1.
The Twelve Dancing Princesses
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The Twelve Dancing Princesses is a German fairy tale originally published by the Brothers Grimm in 1812 in Kinder- und Hausmärchen as tale number 133. Its closest analogue is the Scottish Kate Crackernuts, where it is a prince who is obliged to dance every night, charles Deulin collected another, French version in his Contes du Roi Cambrinus, which he credited to the Grimm version. Alexander Afanasyev collected two Russian variants, entitled The Night Dances, in Narodnye russkie skazki, Twelve princesses, each more beautiful than the last, sleep in twelve beds in the same room. Every night, their doors are securely locked, but in the morning, their dancing shoes are found to be worn through as if they had been dancing all night. An old soldier returned from war comes to the call after several princes have failed in the attempt. The soldier is well received at the palace just as the others had been and indeed, in the evening, the soldier, remembering the old womans advice, throws it away secretly and begins to snore loudly as if asleep. The twelve princesses, sure that the soldier is asleep, dress themselves in fine dancing gowns, the soldier, seeing this, dons his magic cloak and follows them. He steps on the gown of the youngest princess, whose cry of alarm to her sisters is rebuffed by the eldest, the passageway leads them to three groves of trees, the first having leaves of silver, the second of gold, and the third of glittering diamonds. The soldier, wishing for a token, breaks off a twig of each as evidence and they walk on until they come upon a great clear lake. Twelve boats, with twelve princes, appear where the princesses are waiting. Each princess gets into one, and the steps into the same boat as the twelfth. The youngest princess complains that the prince is not rowing fast enough, on the other side of the lake stands a castle, into which all the princesses go and dance the night away. The twelve princesses happily dance all night until their shoes are worn through, when it comes time for him to declare the princesses secret, he goes before the king with the three branches and the golden cup, and tells the king all he has seen. The princesses know that there is no use in denying the truth, the soldier chooses the first and eldest princess as his bride for he is not a very young man, and is made the Kings heir. The 12 princesses are put under a curse for as many nights as they danced with the princes, the Brothers Grimm learned the tale from their friends the Haxthausens who had heard the tale in Münster. Other versions were known in Hesse and Paderborn, the spell is broken, and the apprentice marries the princess. In the Paderborn version, it is three princesses who dance nightly and this version introduces the ruse of the soldier disposing of the drugged wine and pretending to be asleep. Victorian editors disliked the do or die aspect imposed upon those willing to discover the Princesses whereabouts, the candidates who failed simply vanished without explanation instead of being sent to their deaths
2.
Brothers Grimm
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Their first collection of folk tales, Childrens and Household Tales, was published in 1812. The brothers spent their formative years in the German town of Hanau and their fathers death in 1796 caused great poverty for the family and affected the brothers for many years after. They both attended the University of Marburg where they developed a curiosity about German folklore, which grew into a dedication to collecting German folk tales. The rise of romanticism during the 19th century revived interest in folk stories. With the goal of researching a scholarly treatise on folk tales, between 1812 and 1857, their first collection was revised and republished many times, growing from 86 stories to more than 200. The popularity of the Grimms best folk tales has endured well, Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm was born on 4 January 1785 and his brother Wilhelm Carl Grimm on 24 February 1786. They were the second- and third-eldest surviving siblings in a family of nine children, in 1791, the family moved to the countryside town of Steinau, when Philipp was employed there as district magistrate. The family became prominent members of the community, residing in a home surrounded by fields. Biographer Jack Zipes writes that the brothers were happy in Steinau, the children were educated at home by private tutors, receiving strict instruction as Lutherans that instilled in both a lifelong religious faith. In 1796, Philipp Grimm died of pneumonia, plunging his family into poverty, Dorothea depended on financial support from her father and sister, first lady-in-waiting at the court of William I, Elector of Hesse. Jacob was the eldest living son, and he was forced at age 11 to assume adult responsibilities for the two years. The two boys adhered to the advice of their grandfather, who continually exhorted them to be industrious, the brothers left Steinau and their family in 1798 to attend the Friedrichsgymnasium in Kassel, which had been arranged and paid for by their aunt. By then, they were without a provider, forcing them to rely entirely on each other. The two brothers differed in temperament, Jacob was introspective and Wilhelm was outgoing, sharing a strong work ethic, they excelled in their studies. In Kassel, they became aware of their inferior social status relative to high-born students who received more attention. Still, each brother graduated at the head of his class, Jacob in 1803, after graduation from the Friedrichsgymnasium, the brothers attended the University of Marburg. The university was small with about 200 students and there they became aware that students of lower social status were not treated equally. They were disqualified from admission because of their standing and had to request dispensation to study law
3.
Nicole Oliver
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Nicole Lyn Oliver is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her roles as Princess Celestia and Cheerilee in My Little Pony, Friendship Is Magic, Oliver was born in Ottawa, Ontario. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from York University, a Masters degree in Communication from Royal Roads University, and additional training from the British American Drama Academy. A prominent member of the Union of BC Performers, Oliver served on its board, chaired several committees. Oliver is married to film composer Chris Ainscough and they live in Vancouver with their two sons. - Additional Voices Max Steel - Molly McGrath MegaMan, NT Warrior - Mrs
4.
Ashleigh Ball (voice actress)
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Ashleigh Adele Ball is a Canadian voice actress and musician, known for singing in the rock band Hey Ocean. As well as voicing characters in several movies and television series, notably the Barbie film series, Littlest Pet Shop. She is the subject of the documentary A Brony Tale directed by Brent Hodge and she had provided the voice of Feetface from Noggin from April 1,2002, to April 6,2003. Ball has been to several conventions, including BronyCon and Bay Area Brony Spectacular as a guest of honor. Ball stated in her documentary A Brony Tale, in which she is the main subject, so yeah, as long as My Little Ponies exist, there will be bronies. Encyclopedia of Television Shows,1925 through 2010, Ashleigh Ball on Twitter Ashleigh Ball at the Internet Movie Database Ashleigh Ball at Behind The Voice Actors
5.
Britt McKillip
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Her father is the producer Tom McKillip, and her mother the songwriter Lynda McKillip. She has a sister, Carly McKillip, who is also an actress. Britt performs together with Carly in the country group One More Girl and their debut album, Big Sky, was released on October 6,2009, in Canada. The group released a new single in 2014, britt McKillip at the Internet Movie Database
6.
Catherine O'Hara
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Catherine Anne OHara is a Canadian-American actress, writer, and comedian. She is known for her work on Second City Television and in films such as After Hours, Beetlejuice, Home Alone, Home Alone 2, Lost in New York. Her other film appearances include the films written and directed by Christopher Guest, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind. Since 2015, she has starred as Moira Rose on the CBC sitcom Schitts Creek, OHara was born in Toronto, Ontario, into a large family of Irish descent. She is the sixth of seven children and she attended Burnhamthorpe Collegiate Institute, where she first met Robin Duke, who went on to her own comedy career. Catherine started her career in 1974 as a cast member of The Second City in her native Toronto. She was an understudy for Gilda Radner until Radner left for Saturday Night Live, two years later, this theater troupe created the sketch comedy show SCTV, for which OHara became a regular performer. In the late 1970s, she provided voice-overs for a number of cartoons, during a short time in the early 1980s when SCTV was in between network deals, she was hired to replace Ann Risley when Saturday Night Live was being retooled in 1981. However, she quit the show without ever appearing on air and her SNL position was then given to fellow Canadian Robin Duke, who had also replaced OHara for a season on SCTV. OHara began her career on television, apart from SCTV, in the mid-1970s and she appeared in the 1976 television film The Rimshots, the childrens television series Coming Up Rosie for a year, and television specials, such as Witchs Night Out and Intergalactic Thanksgiving. She also has written for SCTV Channel, OHara has appeared in a number of television series and television films and continues to work in television. During the 90s, she made guest appearances on Tales from the Crypt, Oh Baby, Morton & Hayes and she served as actress and director on Dream On and The Outer Limits, the revival of the 60s series of the same name. In the past decade, OHara has guest-starred on top-rated television series including Six Feet Under, in May 2008, it was announced that she had signed on to star in the upcoming ABC dramedy Good Behavior. Her role in the 2010 television film Temple Grandin earned her three nominations, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Satellite Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. OHara has also had a career in film. She made her debut in the 1980 film Double Negative, which also starred her SCTV co-stars John Candy, Eugene Levy. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, OHara appeared in supporting roles, including Martin Scorseses After Hours and Heartburn. She had more notable roles in Beetlejuice, the blockbuster hit Home Alone and its sequel Home Alone 2, in 1992, OHara worked alongside Jeff Daniels in the comedy There Goes the Neighborhood
7.
Arnie Roth
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Arnold Arnie Roth is an American conductor, composer, and record producer. His work includes conducting concerts for video game music and he is also a classically trained violinist and a member of the Grammy Award-winning music group Mannheim Steamroller. Roth is also the conductor and music director of the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra. A Video Game Symphony, and several Final Fantasy concerts, Roth graduated from Bienen School of Music, an undergraduate and graduate institution of Northwestern University in 1975. He has a son and a daughter who are also involved in music, his son, Eric Roth, is also a famed conductor
8.
