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The New South Wales waratah (Telopea speciosissima) is a large shrub in the family Proteaceae. Endemic to New South Wales, Australia, it is the floral emblem of that state. It grows as a shrub to 3–4 m (10–13 ft) high and 2 m (7 ft) wide, with dark green leaves and several stems rising from a pronounced woody base known as a lignotuber. During the spring it has striking large red flowerheads, each made up of hundreds of individual flowers. These are visited by the eastern pygmy possum (Cercartetus nanus), birds such as honeyeaters (Meliphagidae) and insects. T. speciosissima has featured prominently in art, architecture and advertising. No subspecies are recognised, but cultivars with various shades of red, pink and white flowers are commercially grown in several countries as a cut flower. The shrub can be difficult to cultivate in home gardens, requiring good drainage and being vulnerable to fungal disease and pests. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Sturmabteilung officer burning confiscated books on 10 May 1933

... that in just one night, thousands of books on the experiences and medical care of transgender people in Nazi Germany were burned (pictured) for being "un-German"?
... that Gerald McGinnis founded his first medical device company from his own home, working at night and using his kitchen oven as a kiln?
... that during the 1984 Democratic presidential primaries, Alan Cranston scheduled his advertisements in Iowa around airings of The Day After?
... that there is one male for every 31 females in an E. interjectus colony, and each female can start its own colony?
... that during the Syrian revolution, anarchist Omar Aziz directly participated in establishing four local opposition councils?
... that the first extant deer discovered in the 21st century is only 38 centimetres (15 in) tall?
... that in 1939, a teenage Robin Ordell became the youngest radio announcer in Australia?
... that a 2010 documentary claimed to expose how the Muslim Brotherhood infiltrates Western society from within?
... that some ethical theorists believe that all moral claims are false?

In the news

Peter Higgs

Nobel Prize–winning theoretical physicist Peter Higgs (pictured) dies at the age of 94.
A total solar eclipse appears across parts of North America.
In NCAA Division I basketball, the South Carolina Gamecocks win the women's championship and the UConn Huskies win the men's championship.
Mexico breaks diplomatic relations with Ecuador in response to Ecuadorian police forcibly entering the Mexican embassy in Quito.
A 7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes near Hualien City, Taiwan.

On this day

April 10: Eid al-Fitr (Islam, 2024)

M87* imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope

1809 – Napoleonic Wars: The War of the Fifth Coalition began with the Austrian invasion of Bavaria, then a client state of France.
1925 – The novel The Great Gatsby by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald was first published by Scribner's.
1970 – In the midst of business disagreements with his bandmates, Paul McCartney announced his departure from the Beatles.
1973 – In the deadliest aviation accident in Swiss history, Invicta International Airlines Flight 435 crashed into a hillside near Hochwald, killing 108 people of 145 on board.
2019 – Scientists from the Event Horizon Telescope project released the first image of a black hole (depicted), located at the center of the galaxy M87.

Gabrielle d'Estrées (d. 1599)
Lew Wallace (b. 1827)
Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri (b. 1917)

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Today's featured picture

The gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae, found across Europe. It is typically orange with two large brown spots on its wings and a brown pattern on the edge of its wings, although a large number of aberrant forms are known. The eyespots on the forewings most likely reduce bird attacks, so it is often seen resting with its wings open. Colonies vary in size depending on the available habitat, and can range from a few dozen to several thousand butterflies. This gatekeeper was photographed in Botley in Oxfordshire, England.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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