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People are amazed by this “hummingbird” flower

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">An Australian plant has shocked people due to the uncanny resemblance of a hummingbird.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It has Aussies surprised as the plant appears to have a beak, wings and tail, but the hummingbird is not native to Australia.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Many debated whether or not the plant mimicked the hummingbird via evolution.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“How is this even possible?” one said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Looks like something out of the movie, Annihilation,” another claimed.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A different person questioned if it was just a “freakish coincidence”.</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BpOmn9-Bs-O/" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BpOmn9-Bs-O/" target="_blank">I have never seen the “green birdflower” ( Crotalaria cunninghamii ). Beautiful and in our caravan park. Apparently the sap from the leaves was used by indigenous people to treat eye infections. Cool! 🌿😜 #greenbirdflower #westernaustralia #australia #travel #campervan #explore #outdoors #holiday</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/kathrynmetcalf74/" target="_blank"> Kathryn Metcalf (Magnus)</a> (@kathrynmetcalf74) on Oct 22, 2018 at 1:10am PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The plant is known as a green birdflower.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, University of Melbourne evolutionary ecologist Dr Michael Whitehead told </span><a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/native-flower-found-western-australia-resembles-hummingbird-070447544.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Yahoo News Australia</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that the plant only looks like a hummingbird to humans.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“There’s no real compelling reason why we should expect them to evolve to appear like birds,” he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It’s very unlikely anything not human would actually see them as a bird.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It’s easy for humans to see patterns and resemblance.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dr Whitehead said that the plants suffered from being torn up due to small animals like mice biting through the flowers and feeding on the nectar, but this doesn’t contribute to the shape.</span></p>

Domestic Travel

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Gluten-free hummingbird cake

<p>Covered in pecans and cream cheese frosting, everyone loves a good hummingbird cake, and with less sugar and no flour, this option is especially enticing.</p> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Ingredients: </span></strong></p> <ul> <li>2 tablespoons of butter, softened</li> <li>3 cups of buckwheat flour</li> <li>3 bananas, ripe</li> <li>1 teaspoon of bi-carb soda</li> <li>1 teaspoon of cinnamon</li> <li>1 teaspoon of salt</li> <li>3 eggs</li> <li>½ - ⅔ cup of raw honey</li> <li>1 ½ cups of coconut oil, melted</li> <li>1 cup of crushed canned pineapple, drained</li> <li>½ teaspoons of vanilla extract</li> <li>1 cup of chopped walnuts and/or pecans, mixed plus extra pecans for decoration</li> </ul> <p><em>Frosting</em></p> <ul> <li>225g of cream cheese</li> <li>½ cup of butter</li> <li>3 cups of icing sugar</li> <li>1 teaspoon of vanilla extract</li> </ul> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Method: </span></strong></p> <p>1. Preheat oven to 175°C. Situate one rack in the upper third of the oven and one on the bottom.</p> <p>2. Mash bananas.</p> <p>3. In a bowl, mix flour, bi-carb soda, cinnamon and salt. Add eggs, honey, and coconut oil. Stir until combined.</p> <p>4. Add pineapple, banana and vanilla plus one cup of nuts. Stir well.</p> <p>5. Pour into three round cake pans and set two on upper rack with one on the lower rack.</p> <p>6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Halfway through baking, switch pans.</p> <p>7. Once baked, let cool and remove cake from pans.</p> <p>8. To make icing, mix all ingredients in a large bowl.</p> <p>9. Spread frosting on the sides and top of first cake. Top with second cake and repeat until all cakes are stacked and frosted. Top with pecans for decoration.</p>

Food & Wine