Smoke tree spurge (Euphorbia cotinifolia)

Asap merah or smoke tree spurge or Mexican shrubby spurge (Euphorbia cotinifolia) is a species of plant in the Euphorbiaceae, a shrub or small tree with erect stems and woody, red leaves and is often used as an ornamental plant.

E. cotinifolia has a height of up to 9 meters, cylindrical, sturdy, bark brown or purplish, many branches and twigs, if broken will release sap that irritates the skin.

The leaves grow along the branches with long stalks and are red. The leaf blade is ovate, the tips are rounded, the margins are flat, the upper side is red, the underside is purplish, a main vein in the middle with many lateral veins.

Small white flowers with cream-colored bracts, blooming at the ends of branches in summer. The sap is toxic and causes irritation to human skin or eyes. The plant is commonly used as an ornamental in gardens and in pots with well-draining soil and full sun.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Subfamily: Euphorbioideae
Tribe: Euphorbieae
Subtribe: Euphorbiinae
Genus: Euphorbia
Subgenus: Chamaesyce
Section: Alectoroctonum
Species: Euphorbia cotinifolia

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 ...

Broad sword fern (Nephrolepis biserrata)

Broad sword fern ( Nephrolepis biserrata ) is a species of fern in the Nephrolepidaceae, epiphytic and terrestrial, with grayish-brown stems, brown hairs, and 10–130 cm long. The leaf blades are green, 7 cm long, 1.5 cm wide, and hairy brown on the underside. The sori are attached to the underside of the leaf blade, with about 60 sori along the edge and are brown in color. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Class: Polypodiopsida Subclass: Polypodiidae Order: Polypodiales Suborder: Polypodiineae Family: Nephrolepidaceae Genus: Nephrolepis Schott in Gen. Fil. (Vindob.): t. 3 (1834) Species: Nephrolepis biserrata (Sw.) Schott in Gen. Fil. (Vindob.): t. 3 (1834) Homotypic Synonyms Aspidium biserratum Sw. in J. Bot. (Schrader) 1800(2): 32 (1801) Hypopeltis biserrata (Sw.) Bory in C.P.Bélanger, Voy. Indes Or., Bot. 2(1): 65 (1833) Lepidoneuron biserratum (Sw.) Fée in Mém. Foug., 5. Gen. Filic.: 301 (1852) Nephrodium biserratum (Sw.) C.Presl in Reliq. Haenk. 1: 31 (1825) Nephrolepis bise...

Whipple’s Cryptantha (Cryptantha whippleae), serpentine-adapted species endemic to northern California

NEWS - Whipple’s Cryptantha ( Cryptantha whippleae ) is described as a new species from a meandering barren area in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in Siskiyou County, California, with one outlier population in a meandering area possibly in Lake County, California. Cryptantha is a genus of perennial herbs in the Boraginaceae (Amsinckiinae) and has been non-monophyletic in several molecular phylogenetic studies. It is currently recognized with 109 species and 124 minimum-ranked taxa, of which 63 are in North America and 47 are in South America, with one taxon found on both continents. Serpentine soils, particularly in northern California, are formed from ultramafic (meta-igneous) rocks that formed millions of years ago on the seafloor. These soils are very high in heavy metals (e.g., nickel, iron, and magnesium) and low in calcium and potassium. Serpentine soils are unsuitable for plants that have not evolved to tolerate the harsh conditions. Species that adapt to serpentines have h...

Dlium