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Moreton Bay Chestnut
''Castanospermum'' is a monotypic genus (i.e. a genus that contains only one species) in the legume family Fabaceae. The sole species is ''Castanospermum australe'', commonly known as Moreton Bay chestnut or black bean. It is native to rainforests on the east coast of Australia (Queensland and northeastern New South Wales), and to nearby islands of the southwest Pacific Ocean. It was first described in 1829, and has been cultivated around the world. Description The black bean is a large evergreen tree growing up to tall, though commonly much smaller. The leaves are long and broad, pinnate, with 11-15 leaflets. The flowers are bicoloured red and yellow, long, produced in racemes long. The fruit is a cylindrical pod long and diameter, the interior divided by a spongy substance into one to five cells, each of which contains a large chestnut-like seed. Taxonomy This species was first described in 1829 by English botanist Allan Cunningham, in a publication by Scottish nat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pretoria
Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foothills of the Magaliesberg mountains. It has a reputation as an academic city and centre of research, being home to the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), the University of Pretoria (UP), the University of South Africa (UNISA), the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and the Human Sciences Research Council. It also hosts the National Research Foundation (South Africa), National Research Foundation and the South African Bureau of Standards. Pretoria was one of the host cities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Pretoria is the central part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality which was formed by the amalgamation of several former local authorities, including B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Botanical Name
A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar or cultivar group, Group epithets must conform to the ''International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants'' (ICNCP). The code of nomenclature covers "all organisms traditionally treated as algae, Fungus, fungi, or plants, whether fossil or non-fossil, including blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria), Chytridiomycota, chytrids, oomycetes, slime moulds and Photosynthesis, photosynthetic protists with their taxonomically related non-photosynthetic groups (but excluding Microsporidia)." The purpose of a formal name is to have a single name that is accepted and used worldwide for a particular plant or plant group. For example, the botanical name ''Bellis perennis'' denotes a plant species which is native to most of the countries of Europe and the Middle East, where it has accumulated variou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bush Tucker
Bush tucker, also called bush food, is any food native to Australia and historically eaten by Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but it can also describe any native flora, fauna, or fungi used for culinary or medicinal purposes, regardless of the continent or culture. Animal native foods include kangaroo, emu, witchetty grubs and crocodile, and plant foods include fruits such as quandong, kutjera, spices such as lemon myrtle and vegetables such as warrigal greens and various native yams. Traditional Indigenous Australians' use of bushfoods has been severely affected by the colonisation of Australia beginning in 1788 and subsequent settlement by non-Indigenous peoples. The introduction of non-native organisms, together with the loss of and destruction of traditional lands and habitats, has resulted in reduced access to native foods by Aboriginal people. Since the 1970s, there has been recognition of the nutritional and gourmet value of native foods ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Damper (food)
Damper is a thick home-made bread traditionally prepared by early European settlers in Australia. It is a bread made from wheat-based dough. Flour, salt and water, with some butter if available, is kneaded and baked in the coals of a campfire, either directly or within a camp oven. Etymology The word "damper" originated as a specific use of the British word "damper", meaning "something that takes the edge off the appetite". There was likely also some influence from the phrase "damp down" as in "to damp down a fire". When cooked as smaller, individually-sized portions, the damper may be known as "bush scones" or "johnnycakes" (also "johnny cakes"). North American cornmeal bread is also called johnnycake; it is uncertain if this influenced the Australian term. However, Australian johnnycakes, while often pan-fried, remain wheat-based. The technique of making Johnny cakes on a hotplate is common in the likes of Ireland, so as the Irish etc migrated to US or to penal colonial A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saponin
Saponins (Latin ''sapon'', 'soap' + ''-in'', 'one of') are bitter-tasting, usually toxic plant-derived secondary metabolites. They are organic chemicals that become foamy when agitated in water and have high molecular weight. They are present in a wide range of plant species throughout the bark, leaves, stems, roots and flowers but particularly in soapwort (genus '' Saponaria''), a flowering plant, the soapbark tree ('' Quillaja saponaria''), common corn-cockle ('' Agrostemma githago'' L.), baby's breath ( ''Gypsophila'' spp.) and soybeans ('' Glycine max'' L.). They are used in soaps, medicines (e.g. drug adjuvants), fire extinguishers, dietary supplements, steroid synthesis, and in carbonated beverages (for example, being responsible for maintaining the head on root beer). Saponins are both water and fat soluble, which gives them their useful soap properties. Some examples of these chemicals are glycyrrhizin ( licorice flavoring) and quillaia (alt. quillaja), a bark ext ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Songline
