Korean mulberry (Morus indica)

Murbei or Korean mulberry (Morus indica) is a species of plant in Moraceae, shrub or small tree, up to 10 meters tall, slow growing, cylindrical stem, light brown with white nodules,

M. indica has heart-shaped or oval-shaped leaves and sometimes three-lobed, 4-12.5 cm long, 2.5-7.5 cm wide, pointed tip, serrated margin, green and has a stalk.

Monoecious inflorescences with male and female grow on the same tree, though often on different branches. Male flowers have a size of 9-11.5 mm and are covered with fine hairs. The female flowers are subglubose or only round in shape, measuring 6-9.5 mm. Stigma is 3.5 mm long with short, thick hair.

The female flowers form compound fruit and are fleshy, green and white-haired to white, red and black when ripe. Korean mulberry is used in regulating blood glucose levels in diabetic patients.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Rosales
Family: Moraceae
Genus: Morus
Species: Morus indica

Rose taro (Alocasia roseus) from Aceh, Indonesia, similar to Alocasia flemingiana and Alocasia arifolia

NEWS - Rose taro ( Alocasia roseus Asih & Yuzammi, sp. nov.) from Aceh Besar District, Sumatra (Indonesia) was found to produce a striking inflorescence and is morphologically similar to Alocasia flemingiana Yuzammi & A.Hay and Alocasia arifolia Hallier f. Alocasia (Schott) G.Don (Araceae Juss.) consists of 100 species, but recent studies suggest there may be 41 additional undescribed species. The genus is distributed in tropical and subtropical Asia from Malesia to Oceania and mainland Australia. Borneo is considered to have the richest Alocasia diversity and endemism. However, the diversity and distribution of Alocasia is poorly understood in the Indonesian archipelago with about 27 known species. Prior to this study, there were 7 species recognized in Sumatra. Knowledge of Alocasia in Sumatra is inadequate. The last taxonomic revision was conducted over 25 years ago which recognized 6 taxa of Sumatran Alocasia: Alocasia alba Schott, Alocasia arifolia , Alocasia inornata

Namib desert petal-bush (Petalidium namibense), previously confused with P. englerianum, P. rossmannianum and P. variabile

NEWS - Namib desert petal-bush ( Petalidium namibense Swanepoel & A.E.van Wyk, sp. nov.), previously confused with Petalidium englerianum , Petalidium rossmannianum and Petalidium variabile was established as a new species with a restricted range in the southwest, west and northwest of Puros in the Kaokoveld Centre of Endemism, northwestern Namibia. Currently, 41 species of Petalidium Nees von Esenbeck (1832) have been described in Africa. The main centre of diversity for the genus is in northwest Namibia and adjacent southwest Angola. Namibia is home to 31 species, while 13 species have been recorded in Angola, 6 in South Africa, and 33 species have been recorded in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini and Lesotho. During several expeditions to the Puros region, Wessel Swanepoel discovered an unknown Petalidium characterized by a dwarf shrubby habit, many stems from below or above the ground, white flaking bark (corky on older stems), long dendritic trichomes and flowers i

Baixi ant-loving beetle (Apharinodes baixiensis) from Guangdong, the second species found in China after Apharinodes sinensis

NEWS - Baixi ant-loving beetle ( Apharinodes baixiensis Zhu & Wang, sp. nov.) from Baixi Provincial Nature Reserve, Heyuan City, Guangdong Province, is the second species in the genus found in China after Apharinodes sinensis Yin & Jiang 2017. Apharinodes Raffrary 1890 belongs to Hybocephalini (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Pselaphinae) which was established for Apharinodes squamosa Raffrary 1890 from Singapore. Then, the second species Apharinodes miranda Raffrary 1895 in Singapore. The third species, Apharinodes papageno Nomura 1989 from Japan and A. sinensis from China. Apharinodes baixiensis is a beetle with males having a body of 1.77 mm in length, 0.76 mm in width, widest at second visible adbominal tergite. Length of body parts (mm): head (0.38), eye (0.13), antennae (0.73), pronotum (0.37), elytra (0.54); width: head (0.38), eye (0.07), pronotum (0.37), elytra (0.68). Body dark reddish-brown, mostly covered by thick yellowish setae. Setae on legs and antennomeres 11

Dlium