Tall reed (Phragmites karka)

Prumpung or tall reed (Phragmites karka) is a species of plant in the Poaceae, grass with large, hollow stems, chronic, often found growing in damp places, forming dense colonies and used for crafts to support and firewood.

P. karka has chronic reeds with spreading rhizomes and erect stems up to 10 m high, hollow and young shoots grow to form branches on the segments.

The tip has a soft stem and is green with linear stripes and is covered with leaves. The base has a hard stem, woody, bare and yellow or brown or black.

The leaves are ribbon-shaped, 30-80 cm long, 12-40 mm wide and green. The flowers are clustered in panicles, 30-50 cm long, 10-20 cm wide and 9-12 mm spikelets. Generally reproduce vegetatively and rarely flower.

Tall reed grows at elevations near sea level up to 3000 meters along river banks, marshes, wet meadows, mountain slopes and is flood resistant. Widely planted for soil stabilization from erosion. Split tatepal trunks are used instead of bamboo to make roofs and woven materials.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Arundinoideae
Tribe: Molinieae
Genus: Phragmites
Species: Phragmites karka

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...

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Sembung rambat or bitter vine ( Mikania micrantha ) is a plant species in Asteraceae, crawling or wrapped around trees, perennial that grows up to 27 mm per day in tropical climates, branched stems where heart-shaped or triangular leaves are arranged in pairs and a plant can cover more than 25 square meters in a few months. M. micrantha has square-shaped stems or longitudinal bones, light green, many branches and has fine hairs. The stems have segments for lengths of 75-215 mm, each segment has a pair of leaves, new shoots and flowers. New roots grow when the segments come in contact with the soil. The leaves are in pairs and facing each other. Strands do not have hair, heart-shaped or triangular with jagged edges, length 30-125 mm, width 15-60 mm. Petiole is 1-6 cm long and has fine hairs. The flower panicle grows from the armpit of the leaf and the tip of the stem, having 3-15 mm long stems. Each flower head has 4 minor flowers. The crown is greenish-white, tubular and measures ...

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