Obscure morning glory (Ipomoea obscura)

Obscure morning glory or small white morning glory or ipomoea luteola (Ipomoea obscura) is a species of flowering plants in Convolvulaceae, growing vines and climbing in open areas on tropical forest floors and untreated lands.

I. obscura has tuberous roots, reniform and green-colored leaves that appear intermittently, 2-12 cm long and 2-10 cm wide. Stems are green or purple with the ends wrapped around to other plants for climbing media.

The flower petals are white with a brown central tube and decorated with five crem stars, bell-shaped facing upwards and about 3 cm long. This plant produces almost all the flowers throughout the year.

Obscure morning glory is often used as an ornamental plant. In some places local residents use the leaves for vegetables and medical drugs such as mouth ulcers by pounding dried leaves until soft or pulverizing fresh leaves and then affixed to the sprain.

Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Tracheophyta

Subphylum: Angiospermae

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Solanales

Family: Convolvulaceae

Subfamily: Convolvuloideae

Tribe: Ipomoeeae

Genus: Ipomoea

Species: Ipomoea obscura

Variety: Ipomoea obscura var. demissa, Ipomoea obscura var. obscura, Ipomoea obscura var. sagittifolia

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 ...

False nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica)

False nettle ( Boehmeria cylindrica ) is a species of plant in the Urticaceae family, a herb or small shrub, up to 160 cm tall, usually monoecious but rarely dioecious. The leaves are paired or alternate, and the inflorescence is a spikelet with a cluster of small bracts at the tip. B. cylindrica generally grows to a height of 50-100 cm. Spine-like hairs form in the leaf axils. The leaves are oval and up to 10 cm long and 4 cm wide. The flowers are green or greenish-white and emerge from the upper leaf axils. Male and female flowers usually grow on separate plants. Male flowers are more numerous among the spikes in clusters. Female flowers are less evenly distributed along the spikes. The small, oval seeds are covered with small, hook-like hairs. Ripe seeds are dark brown. The inflorescence resembles a spike and is up to 3 cm long. This species can be found in moist to mesic deciduous forest habitats, growing abundantly along streambanks, floodplains, and lowlands. B. cylindrica is ...

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. ...

Dlium