Felix Mendelssohn
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Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. A grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn was born into a prominent Jewish family and he was brought up without religion until the age of seven, when he was baptised as a Reformed Christian. Mendelssohn was recognised early as a prodigy, but his parents were cautious. Mendelssohn enjoyed early success in Germany, where he revived interest in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. The Leipzig Conservatoire, which he founded, became a bastion of this anti-radical outlook, Mendelssohn wrote symphonies, concerti, oratorios, piano music and chamber music. His Songs Without Words are his most famous solo piano compositions and he is now among the most popular composers of the Romantic era. Mendelssohns father was the banker Abraham Mendelssohn, the son of the German Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn and his mother was Lea Salomon, a member of the Itzig family and a sister of Jakob Salomon Bartholdy. Mendelssohn was the second of four children, his older sister Fanny also displayed exceptional, the family moved to Berlin in 1811, leaving Hamburg in disguise fearing French revenge for the Mendelssohn banks role in breaking Napoleons Continental System blockade. Abraham and Lea Mendelssohn sought to give their children – Fanny, Felix, Paul, Fanny became a well-known pianist and amateur composer, originally Abraham had thought that she, rather than Felix, would be the more musical. However, at time, it was not considered proper, by either Abraham or Felix, for a woman to have a career in music, so Fanny remained an active. Abraham was also disinclined to allow Felix to follow a career until it became clear that he seriously intended to dedicate himself to it. Mendelssohn grew up in an intellectual environment, Sarah Rothenburg wrote of the household that Europe came to their living room. Abraham Mendelssohn renounced the Jewish religion, he and his wife decided not to have Felix circumcised. Felix and his siblings were first brought up without religious education, Abraham and his wife Lea were themselves baptised in 1822, formally adopting the surname Mendelssohn Bartholdy for themselves and their children. The name Bartholdy was added at the suggestion of Leas brother, Jakob Salomon Bartholdy, in 1829, his sister Fanny wrote to him of Bartholdy this name that we all dislike. Like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart before him, Mendelssohn was regarded as a child prodigy and he began taking piano lessons from his mother when he was six, and at seven was tutored by Marie Bigot in Paris. After the family moved to Berlin, all four Mendelssohn children studied piano with Ludwig Berger, from at least May 1819 Felix studied counterpoint and composition with Carl Friedrich Zelter in Berlin. This was an important influence on his future career, Zelter had almost certainly been recommended as a teacher by his aunt Sarah Levy, who had been a pupil of W. F. Bach and a patron of C. P. E. Bach
9.
Mattel
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Mattel, Inc. is an American multinational toy manufacturing company founded in 1945 with headquarters in El Segundo, California. In 2014, it ranked #403 on the Fortune 500 list, in the early 1980s, Mattel produced video game systems, under both its own brands and under license from Nintendo. The company has presence in 40 countries and territories and sells products in more than 150 nations, the company operates through three business segments, North America, international, and American Girl. It is the worlds largest toy maker in terms of revenue, on January 17,2017 Mattel named Google executive Margaret Margo Georgiadis as its next CEO. The companys name is a portmanteau of those of Harold Matt Matson and Elliot Handler, Mattel Creations was founded in 1945 by Harold Matt Matson and Elliot Handler. The company initially sold picture frames, then dollhouse furniture, Matson soon sold his share to Handler due to poor health, and Handlers wife Ruth took over Matsons role. In 1947, the company had its first hit toy, a ukulele called Uke-A-Doodle, the company was incorporated the next year in California. Mattel became the first year-round sponsor of the Mickey Mouse Club TV series in 1955, the Barbie doll was introduced in 1959, becoming the companys best selling toy ever. In 1960, Mattel introduced Chatty Cathy, a doll that revolutionized the toy industry. The company went public in 1960 and was first listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1963, Mattel also acquired a number of companies during the 1960s. In 1965, the built on its success with the Chatty Cathy doll to introduce the See n Say talking toy which spawned a line of products. Hot Wheels was first released to the market in 1968, in May 1970, Mattel formed a joint venture film production company, Radnitz/Mattel Productions, with producer Robert B. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was purchased by the Mattel company in 1971 for $40 million from the Feld family, who were retained as management. Mattel had placed the circus corporation up for sale despite its profit contributions to Mattel by December 1973 as Mattel showed a $29.9 million loss in 1972. An investigation in 1974 concluded false and misleading financial reports had been issued, arthur S. Spear, a Mattel vice president was selected to run the company in 1975 and led it back to profitability in 1977. Ruth Handler sold back her stock in 1980, the Mattel Electronics line was started in 1977 with an all-electronic handheld game. The success of the led to the expansion of the line with game console then the line becoming its own corporation in 1982. Mattel Electronics forced Mattel to take a $394 million loss in 1983, in 1979, through Feld Productions, Mattel purchased the Holiday on Ice and Ice Follies for $12 million
10.
Rainmaker Entertainment
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Rainmaker Entertainment, Inc. is a Canadian computer animation and design company based in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are best known for producing the first ever CGI animated series ReBoot, as well as the Transformers spin-off Beast Wars, Transformers and Beast Machines, in recent years they have also become known for producing most of the Barbie film series for Mattel. Rainmaker Income Fund announced on August 29,2006, that RNK Capital Limited Partnership would acquire the 38% of shares it didnt own by merging with Rainmaker Income Fund. After the merger, Rainmaker announced on January 31,2007 that Mainframe Entertainments name would be changed to Rainmaker Entertainment. On November 29,2007, Rainmaker Income Fund announced the sale of Rainmaker Visual Effects and Rainmaker Post to Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, leaving only the animation business. The current Rainmaker name and insignia was adopted from a division, the DVD encoding company Rainmaker Digital Pictures. In 2013, Rainmaker relaunched Mainframe Entertainment as its division, starting with a CG-animated television series. In 2016, Rainmaker acquired American-based Frederator Networks, Inc. and announced that they have consolidated its divisions under its new holding company WOW
11.
Computer animation
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Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images. The more general term computer-generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation refers to the moving images. Modern computer animation usually uses 3D computer graphics, although 2D computer graphics are used for stylistic, low bandwidth. Sometimes, the target of the animation is the computer itself, Computer animation is essentially a digital successor to the stop motion techniques used in traditional animation with 3D models and frame-by-frame animation of 2D illustrations. It can also allow a single graphic artist to such content without the use of actors, expensive set pieces. To create the illusion of movement, an image is displayed on the monitor and repeatedly replaced by a new image that is similar to it. This technique is identical to how the illusion of movement is achieved with television and motion pictures, for 3D animations, objects are built on the computer monitor and 3D figures are rigged with a virtual skeleton. For 2D figure animations, separate objects and separate transparent layers are used with or without that virtual skeleton, then the limbs, eyes, mouth, clothes, etc. of the figure are moved by the animator on key frames. The differences in appearance between key frames are calculated by the computer in a process known as tweening or morphing. For 3D animations, all frames must be rendered after the modeling is complete, for 2D vector animations, the rendering process is the key frame illustration process, while tweened frames are rendered as needed. For pre-recorded presentations, the frames are transferred to a different format or medium. The frames may also be rendered in real time as they are presented to the end-user audience, low bandwidth animations transmitted via the internet often use software on the end-users computer to render in real time as an alternative to streaming or pre-loaded high bandwidth animations. To trick the eye and the brain into thinking they are seeing a moving object. With rates above 75-120 frames per second, no improvement in realism or smoothness is perceivable due to the way the eye, at rates below 12 frames per second, most people can detect jerkiness associated with the drawing of new images that detracts from the illusion of realistic movement. Conventional hand-drawn cartoon animation often uses 15 frames per second in order to save on the number of drawings needed, to produce more realistic imagery, computer animation demands higher frame rates. Films seen in theaters in the United States run at 24 frames per second, for high resolution, adapters are used. Early digital computer animation was developed at Bell Telephone Laboratories in the 1960s by Edward E. Zajac, Frank W. Sinden, other digital animation was also practiced at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. An early step in the history of animation was the sequel to the 1973 film Westworld
12.
Barbie
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Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. Barbie is the figurehead of a brand of Mattel dolls and accessories, including family members. Mattel has sold over a billion Barbie dolls, making it the company’s largest and most profitable line, however, sales have declined sharply since 2014. The doll transformed the toy business in affluent communities worldwide by becoming a vehicle for the sale of related merchandise, Ruth Handler watched her daughter Barbara play with paper dolls, and noticed that she often enjoyed giving them adult roles. At the time, most childrens toy dolls were representations of infants, realizing that there could be a gap in the market, Handler suggested the idea of an adult-bodied doll to her husband Elliot, a co-founder of the Mattel toy company. He was unenthusiastic about the idea, as were Mattels directors, during a trip to Europe in 1956 with her children Barbara and Kenneth, Ruth Handler came across a German toy doll called Bild Lilli. The adult-figured doll was exactly what Handler had in mind, so she purchased three of them and she gave one to her daughter and took the others back to Mattel. The Lilli doll was based on a character appearing in a comic strip drawn by Reinhard Beuthin for the newspaper Bild. Lilli was a bombshell, a working girl who knew what she wanted and was not above using men to get it. The Lilli doll was first sold in Germany in 1955, and although it was sold to adults. Upon her return to the United States, Handler redesigned the doll, the doll made its debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York on March 9,1959. This date is used as Barbies official birthday. The first Barbie doll wore a black and white zebra striped swimsuit and signature topknot ponytail, the doll was marketed as a Teen-age Fashion Model, with her clothes created by Mattel fashion designer Charlotte Johnson. The first Barbie dolls were manufactured in Japan, with their clothes hand-stitched by Japanese homeworkers, around 350,000 Barbie dolls were sold during the first year of production. Louis Marx and Company sued Mattel in March 1961, after licensing Lilli, they claimed that Mattel had “infringed on Greiner & Haussers patent for Bild-Lilli’s hip joint, and also claimed that Barbie was a direct take-off and copy of Bild-Lilli. The company additionally claimed that Mattel falsely and misleadingly represented itself as having originated the design, Mattel counter-claimed and the case was settled out of court in 1963. In 1964, Mattel bought Greiner & Haussers copyright and patent rights for the Bild-Lilli doll for $21,600
13.
