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Banksia dentata is a species of tree in the genus Banksia. It occurs in northern Australia, southern New Guinea and the Aru Islands. Growing as a gnarled tree up to 7 m (23 ft) high, it has leaves up to 22 cm (8.7 in) long with toothed margins. The cylindrical yellow flower spikes, up to 13 cm (5 in) high, appear between November and May, attracting honeyeaters, sunbirds, sugar gliders and insects. Flowers fall off the spikes, which swell and develop follicles containing up to two seeds each. Collected by Sir Joseph Banks in 1770, B. dentata is one of the four Banksia species published in 1782 as part of Carl Linnaeus the Younger's original description of Banksia. It is classified in Salicinae, a series, or group of species, from Australia's eastern states. Genetic studies show it to be an early offshoot within the group. It is found in savanna, associated with Pandanus and Melaleuca. After bushfires it regrows from its woody base, known as a lignotuber. (Full article...)

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Republicopteron douseae fossil

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... that when Kentuckians discover unwanted bourbon, there is something they can do with it?
... that William J. Murphy's presidency of Boston College began 16 days before the start of World War II and concluded five days after hostilities ended?
... that Singapore's founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew and his son Lee Hsien Loong donated the "unsolicited discounts" from their controversial purchase of condominium units to charity?
... that Sienna Shaw of the slasher film Terrifier 2 was envisioned by Damien Leone as symbolizing an Old Testament angel?
... that Le Vin herbé is a 1942 musical setting of the story of Tristan and Iseult by Frank Martin for twelve vocalists, seven strings and piano?
... that Casey Johnston's writing about weightlifting is intended for people who feel their bodies are "never hot enough"?
... that today is independence day for Philly 57?

In the news

Ali Bongo Ondimba

In Gabon, President Ali Bongo Ondimba (pictured) is deposed by a military coup shortly after his re-election.
A business jet crashes in Tver Oblast, Russia, killing Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and nine others.
Indian spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 lands near the lunar south pole, carrying the Pragyan rover.
Thailand's parliament elects Srettha Thavisin as prime minister following general elections in May.

On this day

September 1

Illuminated Guru Granth Sahib folio

1145 – The main altar of Lund Cathedral, then the Catholic cathedral of all the Nordic countries, was dedicated to Saint Lawrence and the Virgin Mary.
1604 – The Guru Granth Sahib (folio depicted), the religious text of Sikhism, was installed in the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
1859 – A powerful solar flare caused a coronal mass ejection that struck Earth a few hours later, generating the most intense geomagnetic storm ever recorded and causing bright aurorae visible in the middle latitudes.
1911 – Construction began on the Saline Valley salt tram, which during its operation was the steepest tram in the United States.
1972 – In a match widely publicized as a Cold War confrontation, American chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer became the 11th World Chess Champion with his victory over Russian Boris Spassky.

Yasuo Kuniyoshi (b. 1889)
Alan Dershowitz (b. 1938)
Doreen Valiente (d. 1999)
Jang Jin-young (d. 2009)

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Josephine Butler

The English feminist and social reformer Josephine Butler wrote more than 90 books and pamphlets over a period of at least 40 years, mostly in support of her campaigning work. She was especially concerned with the welfare of prostitutes, although she campaigned on a broad range of women's rights. In 1864, her daughter Eva fell 40 feet (12 m) from the top-floor banister onto the stone floor of the hallway in her home; she died three hours later. The death led Butler to begin a career of campaigning that ran until the end of her life. Her targets included women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, the right to better education and the end of coverture in British law, although she achieved her greatest success in leading the movement to repeal the Contagious Diseases Acts, legislation that attempted to control the spread of venereal diseases. Butler's first full-length publication was Memoir of John Grey of Dilston, detailing the life of her father, John Grey, which she wrote in 1869 following his death. In 1878, she published a biography of Catharine of Siena, which Glen Petrie, Butler's biographer, wrote was probably her best work. Butler wrote a monograph of her husband George in 1892, two years after his death. (Full list...)

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Pholiota squarrosa is a species of mushroom in the family Strophariaceae. Common in North America and Europe, it is a secondary parasite, in that it attacks trees that have already been weakened from prior injury or infection by bacteria or other fungi. It has a wide range of hosts among deciduous trees, although it can also infect conifers. It can also live as a saprobe, deriving nutrients from decomposing wood. The mushroom is typically found growing in clusters at the base of trees and stumps, and is covered in small, pointed scales that are pointed downward and backward. This P. squarrosa cluster was photographed near Ingstetten in Schelklingen, Germany.

Photograph credit: Holger Krisp

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