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

Javan broadhead planarian (Bipalium javanum)

Cacing palu or Javan broadhead planarian ( Bipalium javanum ) is a species of animal in Geoplanidae, hermaphrodite, living on the ground, predators, often called only hammerhead or broadhead or shovel worms because of wide heads and simple copulatory organs. B. javanum has a slim stature, up to 20 cm long, up to 0.5 cm wide, head wide up to 1 cm or less, small neck, widening in the middle and the back end is rounded, all black and shiny. Javan broadhead planarians walk above ground level by raising their heads and actively looking left, right and looking up using strong neck muscles. Move swiftly, track meander, climb to get through all obstacles or make a new path if the obstacle is too high. Cacing palu track and prey on earthworms and mollusks. They use muscles and sticky secretions to attach themselves to prey to lock in. The head and ends of the body are wrapped around and continue to close the body to stop prey reactions. They produce tetrodotoxins which are very strong...

Thomas Sutikna lives with Homo floresiensis

BLOG - On October 28, 2004, a paper was published in Nature describing the dwarf hominin we know today as Homo floresiensis that has shocked the world. The report changed the geographical landscape of early humans that previously stated that the Pleistocene Asia was only represented by two species, Homo erectus and Homo sapiens . The report titled "A new small-bodied hominin from the Late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia" written by Peter Brown and Mike J. Morwood from the University of New England with Thomas Sutikna, Raden Pandji Soejono, Jatmiko, E. Wahyu Saptomo and Rokus Awe Due from the National Archaeology Research Institute (ARKENAS), Indonesia, presents more diversity in the genus Homo. “Immediately, my fever vanished. I couldn’t sleep well that night. I couldn’t wait for sunrise. In the early morning we went to the site, and when we arrived in the cave, I didn’t say a thing because both my mind and heart couldn’t handle this incredible moment. I just went down...

Brown-woolly fig (Ficus drupacea)

Brown-woolly fig ( Ficus drupacea ) is a species of plant in the Moraceae, a tropical tree, cylindrical and 10-30 meters tall. The leaves are oval, up to 16 cm long, up to 6 cm wide, with petioles up to 2 cm long. The fruit is round-oval, up to 3 cm long, up to 2 cm wide, young yellow and old red. The fruit is eaten by pigeons, and pollinated by Eupristina belgaumensis . Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Rosales Family: Moraceae Tribe: Ficeae Genus: Ficus Species: Ficus drupacea

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