Barbie (film series)
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There have been several American computer animated and motion capture-based direct-to-video films based on and featuring the doll Barbie. Since her film appearance in 1987s Barbie and the Rockers, Out of this World, Barbie has been a computer-animated virtual actress starring in several feature films. After a fourteen-year absence, Mattel commissioned films to feature Barbie as a heroine of several princess or fairy-themed stories to accompany a franchise of related dolls, Barbie also made appearances in My Scene, Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3 and the upcoming Toy Story 4. Début films série, 1987-production Many of the Barbie movies are stand alone tales, there are several series within the overall collection. The most notable of these are the Barbie Princesses Collection series, Barbie Fairytopia series, mermaid-themed series, modern day-themed series, as well as musical, some films are based on the stories of E. T. A. Hoffmann, the Brothers Grimm, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Hans Christian Andersen, some also include music from Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Dvorak, Mendelssohn, and Lukas Graham. The series is produced by Mattel Entertainment, since 2010, Started by Universal Studios. Mattel refers themselves as Barbie Entertainment exclusively for the Barbie film production, the films can be seen occasionally on Nickelodeon, usually before the official DVD release as an advertising tool to encourage permanent ownership of the films on DVD or other digital video forms. Mattel purchases the time from Nickelodeon, Tiny Pop or Pop to air them, first generation comprised two TV specials. Barbie and the Rockers, Out of this World was created in 1987 by DIC Entertainment and it was aired with Barbie and the Sensations, Rockin Back to Earth as a two part mini-series, with each installment lasting for approximately 25 minutes. This miniseries was supposed to have been the pilot for a Monday-Friday Barbie cartoon series, the story was based on the Barbie and the Rockers doll line in which Barbie is the lead singer of a rock band. The second generation comprised 16 films, in 2001, the first CGI-animated Barbie movie was released with Barbie in the Nutcracker, and it was tagged as Barbies first ever movie. Mattel auditioned 70 people to find the voice for Barbie. Even though Sheridan was replaced by Chiara Zanni for the Barbie film Barbie Mariposa, the theme was usually based on ballet stories and fairy tales, featuring Barbie as a princess, a fairy or a mermaid. Some are original works such as the Fairytopia series, after the previous successful films and a cancelled film, Mattel decided to change the entire Barbie brand that could affect the types of movies they would be making. They wanted to move away from the classic stories in an effort to focus on something more modern. In 2010, beginning with Barbie, A Fashion Fairytale, Kelly Sheridan was replaced by Diana Kaarina to match this new direction, however, she returned to the role with Barbie in A Mermaid Tale 2 in 2012. Rob Hudnut, the producer and vice president of Barbie Entertainment at Mattel, stated that they would continue to produce Barbie films
14.
Gold
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Gold is a chemical element with symbol Au and atomic number 79. In its purest form, it is a bright, slightly yellow, dense, soft, malleable. Chemically, gold is a metal and a group 11 element. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements and is solid under standard conditions, Gold often occurs in free elemental form, as nuggets or grains, in rocks, in veins, and in alluvial deposits. It occurs in a solid solution series with the element silver and also naturally alloyed with copper. Less commonly, it occurs in minerals as gold compounds, often with tellurium, golds atomic number of 79 makes it one of the higher numbered, naturally occurring elements. It is thought to have produced in supernova nucleosynthesis, from the collision of neutron stars. Because the Earth was molten when it was formed, almost all of the present in the early Earth probably sank into the planetary core. Gold is resistant to most acids, though it does dissolve in aqua regia, a mixture of acid and hydrochloric acid. Gold also dissolves in solutions of cyanide, which are used in mining and electroplating. Gold dissolves in mercury, forming amalgam alloys, but this is not a chemical reaction, as a precious metal, gold has been used for coinage, jewelry, and other arts throughout recorded history. A total of 186,700 tonnes of gold is in existence above ground, the world consumption of new gold produced is about 50% in jewelry, 40% in investments, and 10% in industry. Gold is also used in infrared shielding, colored-glass production, gold leafing, certain gold salts are still used as anti-inflammatories in medicine. As of 2014, the worlds largest gold producer by far was China with 450 tonnes, Gold is cognate with similar words in many Germanic languages, deriving via Proto-Germanic *gulþą from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃-. The symbol Au is from the Latin, aurum, the Latin word for gold, the Proto-Indo-European ancestor of aurum was *h₂é-h₂us-o-, meaning glow. This word is derived from the root as *h₂éu̯sōs, the ancestor of the Latin word Aurora. This etymological relationship is presumably behind the frequent claim in scientific publications that aurum meant shining dawn, Gold is the most malleable of all metals, a single gram can be beaten into a sheet of 1 square meter, and an avoirdupois ounce into 300 square feet. Gold leaf can be thin enough to become semi-transparent
15.
Rose
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A rose is a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus Rosa, in the family Rosaceae, or the flower it bears. There are over a species and thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be erect shrubs, flowers vary in size and shape and are usually large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows and reds. Most species are native to Asia, with smaller numbers native to Europe, North America, species, cultivars and hybrids are all widely grown for their beauty and often are fragrant. Roses have acquired cultural significance in many societies, Rose plants range in size from compact, miniature roses, to climbers that can reach seven meters in height. Different species hybridize easily, and this has used in the development of the wide range of garden roses. The leaves are borne alternately on the stem, most roses are deciduous but a few are evergreen or nearly so. The flowers of most species have five petals, with the exception of Rosa sericea, each petal is divided into two distinct lobes and is usually white or pink, though in a few species yellow or red. Beneath the petals are five sepals and these may be long enough to be visible when viewed from above and appear as green points alternating with the rounded petals. There are multiple superior ovaries that develop into achenes, the aggregate fruit of the rose is a berry-like structure called a rose hip. Many of the domestic cultivars do not produce hips, as the flowers are so tightly petalled that they do not provide access for pollination, the hips of most species are red, but a few have dark purple to black hips. Each hip comprises an outer layer, the hypanthium, which contains 5–160 seeds embedded in a matrix of fine. Rose hips of some species, especially the dog rose and rugosa rose, are rich in vitamin C. The hips are eaten by fruit-eating birds such as thrushes and waxwings, some birds, particularly finches, also eat the seeds. While the sharp objects along a stem are commonly called thorns. Rose prickles are typically sickle-shaped hooks, which aid the rose in hanging onto other vegetation growing over it. Despite the presence of prickles, roses are frequently browsed by deer, a few species of roses have only vestigial prickles that have no points. Hesperrhodos contains Rosa minutifolia and Rosa stellata, from North America, platyrhodon with one species from east Asia, Rosa roxburghii
16.
Opal
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Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica, its water content may range from 3 to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6 and 10%. Because of its amorphous character, it is classed as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline forms of silica, which are classed as minerals. It is deposited at a low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most commonly found with limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, marl. Opal is the gemstone of Australia. The internal structure of precious opal makes it diffract light, depending on the conditions in which it formed, it can take on many colors. Precious opal ranges from clear white, gray, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, magenta, rose, pink, slate, olive, brown. Of these hues, the black opals are the most rare, whereas white, opals vary in optical density from opaque to semitransparent. Precious opal shows a variable interplay of colors, and though it is a mineraloid. At microscopic scales, precious opal is composed of silica spheres some 150 to 300 nm in diameter in a hexagonal or cubic close-packed lattice, the regularity of the sizes and the packing of these spheres determines the quality of precious opal. The colors that are observed are determined by the spacing between the planes and the orientation of planes with respect to the incident light, the process can be described by Braggs law of diffraction. Visible light of diffracted wavelengths cannot pass through large thicknesses of the opal and this is the basis of the optical band gap in a photonic crystal. The notion that opals are photonic crystals for visible light was expressed in 1995 by Vasily Astratovs group, in addition, microfractures may be filled with secondary silica and form thin lamellae inside the opal during solidification. The term opalescence is commonly and erroneously used to describe this unique and beautiful phenomenon, contrarily, opalescence is correctly applied to the milky, turbid appearance of common or potch opal. Potch does not show a play of color, for gemstone use, most opal is cut and polished to form a cabochon. Solid opal refers to polished stones consisting wholly of precious opal, opals too thin to produce a solid may be combined with other materials to form attractive gems. An opal doublet consists of a thin layer of precious opal, backed by a layer of dark-colored material, most commonly ironstone, dark or black common opal, onyx. The darker backing emphasizes the play of color, and results in an attractive display than a lighter potch. An opal triplet is similar to a doublet, but has a third layer, the cap takes a high polish and acts as a protective layer for the opal
17.
