Mexican sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia)

Paitan or Mexican sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia) is a plant species in Asteraceae, shrubs with 2-4 meters high, abundant yellow flowers, fast growing, tolerant to high canopy density with deep roots and widely used as a barrier to erosion, insulin and green fertilizer.

T. diversifolia grows upright, erect stems are tubular and green woody. Single leaf arranged alternately, length up to 32 cm, width up to 25 cm, sharp edges and base, pinnate bones, rough surface and green. Young leaves have a tip, while adult leaves have 3-5 ends.

Compound flowers grow at the end of branches with long stems. Petals are tubular, smooth hair and green. Crown will be separated, ribbon-shaped, yellow and smooth. Yellow round stamens and curved pistils are yellow.

The fruits are round, light green and turn brown when ripe. The seeds are round, have four corners, 5 mm long, hard and brown in color. Seeds spread by the wind. White taproot.

Mexican sunflower grows wild on the edge of farmland, cliff slopes and highway edges. Fertile breeds at altitudes 550-1950 m, annual temperatures 15-31C, annual rainfall 100-2000 mm and lots of sun.

Paitan is widely used as an organic fertilizer to support growth, reduce pollutants and reduce the level of active P, Al and Fe giraffe. Leaves to reduce blood glucose levels in diabetics, treat itching and scabies, oxidize bacterial skin cells and prevent fungus.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Subfamily: Asteroideae
Tribe: Heliantheae
Subtribe: Helianthinae
Genus: Tithonia
Species: Tithonia diversifolia

Black potato (Coleus rotundifolius)

Black potato ( Coleus rotundifolius ) is a species of plant in Lamiaceae, herbaceous, fibrous roots and tubers, erect and slightly creeping stems, quadrangular, thick, and slightly odorous. Single leaves, thick, membranous, opposite and alternate. Leaves are oval, dark green and shiny on the upper side, bright green on the lower side. Up to 5 cm long, up to 4 cm wide, slightly hairy and pinnate leaf veins. Leaf stalks up to 4 cm long. Small, purple flowers. Star-shaped petals, lip-shaped crown, dark to light purple with a slightly curved tube shape. Flowering from February-August. Small tubers, brown and white flesh and tuber length 2-4 cm. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Lamiaceae Subfamily: Nepetoideae Tribe: Ocimeae Subtribe: Plectranthinae Genus: Coleus Species: Coleus rotundifolius

Wild durian (Cullenia exarillata)

Wild durian ( Cullenia exarillata ) is a species of plant in the Malvaceae, a tall tree with smooth, greyish-white bark, peeling on older trees, a straight trunk, horizontal branches and often with a series of knob-like tubercles for flower and fruit attachment. C. exarillata has young branches and the underside of the leaves is covered with golden brown peltate or shield-like scales. The leaves are single, alternate, glabrous, glossy green on the upper side and covered with silvery or orange peltate scales on the underside. Hermaphroditic flowers are tubular and also covered with golden brown scales, 4-5 cm long and cream or reddish brown in color. Flowers have no petals, formed of tubular bracteoles and tubular calyxes, 5-lobed. Fruit is round, 10-13 cm in diameter, covered with thorns and clustered along the branches. Many seeds, reddish brown, 4-5 cm long and 2-3 cm wide. The seeds are enclosed by a fleshy, whitish aril. The fruit splits open when ripe and dries to release the s...

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...

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