Cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana)

Ceplukan madu or cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana) is a plant in the Solanaceae, annual and perennial shrub, erect and branching and spreading, 1-1.5 meters high, stems cylindrical or square, green or black in color and white hairs.

P. peruviana has heart-shaped leaves, green and white-haired, pointed ends, margins flat or serrated, a vein in the middle with many small pinnate veins. The leaves have long stalks.

Hermaphrodite flowers, bell-shaped and drooping, 15-20 mm in diameter, yellow with purple-brown spots on the inside. After the flowers fall, the petals expand, eventually forming a cream-colored skin that completely covers the fruit.

The fruit is round, smooth surface, 1.25-2 cm wide, bright yellow to orange in color and sweet when ripe, slightly sour.

Cape gooseberry grows in forests, forest edges and riparian areas at elevations of 500-3000 meters. Fruit is eaten fresh or processed as an ingredient in sauces, pies, puddings, chutneys, jams and ice cream.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae
Subfamily: Solanoideae
Tribe: Physaleae
Genus: Physalis
Species: Physalis peruviana

A deep-sea isopod Bathyopsurus nybelini adapted to feed submerged Sargassum algae

NEWS - Incredible footage shows a marine species, Bathyopsurus nybelini , feeding on something that sinks from the ocean’s surface. Researchers using the submersible Alvin found the isopod swimming 3.7 miles down using its paddle-like legs to catch an unexpected food source: Sargassum. Researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the University of Montana, SUNY Geneseo, Willamette University and the University of Rhode Island found the algae sinking, while the isopod waited and adapted specifically to find and feed on the sinking nutrient source. The Sargassum lives on the surface for photosynthesis. The discovery of a deep-sea animal that relies on food that sinks from the waters miles above underscores the close relationship between the surface and the deep. “It’s fascinating to see this beautiful animal actively interacting with sargassum, so deep in the ocean. This isopod is extremely rare; only a handful of specimens were collected during the groundbreaking Swedis...

Pink poui (Tabebuia rosea)

Pink poui ( Tabebuia rosea ) is a species of plant in the Bignoniaceae, a small neotropical tree, growing up to 30 meters tall and up to 100 cm in diameter. It has layered and irregular branches, with gray to brown bark and vertical fissures. The leaves are compound, finger-shaped, five-petaled, length up to 33 cm, width up to 15 cm and long stalk up to 9 cm. The flowers are large, bright red or purple or white, fan-shaped, up to 9 cm long, up to 8 cm wide. The fruit capsule is slender and up to 35 cm long. The fruit dries and dehisces, producing anemochorous seeds with hyaline membrane wings. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Bignoniaceae Genus: Tabebuia Gomes ex DC. in Biblioth. Universelle Genève, n.s., 17: 130 (1838) Species: Tabebuia rosea (Bertol.) DC. in Prodr. 9: 215 (1845) HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS Couralia rosea (Bertol.) Donn.Sm. in Bot. Gaz. 20: 9 (1895) Sparattosperma roseum (Bertol.) Miers in Proc....

Hairy senna (Senna hirsuta)

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