Seagrape (Coccoloba uvifera)

Seagrape (Coccoloba uvifera) is a species of plant in the Polygonaceae, small tree, branching, brown or reddish bark, almost round or heart-shaped leaves, up to 30 cm wide, thick, young leaves are red, old leaves are green and the lower side has veins - thick veins.

C. uvifera produces fruit in long panicles. The fruit is round or oval, up to 2 cm long, green when young, red when ripe and becomes purplish and black.

This species is wind resistant, drought tolerant, shade tolerant and very salt water tolerant. Often used to stabilize shorelines. The sap is used to color and tan leather. Wood is sometimes used as furniture, firewood and to make charcoal. The fruit can be made into jam or eaten straight from the tree. The leaves are made into tea.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Polygonaceae
Subfamily: Eriogonoideae
Tribe: Coccolobeae
Genus: Coccoloba
Species: Coccoloba uvifera

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake

NEWS - Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) create bubble net tools while foraging, consisting of internal tangential rings, and actively control the number of rings, their size, depth and horizontal spacing between the surrounding bubbles. These structural elements of the net increase prey intake sevenfold. Researchers have known that humpback whales create “bubble nets” for hunting, but the new report shows that the animals also manipulate them in a variety of ways to maximize catches. The behavior places humpbacks among the rare animals that make and use their own tools. “Many animals use tools to help them find food, but very few actually make or modify these tools themselves,” said Lars Bejder, director of the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP), University of Hawaii at Manoa. “Humpback whales in southeast Alaska create elaborate bubble nets to catch krill. They skillfully blow bubbles in patterns that form a web with internal rings. They actively control details such ...

Asian palmyra palm (Borassus flabellifer)

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Plumeria rubra and Plumeria obtusa, the differences

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