Kunci pepet (Kaempferia rotunda)

Kunci pepet or temu rapet (Kaempferia rotunda) is a plant species in Zingiberaceae, a shrub that grows upright, the vegetative phase is leaf growth and the generative phase is flower growth, the leaves have symmetrical patterns, are often planted for beautiful leaves and traditional medicinal materials.

K. rotunda has 2-5 leaves, oblong lanceolate shape, 7-36 cm long and 4-11 cm wide. Top surface bare, green and whitish in symmetrical patterns. The lower surface is hairy and purplish in color. Frond length is 7-24 cm.

Inflorescences emerge from another bud on the rhizome with 4-6 buds. The petals are white or greenish and 3-7 cm long. The crown is tubular at the base with a line, white, curved outward and 5 cm wide. Labellum inverted heart-shaped, 4-7 cm long, 2-4 cm wide, purple-lilac with yellowish.

The rhizome is short, branched, smells good and has a bitter taste. The roots are fragrant and egg-shaped. The rhizome produces coarse, watery roots that appear to grow in clusters. The flower grows indicating that the rhizome is ready to be harvested.

Kunci pepet grows wild in wet and dry forests, teak forests, bamboo forests and meadows and elevations up to 1300 m. Young tubers can be eaten as a salad, powder and appetite enhancer. Rhizome is used as a medicine for stomach pain and dysentery.

Plants are also used for the manufacture of fragrances, cosmetics and insect repellents. The rhizome and tubers are distilled to produce essential oils containing cineol. Beautiful leaves are also often used for ornamental plants in pots.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Zingiberaceae
Genus: Kaempferia
Species: Kaempferia rotunda

Blood lily (Scadoxus multiflorus)

Blood lily or Haemanthus multiflorus ( Scadoxus multiflorus ) is a species of plant in the Amaryllidaceae, a bulbous shrub that produces rhizomes. Leaves and flowers may appear together or leaves may be produced later. The base of the leaves and stems are tightly wrapped to form a pseudo-stem or false stem, 5-60 cm long. Flowers in umbels at the top of the stem, leafless, 12-75 cm long. Pseudostems and scapes are often covered with reddish brown to dark purple spots. The flower umbel is in the shape of a globe with 10-200 individual flowers. Each flower has a stalk, 15-45 mm long. The tepals and filaments of the stamens are red. The base of the tepals is fused to form a cylindrical tube, 4-26 mm long, the free end of the tepals 12-32 mm long, narrow and spreading. The fruit is a berry having a diameter of 5-10 mm. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Liliopsida Order: Asparagales Family: Amaryllidaceae Subfamily: Amaryllidoideae Tribe: Haemantheae Ge...

Indian rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia)

Sonokeling or Java palisandre or Indian rosewood ( Dalbergia latifolia ) is a species of plant in the Fabaceae, a large tree producing hardwood, medium weight and high quality, rounded leaves, thin and broad pods, highly adaptive, grows in dry and rocky landscapes with lots of sunlight. D. latifolia has medium to large size, cylindrical stems, up to 40 m high with a ring of up to 2 m, the bark is brownish gray and slightly cracked longitudinally. The crown is dense, dome-shaped and sheds leaves. The leaves are compound and pinnate oddly with 5-7 strands that have different sizes and appear alternately on the shaft. The leaves are round or elongated in width or heart, the upper surface is green and the surface is pale green. The flowers are small, 0.5-1 cm long and clustered in panicles. The pods are green to brown when ripe and are elongated lanceolate, pointed at the base and tip. The pods have 1-4 seeds which are soft and brownish. Indian rosewood grows at elevations below 600 m,...

Plumeria rubra and Plumeria obtusa, the differences

SPECIES HEAD TO HEAD - The genus frangipani trees ( Plumeria Tourn. ex L.) has only 18 officially recorded species and two very similar species, frangipani ( Plumeria rubra L.) and white frangipani ( Plumeria obtusa L.). Both have the same habitus, flowers and fruits and are difficult to distinguish. The leaves of both species have slightly different shapes. Therefore, the leaves are very important to distinguish the two species, especially the shape of the tip. P. rubra has simple, lanceolate leaves with acute tips. P. obtusa has simple, elliptic leaves with rounded tips. By Aryo Bandoro Founder of Dlium.com . You can follow him on X: @Abandoro . Read more: Plumeria rubra Plumeria obtusa

Dlium