Star fruit (Averrhoa carambola)

Belimbing or star fruit (Averrhoa carambola) is a species of plant in the Oxalidaceae, a small slow growing tree, short trunk or shrub, many branches producing a broad rounded crown, the wood is white and turns reddish.

A. carambola has compound leaves, green, arranged circularly around the branches alternately, pinnate with a single terminal, opposite, 15-20 cm long. Leaflets are 3.8-9 cm long, ovate or ovate-oval.

The upper side of the leaf is smooth and green, the lower side is downy and whitish. Leaflets are reactive to light and tend to fold together at night, are also sensitive to sudden shocks and when shaken tend to close as well.

Inflorescences are purple or purple-striped, hairy. Flowers are arranged in small bunches at the ends of branches or sometimes on larger stems and stems, each bunch attached to the tree by a red stem.

Perfect flowers are bell-shaped in loose panicles that are multi-branched and have stalks. Each flower is 6 mm wide, 5 petals which have curved ends.

Fruit oblong, 5-6 angled, up to 6.35-15 cm long and up to 9 cm wide. The skin is thin, waxy and orange-yellow in color, juicy and yellow when ripe, crunchy in texture and star-shaped when cut crosswise.

The fruit has an oxalic acid aroma and tastes vary from very sour to slightly sweet. Each fruit has up to 12 seeds, 6-12.5 mm long, flat, thin and brown. Some forms of cultivation produce seedless fruit.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Oxalidales
Family: Oxalidaceae
Genus: Averrhoa
Species: Averrhoa carambola

Six new species forming the Sumbana species group in genus Nemophora Hoffmannsegg 1798 from Indonesia

NEWS - Sumbawa longhorn ( Nemophora sumbana Kozlov, sp. nov.), Timor longhorn ( Nemophora timorella Kozlov, sp. nov.), shining shade longhorn ( Nemophora umbronitidella Kozlov, sp. nov.), Wegner longhorn ( Nemophora wegneri Kozlov, sp. nov.), long brush longhorn ( Nemophora longipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.), and short brush longhorn ( Nemophora brevipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.) from the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia. The Lesser Sunda Islands consist of two parallel, linear oceanic island chains, including Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Sawu, Timor, Alor, and Tanimbar. The oldest of these islands have been continuously occurring for 10–12 million years. This long period of isolation has allowed significant in situ diversification, making the Lesser Sundas home to many endemic species. This island chain may act as a two-way filter for organisms migrating between the world's two great biogeographic regions, Asia and Australia-Papua. The recognition of a striking cli...

Golden tortoise beetle (Charidotella sexpunctata)

Kepik emas or golden tortoise beetle ( Charidotella sexpunctata ) is a type of leaf beetle species in the Chrysomelidae family, up to 14mm long and bright golden in glass discs. These insects usually live on Ipomoea carnea trees that grow in environments close to water. C. sexpunctata takes refuge in a transparent disc consisting of three parts with four signs as fals legs, a pair of antennas and six legs. This beetle is able to change color if it feels threatened by flowing liquid between the cuticles and the glittering gold color turns into blood red or worn brown. Kepik emas usually lay eggs up to 20 items, white and attached to the branches or on the underside of the leaves. Yellowish or reddish brown larvae will appear from eggs that hatch within 5 to 10 days. Adults and larvae eat leaves which cause large holes. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Coleoptera Family: Chrysomelidae Subfamily: Cassidinae Tribe: Aspidimorphini Genus: Aspidimor...

Bitter vine (Mikania micrantha)

Sembung rambat or bitter vine ( Mikania micrantha ) is a plant species in Asteraceae, crawling or wrapped around trees, perennial that grows up to 27 mm per day in tropical climates, branched stems where heart-shaped or triangular leaves are arranged in pairs and a plant can cover more than 25 square meters in a few months. M. micrantha has square-shaped stems or longitudinal bones, light green, many branches and has fine hairs. The stems have segments for lengths of 75-215 mm, each segment has a pair of leaves, new shoots and flowers. New roots grow when the segments come in contact with the soil. The leaves are in pairs and facing each other. Strands do not have hair, heart-shaped or triangular with jagged edges, length 30-125 mm, width 15-60 mm. Petiole is 1-6 cm long and has fine hairs. The flower panicle grows from the armpit of the leaf and the tip of the stem, having 3-15 mm long stems. Each flower head has 4 minor flowers. The crown is greenish-white, tubular and measures ...

Dlium