A songline, also called dreaming track, is one of the paths across the land (or sometimes the sky) within the animist belief systems of the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal cultures of Australia. They mark the route followed by localised "creator-beings" in the Dreamtime, Dreaming. These routes serve as crucial connections between individuals and their ancestral lands, carrying intricate geographical, mythological, and cultural information. At its core, a songline functions as both a navigational aid and a repository of cultural knowledge. Embedded within traditional song cycles, dance rituals, stories, and artistic expressions, these pathways enable individuals to traverse vast distances while reciting the songs that describe landmarks, water sources, and natural features. Notably, the melodic contours and rhythmic nuances of the songs transcend linguistic barriers, facilitating cross-cultural understanding as different language groups interact and share the essence of these a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indigenous Australian Seasons
Indigenous Australian seasons are classified differently from the traditional four-season calendar used by most western European peoples. Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people have distinct ways of dividing the year up. Naming and understanding of seasons differs among groups of Aboriginal peoples, and depends on where in Australia the group lives. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the CSIRO have both worked with various groups to produce information about a number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander seasonal calendars. Background Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples observe the position of the stars in the sky and follow water, plant and animal cycles as ways of identifying seasonal phenomena. The seasonal calendars of different Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural groups demonstrate an understanding of the interdependence and interrelationships amongst living things. They use their calendars to predict seasonal changes and we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iminosugar
An iminosugar, also known as an iminosaccharide, is any analog of a sugar where a nitrogen atom has replaced the oxygen atom in the ring of the structure. Iminosugars are common components of plants and may be responsible for some of their medicinal properties. The first iminosugar to be isolated from a natural source, 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ), found in Mulberry, was reported in 1976, but few others were discovered until many years later. In terms of biochemical activity for medicinal applications, DNJ and 1,4-dideoxy-1,4-imino-D-arabinitol (DAB, another early example of this class of compounds) are alpha-glucosidase inhibitors and were shown to have anti-diabetic and anti-viral activity. DNJ was modified to produce two derivatives now used as medicines, ''N''-hydroxyethyl-DNJ ( miglitol) for diabetes and ''N''-butyl-DNJ ( miglustat) for Gaucher's disease. Anti-cancer and anti-viral activity was subsequently observed for swainsonine—a mannose analogue—and castanospermi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus. :E.g. ''Panthera leo'' (lion) and ''Panthera onca'' (jaguar) are two species within the genus ''Panthera''. ''Panthera'' is a genus within the family Felidae. The composition of a genus is determined by taxonomy (biology), taxonomists. The standards for genus classification are not strictly codified, so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. There are some general practices used, however, including the idea that a newly defined genus should fulfill these three criteria to be descriptively useful: # monophyly – all descendants of an ancestral taxon are grouped together (i.e. Phylogeneti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castanospermine
Castanospermine is an indolizidine alkaloid first isolated from the seeds of ''Castanospermum australe''. It is a potent inhibitor of some glucosidase enzymes and has antiviral activity ''in vitro'' and in mouse models. The castanospermine derivative celgosivir is an antiviral drug candidate that as of 2009 was in development for possible use in treating hepatitis C virus The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a small (55–65 nm in size), enveloped, positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus of the family ''Flaviviridae''. The hepatitis C virus is the cause of hepatitis C and some cancers such as liver cancer ( hepatoc ... (HCV) infection. Biosynthesis L-Lysine undergoes a transamination to form α-aminoadipic acid. α-Aminoadipic acid undergoes a ring closure and then a reduction to form L-pipecolic acid. In the alternate pathway L-Lys cyclizes and forms the enamine, which reduces to L-pipecolic acid. HSCoA and then malonyl-CoA react in a Claisen reaction with L-pipecol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coffs Harbour
Coffs Harbour, locally nicknamed Coffs, is a coastal city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 as per 2021 census. The Gumbaynggirr, Gumbaynggirr people are the Traditional Owners of Coffs Harbour and the surrounding area, they have occupied this land for many thousands of years. Coffs Harbour's economy was once based on timber and agriculture. Over recent decades, tourism has become an increasingly important industry for the city. Once part of a region known as the Bananacoast, today the tourist city is part of a wider region known as the Coffs Coast. The city has a campus of Southern Cross University, and a campus of Rural Faculty of Medicine University of New South Wales, a public and a private hospital, several radio stations, and three major shopping centres. Coffs Harbour is near numerous national parks, including a marine n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kutini-Payamu (Iron Range) National Park
Kutini-Payamu (Iron Range) is a National Park located in Queensland, Australia, northwest of Brisbane and east of Weipa in the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. Within the National Park is the Iron Range (Lockhart River Resources Reserve), Scrubby Creek mining site and the Aboriginal Shire of Lockhart River. During World War II several Australian Army units were stationed in the area. Birds The park is part of the 6,205 km2 McIlwraith and Iron Ranges an Important Bird Area (IBA), identified as such by BirdLife International because it is one of the few known sites for the endangered buff-breasted buttonquail. The IBA also supports an isolated population of southern cassowaries as well as populations of lovely fairywrens, silver-crowned friarbirds, yellow honeyeater, yellow, yellow-spotted honeyeater, yellow-spotted, white-streaked honeyeater, white-streaked and banded honeyeaters, and white-browed robins. As well as these, the eclectus parrot subspecies ''Eclectus roratus m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
