Durban crowfoot (Dactyloctenium aegyptium)

Mkandi or Durban crowfoot (Dactyloctenium aegyptium) is a species of plant in the Poaceae, herb, may grow upright or fall to a height of 30 cm, is green, forms dense colonies during the rainy season and sheds leaves during the dry season.

D. aegyptium has a cylindrical stem, segmented and green. The leaves are ribbon-shaped, progressively tapering to a pointed tip, white-haired base, a vein in the middle and running linearly.

The inflorescence in a panicle at the end of the stalk is long, rod-shaped, cylindrical, erect and green. The flower panicles are fan-shaped with four or five fingers and are fused at the center attached to the upper end of the stalk.

Mkandi is used as a source of food in situations of hunger. The species is highly adaptive, thrives on sandy soils, places with plenty of sun, warm and wet, in open forests, agricultural lands and wastelands.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Chloridoideae
Tribe: Cynodonteae
Genus: Dactyloctenium
Dactyloctenium: aegyptium

Yellow garden spider (Argiope appensa)

Yellow garden spider ( Argiope appensa ) is a species of spider in Araneidae that lives on the coast to forests on islands in the western Pacific Ocean. Black and yellow females are striking and have a length of 5.1-6.4 cm including long legs, while males are brown and have a length of about 1.9 cm. A. appensa lives on cliffs in the hills at 600 m above sea level in Kewu plain to rice fields in the lowlands. They make nests at a height of 1.5 meters from the ground between teak ( Tectona grandis ), sonokeling ( Dalbergia latifolia ), sonosiso ( Dalbergia sissoo ), crown flower ( Calotropis gigantea ) and various grasses. Yellow garden spiders grow in large sizes, but are not toxic to humans. Advanced builds ball-shaped nets and most of them make stabilizers which are zigzag-shaped lines in nets made of thicker bands. This species spends more time in stationary and sits in the middle of the net with its head down to wait for insects to be entangled in fine silk thread. Unli...

Skyflower (Duranta erecta)

Sinyo nakal or skyflower ( Duranta erecta ) is plant species in Verbenaceae, a broad shrub or small tree, up to 6 m high, stems growing upright or horizontally with broad clumps, many branches, bark light brown, old tree has axillary spines and grows to form dense colonies. D. erecta has bright green leaves, elliptical to ovoid, pointed or rounded ends, sitting opposite, 7.5 cm long, 3.5 cm wide, a main vein in the middle with several small lateral veins, petiole long 1.5 cm. Flowers are light blue or lavender or white, appear in tight clusters as on terminal stems and axils, often curled or pendulous, blooms in summer. The fruit is a berry having a stalk, small round, yellow or orange or white in color, up to 11 mm in diameter, an eye green in front and containing several seeds. Skyflower grows in dry or humid areas and lots of sun, rocky or sandy beaches, forests, farmland and disturbed places. Plants will grow at a rate of up to half a meter per year. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum:...

Pink trumpet tree (Tabebuia heterophylla)

Pink trumpet tree ( Tabebuia heterophylla ) is a species of plant in the Bignoniaceae family, growing 6–9 meters tall with a cylindrical trunk and brown bark that is often linearly fissured. The leaves are opposite, compound, with five or fewer minor leaflets. T. heterophylla has striking bright red flowers, tubular, five-lobed, and 5–7.5 cm long. The fruit is a cylindrical pod, up to 20 cm long and up to 1 cm wide. The pod stalk is up to 3 cm long. The pod splits along two lines to release numerous thin, light brown seeds, 0.5–2.5 cm long with two white wings. This species is often used as a street tree and shade tree for residential properties. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Bignoniaceae Genus: Tabebuia Species: Tabebuia heterophylla

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