Sweetsop (Annona squamosa)

Srikaya or sweetsop (Annona squamosa) is a plant species in the Annonaceae, a small tree or shrub, branched, 3-8 meters high, highly adaptive to soil type and elevation, producing edible fruit with sweet, whitish and watery flesh.

A. squamosa has light brown branches with leaf scars and a bright yellow interior. Twigs turn brown with light brown lenticels.

Leaves are thin, simple, alternate, 5-17 cm long, 2-6 cm wide, rounded base and tapered tip. Pale green on both surfaces. The leaf stalks are 0.4-2.2 cm long and green in color.

Flowers solitary or in short lateral clusters, 2.5 cm long, yellow-green on peduncles 2 cm long. The three outer petals are green, purplish at the base, oval, 1.6-2.5 cm long and 0.6-0.75 cm wide.

The stamens are numerous, white, less than 1.6 cm long and the ovaries are light green. Each pistil forms a separate tubercle, generally 1.3-1.9 cm long and 0.6-1.3 cm wide.

Soft fruit aggregates formed from many carpels, loose and almost free. grow and mature. The fruit is heart-shaped, yellow-green, 5-10 cm in diameter with many rounded protrusions and covered with flour.

The flesh is yellowish-white, edible and sweet-scented. Each carpel contains an oval seed, shiny and smooth, dark brown to black and 1.3-1.6 cm long.

Srikaya requires a tropical or subtropical climate with summer temperatures of 25-41C, moderate drought tolerance, 700 millimeters (28 inches) of annual rainfall and will not produce well during droughts. It grows at elevations of 0-2000 meters and does well in hot dry climates.

The leaves are boiled to treat dysentery and urinary tract infections. The leaves are pounded as a poultice and rubbed on the wound. The leaves were rubbed on the floor and placed in the hens' nests to keep fleas away. The fruit is eaten fresh or processed into juice.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Magnoliales
Family: Annonaceae
Genus: Annona
Species: Annona squamosa

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 ...

Lolot (Piper sarmentosum)

Lolot pepper ( Piper sarmentosum ) is a species of plant in Piperaceae, perennial herb, erect or lodging, creeping rhizome, up to 120 cm long, branched, enlarged branches, cylindrical stems, brown or green, often grooved, growing on the forest floor and shade. P. sarmentosum has leaf stalks up to 15 cm long, up to 13 cm wide, green, alternately arranged, heart-shaped, pointed tips and flat margins. The leaves have 5 main veins from the base of the blade, linear and slightly curved to the tip, glands on the upper surface and many fine pinnate veins. The upper side is shiny green, the lower side is pale green. The flowers are white. The fruit grows in the upper armpit of the leaf, is slightly oval and green. The leaves are used as a medicine for asthma, malaria, stomach ache, tinea versicolor, toothache, difficulty urinating, aches and pains, maintaining stamina, antibacterial, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and so on. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiosperma...

Cogon grass (Imperata cylindrica)

Cogon grass ( Imperata cylindrica ) is a species of plant in the Poaceae, an annual grass, sharp leaves, long and scaly shoots, creeping underground, white or purplish flowers, very adaptive and grows in all climates. I. cylindrica has sharply pointed shoot tips that emerge from the ground, up to 3 meters high, short stems, rising above the ground surface. Leaves are long ribbon-shaped, pointed tip, narrow base, up to 100 cm long, very rough and sharply serrated edges, long hairs at the base and wide veins. Inflorescences in panicles, up to 28 cm long, spikes long-haired and white to 1 cm. The seeds spread quickly with the wind or via rhizomes that quickly penetrate the soil. This species grows in tropical to subtropical areas, elevation up to 2000 meters, temperature 20-40C, rainfall 500-3500 mm/year, pH 4-7.5, lots of sunlight to a bit of shade. This plant dominates open land, former forests, dry rice fields, roadsides and so on. This plant contains mannitol, glucose, sacharose...

Dlium

Search This Blog