Lily turf (Ophiopogon caulescens)

Lily turf (Ophiopogon caulescens) is a plant species in Asparagaceae, perennial herb, rhizomatosa, suberect or prostrate stem, simple, elongated or short, leaving the basal or cauline, alternately, tufted or scattered, sessile or petiolate, linear to oblong, green and striped.

O. caulescens has a height of about 30 cm, linear leaves, widening to form shade, flat and long, narrow base, progressively wider and taper end, a bone moves linearly in the middle, green on the upper surface and silvery on bottom surface.

Bisexual flowers in panicles, white, nodded and lined up on a black-green stalk. The flower has six tepals, six stamens, short filaments and basifixed anthers. The fruit is green and shows young seeds.

The original habitat of the tropics, altitude 0-1000 m, likes rather moist and shady soils, grows wild in primary forests, secondary forests, abandoned lands, roadsides and is widely used as an ornamental plant.

Lilyturf has a sweet, rather bitter taste and is cold. Tubers contain steroids saponins, ophiopogonin, isoflavonoids, S-glucose, 6-fructose, sucrose, inulin type fructane, β-sitosterol, β-sitosterol glucoside galactagogum and aphrodisiac.

Tubers are used to treat lung abscesses, dry cough, vomiting, fever and dry throat, difficulty defecating and urinating. Usually the tubers boiled to drink water.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily: Nolinoideae
Genus: Ophiopogon
Species: Ophiopogon caulescens

Black potato (Coleus rotundifolius)

Black potato ( Coleus rotundifolius ) is a species of plant in Lamiaceae, herbaceous, fibrous roots and tubers, erect and slightly creeping stems, quadrangular, thick, and slightly odorous. Single leaves, thick, membranous, opposite and alternate. Leaves are oval, dark green and shiny on the upper side, bright green on the lower side. Up to 5 cm long, up to 4 cm wide, slightly hairy and pinnate leaf veins. Leaf stalks up to 4 cm long. Small, purple flowers. Star-shaped petals, lip-shaped crown, dark to light purple with a slightly curved tube shape. Flowering from February-August. Small tubers, brown and white flesh and tuber length 2-4 cm. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Lamiaceae Subfamily: Nepetoideae Tribe: Ocimeae Subtribe: Plectranthinae Genus: Coleus Species: Coleus rotundifolius

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 ...

Matchbox bean (Entada phaseoloides)

Matchbox Bean ( Entada phaseoloides ) is a species in the Fabaceae family, a large woody liana with stems up to 18 cm in diameter, dark brown, rough bark, laterally flattened, and spirally twisted. The leaves are bipinnate, up to 25 cm long, with 1-2 pairs of minor leaflets, each divided into 1-2 pairs of pinnules. The pinnules are somewhat leathery, asymmetrical or oblique, up to 10 cm long and 5 cm wide. The inflorescence is a spike-shaped, about 25-30 cm long, bearing numerous sessile flowers. The individual flowers are very small, about 1.2 mm in diameter. The five petals, green with reddish bases, are 3-4 mm long, and the stamens are about 7 mm long. The fruit is a very large, flattened, woody pod or capsule, about 1-1.2 m long and 12 cm wide. It is usually slightly curved and linear, with about 12 segments, each containing a single seed. The seeds are lens-shaped, shiny brown, smooth, 5-6 cm wide and 1-1.5 cm thick. Filipinos used gugo before commercial shampoos were available ...

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