Water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes)

Apu-apu or water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) is a species of plant in the Araceae, a perennial monocot with thick and soft leaves that form a rosette, floats on the surface of the water, roots hanging and submerged under floating leaves, grows in watery habitats, rice fields, canals. freshwater and marshes.

P. stratiotes has bright green leaves, 2-15 cm long, parallel venation and wavy edges. The surface is covered in short, white hairs that form a basket-like structure and trap air bubbles for increased buoyancy.

Sponge parenchyma with large intercellular spaces also helps the plant to float. Flowers are dioecious, have no petals and are hidden between the leaves.

Spadix inflorescence with 1 pistil, 1 ovary and 2-8 stamens with 2 stamens. The pistil and carpel are separated by folds in the spathe, where the male flower lies above the female flower.

Berries are green, oval in shape, ovoid seeds are formed after fertilization. Plants undergo asexual reproduction via stolons, but evidence of sexual reproduction has also been observed.

Apu-apu is found in slow-moving rivers, lakes, and ponds. Optimal growth at 22-30C, but can withstand temperature extremes up to 35C. This species also requires slightly acidic water in the pH range of 6.5-7.2.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Alismatales
Family: Araceae
Subfamily: Aroideae
Tribe: Pistieae
Genus: Pistia
Species: Pistia stratiotes

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

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 ...

Señorita banana (Musa acuminata AA Group 'Señorita')

Pisang mas or señorita banana ( Musa acuminata AA Group 'Señorita') is a cultivar in Musaceae, a banana with a cylindrical shape and bright yellow skin when ripe, one of the banana cultivars with the shortest fruit and has small seeds or no seeds. M. acuminata (AA Group) 'Señorita' emerged from a completely buried tuber. Stem formed as a pseudostem with heaps of leaf sheaths and succulent, soft, up to 2.5 m high, 42 cm girth at 1 m high. The pseudo stem is green and shiny with a pink-purple base color. The leaf blade is elongated, waxy with a stalk that is sometimes bordered from pink-purple to red, 120 cm long, 45 cm wide and impermeable. The inflorescences hang vertically with red-purple bracts which are yellow or green on the inner surface. Yellow male flowers. The plants start to flower about 231 days after planting. The period from flowering to harvest is 40 days. The fruit is 8.5 cm long, 3.4 cm wide, straight with rounded cross section and bottle-necked ape...

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