Geranium
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Geranium is a genus of 422 species of flowering annual, biennial, and perennial plants that are commonly known as the cranesbills. They are found throughout the regions of the world and the mountains of the tropics. The long, palmately cleft leaves are circular in form. The flowers have five petals and are coloured white, pink, purple or blue, geraniums will grow in any soil as long as it is not waterlogged. Propagation is by cuttings in summer, by seed, or by division in autumn or spring. The genus name is derived from the Greek γέρανος or γερανός ‘crane’, the English name ‘cranesbill’ derives from the appearance of the fruit capsule of some of the species. Species in the Geranium genus have a mechanism for seed dispersal. This consists of a column which springs open when ripe. The fruit capsule consists of five cells, each containing one seed, joined to a column produced from the centre of the old flower. The common name comes from the shape of the unsprung column. However, many species in this genus do not have a long beak-like column, geraniums are eaten by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including brown-tail and mouse moth. The species Geranium viscosissimum is considered to be protocarnivorous, confusingly, geranium is also the common name of members of the genus Pelargonium, which are also in the Geraniaceae family. These are generally half-hardy plants which are grown from seed every year, or offered as bedding in spring. Linnaeus originally included all the species in one genus, Geranium, other former members of the genus are now classified in genus Erodium, including the plants known as filarees in North America. The term hardy geranium is often applied to geraniums to distinguish them from the pelargoniums, however, not all geranium species are winter-hardy. The shape of the flowers offers one way of distinguishing between the two genera Geranium and Pelargonium, a number of geranium species are cultivated for horticultural use and for pharmaceutical products. Some of the commonly grown species include, All the above species are perennials and generally winter-hardy plants, grown for their attractive flowers. They are long-lived and most have a habit, with palmately lobed foliage
18.
Garnet
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Garnets are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. All species of garnets possess similar physical properties and crystal forms, the different species are pyrope, almandine, spessartine, grossular, uvarovite and andradite. The garnets make up two solid solution series, pyrope-almandine-spessartine and uvarovite-grossular-andradite, the word garnet comes from the 14th‑century Middle English word gernet, meaning dark red. It is derived from the Latin granatus, from granum, Garnet species are found in many colors including red, orange, yellow, green, purple, brown, blue, black, pink, and colorless, with reddish shades most common. Garnet species light transmission properties can range from the gemstone-quality transparent specimens to the varieties used for industrial purposes as abrasives. The minerals luster is categorized as vitreous or resinous, garnets are nesosilicates having the general formula X3Y23. The X site is occupied by divalent cations 2+ and the Y site by trivalent cations 3+ in an octahedral/tetrahedral framework with 4− occupying the tetrahedra. Garnets are most often found in the crystal habit, but are also commonly found in the trapezohedron habit. They crystallize in the system, having three axes that are all of equal length and perpendicular to each other. Garnets do not show cleavage, so when they fracture under stress, because the chemical composition of garnet varies, the atomic bonds in some species are stronger than in others. As a result, this group shows a range of hardness on the Mohs scale of about 6.5 to 7.5. The harder species like almandine are often used for abrasive purposes, for gem identification purposes, a pick-up response to a strong neodymium magnet separates garnet from all other natural transparent gemstones commonly used in the jewelry trade. Almandine, Fe3Al23 Pyrope, Mg3Al23 Spessartine, Mn3Al23 Almandine, sometimes incorrectly called almandite, is the modern gem known as carbuncle, the term carbuncle is derived from the Latin meaning live coal or burning charcoal. The name Almandine is a corruption of Alabanda, a region in Asia Minor where these stones were cut in ancient times, chemically, almandine is an iron-aluminium garnet with the formula Fe3Al23, the deep red transparent stones are often called precious garnet and are used as gemstones. Almandine occurs in metamorphic rocks like mica schists, associated with such as staurolite, kyanite, andalusite. Almandine has nicknames of Oriental garnet, almandine ruby, and carbuncle, Pyrope is red in color and chemically an aluminium silicate with the formula Mg3Al23, though the magnesium can be replaced in part by calcium and ferrous iron. The color of pyrope varies from red to black. A variety of pyrope from Macon County, North Carolina is a shade and has been called rhodolite
19.
Delphinium
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Delphinium is a genus of about 300 species of perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa. All members of the Delphinium genus are toxic to humans and livestock, the common name larkspur is shared between perennial Delphinium species and annual species of the genus Consolida. Molecular data show that Consolida, as well as another segregate genus, the name delphinium derives from the Latin for dolphin, referring to the shape of the nectary. The leaves are deeply lobed with three to seven toothed, pointed lobes in a palmate shape. The main flowering stem is erect, and varies greatly in size between the species, from 10 centimetres in some species, up to 2 m tall in the larger meadowland species. In June and July, the plant is topped with a raceme of flowers, varying in color from purple and blue, to red, yellow. In most species each flower consists of five sepals which grow together to form a hollow pocket with a spur at the end. Within the sepals are four petals, small, inconspicuous. The eponymous long spur of the upper sepal encloses the nectar-containing spurs of the two upper petals, the seeds are small and often shiny black. The plants flower from spring to late summer, and are pollinated by butterflies. Despite the toxicity, Delphinium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including the dot moth, genetic analysis suggests that Delphinium sensu lato, as it was delineated before the 21st century, is polyphyletic. Nested within Delphinium s. l. are Aconitella, Consolida, to make Delphinium monophyletic, several interventions were made. The new genus Staphisagria was erected containing Delphinium staphisagria, D. requini, further genetic analysis has shown that the two large subgenera Aconitum and Aconitum are the sister group to Aconitum gymnandrum, Delphinium, Delphinium, Consolida and Aconitella. To make Aconitum monophyletic, A. gymnandrum has now been reassigned to a new monotypic genus, finally, Consolida and Aconitella are synonymized with Delphinium. D. arthriscifolium is sister to all species of Delphinium sensu stricto. It should be placed in its own subgenus, but no proposal naming this subgenus has been made yet, the subgenera Delphinium and Delphinium are sister to the group consisting of the species of Consolida and Aconitella, which together make up the subgenus Delphinium. Aconitella cannot be retained as a subgenus because A. barbata does not cluster with the species previously assigned to that genus. Pictum = Staphisagria picta D. requienii = Staphisagria requienii D. staphisagria = Staphisagria staphisagria Delphiniums can attract butterflies, various delphiniums are cultivated as ornamental plants, for traditional and native plant gardens
20.
Ruby
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A ruby is a pink to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphires, Ruby is one of the traditional cardinal gems, together with amethyst, sapphire, emerald, and diamond. They word ruby comes from ruber, Latin for red, the color of a ruby is due to the element chromium. The quality of a ruby is determined by its color, cut, and clarity, the brightest and most valuable red called blood-red or pigeon blood, commands a large premium over other rubies of similar quality. After color follows clarity, similar to diamonds, a stone will command a premium. Ruby is the birthstone for July and is usually more pink than garnet. The worlds most expensive ruby is the Sunrise Ruby, rubies have a hardness of 9.0 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. Among the natural gems only moissanite and diamond are harder, with diamond having a Mohs hardness of 10.0, when a chromium atom replaces an occasional aluminum atom, it too loses 3 electrons to become a chromium3+ ion to maintain the charge balance of the Al2O3 crystal. However, the Cr3+ ions are larger and have electron orbitals in different directions than aluminum, the octahedral arrangement of the O2− ions is distorted, and the energy levels of the different orbitals of those Cr3+ ions are slightly altered because of the directions to the O2− ions. Those energy differences correspond to absorption in the ultraviolet, violet, if one percent of the aluminum ions are replaced by chromium in ruby, the yellow-green absorption results in a red color for the gem. Additionally, absorption at any of the above wavelengths stimulates fluorescent emission of 694-nanometer-wavelength red light, after absorbing short-wavelength light, there is short interval of time when the crystal lattice of ruby is in an excited state before fluorescence occurs. If 694-nanometer photons pass through the crystal during that time, they can stimulate more fluorescent photons to be emitted in-phase with them, thus strengthening the intensity of that red light. By arranging mirrors or other means to pass emitted light repeatedly through the crystal, all natural rubies have imperfections in them, including color impurities and inclusions of rutile needles known as silk. Gemologists use these needle inclusions found in natural rubies to distinguish them from synthetics, simulants, usually, the rough stone is heated before cutting. These days, almost all rubies are treated in some form, untreated rubies of high quality command a large premium. Some rubies show a three-point or six-point asterism or star and these rubies are cut into cabochons to display the effect properly. Asterisms are best visible with a source and move across the stone as the light moves or the stone is rotated. Such effects occur when light is reflected off the silk in a certain way and this is one example where inclusions increase the value of a gemstone
21.
