanist and specimen collector in South Africa. She attended Collegiate Girls' High School in Port Elizabeth, earned a teaching credential in 1899, and was awarded a BA degree in literature and philosophy by the University of the Cape of Good Hope in 1902. Career She worked as an assistant to her great-aunt Sophia's husband Harry Bolus in his herbarium while she was in college. In June 1913 she becam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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