Chinese banyan (Ficus microcarpa)

Kimeng or Chinese banyan (Ficus microcarpa) is a species of plant in Moraceae, a tropical tree, large trunk and strong wood, wide canopy like an umbrella, aerial roots to the ground to grow into a trunk, bright round fruit, widely planted as shade trees and bonsai.

F. microcarpa has a height of up to 76 meters, horizontal branching, smooth, light gray bark and many long aerial roots that touch the ground to form new tree trunks that remain connected to the main tree.

Leaves oblong, 5-6 cm long, blunt or sharp tip, thickened edge, a bone in the middle and several sideways veins. The upper surface is dark green and shiny, the lower surface is lighter and the stalk is short.

The fruit is about 1 cm in size and is oval in shape with a slightly sharp base. The surface has raised white spots, light green when young, reddish white when ripe and black to dry out.

The Chinese banyan as a tropical and subtropical species requires a warm and humid climate in rainforests, river banks, beaches, swamps and mangroves. In cities it grows wild in cracks, walls, buildings and other masonry elements. This species is tolerant of soil moisture and urban pollutants.

Kimeng is widely used as a shade tree in gardens or monumental areas and as an object of experimentation by bonsai hobbyists. The bark, aerial roots and dried leaves are used to fight pain and fever, flu, malaria, bronchitis and rheumatism.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Rosales
Family: Moraceae
Genus: Ficus
Species: Ficus microcarpa
Varieties: Ficus microcarpa var. hillii, Ficus microcarpa var. latifolia, Ficus microcarpa var. microcarpa, Ficus microcarpa var. saffordii

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 ...

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...

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...

Dlium