Sapphire
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Sapphire is a gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide. It is typically blue in color, but natural fancy sapphires also occur in yellow, purple, orange, the only color which sapphire cannot be is red - as red colored corundum is called ruby, another corundum variety. This variety in color is due to amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, copper. Commonly, natural sapphires are cut and polished into gemstones and worn in jewelry and they also may be created synthetically in laboratories for industrial or decorative purposes in large crystal boules. Sapphire is the birthstone for September and the gem of the 45th anniversary, a sapphire jubilee occurs after 65 years. Sapphire is one of the two gem-varieties of corundum, the other being ruby, although blue is the best-known sapphire color, they occur in other colors, including gray and black, and they can be colorless. A a pinkish orange variety of sapphire is called padparadscha, significant sapphire deposits are found in Eastern Australia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, China, Madagascar, East Africa, and in North America in a few locations, mostly in Montana. Sapphire and rubies are often found in the geological setting. Every sapphire mine produces a range of quality - and origin is not a guarantee of quality. For sapphire, Kashmir receives the highest premium although Burma, Sri Lanka, the cost of natural sapphires varies depending on their color, clarity, size, cut, and overall quality. For gems of exceptional quality, an independent determination from a respected laboratory such as the GIA, gemstone color can be described in terms of hue, saturation, and tone. Hue is commonly understood as the color of the gemstone, saturation refers to the vividness or brightness of the hue, and tone is the lightness to darkness of the hue. Blue sapphire exists in various mixtures of its primary and secondary hues, various tonal levels, blue sapphires are evaluated based upon the purity of their primary hue. Purple, violet, and green are the most common secondary hues found in blue sapphires, violet and purple can contribute to the overall beauty of the color, while green is considered to be distinctly negative. Blue sapphires with up to 15% violet or purple are generally said to be of fine quality, gray is the normal saturation modifier or mask found in blue sapphires. Gray reduces the saturation or brightness of the hue, and therefore has a negative effect. The 423-carat Logan sapphire in the National Museum of Natural History, in Washington, sapphires in colors other than blue are called fancy or parti colored sapphires. Fancy sapphires are found in yellow, orange, green sapphires, brown, purple
22.
Sunflower
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Helianthus or sunflowers L. /ˌhiːliˈænθəs/ is a genus of plants comprising about 70 species in the family Asteraceae. The genus is one of many in the Asteraceae that are known as sunflowers, except for three species in South America, all Helianthus species are native to North America. The common name, sunflower, typically refers to the annual species Helianthus annuus, or the common sunflower. This and other species, notably Jerusalem artichoke, are cultivated in regions as food crops. The largest sunflower field is located in Tuscany, Italy, the domesticated sunflower, H. annuus, is the most familiar species. Perennial sunflower species are not as popular for gardens due to their tendency to spread rapidly and become invasive. Whorled sunflowers, H. verticillatus, were listed as a species in 2014 when the U. S. Fish. The primary threats are industrial forestry and pine plantations in Alabama, Georgia and they grow to 1.8 m and are primarily found in woodlands, adjacent to creeks and moist, prairie-like areas. Sunflowers are usually annual or perennial plants that grow to a height of 300 centimetres or more. They bear one or more wide, terminal capitula, with yellow ray florets at the outside. Several ornamental cultivars of Helianthus annuus have red-colored ray florets, all of them stem from a single original mutant, during growth, sunflowers tilt during the day to face the sun, but stop once they begin blooming. This tracking of the sun in young sunflower heads is called heliotropism, by the time they are mature, sunflowers generally face east. The rough and hairy stem is branched in the part in wild plants but is usually unbranched in domesticated cultivars. The petiolate leaves are dentate and often sticky, the lower leaves are opposite, ovate or often heart-shaped. They are distinguished technically by the fact that the ray florets are sterile, some species also have additional shorter scales in the pappus, and there is one species that lacks a pappus entirely. Another technical feature that distinguishes the genus more reliably, but requires a microscope to see, is the presence of a prominent, sunflowers are especially well known for their symmetry based on Fibonacci numbers and the Golden angle. There is quite a bit of variability among the species that make up the bulk of the species in the genus. Some have most or all of the leaves in a rosette at the base of the plant
23.
Peridot
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Peridot is gem-quality olivine, which is a silicate mineral with the formula of 2SiO4. As peridot is the variety of olivine, the formula approaches Mg2SiO4. The origin of the name peridot is uncertain, the Oxford English Dictionary suggests an alteration of Anglo–Norman pedoretés, a kind of opal, rather than the Arabic word faridat, meaning gem. The Middle English Dictionarys entry on peridot includes several variations, peridod, peritot, the earliest use in England is in the register of the St Albans Abbey, in Latin, and its translation in 1705 is possibly the first use of peridot in English. It records that on his death in 1245, Bishop John bequeathed various items including peridot to the Abbey, Peridot is one of the few gemstones that occur in only one color, an olive-green. In rare cases, peridot may occur in a medium-dark toned, peridots can also be found in meteorites. Olivine in general is an abundant mineral, but gem quality peridot is rather rare. This is due to the chemical instability on the Earths surface. Olivine is usually found as small grains, and tends to exist in a heavily weathered state, large crystals of forsterite, the variety most often used to cut peridot gems, are rare, as a result olivine is considered to be precious. Peridot crystals have been collected from some pallasite meteorites, Peridot is sometimes mistaken for emeralds and other green gems. Notable gemologist George Frederick Kunz discussed the confusion between emeralds and peridots in many church treasures, notably the Three Magi treasure in the Dom of Cologne, the largest cut peridot olivine is a 310 carat specimen in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D. C. Peridot olivine is the birthstone for the month of August, USGS peridot data Emporia Edu Florida State University – Peridot
24.
Honeysuckle
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Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining bines in the family Caprifoliaceae, native to the Northern Hemisphere. Approximately 180 species of honeysuckle have been identified, about 100 of these species can be found in China and approximately 20 native species have been identified in Europe,20 in India, and 20 in North America. Widely known species include Lonicera periclymenum, Lonicera japonica and Lonicera sempervirens, hummingbirds are attracted to the flowers on some of these plants, especially L. sempervirens and L. ciliosa. Honeysuckle gets its name because edible sweet nectar can be sucked from the flowers, the name Lonicera stems from Adam Lonicer, a Renaissance botanist. Most species of Lonicera are hardy twining climbers, with a minority of shrubby habit. The leaves are opposite, simple oval, 1–10 cm long, most are deciduous, many of the species have sweetly scented, bilaterally symmetrical flowers that produce a sweet, edible nectar, and most flowers are borne in clusters of two. Both shrubby and vining sorts have strongly fibrous stems which have used for binding. Most honeysuckle berries are attractive to wildlife, which has led to such as L. japonica. Many species of Lonicera are eaten by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species — see a list of Lepidoptera that feed on honeysuckles, several species of honeysuckle have become invasive when introduced outside their native range, particularly in New Zealand and the United States. Invasive species include L. japonica, L. maackii, L. morrowii, honeysuckles are valued as garden plants, for their ability to cover unsightly walls and outbuildings, their profuse tubular flowers in summer, and the intense fragrance of many varieties. The hardy climbing types need their roots in shade, and their flowering tops in sunlight or very light shade, varieties need to be chosen with care, as they can become substantial. Burchellia bubalina Sims Chiococca alba Hitchc, spigelia marilandica L. Symphoricarpos orbiculatus Moench Viburnum mongolicum Rehder Flora of China, Lonicera species list Honeysuckle
25.
Citrine
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Quartz is the second most abundant mineral in Earths continental crust, behind feldspar. There are many different varieties of quartz, several of which are semi-precious gemstones, since antiquity, varieties of quartz have been the most commonly used minerals in the making of jewelry and hardstone carvings, especially in Eurasia. The word quartz is derived from the German word Quarz and its Middle High German ancestor twarc, the Ancient Greeks referred to quartz as κρύσταλλος derived from the Ancient Greek κρύος meaning icy cold, because some philosophers apparently believed the mineral to be a form of supercooled ice. Today, the rock crystal is sometimes used as an alternative name for the purest form of quartz. Quartz belongs to the crystal system. The ideal crystal shape is a six-sided prism terminating with six-sided pyramids at each end, well-formed crystals typically form in a bed that has unconstrained growth into a void, usually the crystals are attached at the other end to a matrix and only one termination pyramid is present. However, doubly terminated crystals do occur where they develop freely without attachment, a quartz geode is such a situation where the void is approximately spherical in shape, lined with a bed of crystals pointing inward. α-quartz crystallizes in the crystal system, space group P3121 and P3221 respectively. β-quartz belongs to the system, space group P6222 and P6422. These space groups are truly chiral, both α-quartz and β-quartz are examples of chiral crystal structures composed of achiral building blocks. The transformation between α- and β-quartz only involves a comparatively minor rotation of the tetrahedra with respect to one another, although many of the varietal names historically arose from the color of the mineral, current scientific naming schemes refer primarily to the microstructure of the mineral. Color is an identifier for the cryptocrystalline minerals, although it is a primary identifier for the macrocrystalline varieties. Pure quartz, traditionally called rock crystal or clear quartz, is colorless and transparent or translucent, common colored varieties include citrine, rose quartz, amethyst, smoky quartz, milky quartz, and others. The most important distinction between types of quartz is that of macrocrystalline and the microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline varieties, the cryptocrystalline varieties are either translucent or mostly opaque, while the transparent varieties tend to be macrocrystalline. Chalcedony is a form of silica consisting of fine intergrowths of both quartz, and its monoclinic polymorph moganite. Other opaque gemstone varieties of quartz, or mixed rocks including quartz, often including contrasting bands or patterns of color, are agate, carnelian or sard, onyx, heliotrope, amethyst is a form of quartz that ranges from a bright to dark or dull purple color. The worlds largest deposits of amethysts can be found in Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, Russia, France, Namibia, sometimes amethyst and citrine are found growing in the same crystal. It is then referred to as ametrine, an amethyst is formed when there is iron in the area where it was formed
26.
