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Psydrax Odorata
''Psydrax odorata'', known as ''alahee'' in Hawaiian, is a species of flowering shrub or small tree in the coffee family, Rubiaceae. It is native to the Pacific Islands, New Guinea and Australia. Description The species range from in height, has a spread of , and a trunk width of up to . The leaves are glossy green in colour, are up to long and elliptic. The fruits of the plant are quite round, are black in colour and 3/8 wide. Ecology The fruits produce many seeds which are often attacked by the larvae of '' Alucita objurgatella'', a species of the many-plumed moths. Habitat The species can be found growing in dry shrub land and in dry to moist forests at elevations of up to . Uses Native Hawaiians used the very hard wood of ''alahee'' to make ''koi alahee'' (adzes for cutting softer woods such as '' Erythrina sandwicensis''), ''ōō'' (digging sticks), and ''o'' (short spears). A black dye was made from the leaves. See also * List of endemic plants in the Mariana Island ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Georg Forster
Johann George Adam Forster, also known as Georg Forster (; 27 November 1754 – 10 January 1794), was a German geography, geographer, natural history, naturalist, ethnology, ethnologist, travel literature, travel writer, journalist and revolutionary. At an early age, he accompanied his father, Johann Reinhold Forster, on several scientific expeditions, including James Cook's Second voyage of James Cook, second voyage to the Pacific Ocean, Pacific. His report of that journey, ''A Voyage Round the World'', contributed significantly to the ethnology of the people of Polynesia and remains a respected work. As a result of the report, Forster, who was admitted to the Royal Society at the early age of twenty-two, came to be considered one of the founders of modern scientific travel literature. After returning to continental Europe, Forster turned toward academia. He taught natural history at the Collegium Carolinum (Kassel), Collegium Carolinum in the Ottoneum, Kassel (1778–84), a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Mainland Australia, Australia by the wide Torres Strait, though both landmasses lie on the same continental shelf, and were united during episodes of low sea level in the Pleistocene glaciations as the combined landmass of Sahul. Numerous smaller islands are located to the west and east. The island's name was given by Spanish explorer Yñigo Ortiz de Retez during his maritime expedition of 1545 due to the perceived resemblance of the indigenous peoples of the island to those in the Guinea (region), African region of Guinea. The eastern half of the island is the major land mass of the nation of Papua New Guinea. The western half, known as Western New Guinea, forms a part of Indonesia and is organized as the provinces of Pap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leaf
A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the plant stem, stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, flower, and fruit collectively form the Shoot (botany), shoot system. In most leaves, the primary Photosynthesis, photosynthetic Tissue (biology), tissue is the palisade mesophyll and is located on the upper side of the blade or lamina of the leaf, but in some species, including the mature foliage of ''Eucalyptus'', palisade mesophyll is present on both sides and the leaves are said to be isobilateral. The leaf is an integral part of the stem system, and most leaves are flattened and have distinct upper (Glossary of botanical terms#adaxial, adaxial) and lower (Glossary of botanical terms#abaxial, abaxial) surfaces that differ in color, Trichome, hairiness, the number of stomata (pores that intake and output gases), the amount and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spear
A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with Fire hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as bone, flint, obsidian, copper, bronze, iron, or steel. The most common design for hunting and/or warfare, since modern times has incorporated a metal spearhead shaped like a triangle, lozenge (shape), diamond, or Glossary of leaf morphology, leaf. The heads of fishing spears usually feature multiple sharp Tine (structural), points, with or without barbs. Spears can be divided into two broad categories: those designed for thrusting as a melee weapon (including weapons such as lances and Pike (weapon), pikes) and those designed for throwing as a ranged weapon (usually referred to as javelins). The spear has been used throughout human history as a weapon for hunting and/or fishing and for warfare. Along with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Digging Stick
A digging stick, sometimes called a yam stick, is a wooden implement used primarily by subsistence-based cultures to dig out underground food such as roots and tubers, tilling the soil, or burrowing animals and anthills. It is a term used in archaeology and anthropology to describe similar implements, which usually consists of little more than a sturdy stick which has been shaped or sharpened and sometimes hardened by being placed temporarily in a fire. Fashioned with handles for pulling or pushing, it forms a prehistoric plough, and is also described as a type of hoe. Digging sticks more than 170,000 years old, made of boxwood by Neanderthals, have been found in Italy. By region Americas In Mexico and the Mesoamerican region, the digging stick was the most important agricultural tool throughout the region. The ''coa'' stick normally flares out into a triangle at the end and is used for cultivating maize. It is still used for agriculture in some indigenous communities, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wiliwili
