Woodland false buttonweed (Spermacoce remota)

Siwingan or woodland false buttonweed (Spermacoce remota) is a plant species in the Rubiaceae, an upright or spreading perennial herb up to 50 cm high, rectangular stems with scaly hairs on the ridges, branched and green in color.

S. remote has leaf blades 50-70 mm long, 15-23 mm wide, petioles short and hairy. 5-6 lateral veins on each side of the midrib. Bare surface, undersurface with a few hairs along the veins. Stipules interpetiolar, hairy, margin scalloped with 7 teeth or pegs and teeth about 2-4 mm long.

Inflorescence in dense axillary fascicles. Individual flowers are about 5 mm in diameter. The calyx lobes are 0.5-1 mm long and are covered with hair. The corolla tube is about 2.5 mm long, the lobes 2–2.5 mm long and are covered with hairs only on the outer surface near the apex. The anthers are 1 mm long. The filaments are 1-1.5 mm long and are attached to the corolla tube.

This species grows near sea level to an elevation of 900 meters. It grows in disturbed areas and along paths and roads, rainforests, mahogany forests, teak forests, riparian forests and most of the Pantropical countries.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Gentianales
Family: Rubiaceae
Subfamily: Rubioideae
Tribe: Spermacoceae
Genus: Spermacoce
Species: Spermacoce remota

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 ...

Asian palmyra palm (Borassus flabellifer)

Asian palmyra palm ( Borassus flabellifer ) is a species of Arecaceae , palm, sturdy, single-stemmed, cylindrical shape, growing 15-30 meters tall and with a trunk diameter of about 60 cm. The leaves are clustered at the tip of the trunk, forming a rounded crown . The leaf blade resembles a round fan , up to 1.5 meters in diameter. The leaflets are 5-7 cm wide, and the underside is whitish with a waxy coating. The leaf stalk is up to 1 meter long, with a broad, black midrib at the top and a row of two-pointed spines . The inflorescence is borne on a cob, 20-30 cm long, and the stalk is about 50 cm long. The fruits are clustered in clusters of about 20, round, 7-20 cm in diameter, with a brownish-black outer skin and yellow flesh on the inside. The fruit has three seeds in a thick, hard shell. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Liliopsida Order: Arecales Family: Arecaceae Subfamily: Coryphoideae Tribe: Borasseae Subtribe: Lataniinae Genu...

Pink trumpet tree (Tabebuia heterophylla)

Pink trumpet tree ( Tabebuia heterophylla ) is a species of plant in the Bignoniaceae family, growing 6–9 meters tall with a cylindrical trunk and brown bark that is often linearly fissured. The leaves are opposite, compound, with five or fewer minor leaflets. T. heterophylla has striking bright red flowers, tubular, five-lobed, and 5–7.5 cm long. The fruit is a cylindrical pod, up to 20 cm long and up to 1 cm wide. The pod stalk is up to 3 cm long. The pod splits along two lines to release numerous thin, light brown seeds, 0.5–2.5 cm long with two white wings. This species is often used as a street tree and shade tree for residential properties. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Bignoniaceae Genus: Tabebuia Species: Tabebuia heterophylla

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