Cedar of Goa (Hesperocyparis lusitanica)

Cedar of Goa or Cupressus lusitanica (Hesperocyparis lusitanica) is a species of plant in the Cupressaceae, a coniferous tree, evergreen, crown conical to ovoid, upright, straight, branched, up to 40 meters high, leaves grow radially and are dark green to greenish yellow in color .

H. lusitanica has round to oval fruit, up to 2 cm wide, with 4-10 scales, initially green, matures brown or brownish gray about 25 months after pollination.

The fruit opens at maturity to release seeds or remains closed for several years, only opening after the parent tree dies in a forest fire, so that the seeds can colonize bare ground affected by the fire. Male fruit releases pollen.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Cupressaceae
Subfamily: Cupressoideae
Genus: Hesperocyparis
Species: Hesperocyparis lusitanica

Yellow garden spider (Argiope appensa)

Yellow garden spider ( Argiope appensa ) is a species of spider in Araneidae that lives on the coast to forests on islands in the western Pacific Ocean. Black and yellow females are striking and have a length of 5.1-6.4 cm including long legs, while males are brown and have a length of about 1.9 cm. A. appensa lives on cliffs in the hills at 600 m above sea level in Kewu plain to rice fields in the lowlands. They make nests at a height of 1.5 meters from the ground between teak ( Tectona grandis ), sonokeling ( Dalbergia latifolia ), sonosiso ( Dalbergia sissoo ), crown flower ( Calotropis gigantea ) and various grasses. Yellow garden spiders grow in large sizes, but are not toxic to humans. Advanced builds ball-shaped nets and most of them make stabilizers which are zigzag-shaped lines in nets made of thicker bands. This species spends more time in stationary and sits in the middle of the net with its head down to wait for insects to be entangled in fine silk thread. Unli...

Skyflower (Duranta erecta)

Sinyo nakal or skyflower ( Duranta erecta ) is plant species in Verbenaceae, a broad shrub or small tree, up to 6 m high, stems growing upright or horizontally with broad clumps, many branches, bark light brown, old tree has axillary spines and grows to form dense colonies. D. erecta has bright green leaves, elliptical to ovoid, pointed or rounded ends, sitting opposite, 7.5 cm long, 3.5 cm wide, a main vein in the middle with several small lateral veins, petiole long 1.5 cm. Flowers are light blue or lavender or white, appear in tight clusters as on terminal stems and axils, often curled or pendulous, blooms in summer. The fruit is a berry having a stalk, small round, yellow or orange or white in color, up to 11 mm in diameter, an eye green in front and containing several seeds. Skyflower grows in dry or humid areas and lots of sun, rocky or sandy beaches, forests, farmland and disturbed places. Plants will grow at a rate of up to half a meter per year. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum:...

Hengduan adder's-tongue (Whittieria hengduanensis) from eastern Himalayas similar to the American Whittieria engelmannii

NEWS - Hengduan adder's-tongue ( Whittieria hengduanensis Z.L.Liang & Li Bing Zhang, sp. nov.) from Sichuan, Xizang, and Yunnan, Southwest China (eastern Himalayas) shows that the genus has members that are intercontinentally separated between the Himalayas and America, a unique pattern that has not been documented in the literature. Ophioglossaceae is divided into 4 subfamilies and 15 genera. The seven recognized genera within Ophioglossoideae are Cheiroglossa C. Presl.; Goswamia Li Bing Zhang & Liang Zhang; Haukia Li Bing Zhang & Liang Zhang; Ophioderma (Blume) Endl.; Ophioglossum L.; Rhizoglossum C. Presl; and Whittieria Li Bing Zhang & Liang Zhang. During field trips in western Sichuan and southeastern Xizang in 2021, the researchers collected several species from several locations. This species has pronounced complex reticulate venation, similar to the American W. engelmannii , but is about 8000 km away from the latter species' distribution in aerial dista...

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