Snowflake wattle (Zapoteca portoricensis)

Snowflake wattle (Zapoteca portoricensis) is a plant species in Fabaceae, perennial, shrubs with many branches, pioneer plants that can live in various types of soil at an altitude of 500-2000 m, green leaves have white features, wood is used as energy and leaves for animal feed.

Z. portoricensis has several supporting roots and finer roots that extend to the ground surface. Tubular stem with green bark. Young twigs are bright green, tubular and have linear angles.

Mature leaves are dark green and young leaves are bright green. Length of up to 20 cm, width of up to 15 cm and at night or dark or rain will fold towards the trunk. The upper surface has white marks around the bones forming linear lines.

Pod-shaped fruit, thin and straight, green and has spaces filled with seeds. The mature pods will dry out, the sides will thicken and hard which suddenly burst from the tip to spit out the seeds in a circular motion.

Snowflake wattle grow to fill disturbed lands including, erosion slopes, river banks and road sides. Live in a variety of habitats up to altitude of 1900 m, but thrives on 250-800 m, rainfall 2000-2400 mm/year and dry season 3-6 months, temperature 22-28C and pH 4.5.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Mimosoideae
Tribe: Ingeae
Genus: Zapoteca
Species: Zapoteca portoricensis

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