Author Archives: Cris

Canna Indica

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Canna Indica

Canna indica can be very deadly.

  • Canna indica are perennial plants that are native to the Caribbean and American tropical habitats.
  • Canna indica is from the family Cannaceae, the family of canna lilies and is one of the 19 species in the group, and is also referred to by a number of other scientific names.
  • Canna indica is also known as ‘saka siri’, ‘canna’, ‘coyol’, ‘bandera’, ‘achira’, ‘platanillo’, ‘wild canna lily’, ‘Indian shot’ and ‘chanacle’.
  • Canna indica have small, black, spherical seeds that are dense and sink in water, and are hard enough to be used as bullets, hence one of its common names ‘Indian shot’.
  • Canna indica prefer moist, sunny conditions and are often used as an ornamental in the garden, or they can be found in swamps and wetlands, and are also able to be grown in chemically polluted water as a treatment solution.

Indian Shot, Red, yellow, flower, canna indica, Ten Random Facts, australia, garden

  • Canna indica plants grow to be 0.5 to 2.4 metres (1.6 to 8.0 feet) in height, and have papery seed capsules after flowering
  • The rhizomes of Canna indica are edible and are served cooked, and they have also been used medicinally.
  • Canna indica have red or yellow coloured flowers sometimes with spots, that flower in autumn and summer and its large green leaves can be used for paper making.
  • Canna indica seeds are commonly used as beads in jewellery and rattles in some musical instruments, and a purple dye can also be made from them.
  • Canna indica are invasive in many countries including Australia, some islands in the Pacific, and South Africa, and spread easily by their rhizomes and seeds.
Bibliography:
Canna Indica – L, 2012, Plants For a Future, http://www.pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?latinname=Canna+indica
Canna Indica (Wild Canna Lily), 2011, BioNET-EAFRINET, http://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/eafrinet/weeds/key/weeds/Media/Html/Canna_indica_(Wild_Canna_Lily).htm
Canna Indica, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canna_indica

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The Beatles

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The Beatles

The Beatles are not insects, they’re humans.

  • The Beatles was a rock and pop band from England, active in 1960 to 1970.
  • The Beatles were also known as the ‘Fab Four’ and have been said to be the greatest band in the modern era.
  • It is believed that more than 600 million records of The Beatles have been sold, and they are the record holders for the ‘most number one hits on the Hot 100 chart’.
  • The Beatles have won 10 Grammy Awards, 15 Ivor Novello Awards and a Best Original Score Academy Award.
  • The Beatles started as a skiffle group with John Lennon in 1957, at age 16, and some of his schoolmates from Quarry Bank High School, who called themselves the ‘Quarrymen’, and included Paul McCartney and George Harrison.
The Beatles, Four, Signed, Picture, Square, Ten Random facts, Rock, Flickr
The Beatles
Image courtesy of IBiAFoddoAbbarad/Flickr
  • The group became ‘The Beatles’ in 1960, and underwent a series of name changes until their final name was settled upon, with some of the school members moving on and eventually Ringo Starr joining the group in 1962.
  • The Beatles became very popular from 1963 to 1966, singing on many tours and releasing many albums, starting with the single and debut album ‘Please, Please, Me’.
  • The Beatles stopped touring in 1966 due to a number of factors, that possibly included the criticism they received from the non-deliberate offensive comments and actions they made towards the United States and Philippines earlier in that year.
  • The Beatles where influenced by singers Little Richard and Elvis Presley, among others, who helped developed the band’s music and style.
  • The Beatles used guitar, voice and drums with sound effects, loops, vari-speeds and double tracking techniques to produce their music.
Bibliography:
The Beatles, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles
The Beatles, n.d, Last.fn, http://www.last.fm/music/The+Beatles

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Macadamia Nut

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Macadamia Nut

Don’t be ‘a hard nut’.  Add these macadamia nut facts to your collection.

  • ‘Macadamia nuts’ are also known as ‘macadamias,’ Queensland nuts’, ‘bush nuts’, ‘queen of nuts’, ‘maroochi nuts’, and ‘bauple nuts’.
  • Macadamia nuts are seeds that are from one of four species of macadamia tree, that are all native to Australia, in the eastern parts of northern New South Wales and southern and central Queensland.
  • There are two species of macadamia nut that are poisonous, but the toxin,  cyanogenic glycoside (cyanide), can be removed by parboiling the nut.
  • Macadamia nuts have a very hard, woody, brown shell which reveals a cream coloured nut when cracked open, that turns golden brown when roasted.
  • Macadamia nuts became known to the British by Alan Cunningham, a botanist from England, who discovered them in 1828 in Queensland.

Macadamia, Nut, Food, Culinary, Australia, Ten Random Facts

  • Australia is currently the top producer of macadamia nuts in the world, and the first trees grown, primarily for commercial purposes, were planted in an orchard in the 1880s, near Lismore, New South Wales, Australia.
  • Macadamia nuts are cracked open when the nut is somewhat dehydrated, and to test for its readiness, the nut will usually rattle in the shell when it’s time, due to the nut growing smaller and detaching itself from the shell.
  • Macadamia nuts are very high in thiamine, manganese and fat, and also contain quantities of many other vitamins and minerals.
  • Some people are allergic to macadamia nuts, that can sometimes cause a fatal reaction, and they are also poisonous to dogs.
  • Macadamia nuts are traditionally eaten raw or roasted, as well as being grounded into butter, covered in chocolate and included in nut mixes and baked goods, and the oil from the nuts is sometimes used in skincare products.
Bibliography:
Macadamia, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macadamia
What are macadamia nuts?, n.d, WiseGEEK, http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-macadamia-nuts.htm

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Moraine Lake

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Moraine Lake

How many lakes have a beautiful blue hue like Moraine Lake?

