Hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii)

Hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) is a species of plant in the Araucariaceae, a large tree, can live up to 450 years, up to 60 meters tall, cylindrical and straight trunk, brown bark, easy to peel, naturally split, widely grown in dry rainforests.

A. cunninghamii has young leaves shaped like awls, 1-2 cm long, about 2 mm thick at the base, like scales and curved. Adult leaves are 1-2 cm long and 4 mm wide.

The fruit is oval, 8-10 cm long, 6-8 cm in diameter and takes about 18 months to mature. The fruit disintegrates when ripe to release edible seeds like nuts.

High quality wood that is very important for the plywood industry and is also used for furniture, veneer, joinery, paneling, particle board, flooring and boats.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Araucariaceae
Genus: Araucaria
Section: Eutacta
Species: Araucaria cunninghamii
Variety: Araucaria cunninghamii var. cunninghamii, Araucaria cunninghamii var. papuana

Six new species forming the Sumbana species group in genus Nemophora Hoffmannsegg 1798 from Indonesia

NEWS - Sumbawa longhorn ( Nemophora sumbana Kozlov, sp. nov.), Timor longhorn ( Nemophora timorella Kozlov, sp. nov.), shining shade longhorn ( Nemophora umbronitidella Kozlov, sp. nov.), Wegner longhorn ( Nemophora wegneri Kozlov, sp. nov.), long brush longhorn ( Nemophora longipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.), and short brush longhorn ( Nemophora brevipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.) from the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia. The Lesser Sunda Islands consist of two parallel, linear oceanic island chains, including Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Sawu, Timor, Alor, and Tanimbar. The oldest of these islands have been continuously occurring for 10–12 million years. This long period of isolation has allowed significant in situ diversification, making the Lesser Sundas home to many endemic species. This island chain may act as a two-way filter for organisms migrating between the world's two great biogeographic regions, Asia and Australia-Papua. The recognition of a striking cli...

Golden tortoise beetle (Charidotella sexpunctata)

Kepik emas or golden tortoise beetle ( Charidotella sexpunctata ) is a type of leaf beetle species in the Chrysomelidae family, up to 14mm long and bright golden in glass discs. These insects usually live on Ipomoea carnea trees that grow in environments close to water. C. sexpunctata takes refuge in a transparent disc consisting of three parts with four signs as fals legs, a pair of antennas and six legs. This beetle is able to change color if it feels threatened by flowing liquid between the cuticles and the glittering gold color turns into blood red or worn brown. Kepik emas usually lay eggs up to 20 items, white and attached to the branches or on the underside of the leaves. Yellowish or reddish brown larvae will appear from eggs that hatch within 5 to 10 days. Adults and larvae eat leaves which cause large holes. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Coleoptera Family: Chrysomelidae Subfamily: Cassidinae Tribe: Aspidimorphini Genus: Aspidimor...

Bitter vine (Mikania micrantha)

Sembung rambat or bitter vine ( Mikania micrantha ) is a plant species in Asteraceae, crawling or wrapped around trees, perennial that grows up to 27 mm per day in tropical climates, branched stems where heart-shaped or triangular leaves are arranged in pairs and a plant can cover more than 25 square meters in a few months. M. micrantha has square-shaped stems or longitudinal bones, light green, many branches and has fine hairs. The stems have segments for lengths of 75-215 mm, each segment has a pair of leaves, new shoots and flowers. New roots grow when the segments come in contact with the soil. The leaves are in pairs and facing each other. Strands do not have hair, heart-shaped or triangular with jagged edges, length 30-125 mm, width 15-60 mm. Petiole is 1-6 cm long and has fine hairs. The flower panicle grows from the armpit of the leaf and the tip of the stem, having 3-15 mm long stems. Each flower head has 4 minor flowers. The crown is greenish-white, tubular and measures ...

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