Helix wrote:Banksia spinulosa var. collina aka Banksia collina?
fsm wrote:Helix wrote:Banksia spinulosa var. collina aka Banksia collina?
I think you are correct. We'll have to chip in and buy you a red cape if you keep this up!
roughbarked wrote:Banksias are easy on the east coast. I can count them on one hand basically.
Helix wrote:roughbarked wrote:Banksias are easy on the east coast. I can count them on one hand basically.
I think we're all familiar with your maths skills.
roughbarked wrote:You haven't counted my fingers yet.. ;)
Well there were only five main species, to my knowledge. Unless some new ones have been discovered since I last looked. I'm not counting hybrids or whatever.
Helix wrote:roughbarked wrote:You haven't counted my fingers yet.. ;)
Well there were only five main species, to my knowledge. Unless some new ones have been discovered since I last looked. I'm not counting hybrids or whatever.
I can think of eleven east coast species off the top of my head. If I went looking, I'm sure I could come up with some more.
Of those, most were described in the 1700s, a handful in the 1800s and a couple in the early 1980s. (I checked the dates.)
roughbarked wrote:I'm always getting into trouble for not saying exactly what I mean. It probably should have been south east coast of NSW rather than loosely stating - east coast.
Helix wrote:
Yes. I'm convinced.
Helix wrote:Banksias have such exquisite flowers. I've spent altogether too much time taking close up photographs of the flowers at all stages, from the top and side, and of the cones. There's just such a lot of texture in that group.
flying spaghetti monster wrote:Exquisite banksias, yes, and yes to the textures. I been admiring the gnarly Banksia serrata trunks, just to add to the textural joy.
And it is Angophoras to see today. My spelling is suffering from my old age, as well as other things.
Helix wrote:Just cleared out the bits and pieces of the chook pen. Now to measure it so I can work out how much gravel I need for the floor and how much shade cloth for the roof.
This is one of those long-term projects. That is, I might take a while to get around to each bit.
The science world has paid homage to Johnny Depp by giving his name to an extinct creepy-crawly with "scissor hand-like" claws reminiscent of one of the actor's best-known roles.
Kooteninchela deppi was a 505-million-year-old distant ancestor of lobsters and scorpions, according to a study in the Journal of Palaeontology.
It has been named for Depp's famous portrayal of a gentle freak named Edward Scissorhands in the 1990 eponymous film.
"Testing has confirmed the virus in the infected horse was the type of ABLV found in one species of insect-eating microbats, not flying foxes.
flying spaghetti monster wrote:You were right, Helix. Very impressed.
Helix wrote:And because every nature chat thread should include a story about the Mt Kaputar version of the red-triangle slug: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conse ... 2n9ik.html
Click on that link. You'll be impressed.
The federal government is considering expanding its powers over national parks in response to plans by Coalition-led states to allow shooting, cattle grazing and logging in protected areas.
Teleost wrote:One of my casuals just got a position with QNPWS or whatever it's called these days. I had to congratulate her as she'll be more secure with them, but that's not saying much :(
Teleost wrote:I'd love to let a herd of cattle into Campbell's yard and dump a few thousand Yellow crazies in his living room.
flying spaghetti monster wrote:How gorgeous are those crinoids.
Can you post a link to something slimy and gross now, just for balance?
Hagfish are not the most glamorous of creatures.
They slope around on the deep, dark ocean floor, scavenging for food. Dead whale is a favourite.
But they do have a trick up their sleeve, or rather tucked within their snake-like body - abundant, highly-condensed slime.
A hagfish has no jaws, and its slime serves as a valuable form of self-defence.
Researchers recently filmed what happens when a shark bites a hagfish - its mouth and gills are quickly covered in slime. The shark has to back off, or face a slimy suffocation.
justjj wrote:and Helix, I'm guessing you might have posted more about this, but if so I must have missed it ... I found it most interesting.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/ ... cLXrZz2sQo
" ... For more than 150 years, biologists have been puzzling over an Irish mystery: A number of wildlife species that live in Ireland are absent from the rest of Britain but are found in Iberia, the peninsula that includes modern-day Spain, Portugal and parts of France.
Research into this so-called 'Irish question' has failed to produce a single theory that explains how and when various species covered hundreds of miles from one place to the other...."