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Papaya

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Papaya

No fruit salad is complete without papayas!

  • Papayas are fruit that grow on plants native to the American tropics, with the ‘trees’ that they grow being as tall as 5 to 10 metres (16 to 33 feet).
  • A ‘papaya’ is also known as a ‘pawpaw’ and a ‘papaw’.
  • Papayas come from a plant that has the scientific name Carica papaya and are from the family Caricaceae, a family of small trees and shrubs.
  • The largest producers of papayas in the 2008 to 2010 period, was India, producing approximately 38.6% of the world production.
  • Papayas commonly have green coloured skin that turns yellow or orange when ripe, and the flesh is either yellow, orange or red, depending on the species.

Papaya, Yellow, Fruit, Black, Half, Australia, Ten Random Facts

  • Papayas have soft and sweet musky flavoured flesh and are popularly eaten raw or cooked, in salads, curries or soups, and the black seeds can be used as black pepper replacements.
  • Papayas, when unripe, contain latex, which can cause allergic reactions and possibly miscarriages.
  • Papayas can grow up to 51 centimetres (20 inches) in length and are generally pear or round shaped.
  • Papayas are very high in vitamin C, and are high in folate, vitamin A and dietary fibre.
  • Papaya has been used in traditional medicine and in some hair products, and is commonly made into ointment for the treatment of cuts, rashes, burns and other skin conditions.

 

Bibliography:
Papaya, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papaya
Papaya, 2014, The World’s Healthiest Foods, http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=47

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Silo

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Silo

While silos may be dangerous, these facts are not.

  • A silo is a large storage facility used to store and/or ferment large volumes of loose materials, often in the agricultural industry, and they are most commonly used to store grain, wood chips, food products, cement, coal and sawdust.
  • ‘Silo’ comes from the word ‘siros’, a Greek word, meaning ‘a pit to keep corn in’, and there are three modern types of silos, called ‘bunker’, ‘tower’ and ‘bag’, that store materials below ground, above ground, and in small quantities respectively.
  • Tower silos are shaped as a cylinder, and are typically made of materials of wood, concrete and/or steel and are unloaded by slides or grain elevators.
  • Bag silos are typically strong plastic bags that are long and laid on the ground and are significantly cheaper and less dangerous than a tower or bunker model.
  • Bunker silos are trenches or pits in the ground, sometimes with concrete walls, that are filled with the material to be stored, and then covered in durable plastic that is often held down with weights.

Tower Silo, Steel, Row, store, 8, Farm, Ten Random Facts, Australia

  • Tower silos are approximately 10 to 84 metres (30 to 275 feet) in height and 4 to 30 metres (10 to 90 feet) in diameter, while bags are around 2.4 to 3.7 metres (8 to 12 feet) in diameter and can reach lengths of 30 to 91 metres (100 to 300 feet).
  • There is evidence of bulk storage buildings, or silos, being used in Ancient cultures, including Greece and Israel.
  • Tower silos typically have ventilation to replace the toxic methane gas produced by fermenting materials.
  • American Fred Hatch, the son of a farmer, and his father Lewis Hatch are commonly believed to have invented the first modern tower silo in 1873, in the McHenry County of the United State’s Illinois, that quickly became popular throughout the United States.
  • Silos are highly dangerous, and people are killed annually, due to poisoning, suffocation or crushing due to gases and grain or machinery collapsing, with an average of 16 people each year in the United States, dying from grain entrapment.

 

Bibliography:
Silo, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silo
What is a Grain Silo?, 2014, WiseGEEK, http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-a-grain-silo.htm

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Snowshoe Hare

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Snowshoe Hare

Snowshoe hares do have ‘snow shoes’.

  • Snowshoe hares are mostly nocturnal mammals native to forestry areas of northern parts of North America.
  • ‘Snowshoe hares’ are also known as ‘snowshoe rabbits’ and ‘varying hares’ and have smaller ears than most other hares.
  • The snowshoe hare’s scientific name is Lepus americanus and it comes from the family Leporidae, the family of rabbits and hares.
  • The name ‘snowshoe hare’ comes from the animal’s very large and furry back feet that allows the hare to move across snow more easily, and they can reach up to speeds of 43.5 km/hr (27 miles per hour).
  • Snowshoe hares have brown coloured fur during summer, that changes to white in winter, with the change occurring over a 10 week period.

Snowshoe hare, winter, alert, single, one, coat, Ten Random Facts

Snowshoe hare during winter
Image courtesy of Denali National Park and Preserve/Flickr
  • A snowshoe hare’s diet mainly consists of vegetation, with leaves and grass eaten during summer and bark, twigs and buds eaten during winter.
  • Snowshoe hares generally have litters of 2 to 4 young, known as leverets, up to 4 times a year.
  • Snowshoe hares are preyed on by dogs, cats, large birds, lynxes, foxes and weasels, among others.
  • Snowshoe hares grow to be 41 to 52 centimetres (16 to 20 inches) in length and range from 0.9 to 1.8 kilograms (2 to 4 pounds) in weight.
  • Snowshoe hares have a relatively short lifespan, typically a year, due to being a main food source for a number of predators, but they can grow to be 5 years old.
Bibliography:
Shefferly N, Lepus americanus, 2007, Animal Diversity Web, http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Lepus_americanus/
Snowshoe hare, 2014, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/mammals/snowshoe-hare/
Snowshoe hare, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowshoe_hare

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Feathertop Grass

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Feathertop Grass

Tickle, tickle. Feathertop grass can tickle.

