Loop-root mangrove (Rhizophora mucronata)

Loop-root mangrove (Rhizophora mucronata) is a species of plant in the Rhizophoraceae, evergreen, 10-27 meters high, up to 70 cm in diameter, dark to black bark, cracked bark, horizontal, many large stilt roots with a height of up to 2 meters above mud and woody.

R. mucronata has leaves that sit opposite each other, collected at the ends of the twigs, the buds are covered in supporting leaves that are rolled up and pointed and are white or red in color, fall off quickly and leave scars similar to bulging rings. The leaves are elliptical, thick, smooth, green or yellowish, with a pointed tip, have a stalk, 12-24 cm long, 4-13 cm wide.

Flowers are grouped in additional umbrellas, stalked, forked in axils and 4-8 florets. The crown is white, with long hairs up to 9 mm. Flowers all year round. The fruit is egg-shaped, green-brown, 5-7 cm and viviparous. Cylindrical hypocotyl, large, rough, nodules and 36-70 cm long. The cotyledon neck is yellow when ripe.

This species tolerates hard and sandy substrates. More abundant in deeply flooded and humus-rich substrates in estuaries, tidal rivers, flat beaches which are exposed to tidal flooding every day. Sometimes it occurs as a pure stand or may grow with other species.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Rhizophoraceae
Genus: Rhizophora
Species: Rhizophora mucronata

Javan broadhead planarian (Bipalium javanum)

Cacing palu or Javan broadhead planarian ( Bipalium javanum ) is a species of animal in Geoplanidae, hermaphrodite, living on the ground, predators, often called only hammerhead or broadhead or shovel worms because of wide heads and simple copulatory organs. B. javanum has a slim stature, up to 20 cm long, up to 0.5 cm wide, head wide up to 1 cm or less, small neck, widening in the middle and the back end is rounded, all black and shiny. Javan broadhead planarians walk above ground level by raising their heads and actively looking left, right and looking up using strong neck muscles. Move swiftly, track meander, climb to get through all obstacles or make a new path if the obstacle is too high. Cacing palu track and prey on earthworms and mollusks. They use muscles and sticky secretions to attach themselves to prey to lock in. The head and ends of the body are wrapped around and continue to close the body to stop prey reactions. They produce tetrodotoxins which are very strong...

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SPECIES HEAD TO HEAD - To date, mahogany ( Swietenia Jacq.) is recorded as having four species: West Indian mahogany or small-leaved mahogany ( Swietenia mahagoni (L.) Jacq.), big-leaf mahogany ( Swietenia macrophylla King), Honduran mahogany ( Swietenia humilis Zucc.) and Swietenia × aubrevilleana Stehlé & Cusin. The debate over the number of taxa in the genus is still not resolved. Some researchers believe that there are only two species: S. mahagoni and S. macrophylla . I agree with that opinion and the two species can only be differentiated by the size of the leaves. All species in this genus have similar morphology except for leaf size. The following is the key to identifying these two species. S. mahagoni has a stalk length of around 37 cm with 5-6 pairs of strands. The strands are about 10 cm long and about 3.5 cm wide. S. macrophylla has a stalk length of up to 45 cm with 4-5 pairs of strands. The strands are up to 31 cm long and up to 8 cm wide. By Aryo Bando...

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