Mexican tea (Dysphania ambrosioides)

Mexican tea (Dysphania ambrosioides) is a species of plant in the Amaranthaceae, herbaceous, up to 1.2 meters tall, stems erect, cylindrical in shape with many linear angles, green or red in color, branching irregularly, especially at the root base just at the soil level.

D. ambrosioides has leaves on the bottom which are elongated lanceolate, up to 12 cm long, pointed tip, serrated margin, thick and green or red, a main vein in the middle with many small lateral veins. The upper leaves are spike-shaped.

Flowers are small and green or red, lined in all directions along the branching panicles at the apex of the stem. Mexican tea has a high adaptability in the highlands and lowlands, tropical and subtropical, fertile and sandy soils.

Widely used as a vegetable and herbal tea because of its spicy taste, strong aroma and unique. Often used as an ingredient in soups and fried white rice. Essential oils contain terpene compounds.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Subfamily: Chenopodioideae
Tribe: Dysphanieae
Genus: Dysphania
Species: Dysphania ambrosioides

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