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From today's featured article

Acacia pycnantha in flower

Acacia pycnantha, commonly known as the golden wattle, is a tree of the family Fabaceae native to southeastern Australia. It grows to a height of 8 m (25 ft) and has sickle-shaped phyllodes (flattened leaf stalks) instead of true leaves. The profuse fragrant, golden flowers appear in late winter and spring, followed by long seed pods. Plants are cross-pollinated by several species of thornbill and honeyeater, which visit nectaries on the phyllodes and brush against flowers, transferring pollen between them. An understorey plant in eucalyptus forest, it is native to southern New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, and southeastern South Australia. Explorer Thomas Mitchell collected the type specimen, from which George Bentham wrote the species description in 1842. Its bark produces more tannin than any other wattle species, resulting in its commercial cultivation for production of this compound. It has been widely grown as an ornamental garden plant and for cut flower production, but has become a weed in South Africa, Tanzania, Italy, Portugal, Sardinia, India, Indonesia, and New Zealand, as well as Western Australia, Tasmania and New South Wales. It was made the official floral emblem of Australia in 1988, and has been featured on the country's postal stamps. (Full article...)

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Close-up of the Birmingham Quran manuscript
Close-up of the Birmingham Quran manuscript

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Denali
Denali

On this day...

September 1: Start of the liturgical year (Eastern Orthodox Church); Constitution Day in Slovakia

King Louis XIV
King Louis XIV

Today's featured picture

Ethel Waters

Ethel Waters (1896–1977) was an American blues, jazz, and gospel vocalist and actress. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues, but later frequently performed jazz, big band, and pop music, on the Broadway stage and in concerts. In 1949 Waters was nominated for an Academy Award, the second African American (after Hattie McDaniel) to receive such a nomination. In 1962 she became the first African-American woman to be nominated for an Emmy Award. Her recordings include "Dinah", "Stormy Weather", "Taking a Chance on Love", "Heat Wave", and "Cabin in the Sky".

Photograph: William P. Gottlieb; restoration: Adam Cuerden

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