Mile-a-minute vine (Ipomoea cairica)

Ubi kates or mile-a-minute vine (Ipomoea cairica) is a species of plant in Convolvulaceae, herbaceous perennial, creeping or climbing, palm leaf, trumpet flower, large and showy, white to lavender in color, growing in forest shrubs, farmlands and abandoned land.

I. cairica has a slender cylindrical stem, up to 10 meters long with rounded roots and a lignescent base. Leaves have stalks 2-6 cm long. The leaves are oval to circular, 3-10 cm long and 6-9 cm wide. Each is divided into 5-7 segments, lanceolate, ovoid or elliptical, intact and pointed at the tip and base.

The inflorescences have peduncles 12-20 mm long. Sepals 6-8 mm long, ovate and pointed. The crown is funnel-shaped, 4-6 cm long and purple. Stamens and stylus do not extend beyond the crown. Ovaries are hairless. The fruit is a round capsule, 1 cm in diameter and 1-2 seeds.

The mile-a-minute vine grows to an elevation of 2250 meters. Most parts of the plant are edible including the leaves and roots. The leaves are crushed and drunk to cure rashes and fever. Plants in some areas are also considered to have antibiotic properties.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Solanales
Family: Convolvulaceae
Tribe: Ipomoeeae
Genus: Ipomoea
Species: Ipomoea cairica
Varieties: Ipomoea cairica var. cairica, Ipomoea cairica var. gracillima, Ipomoea cairica var. indica

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

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Pohpohan (Pilea melastomoides)

Pohpohan clearweed ( Pilea melastomoides ) is a species of plant in the Urticaceae, herbaceous perennial, erect stems, up to 100 cm tall, succulent, square or cylindrical, enlarged in the middle of the internodes, bright green in color and forming colonies in the shade. P. melastomoides has stipules that are immediately deciduous or subpersistent, green or brownish and oblong. The stalk is 2-9 cm long. The leaf blade is ovate or ovate-elliptic or oblong-lanceolate. The surface is wavy, pale green on the underside, dark green on the top. The three main veins are central and linear. Rounded base, tapered ends and serrated edges. The inflorescences are paired, the male is a dense cyme paniculata. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Rosales Family: Urticaceae Genus: Pilea Species: Pilea melastomoides

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