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Tiger's Claw
''Erythrina variegata'', commonly known as tiger's claw or Indian coral tree, is a species of ''Erythrina'' native to the tropical and subtropical regions of eastern Africa, the Indian subcontinent, northern Australia, and the islands of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean east to Fiji. Description ''E. variegata'' is a thorny deciduous tree growing to tall. The leaves are pinnate with a petiole and three leaflets, each leaflet up to long and broad. It has dense clusters of scarlet or crimson flowers and black seeds. Notably, crows have been observed contributing to the pollination of the Indian coral tree by feeding on its nectar-rich flowers. Uses ''Erythrina variegata'' is valued as an ornamental tree. Several cultivars have been selected, including 'Alba' with white flowers. In Vietnam, the leaves are used to wrap fermented meat (). ''E. variegata'' is known as ''dapdap'' in many languages of the Philippines where its bark and leaves are used in alterna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Munnar
Munnar () is a town located in the Idukki district of the southwestern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. Munnar is situated at around above mean sea level, in the Western Ghats mountain range. This ancient plantation settlement, dominated by its tea industry, is also a growing modern hill station. Etymology The name Munnar is a combination of the words "Munnu" and "Aaru" in the local languages of Malayalam/Tamil language, Tamil meaning "three rivers", referring to its location at the confluence of the Muthirapuzha River, Muthirapuzha, Nallathanni and Kundali River, Kerala, Kundali rivers. History The region has been inhabited by hunter-gatherer tribals like the Malayarayan and Muthuvan for thousands of years. In the early days, only Tamils and few Malayalis lived there. They were brought as workers in the tea plantations. Tradition states that Colonel Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, later the Duke of Wellington, was th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a total area of roughly 300,000 square kilometers, which are broadly categorized in Island groups of the Philippines, three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. With a population of over 110 million, it is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, twelfth-most-populous country. The Philippines is bounded by the South China Sea to the west, the Philippine Sea to the east, and the Celebes Sea to the south. It shares maritime borders with Taiwan to the north, Japan to the northeast, Palau to the east and southeast, Indonesia to the south, Malaysia to the southwest, Vietnam to the west, and China to the northwest. It has Ethnic groups in the Philippines, diverse ethnicities and Culture o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiji Crested Iguana
The Fiji crested iguana or Fijian crested iguana (''Brachylophus vitiensis'') is a critically endangered species of iguana native to some of the northwestern islands of the Fijiian archipelago, where it is found in dry forest on Yadua Taba (west of Vanua Levu), Yadua, Macuata, Yaquaga, Devuilau (Goat island), Malolo, Monu and Monuriki. Discovery The discovery of ''B. vitiensis'' is partially indebted to '' The Blue Lagoon''. Much of the movie was filmed on a remote island in Fiji and shots of the native wildlife, including a large colorful iguanid, were included. Herpetologist Dr. John Gibbons of the University of the South Pacific had discovered the iguana on a different Fijian island, but it was not until his associate had spotted the same iguana among the film's wildlife that its larger range was known. Gibbons described the new species in 1981 with reference to ''The Blue Lagoon''. Taxonomy and etymology The generic name, ''Brachylophus'', is derived from two Greek words: b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bishop Museum
The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. Founded in 1889, it is the largest museum in Hawaiʻi and has the world's largest collection of Polynesian Triangle, Polynesian cultural artifacts and natural history specimens. Besides the comprehensive exhibits of Hawaiiana, Hawaiian cultural material, the museum's total holding of natural history specimens exceeds 24 million, of which the entomological collection alone represents more than 13.5 million specimens (making it the third-largest insect collection in the United States). The ''Index Herbariorum'' code assigned to Herbarium Pacificum of this museum is BISH and this abbreviation is used when citing housed herbarium specimens. The museum complex is home to the Richard T. Mamiya Science Adventure Center. History Establishment Charles Reed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black-winged Petrel
The black-winged petrel (''Pterodroma nigripennis'') is a species of seabird in the family Procellariidae. It breeds on a number of oceanic islands in the tropical and subtropical East Pacific Ocean and spends the rest of the year at sea. Description The black-winged petrel is a small species of petrel with long, narrow wings. Its length averages and its wingspan averages . It has a small head and short black beak, a slender body and square-cut tail. It has a pale grey cap and nape, white cheeks and a dark grey collar. The dorsal surface of the body is pale grey and the upperside of the wings is pale grey near the base but dark greyish-black along the outer edge. The underparts are white and the outer edges of the wings are black. The tail is barred in black and white. Distribution The black-winged petrel is a pelagic species native to the East Pacific Ocean, living out at sea and only coming to land in order to breed. Its breeding range stretches from Lord Howe Island and eas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingfisher
Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species living in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, but also can be found in Europe and the Americas. They can be found in deep forests near calm ponds and small rivers. The family contains 118 species and is divided into three subfamilies and 19 genera. All kingfishers have large heads, long, sharp, pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails. Most species have bright plumage with only small differences between the sexes. Most species are tropical in distribution, and a slight majority are found only in forests. They consume a wide range of prey, usually caught by swooping down from a perch. While kingfishers are usually thought to live near rivers and eat fish, many species live away from water and eat small invertebrates. Like other members of their order, they nest in cavit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mangaia
