Variegated croton (Codiaeum variegatum)

Puring or variegated croton (Codiaeum variegatum) is a species of plant in Euphorbiaceae, shrubs, evergreen, monoecious, cosmopolitan, leaves have very varied shapes and colors, are widely cultivated as ornamental plants and have hundreds of varieties.

C. variegatum grows to a height of 3 m, large evergreen leaves, thick, leathery, shiny, arranged alternately, 5-30 cm long and 0.5-8 cm wide. Strands can be ribbon, lanceolate, oval, elliptical, inverted ovoid and violin-shaped. Colors can be green, yellow, purple and in various patterns.

The petiole is 0.2-2.5 cm long. The inflorescences are racemes, 8-30 cm long, the male is white with five small petals and 20-30 stamens, the pollen is oval and 52x32 microns in size. The female flowers are yellowish. The fruit is a capsule, 9 mm in diameter, three seeds with a diameter of 6 mm.

Several hundred cultivars are selected and bred for foliage. Milk sap can cause eczema in some people. The bark, roots, sap and leaves are poisonous. The toxin is the chemical compound 5-deoxyingenol. This plant contains oil and is suspected as a carcinogen.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Subfamily: Crotonoideae
Tribe: Codiaeae
Subtribe: Codiaeinae
Genus: Codiaeum
Species: Codiaeum variegatum
Forms and varieties: Codiaeum variegatum f. angustifolium, Codiaeum variegatum var. cavernicola, Codiaeum variegatum f. crispum, Codiaeum variegatum var. genuinum, Codiaeum variegatum var. moluccanum, Variegated Croton Codiaeum variegatum var. pictum

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake

NEWS - Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) create bubble net tools while foraging, consisting of internal tangential rings, and actively control the number of rings, their size, depth and horizontal spacing between the surrounding bubbles. These structural elements of the net increase prey intake sevenfold. Researchers have known that humpback whales create “bubble nets” for hunting, but the new report shows that the animals also manipulate them in a variety of ways to maximize catches. The behavior places humpbacks among the rare animals that make and use their own tools. “Many animals use tools to help them find food, but very few actually make or modify these tools themselves,” said Lars Bejder, director of the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP), University of Hawaii at Manoa. “Humpback whales in southeast Alaska create elaborate bubble nets to catch krill. They skillfully blow bubbles in patterns that form a web with internal rings. They actively control details such ...

Javanese grasshopper (Valanga nigricornis)

Wooden grasshopper or Javanese grasshopper ( Valanga nigricornis ) is an animal species of Acrididae, grasshoppers that have at least 18 subspecies, insects with very wide diversity in color and size, sexual dimorphism in which females are larger in size and paler in color. V. nigricornis in males has a length of 45-55 millimeters and females 15-75 mm. The head is square and green or yellow or brown or black in color. A pair of antennas has a black color. The eyes are large and gray or white or brownish. The hind legs are very large and have a green or yellow or brown or black color, plain or brindle. The limbs have two rows of large and long spines with black tips facing backward. The wings have a length exceeding the belly, a rough surface and are brown or green or yellow or black in color with pulse lines forming spaces filled with black color. The hind wings are rose red which will be visible when flying. Nymphs are pale green or yellow or brown or blackish in color. Javanese gr...

Sojiwan Temple

Sojiwan Temple or Candi Sojiwan or Candi Sajiwan is a Buddhist monument in the Kewu Plain , village of Kebon Dalem Kidul, Prambanan District, Klaten Regency, Central Java Province, Indonesia. This temple has a characteristic that is 20 reliefs at the foot of the temple associated with the stories of Pancatantra or Jataka. Sojiwan temple was completely restored in 2011. Some inscriptions say that was built between 842 and 850 AD. The Rukam inscription in 829 Saka (907 AD) mentions the ceremony of the inauguration of the improvement of Rukam Village by Nini Haji Rakryan Sanjiwana which was destroyed by a volcanic eruption. The residents of Rukam Village were given the obligation to maintain a sacred building located in Limwung. The sacred building was later attributed to the Sojiwan Temple, while Nini Haji Rakryan Sanjiwana was associated as Queen Pramodhawardhani. Sojiwan Temple was first reported in 1813 by Colonel Colin Mackenzie, a messenger of Raffles, who was collecting arch...

Dlium