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Bergenia Crassifolia

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Bergenia Crassifolia

How many names for Bergenia crassifolia do you know?

  • Bergenia crassifolia are evergreen flowing plants native to Asia, in the central to eastern areas.
  • Bergenia crassifolia are from the family Saxifragaceae, a family of flowering plants that have both female and male reproductive organs, and are radially symmetrical.
  • ‘Bergenia crassifolia’ is also known as ‘Siberian tea’, ‘pig-squeak’, badan’, ‘Mongolian tea’, ‘winter-blooming bergenia’, ‘leather bergenia’ and ‘elephant’s ears’.
  • ‘Crassifolia’ in the word ‘Bergenia crassifolia’ refers to the thick, spoon shaped leaves of the plant, and ‘crass’ and ‘folia’ are Latin for ‘thick’ and ‘leaves’ respectively.
  • Bergenia crassifolia are very hardy plants and grow best in full sun, but can also grown in part shade.

Bergenia Crassifolia, Pink, Plant, Vegetation, Australia, Tea, Ten Random Facts, Pretty

  • Bergenia crassifolia flowers are small and coloured pink, and grow in clusters on single stems that sit above the leaves.
  • Bergenia crassifolia have large leaves that can make a pig like noise when rubbed together, hence the common name ‘pig-squeak’, and are coloured green, and can turn a red brown colour in cool weather.
  • Bergenia crassifolia blooms during spring and winter months and is often used decoratively, particularly as cut flowers.
  • Bergenia crassifolia ranges 30 to 60 centimetres (12 to 23 inches) in height.
  • Bergenia crassifolia leaves can be used to make a tea beverage, and the roots and leaves have a significant tannin content, which can be useful for leather tanning and wine making.
Bibliography:
Bergenia crassifolia, 2012, Perennials, http://www.perennials.com/plants/bergenia-crassifolia.html
Bergenia crassifolia, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergenia_crassifolia
Bergenia crassifolia – (L.)Fritsch., n.d, Plant for a Future, http://www.pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?latinname=Bergenia+crassifolia

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Chopping Board

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Chopping Board

Chop, chop on the chopping board!

  • Chopping boards are robust platforms used for cutting objects with a sharp tool, to prevent damage to the bench or table surface.
  • Chopping boards are most commonly used in a culinary environment, for chopping food, but they can be used to cut materials such as plastic.
  • Chopping boards are most commonly made of wood or plastic, but can be made of rubber, metal, glass or marble.
  • Chopping boards should be sturdy but relatively soft, unlike glass, marble or metal, so the cutting object is not damaged.
  • Serrated cutting knives damage chopping boards easier than smooth cutting knives.

Chopping Board, Plastic, Worn, Three, some, Red, Blue, Green, Cut, Assorted, Ten Random Facts, Kitchen, Invention

  • Throughout history, wood was most likely used like modern chopping boards, to cut meat on, and wood is good choice of material for this purpose, as it tends to eliminate bacteria due to its antiseptic characteristics.
  • Chopping boards range in a variety of hardness, thickness, size and colour, but are often rectangular in shape.
  • Chopping boards sometimes use colour coordination to determine food used on the board, to prevent cross-contamination.
  • Chopping boards should be examined for wear regularly, particular for cracks or cuts, which can hold bacteria or cause knives to become blunt.
  • Modern chopping boards are said to originate from the idea of butcher’s blocks of the 1880s, which were used for the purpose of cutting meat.

 

Bibliography:
Cutting Board, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutting_board
History of Cutting Boards, 2011, Cutting Board Care, http://cuttingboards.creatingyourperfecthome.com/2011/04/26/history-of-cutting-boards-2/

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Jelly

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Jelly

Wobble, wobble goes the jelly.

  • Jelly is a sweet food item made primarily of gelatine, a flavour and a sweetener.
  • ‘Jelly’ is also known as ‘jello’, ‘gelatine’ and ‘gelatine dessert’.
  • Jelly was originally made by using the gelatine from an animal, most commonly a young cow’s foot, and mixing the extract with sugar and fruit juice.
  • Jelly is often used for dessert, typically moulded into shapes, or used in cakes or put into cups.
  • Home-made jelly is most commonly made by dissolving gelatine, sweetener and fruit juice into a hot liquid, such as water, and allowing the mixture to cool and set.

Jelly, Yellow, Lemon, Australian, Aeroplane Jelly, Bowl, Jello, Gelatine dessert

  • Jelly is often commercially sold as ‘instant’ crystals or powder in packets, as shots or as solid cubes.
  • Gelatine, which is mainly protein and a significant ingredient in jelly, can be replaced with similar gel making carbohydrates that come from plants.
  • Some fruits when unprocessed, such as pineapple, figs, papaya and kiwifruit, contain enzymes that break up gelatine, so including these fruits does not allow jelly to set.
  • Jelly is high in sugar and contains a high portion of phosphorus and sodium.
  • Jelly, when set, has a spongy texture and is often described as ‘wobbly’, and it comes in many different colours, coloured by food colouring, additives and/or fruit juice.

 

Bibliography:
Gelatin Dessert, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin_dessert
History of Jelly, 2012, Hong Kong Tatler, http://hk.dining.asiatatler.com/features/a-history-of-jelly

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Glass Beach

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Glass Beach

No one gets cut on Glass Beach.

