Tropical pokeweed (Phytolacca icosandra)

Pecut kebo or tropical pokeweed (Phytolacca icosandra) is a plant species in the Phytolaccaceae, up to 3 meters high, tubular, green or red in color, many branches, grows in forests, agricultural land, roadsides, disturbed areas and lots of sun.

P. icosandra has a long petiole 0.5-6 cm. Leaves oval or sparsely lanceolate, up to 30 cm long, up to 15 cm wide, blunt base for thinning, sharp tip, a bone in the center with pinnate veins, dark green upper surface and lighter green lower surface.

Flowers grow in bunches 10-20 cm long, red stalks and stand upward, each flower 5-10 mm in diameter with 8-20 stamens. Flowers have 5 sepals, white or pink or pale red, round shape which is long and wide.

Berries grow in bunches, red in color and face up or down and each have a short stalk. The fruit is purple-black and 7-8 mm in diameter. The seeds are black, lenticular thick, 2.5-3 mm and shiny.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Phytolaccaceae
Genus: Phytolacca
Species: Phytolacca icosandra

Purwaceng (Pimpinella pruatjan)

Purwaceng or purwoceng or antanan gunung or Viagra of Java ( Pimpinella pruatjan or Pimpinella priatjan ) are small termas growing horizontally in Apiaceae, growing in villages on Dieng Plateau, Central Java Province, Indonesia, at 1,500 to 2,000 meters above sea level, the roots have medicinal properties for aphrodisiacs and are usually processed in powder form for a mixture of coffee or milk. P. pruatjan grows flat on the ground but does not propagate, small leaves are reddish green for 1-3 cm in diameter. This plant is only found in Java and grows in high mountain areas. A low population where industrial demand is very high results in increasingly scarce. Another place that is likely to become a purwaceng habitat is the Iyang Mountains and the Tengger Mountains in East Java Province. Efforts to multiply and cultivate have a big problem where these plants have difficulty producing seeds. In vitro propagation research through tissue cultivation has been carried out to overcome ...

New living fossil, Amethyst worm lizard (Amphisbaena amethysta), from Espinhaço Mountain Range, Brazil

NEWS - New species from the northern Espinhaço Mountains, Caetité municipality, Bahia state, Brazil. Amethyst worm lizard ( Amphisbaena amethysta ) is the 71st species of the genus with 4 precloacal pores and the 22nd species of Caatinga morphoclimatic domain. Identification of the new species shows the reptiles of the Mountains are far from complete and may contain greater diversity of endemic taxa. A. amethysta can be distinguished by its anteriorly convex snout, slightly compressed and unkeeled, pectoral scales arranged in regular annuli, four precloacal pores, distinct head shield, 185-199 dorsal and half annuli, 13-16 caudal annuli, a conspicuous autotomy spot between the 4th-6th caudal annuli, 16-21 dorsal and ventral segments in the middle of the body, 3/3 supralabials, 3/3 infralabials and a smooth and rounded tail tip. A. amethysta occurs in areas with an average elevation of 1000 meters in patches of deciduous and semi-deciduous forests associated with valleys, slopes, fore...

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