Ruby leaf (Alternanthera brasiliana)

Bayam ungu or ruby leaf (Alternanthera brasiliana) is a plant species in Amaranthaceae, herbaceous, chronic and extensive, growing up to 3 meters tall, shedding leaves in the dry season, has a good adaptation for many latitudes, flowering at any time of the year and pompom-shaped.

A. brasiliana has fibrous and strong roots. The stem is tubular, woody, slender and straight, the branches are paired and form a trident, red or green or purple depending on the cultivar and the buds have fine hair that will fall out as they mature.

Paired leaves, oval shaped, blunt base, sharp tip, 1-10 cm long, 0.7-5 cm wide, a bone in the middle with several pinnate veins, the upper surface is red or purple or blackish green and the lower surface is red or maroon.

Flowers are white in small clusters, have stems of 3-10 cm, 7-20 mm in the top leaf branches. Brown fruit, 1.5-2 mm long, contains a seed which is generally hidden in an older part of the flower.

Ruby leaves grow wild in full sun on moist soil and are well drained in secondary forests, roadside and abandoned lands. Widely used as an ornamental plant with many cultivars. These are often harvested for antiviral and anti-diarrhea agents.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Subfamily: Gomphrenoideae
Genus: Alternanthera
Species: Alternanthera brasiliana

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Bintaro or pong pong ( Cerbera odollam ) is a plant species in Apocynaceae, a medium-sized tree with circular branches around the trunk, non-woody, gummy white, highly poisonous and the leaves are used for bioinsecticide, seeds are used as biodiesel material and often used for ornamental plants. C. odollam is less than 17 meters tall, grows upright, has low and sideways branches to form an umbrella canopy, the bark is thin and dark brown, lots of white sap, the whole stem has traces of circular petioles. Leaves have large stalks with thick strands, inverted or elongated ovoid, 4.5-7 cm wide, 15-30 cm long, blunt base, sharp tip, a large bone in the middle with sideways veins, dark green and shiny upper surface, the lower surface is lighter. The white flower is located at the end of the stem and long stalk. Trumpet-shaped crown with five tongues, tube 1.5-2 cm long, white with yellow tunnels and a few yellow hairs. The fruit is round, green in color with a green fibrous shell enclosi

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