to eastern Australia, New Guinea, eastern Indonesia to Sulawesi and
islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It is a banyan of the genus
Ficus, which contains around 750 species worldwide in warm climates,
including the edible fig. Beginning life as a seedling, which grows on
other plants (epiphyte) or on rocks (lithophyte), F. obliqua can grow
to 60 m (200 ft) high and nearly as wide with a pale grey buttressed
trunk, and glossy green leaves. The small round yellow fruit ripen and
turn red at any time of year, although they peak in autumn and winter
(April to July). Known as a syconium, the fruit is an inverted
inflorescence with the flowers aligning an internal cavity. F. obliqua
is pollinated by two species of fig wasp—Pleistodontes greenwoodi and
P. xanthocephalus. Many species of bird, including pigeons, parrots and
various passerines, eat the fruit. It is used as a shade tree in parks
and public spaces, and is well-suited for use as an indoor plant or in
bonsai. All parts of the tree have been used in traditional medicine in
Fiji.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficus_obliqua>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1142:
The Treaty of Shaoxing, ending the Jurchen campaigns against
the Song Dynasty, was formally ratified when a Jin envoy visited the
Southern Song court.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurchen_campaigns_against_the_Song_Dynasty>
1531:
Swiss Reformation leader Huldrych Zwingli was killed in battle
when Catholic cantons attacked in response to a food blockade being
applied by his alliance.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huldrych_Zwingli>
1776:
American Revolutionary War: The British Royal Navy defeated
American ships at the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain, but
gave American forces enough time to prepare their defenses for the
Saratoga campaign.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Valcour_Island>
1968:
Apollo 7 (lift-off pictured), the first manned mission of
NASA's Apollo program, and the first three-man American space mission,
launched from Complex 34 in present-day Cape Canaveral, Florida.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_7>
1987:
Sri Lankan Civil War: The Indian Peace Keeping Force began
Operation Pawan to take control of Jaffna from the Tamil Tigers to
enforce their disarmament as a part of the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Pawan>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
microcosm:
1. A smaller system which is representative of or analogous to a larger
one.
2. A small natural ecosystem; an artificial ecosystem set up as an
experimental model.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/microcosm>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
One of the blessings of age is to learn not to part on a note of
sharpness, to treasure the moments spent with those we love, and to make
them whenever possible good to remember, for time is short.
--Eleanor Roosevelt
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eleanor_Roosevelt>
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