Angel's trumpets (Brugmansia)

Cubung gunung or angel's trumpets or Brugmansia are plant genera in Solanaceae, woody shrubs, large flowers that are pendulous and fragrant at night. Seven officially recorded species in this genus are Brugmansia arborea, Brugmansia aurea, Brugmansia insignis, Brugmansia sanguinea, Brugmansia suaveolens, Brugmansia versicolor and Brugmansia vulcanicola.

The Brugmansia species contain tropane alkaloids of the type that have lethal nighthade toxicity. Large bushes or small trees, semi-woody stems, multiple branches and 3-11 m tall. The leaves are arranged along the stem, 10-30 cm long and 4-18 cm wide and often covered with fine hair.

The flowers are large, pendulous, trumpet-shaped, 14-50 cm long and 10-35 cm wide, white, yellow, pink, orange, green or red. Most have a strong aroma at night to attract pollinator moths. Brugmansia sanguinea is not fragrant but red flowers are favored by hummingbirds.

Cubung gunung contain important alkaloids including scopolamine, hyoscyamine, and atropine which have been proven as medical values for spasmolytic, anti-asthmatic, anticholinergic, narcotics, and anesthetic properties, although many of these alkaloids have been synthetically synthesized.

Angel's trumpets are traditionally used in many cultures in medical preparation and as an entheogen in religious or spiritual ceremonies. Traditional external uses include treating aches and pains, dermatitis, orchitis, arthritis, rheumatism, headaches, infections, and as anti-inflammatory.

Very low internal use includes treatments for stomach and muscle diseases, decongestants, to excrete parasites and as a sedative. Traditional healers use Brugmansia for initiation, divination, and black magic rituals.

Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae
Subfamily: Solanoideae
Tribe: Datureae
Genus: Brugmansia
Species: Brugmansia arborea, Brugmansia aurea, Brugmansia insignis, Brugmansia sanguinea, Brugmansia suaveolens, Brugmansia versicolor and Brugmansia vulcanicola.

Comments

Salak (Salacca zalacca)

Salak or snake fruit (Salacca zalacca) is a species of palm plant in Arecaceae, dioesis, shrubs and not trunked, has many thorns, many shoots, grows into dense and strong clumps, spreads below or above the ground, often branching and 10-15 cm diameter.

S. zalacca has compound leaves, pinnate and 3-7 m long. Petiole, midrib and sapling have many long thorns, thin spines and a blackish-gray color. Minor leaves have a lanceolate shape, a pointed tip, 8x85 cm and a white underside by a waxy coating.

The flowers in the cob are compound, appear in the armpit of the leaf, stem, initially covered by a sheath then dry and break down like fibers. Male flowers 50-100 cm long, 4-12 cylindrical items, 7-15 cm long, reddish in the armpits of tightly arranged scales. Female flowers 20-30 cm long, stemmed long and 1-3 items.

The fruit has scaly skin, is eaten and is known as a table fruit, triangular shaped rather rounded or inverted ovoid, pointed at the base and rounded at the tip, 2.5-10 cm long, w…

God is tools

God and spirit are controversial discussions in science and even mythology will have no place among naturalists and for Darwinians. Apparently this has been final that mythology is a delusional, mystical and superstitious concept that cannot be empirically proven in the world of science.

Most scientists and science activists have agreed that god is nonsense, delusional and cannot be accommodated in the theory of evolution. This opinion can be understood methodologically and I agree with the sentences. But so many behaviors are very real and occur in the field.

I am a fieldman who goes to the wild every day, along rice fields and forests to watch insects to plants, talk to people especially in villages, visit Hindu-Buddhist temples built in the 8th century, witnessing busyness in mosques, temples and churches.

I feel something is missing in the view of naturalists and Darwinians. There are short moments that are missed in analyzes in the timeline of human evolution. These little moment…

Devil's backbone (Euphorbia tithymaloides)

Pokok lipan or devil's-backbone or redbird flower or christmas candle or Pedilanthus tithymaloides (Euphorbia tithymaloides) are plant species in Euphorbiaceae, upright, evergreen, gummy shrubs, growing in tropical and subtropical regions.

E. tithymaloides likes sandy soils especially with high concentrations of boron, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum and zinc. This bush grows to 2.4 m high and 61 cm wide. Simple angiosperm leaves, arranged opposite to the stem where each leaf is sessile with a length of 3.6-7.6 cm.

The stem has the tip of a handle that supports a group of flowers that are not scented. Bifid crown and ovoid. The involucral bracts are bright red, irregular in shape and length from 1.1 to 1.3 mm.

Hairy male and female pedicels. Seed pods are 7.6 mm long, 8.9 mm wide and ovate with clipped ends. Devil's-backbone generally blooms in mid-spring in the subtropical region and in the dry season in the tropics. Pollination is carried out by ants and birds.

Redbird fl…

Barbados lily (Hippeastrum puniceum)

Barbados lily or amaryllis lily (Hippeastrum puniceum) is a species of perennial flowering plant in Amaryllidaceae, grows in the tropics, has 4-6 leaves, bright green, 30-60 cm long and 2.5-3 cm wide, white waxed, tubular and shrink at the ends.

H. puniceum has flowers that grow in the umbel at the end of the stalk which has a height of 40-60 cm and stands tall with a pointed tip at the top. The umbel has lanceolate green bracts at its base. Each stalk has one or two ovaries.

Orange-red petal with yellow or pale base. The two lower tepals are much narrower than lateral. About five white stamens emerge from the end of the tube in the middle of the crown.

A single flower will bloom to face north or south with a curved base where the horizontal flower faces are parallel to the ground, while the stems that have two flowers will bloom to face north and others to the south.

Wild barbados lilies grow in forests, yard, roadside and neglected lands. This plant likes sandy, gravel and rocky soil…

Temulawak (Curcuma zanthorrhiza)

Temulawak or Java ginger or Javanese ginger or Javanese turmeric or Curcuma xanthorrhiza (Curcuma zanthorrhiza) is a plant species in Zingiberaceae, grows well in loose soil in tropical forests in the lowlands to an altitude of 1500 meters above sea level and tubers are used for medicinal herbs and drinks.

C. zanthorrhiza has pseudo stems up to 2 m tall. The stem is a midrib of upright, overlapping leaves, green or dark brown in color. Rhizomes are perfectly formed, large, branched and reddish brown, dark yellow or dark green.

Each bud forms 2-9 leaves with a circular shape extending to lancet, green or light purple to dark brown, leaves 31-84 cm long and 10-18 cm wide, stems 43-80 cm long and each strand is connected with a midrib.

Flowers are dark yellow, uniquely shaped and clustered with lateral inflorescences. The stems and scales are in the form of lines, 9-23cm long and 4-6cm wide, having protectors with comparable crowns. Petals are white, hairy and 8-13mm long.

The crown is tu…

Dlium

Search This Blog