Mangaia (traditionally known as A'ua'u Enua, which means ''terraced'') is the most southerly of the Cook Islands and the second largest, after Rarotonga. It is a roughly circular island, with an area of , from Rarotonga. Originally heavily populated, Mangaia's population has dropped by 75% in the last 50 years, mainly due to the decline of the pineapple industry in the 1980s and a subsequent economic crisis in 1996. Geography Originally known as ''A'ua'u'' or ''A'ua'u Enua'' ("terraced"), the island was named Mangaia (or ''Mangaianui-Neneva'', "Mangaia monstrously-great") by Tamaeu, who came to the island from Aitutaki in 1775. Geologists estimate the island is at least 18 million years old. It rises 4,750 m (15,600 ft) above the ocean floor and has a land area of 51.8 km2. Surrounded by a fringing coral reef, like many of the southern Cook Islands, it is surrounded by a high ring of cliffs of fossil coral 60 m (200 ft) high, known as the makatea. The in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taro
Taro (; ''Colocasia esculenta'') is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, stems and Petiole (botany), petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Culture of Africa, African, Oceania, Oceanic, East Asian, Southeast Asian and South Asian cultures (similar to Yam (vegetable), yams). Taro is believed to be one of the earliest cultivated plants. Common names The English term '':wikt:taro#English, taro'' was :wikt:taro#Maori, borrowed from the Māori language when James Cook, Captain Cook first observed ''Colocasia'' plantations in New Zealand in 1769. The form ''taro'' or ''talo'' is widespread among Polynesian languages:*''talo'': taro (''Colocasia esculenta'') – entry in the ''Polynesian Lexicon Project ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinhala Language
Sinhala ( ; Sinhala: , , ), sometimes called Sinhalese ( ), is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka, who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 million. It is also the first language of about 2 million other Sri Lankans, as of 2001. It is written in the Sinhalese script, a Brahmic script closely related to the Grantha script of South India. The language has two main varieties, written and spoken, and is a notable example of the linguistic phenomenon known as diglossia. Sinhala is one of the official and national languages of Sri Lanka. Along with Pali, it played a major role in the development of Theravada Buddhist literature. Early forms of the Sinhalese language are attested to as early as the 3rd century BCE. The language of these inscriptions, still retaining long vowels and aspirated consonants, is a Prakrit similar to Magadhi, a regional associate of the Middle-Indian Prakrits that had been ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ryukyuan Lacquerware
Ryukyuan lacquerware is one of the chief artistic products of the Ryukyu Islands (today Okinawa Prefecture of Japan), and represents a form and style of lacquerware which is distinct from that of the surrounding cultures. Though distinct in its own ways, it is strongly influenced by Chinese, Japanese, and Southeast Asian modes. Ryukyuan lacquerware is distinguished by the use of inlaid seashells and various native Ryukyuan artistic motifs, and a strong tendency towards red lacquer, which is rather less common in the rest of Japan. History As the lacquer tree is not native to Okinawa, the key material needed to produce lacquerware could only be obtained by the Ryukyuans through trade. Though the islands were involved with trade with Japan and the Asian mainland for many centuries, it is generally believed that the presence and production of lacquerware in Ryukyu only began to any significant extent in the late 14th or early 15th centuries. An office to supervise lacquerware craf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Boom
The Boom is a Japanese rock band. Its members are Kazufumi Miyazawa (vocals), (guitar), Yamakawa Hiromasa (bass guitar), and Tochigi Takao (drums). History The four musicians, friends from Yamanashi Prefecture, formed the band in 1986 as a '' hokoten'' street band in Tokyo. They soon began getting club gigs and a record deal with Sony, with whom they released their first album, ''A Peacetime Boom'', in 1989. Vocalist Kazufumi Miyazawa who is the composer and lyricist for The Boom was inspired by the music of Okinawa. A single CD " Shima Uta" was released in 1993 with high sales, which reached approximately 1.5 million and brought fame to the band, around the world as well as at home. On December 31, 1993, The Boom participated in ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen'', an exclusive show usually reserved for elite musicians. After they released "Shima-uta," the group went on to perform "Kaze-ni Naritai," "Kaero-kana," and "Tsukisaemo-nemuruyoru," but Miyazawa wanted to write more Okinawa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shima Uta (The Boom)
is a 1992 song by the Japanese band The Boom. It was written by the lead singer, Kazufumi Miyazawa, based on his impressions from visiting Okinawa for a photo shoot. It is the band's best selling song, well known throughout Japan and Argentina, and one of the most widely known songs associated with Okinawa although the band members are all from Yamanashi Prefecture. The song uses a mix of modern pop and rock styles as well as min'yō. Okinawan musical instruments and Okinawan vocabulary have been incorporated into the song. The song itself was used in an advertising campaign for the Xi brand awamori. Origin In a 2003 interview for fRoots, Miyazawa explained that he got the idea for the song after speaking with Okinawan survivors of the US invasion of Okinawa during World War II. In another interview, Miyazawa explained that most Okinawan casualties were not caused by American troops, but by Japan's instructions to commit suicide rather than surrender. While the song does no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
