Rhino rattan (Plectocomia elongata)

Rhino rattan (Plectocomia elongata) is a species of plant in the Arecaceae, large rattan, single or in clusters, up to 50 meters high, large stem, segment length 30-40 cm, diameter with leaf midrib up to 25-100 mm, grows in forests, along rivers and slopes in the lowlands up to an elevation of 1200 meters.

P. elongata has leaves 6-7 meters long, including a 3 meter apex and a 20-30 cm petiole. The leaf midrib is green with many horizontal spines or rosettes. The leaves number 50-60 on the right and left of the rakis, in the shape of oblong bands, arranged irregularly or in groups of 1-4 items, the upper side is green and the lower side is whitish.

Inflorescences appear from the tip, 7-10 heads, up to 80 cm long and milky white in color. The fruit has a diameter of 1.5 cm and is covered with reddish brown scales. Seeds have a diameter of 1 cm. The flowering season is June-August and the fruit season is until December. This plant dies immediately after bearing fruit.

This plant produces brown to reddish brown rattan sticks, large and hard. The sap is drunk or rubbed on the body to treat fever. The sap is cooked to treat wounds. Edible fruit and flower panicles for decoration.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Subfamily: Calamoideae
Tribe: Calameae
Genus: Plectocomia
Species: Plectocomia elongata
Variety: Plectocomia elongata var. elongata, Plectocomia elongata var. philippinensis

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...

Thomas Sutikna lives with Homo floresiensis

BLOG - On October 28, 2004, a paper was published in Nature describing the dwarf hominin we know today as Homo floresiensis that has shocked the world. The report changed the geographical landscape of early humans that previously stated that the Pleistocene Asia was only represented by two species, Homo erectus and Homo sapiens . The report titled "A new small-bodied hominin from the Late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia" written by Peter Brown and Mike J. Morwood from the University of New England with Thomas Sutikna, Raden Pandji Soejono, Jatmiko, E. Wahyu Saptomo and Rokus Awe Due from the National Archaeology Research Institute (ARKENAS), Indonesia, presents more diversity in the genus Homo. “Immediately, my fever vanished. I couldn’t sleep well that night. I couldn’t wait for sunrise. In the early morning we went to the site, and when we arrived in the cave, I didn’t say a thing because both my mind and heart couldn’t handle this incredible moment. I just went down...

Prof. Weiming Zhu ironwood (Xantolis weimingii) described with completely glabrous flower crowns

NEWS - Xantolis weimingii (Sapotaceae, Chrysophylloideae) is described from Yunnan, southwest China and can be easily distinguished from its relatives by the combination of densely covered plants with ferruginous arachnoid-lanate, oblong or obovate leaves and pendulous staminodes at the base. Xantolis Raf. 1838 (Sapotaceae, Chrysophylloideae) is a small genus of trees and shrubs containing about 14 species with a distribution from the eastern Himalayas to the Philippines in tropical Asia. The genus is morphologically characterized by distinct spines, a sharp anther appendage, lanceolate lobes on the calyx and corolla, and aristate staminodes. Molecular data suggest that the genus is sister to the entire subfamily Chrysophylloideae and is a very isolated and poorly understood genus. Specimens was first collected in the Luzhijiang Valley in August 2015, but only sterile or fruiting specimens were collected. In April 2022, a specimen with flowers was finally collected in Wadie, Yuanjiang...

Dlium