Tuesday, 7 August 2012

Seán

Seán or Séan is an Irish language name. It is the Irish equivalent of the French Jean. Anglicisations of the name include Sean (pronounced Shane or Shan without a fada), Shane, Shayne, Shaine, Shan, Shon, Shaun, and Shawn. The name Shane comes from the Ulster pronunciation of the name, whereas the names Shaun, Shawn, or Sean come from the way it is pronounced in Munster, Leinster, and Connacht.

Thursday, 18 August 2011

Alloxylon

Alloxylon is a genus of five species in the Proteaceae family of mainly small to medium-sized trees. They are native to the eastern coast of Australia, with one species, A. brachycarpum found in New Guinea and the Aru Islands. The genus is a relatively new creation, being split off from Oreocallis. The name is derived from Classical Greek allo- "other" or "strange" and xylon or "wood" due to their unusual cell architecture compared with the related genera Telopea and Oreocallis. In Australia, they are known as tree waratahs due to similarities in the inflorescences between them and the closely-related Telopea.