Camellia
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Camellia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan, there are 100–300 described species, with some controversy over the exact number. There are also around 3,000 hybrids, the genus was named by Linnaeus after the Jesuit botanist Georg Joseph Kamel, who worked in the Philippines and described a species of camellia. Of economic importance in the Indian subcontinent and Asia, leaves of C. sinensis are processed to create the popular beverage, the ornamental C. japonica, C. sasanqua and their hybrids are the source of hundreds of garden cultivars. C. oleifera produces tea seed oil, used in cooking, Camellias are evergreen shrubs or small trees up to 20 m tall. Their leaves are arranged, simple, thick, serrated. Their flowers are large and conspicuous, one to 12 cm in diameter. The colors of the flowers vary from white through pink colors to red, truly yellow flowers are only in South China. Camellia flowers throughout the genus are characterized by a bouquet of conspicuous yellow stamens. The so-called fruit of plants is a dry capsule, sometimes subdivided in up to five compartments. The various species of plants are generally well-adapted to acidic soils rich in humus. Most species of camellias also require an amount of water, either from natural rainfall or from irrigation. However, some of the more unusual camellias – typically species from karst soils in Vietnam – can grow too much water. Camellia plants usually have a growth rate. Typically they will grow about 30 cm per year until mature – though this does vary depending on their variety, Camellia plants are used as food plants by the larvae of a number of Lepidoptera species, see List of Lepidoptera that feed on Camellia. Leaves of the Japanese camellia are susceptible to the fungal parasite Mycelia sterile, Camellia sinensis, the tea plant, is of major commercial importance because tea is made from its leaves. The species C. sinensis is the product of generations of selective breeding in order to bring out qualities considered desirable for tea. However, many other camellias can be used to produce a similar beverage, for example, in some parts of Japan, tea made from C. sasanqua leaves is popular
27.
Pearl
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A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as a conulariid. Just like the shell of a clam, a pearl is composed of calcium carbonate. in minute crystalline form, the ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other shapes, known as baroque pearls, can occur. The finest quality natural pearls have been valued as gemstones. Because of this, pearl has become a metaphor for something rare, fine, the most valuable pearls occur spontaneously in the wild, but are extremely rare. These wild pearls are referred to as natural pearls, cultured or farmed pearls from pearl oysters and freshwater mussels make up the majority of those currently sold. Imitation pearls are widely sold in inexpensive jewelry, but the quality of their iridescence is usually very poor and is easily distinguished from that of genuine pearls. Pearls have been harvested and cultivated primarily for use in jewelry and they have also been crushed and used in cosmetics, medicines and paint formulations. Whether wild or cultured, gem-quality pearls are almost always nacreous and iridescent, however, almost all species of shelled mollusks are capable of producing pearls of lesser shine or less spherical shape. The English word pearl comes from the French perle, originally from the Latin perna meaning leg, nacreous pearls, the best-known and most commercially significant, are primarily produced by two groups of molluskan bivalves or clams. A nacreous pearl is made from layers of nacre, by the same living process as is used in the secretion of the mother of pearl which lines the shell, natural pearls, formed without human intervention, are very rare. Cultured pearls are formed in pearl farms, using human intervention as well as natural processes, saltwater pearls can grow in several species of marine pearl oysters in the family Pteriidae. Freshwater pearls grow within certain species of mussels in the order Unionida. The unique luster of pearls depends upon the reflection, refraction, the thinner and more numerous the layers in the pearl, the finer the luster. The iridescence that pearls display is caused by the overlapping of successive layers, in addition, pearls can be dyed yellow, green, blue, brown, pink, purple, or black. The very best pearls have a metallic mirror-like luster, because pearls are made primarily of calcium carbonate, they can be dissolved in vinegar. Calcium carbonate is susceptible to even a weak acid solution because the crystals of calcium carbonate react with the acid in the vinegar to form calcium acetate. Freshwater and saltwater pearls may sometimes look quite similar, but they come from different sources, Freshwater pearls form in various species of freshwater mussels, family Unionidae, which live in lakes, rivers, ponds and other bodies of fresh water. These freshwater pearl mussels occur not only in hotter climates, most freshwater cultured pearls sold today come from China
28.
Narcissus (plant)
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Narcissus /nɑːrˈsɪsəs/ is a genus of predominantly spring perennial plants in the Amaryllidaceae family. Various common names including daffodil, daffadowndilly, narcissus, and jonquil are used to all or some members of the genus. Narcissus has conspicuous flowers with six petal-like tepals surmounted by a cup- or trumpet-shaped corona, the flowers are generally white or yellow, with either uniform or contrasting coloured tepals and corona. Narcissus were well known in ancient civilisation, both medicinally and botanically, but formally described by Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum, the genus is generally considered to have about ten sections with approximately 50 species. The number of species has varied, depending on how they are classified, the genus arose some time in the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene epochs, in the Iberian peninsula and adjacent areas of southwest Europe. The exact origin of the name Narcissus is unknown, but it is linked to a Greek word for intoxicated. The English word daffodil appears to be derived from asphodel, with which it was commonly compared, the species are native to meadows and woods in southern Europe and North Africa with a center of diversity in the Western Mediterranean, particularly the Iberian peninsula. Both wild and cultivated plants have naturalised widely, and were introduced into the Far East prior to the tenth century, Narcissi tend to be long-lived bulbs, which propagate by division, but are also insect-pollinated. Known pests, diseases and disorders include viruses, fungi, the larvae of flies, mites and nematodes, some Narcissus species have become extinct, while others are threatened by increasing urbanisation and tourism. Today narcissi are popular as cut flowers and as plants in private. The long history of breeding has resulted in thousands of different cultivars, for horticultural purposes, narcissi are classified into divisions, covering a wide range of shapes and colours. Like other members of their family, narcissi produce a number of different alkaloids, which provide protection for the plant. This property has been exploited for use in traditional healing and has resulted in the production of galantamine for the treatment of Alzheimers dementia. Long celebrated in art and literature, narcissi are associated with a number of themes in different cultures, ranging from death to good fortune, the daffodil is the national flower of Wales and the symbol of cancer charities in many countries. The appearance of the flowers in spring is associated with festivals in many places. Narcissus is a genus of perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes, dying back after flowering to a storage bulb. They regrow in the year from brown-skinned ovoid bulbs with pronounced necks. Dwarf species such as N. asturiensis have a height of 5–8 cm
29.
Topaz
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Topaz is a silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine with the chemical formula Al2SiO42. Topaz crystallizes in the system, and its crystals are mostly prismatic terminated by pyramidal. Pure topaz is colorless and transparent but is usually tinted by impurities, typical topaz is wine red, yellow, pale gray, reddish-orange and it can also be white, pale green, blue, gold, pink, reddish-yellow or opaque to transparent/translucent. Orange topaz, also known as precious topaz, is the traditional November birthstone, the symbol of friendship, Imperial topaz is yellow, pink or pink-orange. Brazilian Imperial Topaz can often have a yellow to deep golden brown hue. Many brown or pale topazes are treated to make them bright yellow, gold, some imperial topaz stones can fade on exposure to sunlight for an extended period of time. Blue topaz is the gemstone of the US state of Texas. Naturally occurring blue topaz is quite rare, typically, colorless, gray or pale yellow and blue material is heat treated and irradiated to produce a more desired darker blue. Mystic topaz is colorless topaz which has been artificially coated giving it the desired rainbow effect, Topaz is commonly associated with silicic igneous rocks of the granite and rhyolite type. It typically crystallizes in granitic pegmatites or in cavities in rhyolite lava flows including those at Topaz Mountain in western Utah. Brazil is one of the largest producers of topaz, some clear topaz crystals from Brazilian pegmatites can reach boulder size, crystals of this size may be seen in museum collections. The Topaz of Aurangzeb, observed by Jean Baptiste Tavernier weighed 157.75 carats, the American Golden Topaz, a more recent gem, weighed a massive 22,892.5 carats. Large, vivid blue topaz specimens from the St. Anns mine in Zimbabwe were found in the late 1980s, colorless and light-blue varieties of topaz are found in Precambrian granite in Mason County, Texas within the Llano Uplift. There is no mining of topaz in that area. Pliny said that Topazos is an island in the Red Sea. Alternatively, the word topaz may be related to the Sanskrit word तपस् tapas, nicols, the author of one of the first systematic treatises on minerals and gemstones, dedicated two chapters to the topic in 1652. In the Middle Ages, the name topaz was used to refer to any yellow gemstone, many modern English translations of the Bible, including the King James Version mention topaz. The masoretic text has pitdah as the gem the stone is made from, more likely, pitdah is derived from Sanskrit words, meaning yellow burn or, metaphorically, fiery
30.
