Parijata (Medinilla speciosa)

Parijata (Medinilla speciosa) is a species of plant in the Melastomataceae, shrub, erect, up to 200 cm tall, woody stems and branching, cylindrical, brown and young green stems.

M. speciosa has thick leaves, up to 20 cm long, 15 cm wide, dark green and shiny upper side, five veins with a vein in the middle and four veins curved on the sides, pointed tip and flat margins.

The small flowers are bright red and produced in large panicles on reddish stems. The fruit is round, bright red or white in color and turns purple-blue when ripe.

This species prefers shady and moist soil at elevations of 300-1000 meters. This plant is used as a traditional medicine by boiling, brewing or consuming it directly. Fruit consumed by pregnant women as a health supplement, diarrhea medicine, thrush, anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antibacterial.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Myrtales
Family: Melastomataceae
Subfamily: Melastomatoideae
Tribe: Dissochaeteae
Genus: Medinilla
Species: Medinilla speciosa

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 ...

Oceanitis abyssalis, the deepest sea fungus at 5707 meters from sunken wood

NEWS - Researchers report a new species of deep-sea fungus, Oceanitis abyssalis , described based on SU rDNA sequence analysis and morphological characteristics. The specimen was found attached to a branch of Prunus sp. at a depth of 5707 meters on the abyssal plain in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, east of the Japanese Islands. This discovery is the deepest recorded for a marine fungus. Previous research by an international team in the Ocean Species Discoveries project reported 11 new species of ocean animals at a depth of 7000 meters . Oceanitis Kohlm (1977) grows on a variety of plant species in a variety of coastal to deep-sea environments. This genus is also widespread in geologically isolated deep-sea areas as one of the most successful fungal taxa in these environments. The thick peridium allows it to adapt to extreme deep-sea conditions. The morphology of O. abyssalis is very similar to O. scuticella Kohlmeyer, but O. abyssalis having unicellular ascospores, smaller deciduous...

Dlium