Cauliflower groups. In the 1st century AD, Pliny included what he called "cyma" among his descriptions of cultivated plants in "Natural History": ""Ex omnibus brassicae generibus suavissima est cyma,"" ("Of all the varieties of cabbage the most pleasant-tasted is "cyma""). Pliny's descriptions likely refer to the flowering heads of an earlier cultivated variety of "Brassica oleracea", but comes close to describing modern cauliflower. It is found in the writings of the Arab botanists Ibn al-'Awwam and Ibn al-Baitar, in the 12th and 13th centuries when its origins were said to be Cyprus. François Pierre La Varenne employed "chouxfleurs" in "Le cuisinier
Geology of the Auckland Region Geology of the Auckland Region The Auckland Region of New Zealand is built on a basement of greywacke rocks that form many of the islands in the Hauraki Gulf, the Hunua Ranges, and land south of Port Waikato. The Waitakere Ranges in the west are the remains of a large andesitic volcano, and Great Barrier Island was formed by the northern end of the Coromandel Volcanic Zone. The main isthmus and North Shore are composed of Waitemata sandstone and mudstone, and portions of the Northland Allochthon extend as far south as Albany. Little Barrier Island was formed by a relatively