Flame lily (Gloriosa superba)

Sunsang or flame lily (Gloriosa superba) is a species of plant in the Colchicaceae, an annual shrub, grows to climb using leaf tip tendrils, fleshy stems up to 4 meters long, widely used as an ornamental plant due to its bright flower color and distinctive shape.

G. superba grows with gnarled rhizomes and climbs using leaf tendrils. Leaves alternate, lanceolate with outstretched tips, 13-20 cm long, thick, a bone in the center that forms a trench, smooth surface, flat margins and green in color.

Wavy flower tent, red top and greenish yellow base, has six corrugated tents and is 5-7.6 cm each. The fruit is capsule-shaped and fleshy, 6-12 cm long and contains red seeds. Butterflies and birds usually do pollination.

All parts of the plant contain colchicine where the leaves and tubers are about 0.1-0.8%, while the seeds are around 1.32%. Colchicine is a toxic and carcinogenic alkaloid compound that is soluble in water, alcohol and chloroform.

Colchicine has been used effectively in the treatment of acute gout, intestinal worms, bruises, infertility and skin problems. It has also been used to remove thorns, nails, skin parasites, antidotes for snake bites, laxatives and abortions.

Flame lily also contains the alkaloid gloriosin which will cause nausea, vomiting, numbness and tingling around the mouth, burning in the throat, stomach pain and bloody diarrhea that can lead to dehydration and death. Long-term effects include prolonged peeling of the skin and vaginal bleeding.

Colchicine alkaloids are useful in the treatment of chronic ulcers, arthritis, cholera, stomach pain, kidney problems, and typhus. Colchicine is widely used as an experimental tool in cell division studies to inhibit mitosis, induce polyploidy and treat cancer.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Liliales
Family: Colchicaceae
Genus: Gloriosa
Species: Gloriosa superba

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake

NEWS - Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) create bubble net tools while foraging, consisting of internal tangential rings, and actively control the number of rings, their size, depth and horizontal spacing between the surrounding bubbles. These structural elements of the net increase prey intake sevenfold. Researchers have known that humpback whales create “bubble nets” for hunting, but the new report shows that the animals also manipulate them in a variety of ways to maximize catches. The behavior places humpbacks among the rare animals that make and use their own tools. “Many animals use tools to help them find food, but very few actually make or modify these tools themselves,” said Lars Bejder, director of the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP), University of Hawaii at Manoa. “Humpback whales in southeast Alaska create elaborate bubble nets to catch krill. They skillfully blow bubbles in patterns that form a web with internal rings. They actively control details such ...

Pohpohan (Pilea melastomoides)

Pohpohan clearweed ( Pilea melastomoides ) is a species of plant in the Urticaceae, herbaceous perennial, erect stems, up to 100 cm tall, succulent, square or cylindrical, enlarged in the middle of the internodes, bright green in color and forming colonies in the shade. P. melastomoides has stipules that are immediately deciduous or subpersistent, green or brownish and oblong. The stalk is 2-9 cm long. The leaf blade is ovate or ovate-elliptic or oblong-lanceolate. The surface is wavy, pale green on the underside, dark green on the top. The three main veins are central and linear. Rounded base, tapered ends and serrated edges. The inflorescences are paired, the male is a dense cyme paniculata. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Rosales Family: Urticaceae Genus: Pilea Species: Pilea melastomoides

Petai (Parkia speciosa)

Stink bean or bitter bean or pete or petai ( Parkia speciosa ) is a tropical tree species in Fabaceae, 5-25 m high and branched, reddish brown bark, always green, compound and pinnate leaves, young seeds are harvested as fresh or boiled food . P. speciosa has a hump-shaped flower that hangs with a long stalk, usually appearing near the tips of the branches. Flowers that are young and not yet blooming are green, mature flowers have stamens and pistils, old flowers turn yellow and are large in size. Dozens of long, flat pod-shaped fruits emerge from a flower hump hanging from a tree. Each pod has up to 10-20 seeds that are neatly arranged, green when young and wrapped in a rather thick membrane of light brown. The fruit dries and becomes harder as it ripens and releases the seeds. Petai grows well in wet and slightly wet climates, low land to mountains with an altitude of 1,500 m, open spaces and lots of sun throughout the day with fine-tinted soil and Ph 5.5-6.5. Trees start bea...

Dlium