Lily of the valley
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It is possibly the only species in the genus Convallaria. In the APG III system, the genus is placed in the family Asparagaceae and it was formerly placed in its own family Convallariaceae, and, like many lilioid monocots, before that in the lily family Liliaceae. Convallaria majalis is a perennial plant that forms extensive colonies by spreading underground stems called rhizomes. New upright shoots are formed at the ends of stolons in summer and these grow in the spring into new leafy shoots that still remain connected to the other shoots under ground, often forming extensive colonies. The stems grow to 15–30 cm tall, with one or two leaves 10–25 cm long, flowering stems have two leaves and a raceme of 5–15 flowers on the stem apex. The fruit is a small orange-red berry 5–7 mm diameter that contains a few large whitish to brownish colored seeds that dry to a clear translucent round bead 1–3 mm wide, plants are self-sterile, and colonies consisting of a single clone do not set seed. Convallaria majalis is a native of Europe, where it avoids the Mediterranean. An eastern variety, C. majalis var. manschurica occurs in Japan, a limited native population of C. majalis var. montana occurs in the Eastern United States. There is, however, some debate as to the status of the American variety. Like many perennial flowering plants, C. majalis exhibits dual reproductive modes by producing offspring asexually by vegetative means, Convallaria majalis is a plant of partial shade, and mesophile type that prefers warm summers. It likes soils that are silty or sandy and acid to moderately alkaline, the Royal Horticultural Society states that slightly alkaline soils are the most favoured. It is an Euroasiatic and suboceanic species that lives in mountains up to 1,500 m altitude, Convallaria majalis is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the grey chi. Adults and larvae of the leaf beetle Lilioceris merdigera are also able to tolerate the cardenolides, there are three varieties that have sometimes been separated out as distinct species or subspecies by some botanists. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Societys Award of Garden Merit, in favourable conditions it can form large colonies. Various kinds and cultivars are grown, including those with flowers, rose-colored flowers, variegated foliage. C. majalis Rosea sometimes found under the name C. majalis var. rosea, has pink flowers, traditionally Convallaria majalis has been grown in pots and winter forced to provide flowers during the winter months, both for as potted plants and as cut flowers. All parts of the plant are poisonous, including the red berries which may be attractive to children. If ingested—even in small amounts—the plant can cause pain, vomiting, reduced heart rate, blurred vision, drowsiness
31.
Emerald
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Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium. Beryl has a hardness of 7. 5–8 on the Mohs scale, most emeralds are highly included, so their toughness is classified as generally poor. The word emerald is derived, from Vulgar Latin, esmaralda/esmaraldus, a variant of Latin smaragdus, emeralds, like all colored gemstones, are graded using four basic parameters–the four Cs of Connoisseurship, Color, Clarity, Cut and Carat weight. Before the 20th century, jewelers used the water, as in a gem of the finest water. Normally, in the grading of colored gemstones, color is by far the most important criterion, however, in the grading of emeralds, clarity is considered a close second. A fine emerald must possess not only a pure verdant green hue as described below, in the 1960s, the American jewelry industry changed the definition of emerald to include the green vanadium-bearing beryl as emerald. As a result, vanadium emeralds purchased as emeralds in the United States are not recognized as such in the UK, in America, the distinction between traditional emeralds and the new vanadium kind is often reflected in the use of terms such as Colombian Emerald. In gemology, color is divided into three components, hue, saturation, and tone, emeralds occur in hues ranging from yellow-green to blue-green, with the primary hue necessarily being green. Yellow and blue are the normal secondary hues found in emeralds, only gems that are medium to dark in tone are considered emerald, light-toned gems are known instead by the species name green beryl. The finest emerald are approximately 75% tone on a scale where 0% tone would be colorless, in addition, a fine emerald should be well saturated and have a hue that is bright. Gray is the normal saturation modifier or mask found in emerald, Emerald tends to have numerous inclusions and surface breaking fissures. Unlike diamond, where the standard, i. e. 10× magnification, is used to grade clarity. Thus, if an emerald has no visible inclusions to the eye it is considered flawless, stones that lack surface breaking fissures are extremely rare and therefore almost all emeralds are treated to enhance the apparent clarity. The inclusions and fissures within an emerald are sometime described as jardin, imperfections are unique for each emerald and can be used to identify a particular stone. Eye-clean stones of a vivid primary green hue, with no more than 15% of any hue or combination of a medium-dark tone. The relative non-uniformity motivates the cutting of emeralds in cabochon form, faceted emeralds are most commonly given an oval cut, or the signature emerald cut, a rectangular cut with facets around the top edge. Most emeralds are oiled as part of the process, in order to fill in surface-reaching cracks so that clarity and stability are improved. Cedar oil, having a refractive index, is often used in this widely adopted practice
32.
Multiple birth
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A multiple birth is the culmination of one multiple pregnancy, wherein the mother delivers two or more offspring. A term most applicable to placental species, multiple births occur in most kinds of mammals, such births are often named according to the number of offspring, as in twins and triplets. In non-humans, the group may also be referred to as a litter. Multiple births in humans are the exception, and can be rare in the largest mammals. Each single fertilized egg may produce an embryo, or it may split into two or more embryos, each carrying the same genetic material. Fetuses resulting from different zygotes are called fraternal and share only 50% of their genetic material, fetuses resulting from the same zygote share 100% of their genetic material, and are hence called identical and are always of the same sex. A multiple pregnancy from a zygote is called monozygotic, from two zygotes is called dizygotic, or from two or more zygotes is called polyzygotic. Similarly, the siblings themselves from a multiple birth may be referred to as if they are identical. This average decreases for each additional fetus, to thirty-six weeks for twin births, thirty-two weeks for triplets, with the decreasing gestation time, the risks from immaturity at birth and subsequent viability increase with the size of the sibling group. Only as of the century have more than four all survived infancy. Recent history has seen increasing numbers of multiple births. In the United States, it has estimated that by 2011, 36% of twin births and 78% of triplet. Twins are by far the most common form of births in humans. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report more than 132,000 sets of twins out of 3.9 million births of all each year, about 3. 4%. Identical triplets come from a pregnancy, three fetuses from one egg. The most common set, strictly fraternal triplets, comes from a pregnancy of three eggs. Triplets are far less common than twins, according to the U. S, centers for Disease Control and Prevention, accounting for only about 4300 sets in 3.9 million births, just a little more than 0. 1%, or 1 in 1000. According to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, only about 10% of these are identical triplets, nevertheless, only 4 sets of identical triplets were reported in the U. S. during 2015, about one in a million
33.
Beryl
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Beryl is a mineral composed of beryllium aluminium cyclosilicate with the chemical formula Be3Al26. Well-known varieties of beryl include emerald and aquamarine, naturally occurring, hexagonal crystals of beryl can be up to several meters in size, but terminated crystals are relatively rare. Pure beryl is colorless, but it is tinted by impurities, possible colors are green, blue, yellow, red. The name beryl is derived from Greek βήρυλλος beryllos which referred to a precious blue-green color-of-sea-water stone, akin to Prakrit verulia, the term was later adopted for the mineral beryl more exclusively. When the first eyeglasses were constructed in 13th century Italy, the lenses were made of beryl as glass could not be clear enough. Consequently glasses were named Brillen in German, beryl of various colors is found most commonly in granitic pegmatites, but also occurs in mica schists in the Ural Mountains, and limestone in Colombia. Beryl is often associated with tin and tungsten ore bodies, beryl is found in Europe in Norway, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Ireland and Russia, as well as Brazil, Colombia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Pakistan, South Africa, the United States, and Zambia. US beryl locations are in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Dakota and Utah. As of 1999, the worlds largest known naturally occurring crystal of any mineral is a crystal of beryl from Malakialina, Madagascar,18 m long and 3.5 m in diameter, aquamarine is a blue or cyan variety of beryl. It occurs at most localities which yield ordinary beryl, the gem-gravel placer deposits of Sri Lanka contain aquamarine. Clear yellow beryl, such as occurring in Brazil, is sometimes called aquamarine chrysolite. The deep blue version of aquamarine is called maxixe, maxixe is commonly found in the country of Madagascar. Its color fades to white when exposed to sunlight or is subjected to heat treatment, the pale blue color of aquamarine is attributed to Fe2+. Fe3+ ions produce golden-yellow color, and when both Fe2+ and Fe3+ are present, the color is a darker blue as in maxixe, decoloration of maxixe by light or heat thus may be due to the charge transfer between Fe3+ and Fe2+. Dark-blue maxixe color can be produced in green, pink or yellow beryl by irradiating it with high-energy particles, in the United States, aquamarines can be found at the summit of Mt. Antero in the Sawatch Range in central Colorado. In Wyoming, aquamarine has been discovered in the Big Horn Mountains, another location within the United States is the Sawtooth Range near Stanley, Idaho, although the minerals are within a wilderness area which prevents collecting. In Brazil, there are mines in the states of Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, and Bahia, the mines of Colombia, Zambia, Madagascar, Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya also produce aquamarine. The largest aquamarine of gemstone quality ever mined was found in Marambaia, Minas Gerais, Brazil and it weighed over 110 kg, and its dimensions were 48.5 cm long and 42 cm in diameter
34.
