Lantana camara : Morphology ,Uses - INDIAN FORESTRY

Taxonomy
Lantana camara      
Scientific name              -           lantana
                                                    Camara
Higher classification     -          lantana
Rank                                -          Species

                   DISCRIPTION 

 LANTANA CAMARA is a low erect or subscandent , vigorous  shrub with stout recurved prickles  and a strong odour of blacks currents.
     
                   GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION
Lantana is present in many pactic island nation on Pacific rim it occurrs in Australia , Newzealand , China , Thailand  , Indonesia  and India.
   
                   DANGEROUS /POISONOUS
  Warning  pets have reportedly become ill after injesting lantana , the unripe berries are known to be very toxic and the foliage toxic to livestock.
            
                   MEDICINAL USES
LANTANA CAMARA leaves are boiled and applied for swelling and pain of the body. Its bark is astringent and used as a lotion in cutiginous eruption, leprous ulcers.

                     STATUS 

LANTANA  is listed as a category | invasive exotic specie by the Florida exotic pest plant council , which means that it is known to be invading disrupting native plant.

                     INDIGENOUS PRACTICES
Lantana camara is grown as hedge plant its stalks are used as raw material for paper pulp which used for wrapping , writing and printing paper.
 -
By M.S. Khan
Photo Credits - Ashutosh Lohani.

ENTOMOLOGY : Black tailed skimmer (Dragon fly) - Concise Study.

BLACK-TAILED SKIMMER (DRAGON FLY)

  

Scientific Name - Orthetrum cancellatum

CLASSIFICATION :-

KINGDOM - ANIMALIA

PHYLUM -    ARTHROPODA

CLASS     -     INSECTA

ORDER  -       ODONATA

FAMILY  -      LIBELLULIDAE 

The Black-tailed skimmer has an undoubtedly large splendour.

Shown above.Is an adult male.

With it's Characteristic Blue abdomen. Black tip,and transparent wings.

While female has yellow abdomen,black tip and transparent wings. females oviposits alone but with male in attendance and the Eggs are laid in flight by dipping abdomen onto water surface.The females hatch after 5 or 6 weeks and with the help of bottom debris,it's larvae remains partially hidden,and they mostly takes 2 to 3 years for the emergence. Also,

With age, The adult males extensively develop Blue puinescence on their abdomen.

DISTRIBUTION :   Orthetrum cancellatum (Dragon fly) is a widespread European species,But it also occurs from central Asia to the northern parts of China and Arunachal Pradesh in India. HABITAT : Orthetrum cancellatum is found mainly in the following areas :- 1. Marshy Areas 2. Ponds 3. Slow-rivers. and if you're lucky you may get an opportunity for sighting the female dragon fly,as it's said to be less confident and not as bold as it's male counter part.

- By Ashutosh Lohani Photo Credits - Alok Gupta.

Bamboos

It belongs to the family Poaceae. It has many species all over the world. Bamboos are one of the fastest growing plants in the world because of a rare rhizome-dependent system.

The tallest bamboo in the world is reported to be about 112ft tall.

Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
(unranked):	Commelinids
Order:	Poales
Family:	Poaceae
Subfamily:	Bambusoideae

The woody-xylem is absent.

thus,due to the absence of secondary growth,wood causes the stems to be column-like.

CHARACTERISTICS:-

1) When we deal with the study of group of BAMBOOS trees , we term it as "CLUMP". Clump means 'bunch'.

 Generally it has group of 4,5 BAMBOOS trees

Clump

2) when we deal with the study of an individual bamboo tree, than we term it as "CULM".

Culm

3) It has nodes. Between two nodes it has internodes i.e. the space between the 2 nodes is known as "internode".

Inter-node

Node

4) There is CULM sheath present in the nodes of bamboo trees.

Culm Sheath with a Blade on top.

 5) A Blade-like projection is also present above this culm sheath(see at the above image), This Blade like projection is known as "Culm-Blade"


6) This Culm-sheath also has "presence of hairs" on the dorsal side of the sheath.

MEDICINAL USES :-

It is used in INDIAN state of Assam, as a fermented paste for the treatment of menstrual pains,impotence,infertility.

It is also used for the treatment of infections and for healing,in Chineese medicine.

By

- Alok gupta

Morus alba (White Mulberry) : Morphology, Uses - INDIAN FORESTRY

Morus alba (White Mulberry)

 Belongs to the family Moraceae.
This is native to China. and Usually used in the practice of Sericulture.
Widely distributed across the world,it is commonly known as "White Mulberry"
and in INDIA, citizens name it as  शहतूत.

CHARACTERISTICS :-

 LEAF 

Leaf can be "lobed" i.e. presence of lobes, or "Un-lobed"i.e. complete.

Alternate

Simple

Roughly Orbicular in shape

Roughly smooth from above.

 

 

 

 

FLOWER

Species can be monoecious or dioecious. 

Male flowers are Narrow and LONGER than female flowers.

Whereas, female flowers are plump and shorter than male flowers.

 

BARK

Orange-Brown with lenticels (when young) becoming gray with long and narrow irregular ridges.

MEDICINAL USE

The leaves are taken internally in the treatment of :-

Sore throats

colds

eye infections

nose bleeds.

The stems is used in the treatment of High Blood Pressure,Chronic diseases in digestive tracts,Rheumatic pains.

The fruit has much significance in traditional Chinese medicine, which uses it to treat prematurely graying hair & also used to purify blood and treat constipation and diabetes in Chinese medicine.

By 

- Ashutosh Lohani.