Malabar melastome (Melastoma malabathricum)

Senggani or malabar melastome (Melastoma malabathricum) is a plant species in Melastomataceae, shrubs, 0.5-5 m tall, woody stems, sympodial branches and reddish brown, scaly young branches or tightly haired, taproots and brown, widely used for materials ink and medicine.

M. malabathricum has single and stemmed leaves, oval, 2-20 cm long, 1-8 cm wide, tapered, flat edges, rough and hairy surface, upper surface dark green and bright green underside. A straight bone in the middle and two curved bones on the edge.

Malabar melastome blooms throughout the year, compound, clustered at the tips of branches and light purple, 3-4 cm in diameter, sticky petals, hair, short end, tapered tip, scaly protective leaves and reddish purple.

The flower has 8-12 stamens, 3 cm long, pink, a pistil, potted green potted head and ovaries have 4-6 spaces. Five crowns, ovoid and bright purple.

The fruit has a rough skin, dark red and has many black seeds with aryl, cup-shaped and 8 mm long. Ripe fruit has a broken skin, mesocarp bright purple and sweet.

Two subspecies: Melastoma malabathricum ssp. malabathricum and Melastoma malabathricum ssp. normale. Senggani grows wild in open land with lots of sun and shelter, dry or moist soil, forest edges, shrubs, cliff edges and vertical slopes, altitude up to 2200 m.

The extract is used for analgesic substances as a painkiller, bladder, relieves swelling and stops bleeding. The extract is also used for the natural ink industry for purple color.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Myrtales
Family: Melastomataceae
Subfamily: Melastomatoideae
Tribe: Melastomeae
Genus: Melastoma
Species: Melastoma malabathricum
Subspecies: Melastoma malabathricum ssp. malabathricum and Melastoma malabathricum ssp. normale

Banded dragonfish (Akarotaxis gouldae) diverged from Akarotaxis nudiceps 780,000 years ago

NEWS - A new species of dragonfish, Akarotaxis gouldae or banded dragonfish, off the western Antarctic Peninsula by researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at Gloucester Point, the University of Oregon at Eugene, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, highlights the unknown biodiversity and fragile ecosystems of the Antarctic. A. gouldae was named in honor of the Antarctic Research and Supply Vessel (ARSV) Laurence M. Gould and crew. The larval specimen was collected while trawling for zooplankton and was initially thought to be the closely related Akarotaxis nudiceps hundreds of thousands of years ago. DNA comparisons with A. nudiceps specimens held in collections at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Yale University, and the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris showed significant variation in mitochondrial genes that suggested the larval sample was a distinct species. Andrew Corso of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and colle...

Six new species forming the Sumbana species group in genus Nemophora Hoffmannsegg 1798 from Indonesia

NEWS - Sumbawa longhorn ( Nemophora sumbana Kozlov, sp. nov.), Timor longhorn ( Nemophora timorella Kozlov, sp. nov.), shining shade longhorn ( Nemophora umbronitidella Kozlov, sp. nov.), Wegner longhorn ( Nemophora wegneri Kozlov, sp. nov.), long brush longhorn ( Nemophora longipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.), and short brush longhorn ( Nemophora brevipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.) from the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia. The Lesser Sunda Islands consist of two parallel, linear oceanic island chains, including Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Sawu, Timor, Alor, and Tanimbar. The oldest of these islands have been continuously occurring for 10–12 million years. This long period of isolation has allowed significant in situ diversification, making the Lesser Sundas home to many endemic species. This island chain may act as a two-way filter for organisms migrating between the world's two great biogeographic regions, Asia and Australia-Papua. The recognition of a striking cli...

Bush sorrel (Hibiscus surattensis)

Bush sorrel ( Hibiscus surattensis ) is a plant species in Malvaceae, annual shrub, crawling on the surface or climbing, up to 3 meters long, thorny stems, green leaves, yellow trumpet flowers, grows wild in forests and canal edges, widely used for vegetables and treatment. H. surattensis has stems with spines and hairs, branching and reddish green. Petiole emerges from the stem with a straight edge to the side, up to 11 cm long, sturdy, thorny, hairy and reddish green. The leaves have a length of 10 cm, width of 10 cm, 3-5 lobed, each has a bone in the middle with several pinnate veins, sharp tip, sharp and jagged edges, wavy, stiff, green surface. Flowers up to 10 cm long, trumpet-shaped, yellow with a purple or brown or red center, solitary, axillary. Epicalyx has forked bracts, linear inner branches, spathulate outer branches. Stalks up to 6-7 cm. The seeds have a length of 3-3.5 mm and a width of 2.5 mm. Bush sorrels grow in pastures, marshes, abandoned fields and plantations, ...

Dlium