Rhodotus is a genus of just one mushroom species, Rhodotus palmatus, known as the rosy veincap or wrinkled peach. Typically found growing on the stumps and logs of rotting hardwoods, mature specimens may usually be identified by the pinkish color and the distinctive ridged and veined surface of their rubbery caps, though the size, shape, and color can vary depending on the quantity and shades of light received during development. This uncommon species has been collected in eastern North America, northern Africa, Europe, and Asia. Declining populations in Europe have led to its appearance in over half of the European fungal Red Lists of threatened species. First named Agaricus palmatus by Bulliard in 1785, it was reclassified into several different genera before becoming Rhodotus in 1926. The familial placement of the genus Rhodotus within the order Agaricales has also been subject to dispute, and the taxon has been transferred variously to the families Amanitaceae, Entolomataceae, and Tricholomataceae. Molecular phylogenetics analysis has helped determine that Rhodotus is most closely related to genera in the Physalacriaceae. (Full article...)
... that Laurel van der Wal—rocket scientist, cop, model, showgirl, art teacher, aircraft mechanic, switchman, and casino shill—was "impatient with people who do not make full use of all their capabilities"?
The County Championship is an annual first-class cricket league competition for county cricket clubs in England and Wales. The league is contested on a round-robin basis and the championship awarded to the team that is top of the league at the end of the season. The first references to county cricket come during the early 18th century, during which time cricket was played almost exclusively in the south-east of England, with teams representing Kent, Middlesex, London and Surrey frequently playing each other. The sport soon became popular through the rest of the country, and by the end of the 18th century, the game was being played nationwide. In 1744, Kent faced "All England" and became the first notional English cricket champions, winning by one wicket. The title of "Champion County" was awarded intermittently and unreliably from 1826, with no team other than Kent, Surrey or Sussex being named champions until 1852. After a meeting of the principal clubs' secretaries in 1889, a method of ranking the teams was agreed upon, and the 1890 season is considered the first official competing of the County Championship. (Full list...)
"The Lotos-Eaters" is a poem by Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, published in his 1832 poetry collection. Written after a trip to Spain, it describes group of mariners who, upon eating the lotos, are put into an altered state and isolated from the outside world. The poem is inspired by a similar scene in Homer's Odyssey. This illustration, completed by W. E. F. Britten for a 1901 printing of Tennyson's works, accompanies the lines:
Let us swear an oath, and keep it with an equal mind, In the hollow Lotos-land to live and lie reclined On the hills like Gods together, careless of mankind.
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