  • Feathertop grass is perennial grass native to northern Africa and part of the Middle East.
  • Feathertop grass has the scientific name of Pennisetum villosum.
  • Feathertop grass is from the family Poaceae, the family of true grasses, and the family is also referred to as the Gramineae family.
  • ‘Feathertop grass’ is also known as ‘feathertop’, ‘long-style feather grass’, ‘white foxtail’ and ‘purple squirrel tail grass’.
  • Feathertop grass grows to be 15 to 70 centimetres (6 to 27.5 inches) tall, and has thin green leaves.

Feathertop grass, white, clumps, invasive, Ten Random Facts, Australia

  • Feathertop grasses have soft looking feathery flower spikes that are white to green coloured, and sometimes have a touch of purple, that turn a creamy yellow or white colour when they age.
  • Feathertop grasses are classified as weeds in some countries and states, including states of Australia, and can often be seen growing en masse in fields or paddocks, along the roadside and in other areas.
  • Feathertop grasses bloom mainly in summer, although the flower spikes can also be seen in spring and autumn.
  • Feathertop grasses grow from rhizomes and spread via underground root systems, cuttings, and seed dispersal through water and waste systems and wind, among others.
  • Feathertop grass is grown as a decorative plant in non-invasive areas, and prefer sunny conditions and warm climates.
Bibliography:
Feathertop, 2011 Weeds of Australia, http://keyserver.lucidcentral.org/weeds/data/03030800-0b07-490a-8d04-0605030c0f01/media/Html/Pennisetum_villosum.htm
Pennisetum villosum, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennisetum_villosum

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Great Barrier Reef

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Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef – a place bursting with life and colour.

  • The Great Barrier Reef is a coral reef located along the coast of Australia’s Queensland, in the Coral Sea.
  • The Great Barrier Reef covers an area of 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 square miles) and spans a distance of 2300 kilometres (1400 miles).
  • The Great Barrier Reef is the home to approximately 3000 separate coral reefs and approximately 900 islands and cays (an island made of sand and coral deposits), some of which contain resorts for tourists.
  • The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef, as well as the largest biological built structure on earth.
  • The Great Barrier Reef is the home to numerous marine species, including approximately 600 coral species, 30 dolphin and whale species, 500 worm species, 133 ray and shark species, 3000 mollusc species, 1625 fish species and 100 jellyfish species, as well as crocodiles, dugongs, marine turtles and sea snakes.
Agincourt Reef, Great Barrier Reef, Australia, Coral, Blue, Scene, Ten Random Facts, SmallPart of the Great Barrier Reef
Image courtesy of Family MWR/Flickr
  • Since 1985, it is believed that half of the coral in the Great Barrier Reef has been destroyed, and it is said that climate change, over-fishing, pollution, tourism, diseases and shipping mishaps continue to cause damage.
  • The Great Barrier Reef is of significant importance to numerous tribes of indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islanders who have lived in the area for thousands of years.
  • The Great Barrier Reef is visited by approximately 2 million people annually, with an estimated tourism value of $6.4 billion.
  • The Great Barrier Reef became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, and has been part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park ever since it was established in 1975.
  • Visitors to the Great Barrier Reef commonly engage in activities like snorkelling, sailing, fishing and scuba diving, and other activities include viewing the reef through glass bottomed boats, whale watching and scenic tours.
Bibliography:
About the Reef, 2014, Australian Government Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/about-the-reef
Great Barrier Reef2014, Trishan’s Oz, http://panique.com.au/trishansoz/barrier/great-barrier-reef.html
Great Barrier Reef, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrier_Reef

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Passionfruit

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Passionfruit

What is a fruit with passion? A passionfruit!

  • Passionfruit are fruit that grow up to 4 to 7.5 centimetres (1.5 to 3 inches) in diameter, and are native to South America.
  • ‘Passionfruit’ are also known as ‘passion fruit’, ‘granadilla’ and ‘purple granadilla’, and some of the varieties are ‘purple’, ‘yellow’, ‘panama’ and ‘banana’.
  • Passionfruit is roughly spherical or ovoid in shape, with skin coloured purple, pink or yellow when ripe, that is either smooth, or slightly wrinkled.
  • Passionfruit have yellow to orange pulp containing juice and many black edible seeds, and they generally have sweet flavoured juice and tart flavoured seeds.
  • Passionfruit can be eaten raw, added to fruit salad, used as a dessert topping and flavouring, made into a variety of beverages and used as a flavouring in icing or cream for baked goods.

Passionfruit, Halve, Whole, Yellow, Pulp, Black, Ten Random Facts, Australia

  • Passionfruit grow on vines that have the scientific name of Passiflora edulis and are from the family Passifloraceae, a family of approximately 530 flowering plant species.
  • Passionfruit are often found in home gardens grown on fences or trellises, and are commercially grown in warm climates that are frost free.
  • Passionfruit, before ripening, have softer, green coloured skin, and when ripe, it is best to choose heavy fruit as they will contain more pulp and seeds.
  • ‘Passionfruit’ were named by Spanish missionaries in South America as the flowers were interpreted to symbolise ‘Christ’s passion (suffering) on the cross’.
  • Passionfruit are very high in vitamin C, vitamin A and dietary fibre, and also contain iron, potassium and other vitamins and minerals.

 

Bibliography:
Passiflora edulis, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora_edulis
Passionfruit, 2011, Fresh for Kids, http://www.freshforkids.com.au/fruit_pages/passionfruit/passionfruit.html
Passionfruit, 2014, Purdue Agriculture, https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/passionfruit.html

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