Beach sheoak (Casuarina equisetifolia)

Cemara laut or beach sheoak (Casuarina equisetifolia) is a species of plant in the Casuarinaceae, an evergreen tree with a height of 6-35 meters, the leaves consist of slender twigs, many green to gray-green branches with a diameter of 0.5-1 mm, scaly leaves. small in 6-8 circles.

C. equisetifolia has small catkin-like inflorescences, male flowers with simple spikes and 0.7-4 cm long, female flowers with short stalks.

The fruit is an oval woody structure 10-24 mm long, 9-13 mm in diameter, resembling a conifer cone consisting of many carpels and each containing one small seed with a wing length of 6-8 mm.

The ripe fruit is brown and opens to disperse the seeds in the water. The seeds can only grow in hot sand near the beach. The seeds sprouted and formed a thicket.

Beach sheoak is used as a bonsai object and an ornamental plant in urban areas. The wood is used for shingles, fencing, firewood, erosion prevention and windbreak elements.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fagales
Family: Casuarinaceae
Genus: Casuarina
Species: Casuarina equisetifolia
Subspecies: Casuarina equisetifolia ssp. equisetifolia, Casuarina equisetifolia ssp. incana

Elephant bell gourd (Trichosanthes tricuspidata)

Elephant bell gourd ( Trichosanthes tricuspidata ) is a plant species in the Cucurbitaceae, stems grow elongated to propagate or climb, many branches, cylindrical in shape and green in color. T. cochinchinensis has stem tips or branches that twist to attach themselves to a support or other plant. It grows to climb to cover a support, usually on another plant, up to several meters and creeps along the ground to reach another support. Arrow-shaped leaves, split base, sharp apex and two wings at an acute angle, have many veins ending at a sharp edge, green and have a long petiole. Single flower is white. The fruit is round to oval, ends with a tail, young green and turns red with maturity, thin skin, thick flesh and reddish yellow, has a short stalk and hangs. The seeds are in the middle of the fruit. Seeds are white, oval and flat. Black coated seeds. Elephant bell gourd grows wild in primary and secondary forests, agricultural land, roadsides, watersheds, especially on slopes, damp a

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

Matthias Asmuss pitcairnia (Pitcairnia asmussii) from Venezuela similar to Pitcairnia xanthocalyx Mart. 1848

NEWS - Matthias Asmuss pitcairnia ( Pitcairnia asmussii Gouda spec. nov.) discovered by Matthias Asmuss from Caracas, Venezuela, and cultivated at the Utrecht Botanical Gardens is similar to Pitcairnia xanthocalyx Martius (1848), but with shorter flower stalks with larger sepals and petals, and dimorphic, non-petiolate leaves. Pitcairnia L’Heritier (1788) is a mostly terrestrial genus widespread from Mexico to Argentina with a total of 217 species and about 52 species known from Venezuela. In 2015 Matthias Asmuss from Caracas collected a new Pitcairnia from Aragua, Venezuela. The specimen is kept in the VEN herbarium, but due to the chaotic period in the country, it may have been lost, only the photo remains. At Utrecht Botanic Gardens, Eric Gouda obtained a young specimen from the collection in November 2018 and it flowered in May (2024). This living specimen is next to the type specimen used for the description. Pitcairnia asmussii is an acaulescent or short caulescent plant, flow

Dlium