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

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...

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