Greater galangal (Alpinia galanga)

Lengkuas or galangal or greater galangal (Alpinia galanga) is a plant species in the Zingiberaceae, growing to a height of 3 meters or more, underground rhizomes and small adventitious roots, young stems emerge as shoots from the base of old stems, the entire stem is covered with leaf sheaths or stems pseudo.

A. galanga has leaves with short stalks, elongated lanceolate in shape, pointed tip, blunt base, flat edge, 25-50 cm long, 7-15 cm wide, 15-30 cm leaf midrib, grooved and green in color.

Compound inflorescence in bunches, long stalks, erect and gathered at the end of the stalk. There are more flowers at the bottom than at the top of the stalk so that they are in the shape of an elongated pyramid. Petals are bell-shaped and greenish-white.

The crown that is still a bud at the tip is white and the bottom is green. Flower lip has a length of 2.5 cm, white with a bright red oblique line on each side. The crown that is still in bud has a white color, while the base is green.

Buni fruit, round, hard, green when young and brown when old. The seeds are small, oval in shape, green when young and turn red, then black when old.

Tubers are white or red. Rhizome creeping, large, thick, fleshy, cylindrical, 2-4 cm in diameter and branching. The outer part is brown, slightly reddish or greenish yellow, the scales are white or reddish, hard and shiny. The inside is white.

The rhizome has a distinctive aroma, rough and spicy when it is old. The rhizome turns green, the fiber becomes hard and tough when dried. The taste is sharp, spicy, biting and smells good because of the essential oil content.

Galangal is a type of spice that is widely grown. Generally for a mixture of spices and traditional medicine. Utilization for cooking by beating the rhizome, then just dipping it into the cooking mixture, while for traditional medicine that is widely used is the red cultivar.

This species grows in open areas, in full sun or partial shade. Grows well in moist, loose soil. Grows poorly in flooded soils. It thrives in the lowlands to an elevation of 1200 meters. This plant grows wild in teak forests, pine forests or in shrubs.

The history of the cultivation and trading of spices originally took place on the island of Java. Galangal is still widely cultivated in Southeast Asia, especially in the Greater Sunda Islands and the Philippines. Cultivation has also spread to Southeast Asia, including Thailand.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Zingiberaceae
Subfamily: Alpinioideae
Tribe: Alpinieae
Genus: Alpinia
Species: Alpinia galanga

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 ...

Purwaceng (Pimpinella pruatjan)

Purwaceng or purwoceng or antanan gunung or Viagra of Java ( Pimpinella pruatjan or Pimpinella priatjan ) are small termas growing horizontally in Apiaceae, growing in villages on Dieng Plateau, Central Java Province, Indonesia, at 1,500 to 2,000 meters above sea level, the roots have medicinal properties for aphrodisiacs and are usually processed in powder form for a mixture of coffee or milk. P. pruatjan grows flat on the ground but does not propagate, small leaves are reddish green for 1-3 cm in diameter. This plant is only found in Java and grows in high mountain areas. A low population where industrial demand is very high results in increasingly scarce. Another place that is likely to become a purwaceng habitat is the Iyang Mountains and the Tengger Mountains in East Java Province. Efforts to multiply and cultivate have a big problem where these plants have difficulty producing seeds. In vitro propagation research through tissue cultivation has been carried out to overcome ...

Javanese grasshopper (Valanga nigricornis)

Wooden grasshopper or Javanese grasshopper ( Valanga nigricornis ) is an animal species of Acrididae, grasshoppers that have at least 18 subspecies, insects with very wide diversity in color and size, sexual dimorphism in which females are larger in size and paler in color. V. nigricornis in males has a length of 45-55 millimeters and females 15-75 mm. The head is square and green or yellow or brown or black in color. A pair of antennas has a black color. The eyes are large and gray or white or brownish. The hind legs are very large and have a green or yellow or brown or black color, plain or brindle. The limbs have two rows of large and long spines with black tips facing backward. The wings have a length exceeding the belly, a rough surface and are brown or green or yellow or black in color with pulse lines forming spaces filled with black color. The hind wings are rose red which will be visible when flying. Nymphs are pale green or yellow or brown or blackish in color. Javanese gr...

Dlium