Asian foxtail (Uraria crinita)

Asian foxtail or cat's tail bean (Uraria crinita) is a species of plant in Fabaceae, a perennial, upright shrub with woody stems at least at the base, up to 2 meters high in forests, agricultural land, waterways, used as a medicinal herb, green manure and sometimes planted in the garden as an ornamental plant.

U. crinita has elongated leaves, rounded base, pointed tip, a bone in the middle with several pinnate veins, rough surface, dark green with white spots. Petiole short or less than 0.5 cm and brownish red.

Compound flower in spike shape, purple and white triangular crown. Long flower stalk, erect, 15-20 cm long and only at the end of the flower. The crown slowly falls off and leaves behind a stalk that is shaped like coir or light yellow pads.

Asian foxtail grows in dry grasslands, open forests, trash cans, roadsides, sandy areas and sometimes in deciduous forests, elevations of 0-1500 meters and does not grow in waterlogged places.

The different parts are often used in traditional medicine to cure various conditions including dysentery and diarrhea, enlarged spleen and liver and tumors. The whole plant is used to stop bleeding, reduce fever and relieve coughs.

Effective against intestinal worms and other parasites, and is sometimes used as a carminative for children. The leaves are crushed to be applied externally to remove lice on the hair. This plant is used as a green manure and cover crop.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Tribe: Desmodieae
Subtribe: Desmodiinae
Genus: Uraria
Species: Uraria crinita

Plumeria rubra and Plumeria obtusa, the differences

SPECIES HEAD TO HEAD - The genus frangipani trees ( Plumeria Tourn. ex L.) has only 18 officially recorded species and two very similar species, frangipani ( Plumeria rubra L.) and white frangipani ( Plumeria obtusa L.). Both have the same habitus, flowers and fruits and are difficult to distinguish. The leaves of both species have slightly different shapes. Therefore, the leaves are very important to distinguish the two species, especially the shape of the tip. P. rubra has simple, lanceolate leaves with acute tips. P. obtusa has simple, elliptic leaves with rounded tips. By Aryo Bandoro Founder of Dlium.com . You can follow him on X: @Abandoro . Read more: Plumeria rubra Plumeria obtusa

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Kadal kebun or bengkarung or Mabuya multifasciata or common sun skink ( Eutropis multifasciata ) is a species of lizard in Scincidae, has a pattern of faint lines extending to the sides of the body, measuring 18 to 22 cm in length with a tail length of about 60% of the overall body and more many live on the ground. E. multifasciata has a sharp head with a very short neck and a square cross section. The upper part is dark brown or shiny grayish brown with a golden body side especially near the neck. Sometimes also decorated with small pale spots on the back. The lower neck is light brown and the abdomen to the anus is pale brown. The muzzle is reddish, the tail is the same color as the body, decorated with a faint dark line on the sides. The arms are also the same color as the upper body. Common sun skinks usually live on the edge of forests, gardens, rice fields and human settlements. They spend most of their time on the ground, usually in crevices and rocky cliffs as a place t...

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