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

Yellow garden spider (Argiope appensa)

Yellow garden spider ( Argiope appensa ) is a species of spider in Araneidae that lives on the coast to forests on islands in the western Pacific Ocean. Black and yellow females are striking and have a length of 5.1-6.4 cm including long legs, while males are brown and have a length of about 1.9 cm. A. appensa lives on cliffs in the hills at 600 m above sea level in Kewu plain to rice fields in the lowlands. They make nests at a height of 1.5 meters from the ground between teak ( Tectona grandis ), sonokeling ( Dalbergia latifolia ), sonosiso ( Dalbergia sissoo ), crown flower ( Calotropis gigantea ) and various grasses. Yellow garden spiders grow in large sizes, but are not toxic to humans. Advanced builds ball-shaped nets and most of them make stabilizers which are zigzag-shaped lines in nets made of thicker bands. This species spends more time in stationary and sits in the middle of the net with its head down to wait for insects to be entangled in fine silk thread. Unli...

Skyflower (Duranta erecta)

Sinyo nakal or skyflower ( Duranta erecta ) is plant species in Verbenaceae, a broad shrub or small tree, up to 6 m high, stems growing upright or horizontally with broad clumps, many branches, bark light brown, old tree has axillary spines and grows to form dense colonies. D. erecta has bright green leaves, elliptical to ovoid, pointed or rounded ends, sitting opposite, 7.5 cm long, 3.5 cm wide, a main vein in the middle with several small lateral veins, petiole long 1.5 cm. Flowers are light blue or lavender or white, appear in tight clusters as on terminal stems and axils, often curled or pendulous, blooms in summer. The fruit is a berry having a stalk, small round, yellow or orange or white in color, up to 11 mm in diameter, an eye green in front and containing several seeds. Skyflower grows in dry or humid areas and lots of sun, rocky or sandy beaches, forests, farmland and disturbed places. Plants will grow at a rate of up to half a meter per year. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum:...

Broad-leaved dock (Rumex obtusifolius)

Broad-leaved dock ( Rumex obtusifolius ) is a species of plant in the Polygonaceae, herbaceous perennial, growing broadly, up to 150 cm tall, large, oval-shaped leaves with a heart-shaped base and rounded tip, large taproot with many branches extending to a depth of 150 cm. R. obtusifolius has leaves up to 30 cm long, 15 cm wide and green. Stems are long, hard, alternate, green or reddish in color and unbranched until just below the inflorescence. A main vein in the middle and green or reddish in color. Flat or wavy surface. The inflorescences consist of large clusters of racemes that contain small, greenish flowers that turn red as they mature. Seeds are reddish brown and dry. Broad-leaved dock grows in fertile soils, grasslands, waste lands, roadsides, ditches, coastlines and riverbanks, forest margins, forest clearing and agricultural land. The leaves are used as a salad to make vegetable broth or cooked like spinach. Dried seeds are used as a spice. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tr...

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