Wiliwili (''Erythrina sandwicensis'') is a species of tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is Endemism, endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. It is the only species of ''Erythrina'' that Indigenous (ecology), naturally occurs there. It is typically found in Hawaiian tropical dry forests on Windward and leeward, leeward island slopes up to an elevation of . ''Wiliwili'' means "repeatedly twisted" in the Hawaiian language and refers to the seedpods, which Dehiscence (botany), dehisce, or twist open, to reveal the seeds. Description ''Wiliwili'' trees grow to a height of with a gnarled and stout Trunk (botany), trunk that reaches in diameter. The bark (botany), bark is smooth, slightly fissured, and covered in gray or black Thorns, spines, and prickles, spines up to in length. The bark on the main trunk of mature trees has a distinct orange cast, which is caused by a terrestrial Algae, alga. The ''wiliwili'' is summer (dry season) drought deciduous. The dry season usually begins in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adze
An adze () or adz is an ancient and versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with the cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. Adzes have been used since the Stone Age. They are used for smoothing or carving wood in hand woodworking, and as a Hoe (tool), hoe for agriculture and horticulture. Two basic forms of an adze are the hand adze (short hoe)—a short-handled tool swung with one hand—and the foot adze (hoe)—a long-handled tool capable of powerful swings using both hands, the cutting edge usually striking at foot or shin level. A similar tool is called a mattock, which differs by having two blades, one perpendicular to the handle and one parallel. History Africa The adze is depicted in ancient Egyptian art from the Old Kingdom onward. Originally the adze blades were made of stone, but already in the Predynastic Egypt, Predynastic Period copper adzes had all but replaced those made of flint. Stone blades were fastened to the handle by tying ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Native Hawaiians
Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; , , , and ) are the Indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiʻi was settled at least 800 years ago by Polynesians who sailed from the Society Islands. The settlers gradually became detached from their homeland and developed a distinct Hawaiian culture and identity in their new home. They created new religious and cultural structures, in response to their new circumstances and to pass knowledge from one generation to the next. Hence, the Hawaiian religion focuses on ways to live and relate to the land and instills a sense of community. The Hawaiian Kingdom was formed in 1795, when Kamehameha the Great, of the then-independent island of Hawaiʻi, conquered the independent islands of Oʻahu, Maui, Molokaʻi, and Lānaʻi to form the kingdom. In 1810, Kauaʻi and Niʻihau joined the Kingdom, the last inhabited islands to do so. The Kingdom recei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Many-plumed Moth
__NOTOC__ The Alucitidae or many-plumed mothsToL (2003) are a family (biology), family of moths with unusually modified insect wing, wings. Both fore- and hind-wings consist of about six rigid spines, from which radiate flexible bristles creating a structure similar to a bird's feather. This is a small family, with about a global total of 210 species described to date (though it is likely that some undescribed species remain to be discovered). They are found mostly in temperate to subtropical (but not tropical) regions. Systematics and taxonomy The Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of this family is somewhat disputed. Here, they are united in Taxonomic rank, superfamily Alucitoidea with the Tineodidae, a diverse group of numerous small genera with about 20 species all together. However, the two supposed Alucitoidea families may be polyphyletic with regard to each other, and Tineodidae better included in Alucitidae. In any case, the similar-looking plume moths (Pterophoroidea) are wid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alucita Objurgatella
''Alucita objurgatella'', the objurgatella moth, is a moth of the family Alucitidae. It is known only from the Hawaiian islands of Kauai, Oahu, Maui and Hawaii, but is considered introduced although it could also be indigenous. The larvae feed on the fruits, flowers and seeds of ''Psydrax odorata ''Psydrax odorata'', known as ''alahee'' in Hawaiian, is a species of flowering shrub or small tree in the coffee family, Rubiaceae. It is native to the Pacific Islands, New Guinea and Australia. Description The species range from in height, h ...''. External links * Alucitidae Moths described in 1907 Moths of Oceania {{Alucitoidea-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larva
A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. A larva's appearance is generally very different from the adult form (''e.g.'' caterpillars and butterflies) including different unique structures and organs that do not occur in the adult form. Their diet may also be considerably different. In the case of smaller primitive arachnids, the larval stage differs by having three instead of four pairs of legs. Larvae are frequently adapted to different environments than adults. For example, some larvae such as tadpoles live almost exclusively in aquatic environments but can live outside water as adult frogs. By living in a distinct environment, larvae may be given shelter from predators and reduce competition for resources with the adult population. Animals in the lar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propagated using the movements of humans and other animals in a symbiotic relationship that is the means for seed dispersal for the one group and nutrition for the other; humans, and many other 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 and culinary 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'' als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