Bellis perennis
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Bellis perennis is a common European species of daisy, of the Asteraceae family, often considered the archetypal species of that name. Many related plants also share the name daisy, so to distinguish species from other daisies it is sometimes qualified as common daisy. Historically, it has also commonly known as bruisewort and occasionally woundwort. Bellis perennis is native to western, central and northern Europe and it is an herbaceous perennial plant with short creeping rhizomes and rosettes of small rounded or spoon-shaped leaves that are from 3/4 to 2 inches long and grow flat to the ground. The species habitually colonises lawns, and is difficult to eradicate by mowing - hence the term lawn daisy, wherever it appears it is often considered an invasive weed. The flowerheads are composite, in the form of a pseudanthium, consisting of many sessile flowers about 3/4 to 1-1/4 in in diameter, with ray florets. Each inflorescence is borne on single leafless stems 3/4 -4 in, the capitulum, or disc of florets, is surrounded by two rows of green bracts known as phyllaries. It can generally be grown in USDA Zones 4 -8 in full sun to partial shade conditions and it has no known serious insect or disease problems and can generally be grown in most well-drained soils. The plant may be propagated either by seed after the last frost, though invasive, the species is still considered a valuable ground cover in certain garden settings. Numerous single- and double-flowered varieties are in cultivation, producing flat or spherical blooms in a range of sizes and they are generally grown from seed as biennial bedding plants. They can also be purchased as plugs in Spring, the cultivar Tasso series has gained the Royal Horticultural Societys Award of Garden Merit. Bellis is Latin for pretty and perennis is Latin for everlasting, the name daisy is considered a corruption of days eye, because the whole head closes at night and opens in the morning. Chaucer called it eye of the day, in Medieval times, Bellis perennis or the English Daisy was commonly known as Marys Rose. The English Daisy is also considered to be a flower of children, Daisy is used as a girls name and as a nickname for girls named Margaret, after the French name for the oxeye daisy, marguerite. This daisy may be used as a potherb, young leaves can be eaten raw in salads or cooked, noting that the leaves become increasingly astringent with age. Flower buds and petals can be eaten raw in sandwiches, soups and it is also used as a tea and as a vitamin supplement. Bellis perennis has astringent properties and has used in herbal medicine. Bandages were soaked in this juice and would then be used to bind sword, Bellis perennis is still used in homeopathy for wounds and after certain surgical procedures, as well as for blunt trauma in animals
35.
Diamond (gemstone)
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A diamond is one of the best-known and most sought-after gemstones. Diamonds have been known to mankind and used as decorative items since ancient times, the hardness of diamond and its high dispersion of light—giving the diamond its characteristic fire—make it useful for industrial applications and desirable as jewelry. Diamonds are such a highly traded commodity that multiple organizations have created for grading and certifying them based on the four Cs, which are color, cut, clarity. Other characteristics, such as presence or lack of fluorescence, also affect the desirability, the most famous use of the diamond in jewelry is in engagement rings. The practice is documented among European aristocracy as early as the 15th century, though ruby, the modern popularity of diamonds was largely created by De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. which established the first large-scale diamonds mines in South Africa. Through an advertising campaign beginning in the 1930s and continuing into the century, De Beers made diamonds into a key part of the betrothal process. The diamonds high value has been the force behind dictators and revolutionary entities, especially in Africa, using slave. The value of diamonds is attributed largely to the tight control over this supply. Early references to diamonds in India come from Sanskrit texts, the Arthashastra of Kautilya mentions diamond trade in India. Buddhist works dating from the 4th century BC describe the diamond as a well-known and precious stone, golconda served as an important center for diamonds in central India. Diamonds were traded to both the east and west of India and were recognized by various cultures for their gemological or industrial uses. In his work Naturalis Historia, the Roman writer Pliny the Elder noted diamonds ornamental uses, diamonds eventually spread throughout the world, even though India had remained the only major source of the gemstone until the discovery of diamonds in Brazil in 1725. A Chinese work from the 3rd century BC mentions, Foreigners wear it in the belief that it can ward off evil influences. The Chinese, who did not find diamonds in their country, initially did not use diamond as a jewel, diamonds reached ancient Rome from India. Diamonds were also discovered in 700 AD in Borneo, and were used by the traders of southeast Asia, the modern era of diamond mining began in the 1860s in Kimberley, South Africa with the opening of the first large-scale diamond mine. The first diamond there was found in 1866 on the banks of the Orange River, in 1869, an even larger 83.50 carat diamond was found on the slopes of Colesberg Kopje on the farm Vooruitzigt belonging to the De Beers brothers. This sparked off the famous New Rush and within a month,800 claims were cut into the hillock which were worked frenetically by two to three thousand men, as the land was lowered so the hillock became a mine—in time, the world-renowned Kimberley Mine. Following agreement by the British government on compensation to the Orange Free State for its land claims
36.
White lily
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Lilium candidum, the Madonna lily, is a plant in the true lily family. It is native to Balkans and the Middle East, and naturalized in parts of Europe as well as in North Africa, the Canary Islands, Mexico. It forms bulbs at ground level, and unlike other lilies, has a rosette of leaves through the winter. A leafy flower stem, typically up to 1.2 metres high, sometimes up to 2 metres high, emerges in late spring, flowers are white, flushed yellow at the base. It has long been cultivated, but is susceptible to diseases of lilies. One possible way to avoid problems with viruses is to grow plants raised from seed, the Madonna lily is often described as being the basis of the fleur de lis, though the shape of this stylised flower more strongly resembles that of a flag iris. Madonna lilies are depicted in a fresco at the Minoan palace of Knossos, the Madonna Lily symbolizes purity for Roman Catholics. Medieval depictions of the Blessed Virgin Mary often show her holding these flowers, there are translations of the Bible that identify the Hebrew word Shoshannah as lily in Song of Songs, not as a rose as is customary to translate. For example, Abraham ibn Ezra describes it as a flower, which has a good fragrance. But its identity is uncertain, because it does not fit with the description as the lily of the valleys, the Bible describes King Solomons Temple as having designs of Madonna lilies on the columns and on the brazen Sea. Suspected cases require urgent veterinary attention, the European Garden Flora Garden Bulbs for the South
37.
Amethyst
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Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz often used in jewelry. The name comes from the ancient Greek ἀ a- and μέθυστος méthystos, the ancient Greeks wore amethyst and made drinking vessels decorated with it in the belief that it would prevent intoxication. It is one of forms of quartz. Amethyst is a stone and is the traditional birthstone for February. Amethyst is a variety of quartz and owes its violet color to irradiation, iron impurities, and the presence of trace elements. The hardness of the mineral is the same as quartz, thus it is suitable for use in jewelry, Amethyst occurs in primary hues from a light pinkish violet to a deep purple. Amethyst may exhibit one or both secondary hues, red and blue, the best varieties of amethyst can be found in Siberia, Sri Lanka, Brazil and the far East. The ideal grade is called Deep Siberian and has a purple hue of around 75–80%, with 15–20% blue. Green quartz is sometimes called green amethyst, which is a misnomer and not an appropriate name for the material. Other names for green quartz are vermarine or lime citrine, of very variable intensity, the color of amethyst is often laid out in stripes parallel to the final faces of the crystal. One aspect in the art of lapidary involves correctly cutting the stone to place the color in a way makes the tone of the finished gem homogeneous. Often, the fact that only a thin surface layer of violet color is present in the stone or that the color is not homogeneous makes for a difficult cutting. When partially heated, amethyst can result in ametrine, Amethyst can fade in tone if overexposed to light sources and can be artificially darkened with adequate irradiation. Amethyst was used as a gemstone by the ancient Egyptians and was employed in antiquity for intaglio engraved gems. Beads of amethyst were found in Anglo-Saxon graves in England, anglican bishops wear an episcopal ring often set with an amethyst, an allusion to the description of the Apostles as not drunk at Pentecost in Acts 2,15. A large geode, or amethyst-grotto, from near Santa Cruz in southern Brazil was presented at a 1902 exhibition in Düsseldorf, in the 19th century, the color of amethyst was attributed to the presence of manganese. However, since it can be altered and even discharged by heat. Ferric thiocyanate has been suggested, and sulfur was said to have detected in the mineral
38.
Kitten
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A kitten, also known as a kitty or kitty cat, is a juvenile cat. After being born, kittens are totally dependent on their mother for survival, after about two weeks, kittens quickly develop and begin to explore the world outside the nest. After a further three to four weeks, they begin to eat food and grow adult teeth. Domestic kittens are highly social animals and enjoy human companionship, the word kitten derives from the Middle English word kitoun, which in turn came from the Old French chitoun or cheton. A feline litter usually consists of two to five kittens born after a gestation lasting between 64 and 67 days, with a length of 66 days. Kittens emerge in a sac called the amnion, which is bitten off, for the first several weeks, kittens are unable to urinate or defecate without being stimulated by their mother. They are also unable to regulate their temperature for the first three weeks, so kittens born in temperatures less than 27 °C can die from hypothermia if their mother does not keep them warm. The mothers milk is very important for the nutrition and proper growth. This milk transfers antibodies to the kittens, which protect them against infectious disease. Newborn kittens are unable to produce concentrated urine, and so have a high requirement for fluids. Kittens open their eyes about seven to ten days after birth, at first, the retina is poorly developed and vision is poor. Kittens are not able to see as well as adult cats until about ten weeks after birth, Kittens develop very quickly from about two weeks of age until their seventh week. They play-fight with their litter-mates and begin to explore the world outside the nest or den and they learn to wash themselves and others as well as play hunting and stalking games, showing their inborn ability as predators. These innate skills are developed by the mother or other adult cats. Later, the adult cats demonstrate hunting techniques for the kittens to emulate, as they reach three to four weeks old, the kittens are gradually weaned and begin to eat solid food, with weaning usually complete by six to eight weeks. Kittens generally begin to lose their baby teeth around three months of age, and have a set of adult teeth by nine months. Kittens live primarily on solid food after weaning, but usually continue to suckle from time to time until separated from their mothers, some mother cats will scatter their kittens as early as three months of age, while others continue to look after them until they approach sexual maturity. The sex of kittens is usually easy to determine at birth, by six to eight weeks they are harder to sex because of the growth of fur in the genital region