  • Glass Beach is notable for the large quantities of sea glass found along the beach.
  • Glass Beach is a beach located in Fort Bragg, in the United State’s California, that is part of a 38 acre (15 hectare) site owned by the California Department of Parks and Recreation.
  • Glass Beach is part of the MacKerricher State Park and is open to the public.
  • In the early half of the 1900s, Glass Beach, then known as ‘The Dumps’, was used as a rubbish disposal area.
  • In 1967, Glass Beach was protected from rubbish disposal, by California’s Water Resources Control Board, which led to an extensive general rubbish cleanup and restoration.

Glass Beach, Waves, Part, Ten Random Facts, Commons, Wikimedia, California, Sea Glass

Part of Glass Beach
Image courtesy of Ellin Beltz/Wikimedia Commons
  • After years of chemical and natural erosion of the remaining dumped glass, the result was Glass Beach, which is littered with smooth, eroded sea glass.
  • Glass Beach was originally owned privately until October 2002, when it was purchased by the Californian State Parks.
  • The Glass Beach area is the home to some species of native plants, such as Menzie’s wallflower and two other glass beaches.
  • It is illegal to take the sea glass found on Glass Beach or beaches that are part of the MacKerricher State Park, due to the glass’s diminishing quantity.
  • Samples of the sea glass located on Glass Beach and the surrounding area can be found at the Guest House Museum and the Sea Glass Museum in Fort Bragg.
Bibliography:
Glass Beach – Everything you want to know, 2012, Fort Bragg, http://www.fortbragg.com/2012/02/glass-beach-everything-you-wanted-to-know/
Glass Beach 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_Beach_(Fort_Bragg,_California)
Fort Bragg Glass Beach, 2014, Odyssey Sea Glass http://www.odysseyseaglass.com/fort-bragg-glass-beach.html

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Tarsier

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Tarsier

Are tarsiers cute or creepy?

  • Tarsiers are said to be native to Asia, Europe, Africa and North America, although they can only now be found in the islands of Southeast Asia, including areas of the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia.
  • Tarsiers are a family of nocturnal primates, with the family name Tarsiidae, that includes 18 species of the mammal.
  • Tarsiers measure approximately 10 to 15 centimetres (4 to 6 inches) in length, excluding their long 20 to 25 centimetre (7.9 to 9.8 inch) tail.
  • Tarsiers’ fur is soft, with a velvet texture, and is coloured brown, ochre, gold and grey.
  • A tarsier has distinctly large eyes, around 1.6 centimetres (0.6 inches) in diameter, roughly the size, although heavier than its brain.
Tarsier, Monkey, Small, Eye, Cute, Creepy, Climb, Hanging, Ten Random Facts, Philippines, Flickr
Tarsier
Image courtesy of yeowatzup/Flickr
  • Tarsiers have five long fingers or toes on each hand and foot, with two claws replacing toenails on each foot.
  • Tarsiers are the only primates alive to have a diet that consists of no vegetation, and they instead rely on insects, reptiles, birds and bats as their food.
  • Tarsiers live in forest habitats, scrubland and mangroves, and they have excellent hearing.
  • Tarsiers usually have one baby at a time and their lifespan typically ranges from 12 to 20 years.
  • Despite their small size, some tarsiers can jump up to four metres (13 feet) or more in one leap, due to their long anklebones.
Bibliography:
Tarsier, 2013, A-Z Animals, http://a-z-animals.com/animals/tarsier/
Tarsier, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarsier

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Lighter

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With the old and improved lighter, you will always have a flame.

  • Lighters are small mechanical items used to create a small flame, and have been available in various forms since the 1820s.
  • Lighters usually have a small canister that is made of metal or plastic, that contains a flammable liquid or liquid gas.
  • The first mechanical device used for lighting, technically a lighter, was a flintlock pistol filled with gunpowder.
  • The metal substance used in many modern lighters is ferrocerium, originally a combination of cerium and iron that was made for the purpose of creating sparks, and was first patented in 1903 by Carl Auer Von Welsbach, an Austrian scientist.
  • The majority of lighters are manufactured in Thailand and China, both in Asia.

Lighter, Wand, stick, Long, Click, Expensive, Candle, Flame, Ten Random Facts, Mechanical

  • Lighters produce a flame by ejecting a flammable compound which ignites due to a spark.
  • Up until the 1950s, the most common fuel used in lighters was naphtha, however butane became more popular and commonly replaced naphtha due to the reduced odour of butane and increased flame control.
  • In many countries it is illegal to target lighters towards children, as they are a fire hazard and can cause death in children.
  • Lighters are most commonly shaped like a rectangular prism, although some have long necks so that the flame can be positioned into a hard to reach area.
  • Disposable lighters are the most commonly available and were invented in the 1960s, and quickly became very popular.

 

Bibliography:
Dutton F, A Brief History of Matches and Lighters, 2011, Vintage Cigarette Lighters, http://www.toledo-bend.com/VCL/articles/index.asp?request=lighterHistory
Lighter, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighter
Lighters were invented before the match, 2011, Today I Found Out, http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2011/10/lighters-were-invented-before-the-match/

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