Minnieroot (Ruellia tuberosa)

Kencana ungu or pletesan or popping pod or minnieroot (Ruellia tuberosa) is a species of plant in the Acanthaceae, an upright herb, up to 2 meters high and has many branches. The leaves are oval, with a pointed base, blunt tip, thin, flat surface, green, flat edges and pinnate veins.

R. tuberosa has leaves up to 13 cm long, 7 cm wide and stalks up to 4 cm long. Trumpet-shaped flowers, 4-5 cm in diameter and up to 6 cm long. The thin crown is purple or blue, five strands and fused downwards to form a tube.

The fruit is tubular with a pointed tip and 2-3 cm long. Young fruit is green, old fruit is brown. If the ripe fruit is exposed to water it will burst, detach and be thrown from the stalk. The seeds are round, flat and brown. Minnieroot uses taproots and tubers.

This plant contains active chemical compounds including alkaloids, triterpenoids, flavonoids, phenolics, saponins, coumarin and quinone dyes. Roots contains apigenin and luteolin. Seed oil contains myristic, capril and lauric acid.

Traditional treatment uses R. tuberosa as an antidiabetic, antipyretic, analgesic, anti-hypertensive, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. The leaves are ground into paste and used to treat wounds, itching, insect bites, venereal disease, wounds, tumors and rheumatic complaints.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Acanthaceae
Subfamily: Acanthoideae
Tribe: Ruellieae
Subtribe: Ruelliinae
Genus: Ruellia
Species: Ruellia tuberosa

Yellow garden spider (Argiope appensa)

Yellow garden spider ( Argiope appensa ) is a species of spider in Araneidae that lives on the coast to forests on islands in the western Pacific Ocean. Black and yellow females are striking and have a length of 5.1-6.4 cm including long legs, while males are brown and have a length of about 1.9 cm. A. appensa lives on cliffs in the hills at 600 m above sea level in Kewu plain to rice fields in the lowlands. They make nests at a height of 1.5 meters from the ground between teak ( Tectona grandis ), sonokeling ( Dalbergia latifolia ), sonosiso ( Dalbergia sissoo ), crown flower ( Calotropis gigantea ) and various grasses. Yellow garden spiders grow in large sizes, but are not toxic to humans. Advanced builds ball-shaped nets and most of them make stabilizers which are zigzag-shaped lines in nets made of thicker bands. This species spends more time in stationary and sits in the middle of the net with its head down to wait for insects to be entangled in fine silk thread. Unli...

Skyflower (Duranta erecta)

Sinyo nakal or skyflower ( Duranta erecta ) is plant species in Verbenaceae, a broad shrub or small tree, up to 6 m high, stems growing upright or horizontally with broad clumps, many branches, bark light brown, old tree has axillary spines and grows to form dense colonies. D. erecta has bright green leaves, elliptical to ovoid, pointed or rounded ends, sitting opposite, 7.5 cm long, 3.5 cm wide, a main vein in the middle with several small lateral veins, petiole long 1.5 cm. Flowers are light blue or lavender or white, appear in tight clusters as on terminal stems and axils, often curled or pendulous, blooms in summer. The fruit is a berry having a stalk, small round, yellow or orange or white in color, up to 11 mm in diameter, an eye green in front and containing several seeds. Skyflower grows in dry or humid areas and lots of sun, rocky or sandy beaches, forests, farmland and disturbed places. Plants will grow at a rate of up to half a meter per year. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum:...

Pink trumpet tree (Tabebuia heterophylla)

Pink trumpet tree ( Tabebuia heterophylla ) is a species of plant in the Bignoniaceae family, growing 6–9 meters tall with a cylindrical trunk and brown bark that is often linearly fissured. The leaves are opposite, compound, with five or fewer minor leaflets. T. heterophylla has striking bright red flowers, tubular, five-lobed, and 5–7.5 cm long. The fruit is a cylindrical pod, up to 20 cm long and up to 1 cm wide. The pod stalk is up to 3 cm long. The pod splits along two lines to release numerous thin, light brown seeds, 0.5–2.5 cm long with two white wings. This species is often used as a street tree and shade tree for residential properties. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Bignoniaceae Genus: Tabebuia Species: Tabebuia heterophylla

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