Areca palm (Areca catechu)

Pinang or jambe or areca palm (Areca catechu) is a species of plant in the Arecaceae, monocots, straight stems, slender, up to 25 meters high, up to 15 cm in diameter, widely used for snacks, sweets, pharmaceuticals, household appliances and handicrafts.

A. catechu has a tubular leaf midrib with a length of 80 cm and a short petiole. Strands up to 80 cm long, leaflets 85x5 cm with torn and serrated ends.

Flower heads with elongated spathas, easy to fall off, appear under the leaves, about 75 cm long, short stalks and double branches, tip axis up to 35 cm long.

One female flower at the base, about 1.5 cm long, 6 stamens and green. The male flowers are arranged in 2 rows embedded in grooves, 4 mm long and white and yellow. Buni fruit is oval inverted, elongated, red-orange, 3.5-7 cm long and has fibrous fruit walls. A seed and egg-shaped.

Areca palm grows well on deep soil solum without rock layers, lateric soil types, red clay and alluvial. Rainfall 750-4,000 mm/year with wet months between 3-6 months or water available throughout the year. The optimum temperature is between 20-32C, air humidity is 50-90%, soil pH is 4-8 and sunlight is 6-8 hours/day.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Subfamily: Arecoideae
Genus: Areca
Species: Areca catechu

Stinking passionflower (Passiflora foetida)

Rambusa or senthiet or stinking passionflower ( Passiflora foetida ) is a species of plant in the Passifloraceae, herbaceous creeping or climbing, pungent smell, fruit covered by enlarged flower petals, growing in forest bushes, agricultural lands and abandoned lands. P. foetida grows to a length of 5 meters, the stem is cylindrical and has white hairs. Single leaf, 1-3 cm stalk and long hair. Strands ovate, 3.5-13 cm wide, 4.5-14 cm long, three pointed corners, heart-shaped leaf base, may be flat or not deep toothed. Additional flowers and petals are bandage leaves with 3 strands, sharing a double pinnate with a woven thread-like crown, 1-3 cm. The calyx tube is wide bell-shaped. The corolla and corolla extend up to 2.5 cm, bright white and often with purple in the center. Stalks at the base and attached. The pistil stalk is in the shape of a mace with 3 items. The berries are covered by a bandage leaf, oval in shape, 1.5-2 cm long, yellow-orange when ripe and have many seeds. Sent...

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 ...

Perikapur (Microchirita caerulea)

Perikapur ( Microchirita caerulea ) is plant species in Gesneriaceae, herbaceous, non-woody, upright, growing up to 65 cm tall. Its stems are straight, cylindrical, and bright green. Its roots are fibrous and white, clinging to limestone surfaces and cliffs in karst landscapes. M. caerulea grows in sparse or distant colonies. The stems are erect, straight, cylindrical, bright green, reddish, or brownish, and have white hairs. The leaves are opposite, with petioles up to 5 cm long. The leaf blades are oval, up to 14 cm long, up to 8 cm wide, and have pointed tips. The upper side is green, with white, and rough hairs. The underside is bright green. A main vein runs through the center and minor veins run laterally. The inflorescences grow above the leaf blades. The flowers are fan-shaped or trumpet-shaped and hairy, 2 cm long and 1 cm wide, with violet stripes on the upper side. The leaf blades are green, butterfly-shaped, and have white, and rough hairs. The leaves grow from the leaf ...

Dlium