Liverwort (Marchantia)

Liverwort (Marchantia) is a genus of plants in the Marchantiaceae, growing vines and attached to the soil surface, soft, dark green, upright phallus like a cup, grows in colonies on slopes and vertical soil that is moist and shady.

Marchantia has elongated strands, rounded ends, branched, flat margins and a black vein in the middle. The strands formed a circular formation, growing widely and forming new formations around it.

Sexual reproduction involves sperm from antheridia in male plants to fertilize ova in archegonia in female plants. The zygote develops into a small sporophyte which remains attached to the larger gametophyte. The sporophyte produces spores which develop into free-living male and female gametophytes.

Asexual reproduction via gemmae in the cup-like structures on the upper surface of the plant. Asexual reproduction can also occur when older plant parts die and new, surviving branches develop into separate plants.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Marchantiophyta
Class: Marchantiopsida
Order: Marchantiales
Family: Marchantiaceae
Genus: Marchantia

A deep-sea isopod Bathyopsurus nybelini adapted to feed submerged Sargassum algae

NEWS - Incredible footage shows a marine species, Bathyopsurus nybelini , feeding on something that sinks from the ocean’s surface. Researchers using the submersible Alvin found the isopod swimming 3.7 miles down using its paddle-like legs to catch an unexpected food source: Sargassum. Researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the University of Montana, SUNY Geneseo, Willamette University and the University of Rhode Island found the algae sinking, while the isopod waited and adapted specifically to find and feed on the sinking nutrient source. The Sargassum lives on the surface for photosynthesis. The discovery of a deep-sea animal that relies on food that sinks from the waters miles above underscores the close relationship between the surface and the deep. “It’s fascinating to see this beautiful animal actively interacting with sargassum, so deep in the ocean. This isopod is extremely rare; only a handful of specimens were collected during the groundbreaking Swedis...

Pink poui (Tabebuia rosea)

Pink poui ( Tabebuia rosea ) is a species of plant in the Bignoniaceae, a small neotropical tree, growing up to 30 meters tall and up to 100 cm in diameter. It has layered and irregular branches, with gray to brown bark and vertical fissures. The leaves are compound, finger-shaped, five-petaled, length up to 33 cm, width up to 15 cm and long stalk up to 9 cm. The flowers are large, bright red or purple or white, fan-shaped, up to 9 cm long, up to 8 cm wide. The fruit capsule is slender and up to 35 cm long. The fruit dries and dehisces, producing anemochorous seeds with hyaline membrane wings. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Bignoniaceae Genus: Tabebuia Gomes ex DC. in Biblioth. Universelle Genève, n.s., 17: 130 (1838) Species: Tabebuia rosea (Bertol.) DC. in Prodr. 9: 215 (1845) HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS Couralia rosea (Bertol.) Donn.Sm. in Bot. Gaz. 20: 9 (1895) Sparattosperma roseum (Bertol.) Miers in Proc....

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