Sleepy morning (Waltheria indica)

Sleepy morning (Waltheria indica) is a plant species in the Malvaceae, short-lived subshrub or shrub, up to 2 meters high, stem diameter 2 cm, most common in dry, disturbed and humid habitats, rainfall 750-1800 mm/year and elevation from sea level up to 400 meters.

W. indica has a taproot, brown in color and flexible. Stem cylindrical, erect and strong, rising from beneath the soil surface, branched, green or reddish and white-haired.

Leaves alternate, narrow, oval or heart-shaped, edge regularly toothed, veins pinnate, wavy, green and white haired. Flowers appear at 6 months of age and bloom less or more until death occurs. Flowers are yellow and produce nectar.

This plant is drought tolerant. Generally easy to find in disturbed areas, weeds on roadside areas, cotton fields, rocks, savanna, river banks and forest boundaries.

This species contains alkaloids (adouetins X, Y, Y1, Z and cyclopeptid alkaloids), flavonoids (epicatechin, tiliroside, quercetin and kaemperol), sterols, terpenes, cardiac glycosides, saponins and anthraquinones.

Plants have analgesia, antianemic, antibacterial and antioxidant activity. Often used to treat mild symptoms of cough and sore throat), complications of asthma and inflammation, diarrhea, malaria, hemorrhoids, cancer, epilepsy, syphilis, infertility, bladder disease, erectile dysfunction and impotence.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Subfamily: Byttnerioideae
Genus: Waltheria
Species: Waltheria indica

Black potato (Coleus rotundifolius)

Black potato ( Coleus rotundifolius ) is a species of plant in Lamiaceae, herbaceous, fibrous roots and tubers, erect and slightly creeping stems, quadrangular, thick, and slightly odorous. Single leaves, thick, membranous, opposite and alternate. Leaves are oval, dark green and shiny on the upper side, bright green on the lower side. Up to 5 cm long, up to 4 cm wide, slightly hairy and pinnate leaf veins. Leaf stalks up to 4 cm long. Small, purple flowers. Star-shaped petals, lip-shaped crown, dark to light purple with a slightly curved tube shape. Flowering from February-August. Small tubers, brown and white flesh and tuber length 2-4 cm. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Lamiaceae Subfamily: Nepetoideae Tribe: Ocimeae Subtribe: Plectranthinae Genus: Coleus Species: Coleus rotundifolius

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 ...

Bright white flat-backed millipede (Trichopeltis jiyue) like moon emerging from behind dark rain clouds

NEWS - Bright white flat-backed millipede ( Trichopeltis jiyue sp. nov.) from Ailaoshan National Nature Reserve in Yunnan Province, is the second recorded epigean species of Trichopeltis Pocock 1894 in China. Jiyue (Chinese spelling) refers to the bright white appearance of the animal, like the moon emerging from behind dark rain clouds. Polydesmida is one of the most diverse orders of Diplopoda (millipedes) with about 5000 species in 30 families and is widely distributed worldwide. All Polydesmida are blind, eyeless and metaterga usually show small to prominent lateral paranota or paraterga. Cryptodesmidae Karsch 1880 is a family Polydesmida with about 40 genera and 130 species distributed in the Neotropics (Mexico to Argentina), Afrotropics (continental sub-Saharan Africa) and Asia-Australasia (Central Asia and the Himalayas to Japan and Papua New Guinea). In tropical or subtropical Asia and Australasia, 12 genera and 36 species have been documented in Cryptodesmidae. Trichopeltis P...

Dlium