Mile-a-minute vine (Ipomoea cairica)

Ubi kates or mile-a-minute vine (Ipomoea cairica) is a species of plant in Convolvulaceae, herbaceous perennial, creeping or climbing, palm leaf, trumpet flower, large and showy, white to lavender in color, growing in forest shrubs, farmlands and abandoned land.

I. cairica has a slender cylindrical stem, up to 10 meters long with rounded roots and a lignescent base. Leaves have stalks 2-6 cm long. The leaves are oval to circular, 3-10 cm long and 6-9 cm wide. Each is divided into 5-7 segments, lanceolate, ovoid or elliptical, intact and pointed at the tip and base.

The inflorescences have peduncles 12-20 mm long. Sepals 6-8 mm long, ovate and pointed. The crown is funnel-shaped, 4-6 cm long and purple. Stamens and stylus do not extend beyond the crown. Ovaries are hairless. The fruit is a round capsule, 1 cm in diameter and 1-2 seeds.

The mile-a-minute vine grows to an elevation of 2250 meters. Most parts of the plant are edible including the leaves and roots. The leaves are crushed and drunk to cure rashes and fever. Plants in some areas are also considered to have antibiotic properties.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Solanales
Family: Convolvulaceae
Tribe: Ipomoeeae
Genus: Ipomoea
Species: Ipomoea cairica
Varieties: Ipomoea cairica var. cairica, Ipomoea cairica var. gracillima, Ipomoea cairica var. indica

Laniger bat tick (Ixodes lanigeri), new hard tick species (Ixodidae) from mouse-eared bats (Myotis) in Vietnam

NEWS - Researchers have identified Ixodes ticks from Vietnam based on morphological and molecular characteristics of females, nymphs and larvae as a new species, laniger bat tick ( Ixodes lanigeri ), which like other members of the Ixodes ariadnae complex appears to show a preference for vesper bats as a typical host. Historically, for more than a century and a half, only one species has been called the “long-legged bat tick”: Ixodes vespertilionis Koch. However, over the past decade, it has been molecularly recognized that long-legged ixodid ticks associated with bats may represent at least six species. Host associations and geographic separation may explain the evolutionary divergence of the new species from its closest living relative Murina hilgendorfi Peters in East Asia, Japan, as no Myotis or Murina spp. have overlapping distributions between Vietnam and the Japanese mainland. On the other hand, assuming that I. lanigeri may be present in other myotine bats and knowing that s...

Tekijem (Cyperus cyperoides)

Tekijem ( Cyperus cyperoides ) is a plant species in Cyperaceae, annual grasses that grow in seasonal wetlands, open or shaded fields, swamps, ponds, rice fields, roadsides, open forests, secondary forests and shrubs at altitudes up to 1,800 m in the tropics. C. cyperoides has an upright, triangular shape, 20-75 cm tall from a very short rhizome and has no stolon. The lanceolate-shaped leaves are narrow and long, the tips are pointed, slippery, shiny, green and grow at the bottom and at the top of the stem. The terminal flower appears on the tip of the stem, cylindrical spiklet shaped and green. Each stem has two to seven flowers, each of which has a short or long stem that grows at the end of the stem together with the leaves. Tekijem grows solitary or in small groups at a distance. Propagating using vegetative and generative methods using seeds. At least three sub-species are Cyperus cyperoides cyperoides , Cyperus cyperoides flavus and Cyperus cyperoides pseudoflavus . Th...

Kemadih (Schultesianthus coriaceus)

Kemadih ( Schultesianthus coriaceus ) is a species of plant in the Solanaceae family. It grows as a climber and covers host trees. It is a perennial, multi-branched, hardwood plant with hard, brown bark and dark green young bark. S. coriaceus has thick leaves, 15 cm long and 8 cm wide. A central vein is linear, with a pointed tip and base. The upper surface is dark green and the lower surface is bright green. The petiole is 3 cm long. The flowers are fan-shaped with 5 inflorescences. The base is narrow, whitish-yellow or bright green, and 8 cm wide. Four inflorescences with brownish-white tips and one inflorescence with a green tip grow in the center. The fruit is green, 3.5 cm long, and the stalk is 2 cm long. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Solanales Family: Solanaceae Subfamily: Solanoideae Tribe: Solandreae Genus: Schultesianthus Species: Schultesianthus coriaceus

Dlium