Word: floras
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...days before the Sept. 2000 grand opening of a replica of Amsterdam's railway station at his Holland Village property development in the Chinese rust-belt city of Shenyang, agri-business tycoon Yang Bin decided he wanted the large greenhouses nearby filled with flora so visitors would get the impression the project was on track. Yang's farm experts protested there was no way to grow the requested tulip and orchid plants that quickly. Undeterred, Yang went out and bought them from local farmers, replanted them in the greenhouses and passed them off as his own. "If you work...
...Forestry Department offers tours by four-wheel-drive vehicles, but they are usually noisy, and the smell of diesel exhaust obliterates the rich scents of the flora. Thankfully, the drivers stall their engines at intervals. As the sounds of the forest fill in the silence, visitors may detect bison or deer in distant clearings or hear elephants trumpeting from afar. For a more organic transportation option, try a guided tour on the back of an elephant?the maharajas hunted in this style. You can also reserve an evening in a crude wooden watchtower called a machaan, where you can stealthily...
...reason Murcutt, whose family moved from Papua New Guinea to Australia when he was 5, sticks so close to home is that his houses are very site-specific. The architect doesn't know the site just by sight; he studies the prevailing breezes, the water drainage and the flora and fauna of each proposed building spot. Then he uses what nature offers to create a comfortable home, albeit one the homeowner has to adjust periodically. For example, Murcutt's houses usually have a long, multilayered side facing north. Adjustable louvers, insect screens, moving glass panels and even thermal blinds...
That it took four years to identify Nannarrup hoffmani is a testament to how far out of favor the science of taxonomy has fallen since its heyday in the 19th century. The urge to classify the world's flora and fauna, which filled the great natural-history museums like New York City's American Museum of Natural History and Washington's Smithsonian Institution, has been eclipsed according to Hoffman by a preoccupation with molecular biology. "It's a sad situation," he says. "We're coasting on the glamour of biodiversity but losing the ability to identify the creatures on this...
...flowers aren't confined to the nature reserves. Brilliant blooms line the Brand Highway on the way to Dongara. To admire them, stop at the Western Flora Caravan Park 22 km north of Eneabba. The park is owned and run by one of the state's best-known amateur botanists, Allan Tinker. During the season he conducts a daily wildflower walk through his 65-hectare property. Nature has been generous: some 800 species of flowering plants thrive here. The park's accommodations cater to all comers, with self-contained mud-brick chalets, caravans and camping. Three-course home-cooked meals...