Cavendish banana (Musa acuminata)

Pisang or cavendish banana (Musa acuminata) is a plant species in the Musaceae, a banana with small or seedless seeds, a evergreen perennial plant, the stems are composed of a layer of leaf sheaths that are tightly closed and emerge from completely buried tubers.

M. acuminata is formed as a pseudostem with a pile of leaf sheaths and is watery, soft, upright, up to 3 meters high, white or green to black in color and dries to brown, forming dense colonies by producing shoots around it.

The leaves are elongated, 120 cm long, 45 cm wide, watertight, a midrib in the middle and light green, the upper surface is dark green, the lower surface is whitish green with a flour coating.

Inflorescences grow horizontally or obliquely from the ends of the stems. Individual flowers are white to yellowish in color and are negative geotropic. The female flowers are located near the base and develop into fruit, the male flowers are located at the very top and are bud-shaped between the coarse bracts.

The fruits grow in bunches of up to 20 groups and each group has up to 20 fruits. Each fruit is up to 23 cm long, up to 4 cm in diameter and weighs up to 200 grams. Each fruit contains up to 62 small seeds or no seeds at all depending on the cultivar via natural mutations resulting from vegetative propagation.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Musaceae
Genus: Musa
Species: Musa acuminata
Subspecies: Musa acuminata ssp. acuminata, Musa acuminata ssp. errans, Musa acuminata ssp. flava, Musa acuminata ssp. halabanensis, Musa acuminata ssp. malaccensis, Musa acuminata ssp. microcarpa, Musa acuminata ssp. siamea, Musa acuminata var. sumatrana, Musa acuminata var. zebrina

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Cempaki (Termitomyces microcarpus)

Cempaki ( Termitomyces microcarpus ) is a species of fungus in the Lyophyllaceae family. It grows wild in tropical Asian forests near termite nests. It is rarely reported in urban areas. It is edible and known for its deliciousness, high nutritional value, and difficulty in cultivating. In Indonesia, it is used as an alternative food ingredient. T. microcarpus is the smallest of the Termitomyces species, umbrella-shaped, plain white, measuring 5 cm tall and 2.5 cm wide. It grows in dense clusters on surfaces and forms a mutualistic relationship, requiring the metabolic activity of termites as a substrate for growth. This species is known for its deliciousness, rich in nutrients, and has potential bioactive properties, such as helping lower cholesterol and acting as a tonic. Currently, it is difficult to cultivate on a large scale, and people rely solely on wild harvests. This mushroom is highly favored for its savory, delicious flavor and soft, chewy texture. It is often stir-fried ...

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