Elephant bell gourd (Trichosanthes tricuspidata)

Elephant bell gourd (Trichosanthes tricuspidata) is a plant species in the Cucurbitaceae, stems grow elongated to propagate or climb, many branches, cylindrical in shape and green in color.

T. cochinchinensis has stem tips or branches that twist to attach themselves to a support or other plant. It grows to climb to cover a support, usually on another plant, up to several meters and creeps along the ground to reach another support.

Arrow-shaped leaves, split base, sharp apex and two wings at an acute angle, have many veins ending at a sharp edge, green and have a long petiole. Single flower is white.

The fruit is round to oval, ends with a tail, young green and turns red with maturity, thin skin, thick flesh and reddish yellow, has a short stalk and hangs. The seeds are in the middle of the fruit. Seeds are white, oval and flat. Black coated seeds.

Elephant bell gourd grows wild in primary and secondary forests, agricultural land, roadsides, watersheds, especially on slopes, damp and dry, shady and full of sun and is not cultivated.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Cucurbitales
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Tribe: Sicyoeae
Genus: Trichosanthes
Species: Trichosanthes tricuspidata
Subspecies: Trichosanthes tricuspidata asperifolia, Trichosanthes tricuspidata seramensis, Trichosanthes tricuspidata siberutensis, Trichosanthes tricuspidata javanica, Trichosanthes tricuspidata rotundata, Trichosanthes tricuspidata tricuspidata, Trichosanthes tricuspidata flavofila, Trichosanthes tricuspidata strigosa, Trichosanthes tricuspidata tomentosa

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...

Khorat butterfly lizard (Leiolepis glaurung) adapts to rocky habitats for the first time in the genus

NEWS - A new species of rock-dwelling butterfly lizard (Leiolepis Cuvier, 1829) has been described from the Khorat Plateau in northeastern Thailand. This new report of Leiolepis glaurung brings the number of Leiolepis species in Thailand to six and worldwide to 11, and is the first case of an ecological adaptation to survive in a rocky habitat. L. glaurung can be distinguished from all other sexual species of Leiolepis by its combination of a black gular region with a broad yellow medial stripe, a yellow ventrum with black spots, bright red to orange subcaudal coloration, sides that can expand and retract to none, and only a single black transverse stripe on its sides. The researchers hypothesize that this morphology is an adaptation to reduce the diameter of its body to better fit into smaller rocky burrows, unlike the larger and deeper burrows built in looser soil by other species. The new specimen lives on the Khorat Plateau and is phylogenetically, ecologically, and morphologic...

Twoleaf nightshade (Solanum diphyllum)

Twoleaf nightshade ( Solanum diphyllum ) is a species of plants in Solanaceae, upright shrubs grow in shade, 1-2 m tall, rounded stems, dense, green-purple brown, short hairy, stopping cells, cornered young twigs and widely cultivated as plants decorate with bright yellow ripe fruit. S. diphyllum has leaves that are alternating, solitary or paired in twigs with generative organs. Some are stemmed for 1-1.5 cm. The leaves are oval to oblique round eggs, dynamic base, flat or wavy edges, tapered or rounded edges, 1-14.5 cm long, 0.5-4 cm wide and have short hair. Flowers facing leaves 5-25 mm long. Has a 2 mm handle, brownish purple, straight and unbranched. Hook 5-10 mm, greenish to brown and curved. The petals have five ears, resembling kupula, pale green, 1-5 mm long and short haired. Flowers have five crowns, coincide, star-shaped, yellowish white, 2-5 mm long. Has five stamens, free and facing the crown. Short and yellowish green pistil. The stigma is yellow, attached to the...

Dlium