Merapi orchid (Vanda tricolor)

Merapi orchid (Vanda tricolor) is an endemic orchid species of Mount Merapi with flowers shaped like spiders, has three dominant colors in one petal are white, brownish red spots, and purple. V. tricolor is considered the most beautiful of the 70 species of orchid found at Merapi.

Orchid Merapi is the queen of orchids from the slopes of Mount Merapi. V. tricolor and Dendrobium mutabile are extraordinary orchids where the two plants survive after being hit by the eruption of Mount Merapi in 2010. V. tricolor has a heat shock protein (HSP) that makes it heat resistant.

V. tricolor can live in the lowlands up to 1,000 meters above sea level. Cultivation is very easy and only needs patience. The plant's height is around 15 centimeters at the age of two and continues to rise up to several meters.

This Merapi orchid has a fragrant aroma, but only at 7.00-9.00 in the morning. Each tree can have dozens of flower stems that generally appear from October to September. Even so, this orchid can flower at any time. Indonesia has at least 5,000 orchid species.

This orchid has always been the focus of attention among a variety of flowering plants. Vanda tricolor is very unique, beautiful, fragrant and special for orchid lovers, even though Indonesia has at least 5,000 species of orchids.

Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Epidendroideae
Genus: Vanda
Species: V. tricolor

A deep-sea isopod Bathyopsurus nybelini adapted to feed submerged Sargassum algae

NEWS - Incredible footage shows a marine species, Bathyopsurus nybelini , feeding on something that sinks from the ocean’s surface. Researchers using the submersible Alvin found the isopod swimming 3.7 miles down using its paddle-like legs to catch an unexpected food source: Sargassum. Researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the University of Montana, SUNY Geneseo, Willamette University and the University of Rhode Island found the algae sinking, while the isopod waited and adapted specifically to find and feed on the sinking nutrient source. The Sargassum lives on the surface for photosynthesis. The discovery of a deep-sea animal that relies on food that sinks from the waters miles above underscores the close relationship between the surface and the deep. “It’s fascinating to see this beautiful animal actively interacting with sargassum, so deep in the ocean. This isopod is extremely rare; only a handful of specimens were collected during the groundbreaking Swedis...

Pink poui (Tabebuia rosea)

Pink poui ( Tabebuia rosea ) is a species of plant in the Bignoniaceae, a small neotropical tree, growing up to 30 meters tall and up to 100 cm in diameter. It has layered and irregular branches, with gray to brown bark and vertical fissures. The leaves are compound, finger-shaped, five-petaled, length up to 33 cm, width up to 15 cm and long stalk up to 9 cm. The flowers are large, bright red or purple or white, fan-shaped, up to 9 cm long, up to 8 cm wide. The fruit capsule is slender and up to 35 cm long. The fruit dries and dehisces, producing anemochorous seeds with hyaline membrane wings. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Bignoniaceae Genus: Tabebuia Gomes ex DC. in Biblioth. Universelle Genève, n.s., 17: 130 (1838) Species: Tabebuia rosea (Bertol.) DC. in Prodr. 9: 215 (1845) HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS Couralia rosea (Bertol.) Donn.Sm. in Bot. Gaz. 20: 9 (1895) Sparattosperma roseum (Bertol.) Miers in Proc....

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