  • Moraine Lake is a lake that has an area of 0.5 kilometres squared (0.19 miles squared) and a depth of up to 14 metres (46 feet) and is easily accessible by road, although the road is closed from October to May.
  • Moraine Lake has a water source from Fay Glacier and Larch Creek, and is the source of Moraine Creek.
  • Moraine Lake is located in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada, in the Valley of Ten Peaks, and has a surface elevation of approximately 1884 metres (6181 feet) above sea level.
  • Moraine Lake displays a beautiful blue hue when it is at full capacity, due to ‘rock flour’ or ‘glacial flour’, tiny particles of rock, in the lake refracting light.
  • The Moraine Lake area is the home to trails for hiking, as well as Moraine Lake Lodge, which has accommodation that can be rented for short getaways.

Moraine Lake, Blue, Aqua, June, Ten Random Facts, Flickr, Banff National Park, Rock powder

Moraine in June
Image courtesy of Pascal/Flickr

  • Canoeing is a popular sport performed on the surface of Moraine Lake and can be arranged through the Lodge.
  •  Moraine Lake has been featured on the Canadian $20 note in 1969 and 1979, and it is one of Canada’s most commonly photographed places.
  • Moraine Lake is quite picturesque, with the Ten Peaks, a group of ten mountains, rising above and surrounding the lake, and has been featured as background options on computers and electronic devices.
  • Moraine Lake is the home of wildlife such as grizzly bears, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots and pikas (small rabbit-like mammals).
  • Moraine Lake is so called due to a ‘moraine’, a pile of glacial rocks and boulders that was formed by the Wenkchemna Glacier next to the lake.
Bibliography:
Fletcher J, Moraine Lake in Banff National Park, n.d, USA Today, http://traveltips.usatoday.com/moraine-lake-banff-national-park-13242.html
Moraine Lake, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moraine_Lake

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Seahorse

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Seahorse

Is it a plane? A dragon? No, it is a seahorse!

  • A seahorse is a fish that is found in tropical or temperate water bodies of shallow depth, sheltered by coral reefs, mangroves or seagrass, and they can change their colour to blend into their environment and can be seen in a wide range of colours like green, red, black, white and orange.
  • Seahorses are more than 40 species that have the scientific name ‘Hippocampus’, that means ‘horse sea monster’ in Ancient Greek, and they belong to the Syngnathidae family, the family of fish with fused jaws.
  • A seahorse can range from 1.5 to 35.5 centimetres (0.6 to 14 inches) in height depending on the species and has a tail that it uses to grab onto sea grass and coral to hold itself still.
  • Seahorses are one of the two fish that swims vertically, swimming slowly by flapping its dorsal fin, with the slowest, the dwarf seahorse – Hippocampus zosterae, moving at 152 centimetres per hour (5 feet per hour) which is known as the slowest fish.
  • Seahorses have plates of bone that have a ring structure, an identifying and unique coronet (crown like structure) on their head, and have eyes that move freely of one another.

Seahorse, Colorado, America, United States, Yellow, Swimming, Denver Aquarium, Ten Random Facts, Fish, National Geograph

Seahorse
Image courtesy of National Geographic
  • After mating, seahorse males look after the up to 1500 eggs (or more) in its pouch, that hatch after around 9 to 45 days into tiny seahorses.
  • The amount of baby seahorses expelled from the male pouch ranges from 5 to 2500 depending on the species, with only 0.5% on average ever surviving.
  • Seahorses have no stomach or teeth and have a diet of little crustaceans and plankton that are sucked up with the fish’s generally long snout, and they need to eat lots due to a quick digestion process, making a clicking noise every time they eat.
  • Seahorses are sometimes kept as pets in aquariums, but can easily die if not cared for properly, and are often hunted by humans for souvenirs and food, and numerous quantities are sold and used for traditional Asian medicine.
  • Seahorses have predators of crabs, tuna and rays, and can be killed by pollution, hunting or exhaustion, particularly in storms where they can be tossed around.
Bibliography:
Seahorse, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seahorse
Sydenham S & Thomas R, Seahorse, 2008, Kidcyber, http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/seahorse.htm

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Cabinet

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Cabinet

Every home needs a cabinet.

  • Cabinets are generally rectangular pieces of furniture that are primarily used to store items such as valuables, clothes and food items.
  • Cabinets are traditionally made of wood, but can be made of materials that are synthetic.
  • Cabinets are often called ‘cupboards’ and those that store clothes are also known as ‘wardrobes,’ ‘closets’ and ‘armoires’.
  • The word ‘cabinet’ in French originally meant ‘small room’ and in the 1600s, the term referred to such a room which often contained books and art, and ‘cabinets of curiosities’, rooms full of interesting collections, also emerged around this time.
  • Cabinets were originally boxes or chests, invented to store paper documents or things of value.

Cabinet, glass, speaker, wooden, Ten Random facts, Cupboard, drawers, doors

  • Until 1650, cabinets were not commonplace, and were generally owned only by the elite, due to the cost and the lack of perceived need.
  • Cabinets, during the Industrial Revolution from the 1700s through to the 1800s, entered mass production, making them more affordable and popular.
  • Cabinets usually have compartments that either have doors, drawers, or are left open.
  • Cabinet making became a favoured hobby after World War II, and those that make cabinets are known as ‘cabinet makers’.
  • Cabinets are sometimes carved with a relief pattern or design, or have a workbench at the top or side, and they can be built into a structure or stand alone.
Bibliography:
Blackburn G, A Short History of Cabinets, 2005, Fine Wood Working, https://www.finewoodworking.com/woodworking-plans/article/a-short-history-of-cabinets.aspx
Cabinetry, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinetry

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