Asian water hyacinth (Pontederia hastata)

Asian water hyacinth (Pontederia hastata) is a species of plant in the Pontederiaceae, herbaceous, aquatic, erect, growing in colonies in wet environments with freshwater bodies, lakes, swamps, rivers and agricultural land and abandoned lands.

P. hastata is up to 120 cm tall, cylindrical leaf stalks and green in color. Leaves are heart-shaped or arrow-shaped, up to 25 cm long, up to 21 cm wide, green and thick.

Inflorescences in panicles and grow on leaf stalks. Fan-shaped flowers, up to 3 cm wide, six-winged, blue in color, white stamens and yellow pollen. Flower stalks up to 3 cm long and white.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Commelinales
Family: Pontederiaceae
Genus: Pontederia
Subgenus: Monochoria
Species: Pontederia hastata

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 ...

Broad sword fern (Nephrolepis biserrata)

Broad sword fern ( Nephrolepis biserrata ) is a species of fern in the Nephrolepidaceae, epiphytic and terrestrial, with grayish-brown stems, brown hairs, and 10–130 cm long. The leaf blades are green, 7 cm long, 1.5 cm wide, and hairy brown on the underside. The sori are attached to the underside of the leaf blade, with about 60 sori along the edge and are brown in color. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Class: Polypodiopsida Subclass: Polypodiidae Order: Polypodiales Suborder: Polypodiineae Family: Nephrolepidaceae Genus: Nephrolepis Schott in Gen. Fil. (Vindob.): t. 3 (1834) Species: Nephrolepis biserrata (Sw.) Schott in Gen. Fil. (Vindob.): t. 3 (1834) Homotypic Synonyms Aspidium biserratum Sw. in J. Bot. (Schrader) 1800(2): 32 (1801) Hypopeltis biserrata (Sw.) Bory in C.P.Bélanger, Voy. Indes Or., Bot. 2(1): 65 (1833) Lepidoneuron biserratum (Sw.) Fée in Mém. Foug., 5. Gen. Filic.: 301 (1852) Nephrodium biserratum (Sw.) C.Presl in Reliq. Haenk. 1: 31 (1825) Nephrolepis bise...

Rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis)

Rubber tree ( Hevea brasiliensis ) is a plant species in Euphorbiaceae, a tree height of 15-25 m, but in the wild up to 43 m, a large trunk, grows straight and has a high branching above. The stem of this plant contains milk sap which is extracted as the main source of natural rubber. H. brasiliensis has a cylindrical rod, brown and the inner skin secretes latex if injured. The leaves have three leaflets, arranged in a spiral, elliptical, elongated with a tapered tip, flat edge and bare. The main leaf stalk has a length of 3-20 cm and a minor leaf stalk for 3-10 cm. Male and female flowers are separate, yellowish and have no petals. The fruit is a capsule that contains three and six seeds according to the amount of space, blackish brown with typical patterned spots and explosively open when ripe. Rubber trees need a tropical or subtropical climate with a minimum rainfall of 1,200 mm per year and no frost. Tapping is one of the main activities of exploitation of this plant by op...

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