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'''[[Heterotaxis]]''' is a genus of [[orchid]]s formed by a group of circa fourteen [[epiphytic]] neotropical species which previously were considered part of genus ''[[Maxillaria]]''. Most of the species are robust plants with shiny dark green [[leaf|leaves]] which presents a showy display making a very good first impression but that end disappointing because of their small [[flower]]s, usually yellow, which, because of their short [[inflorescence]]s, hide between the foliage and can hardly be seen. Although the species that belong to this genus are easy to identify as members of it, because several species are highly variable and some species are very similar to others, to differentiate them is hard. The limits between each species not seem well established, with few exceptions, thus the concept of some species sometimes overlap others. Among all ''Heterotaxis'' species, ''H. equitans'' is a favorite of orchid collectors because it has visible and showy white and dark blue-purple flowers; and ''H. valenzuelana'' is sometimes collected due to the uniqueness of their fan shaped foliage.
==Footnotes==
 
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''Heterotaxis'' are comparatively large and robust plants among orchids. According to their morphologic characteristics they can be split into two main groups, identifiable at the first glance, all bearing comparatively minute flowers growing from several or few inflorescences produced sequentially
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from each leaf axil, almost any time of the year. As any species once subordinated to ''[[Maxillaria]]'' the inflorescences are lateral, they hardly are taller than the pseudobulb and often are very short, bearing just one flower. All species have small thick flowers, which frequently do not open entirely, ordinarily yellowish, but also orange or white, sometimes with purple-bluish, lilac or brown-red spots. A thickening or variable calli on the center of the lip are common, sometimes covered by waxy glandular [[trichome]]s that attract [[pollinator]]s, mostly meliponine bees. Their [[column]] is very short and the fruits show lateral dehiscence. ('''''[[Heterotaxis|Read more...]]''''')

Latest revision as of 09:19, 11 September 2020

The Mathare Valley slum near Nairobi, Kenya, in 2009.

Poverty is deprivation based on lack of material resources. The concept is value-based and political. Hence its definition, causes and remedies (and the possibility of remedies) are highly contentious.[1] The word poverty may also be used figuratively to indicate a lack, instead of material goods or money, of any kind of quality, as in a poverty of imagination.

Definitions

Primary and secondary poverty

The use of the terms primary and secondary poverty dates back to Seebohm Rowntree, who conducted the second British survey to calculate the extent of poverty. This was carried out in York and was published in 1899. He defined primary poverty as having insufficient income to “obtain the minimum necessaries for the maintenance of merely physical efficiency”. In secondary poverty, the income “would be sufficient for the maintenance of merely physical efficiency were it not that some portion of it is absorbed by some other expenditure.” Even with these rigorous criteria he found that 9.9% of the population was in primary poverty and a further 17.9% in secondary.[2]

Absolute and comparative poverty

More recent definitions tend to use the terms absolute and comparative poverty. Absolute is in line with Rowntree's primary poverty, but comparative poverty is usually expressed in terms of ability to play a part in the society in which a person lives. Comparative poverty will thus vary from one country to another.[3] The difficulty of definition is illustrated by the fact that a recession can actually reduce "poverty".

Causes of poverty

The causes of poverty most often considered are:

  • Character defects
  • An established “culture of poverty”, with low expectations handed down from one generation to another
  • Unemployment
  • Irregular employment, and/or low pay
  • Position in the life cycle (see below) and household size
  • Disability
  • Structural inequality, both within countries and between countries. (R H Tawney: “What thoughtful rich people call the problem of poverty, thoughtful poor people call with equal justice a problem of riches”)[4]

As noted above, most of these, or the extent to which they can be, or should be changed, are matters of heated controversy.

Footnotes
  1. ↑ Alcock, P. Understanding poverty. Macmillan. 1997. ch 1.
  2. ↑ Harris, B. The origins of the British welfare state. Palgrave Macmillan. 2004. Also, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
  3. ↑ Alcock, Pt II
  4. ↑ Alcock, Preface to 1st edition and pt III.

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