Friday 30 July 2021

Senagalia pennata - Petai Duri

Senegalia pennata  ( Clilmbing Wattle ) is Petai Duri in Malay.  It is a legume species native to South and South East Asia. 

It is not common in Malay peninsula, but widely consumed as green in Indochina, India Subcontinent and Indonesian Archipelago.  It can be eaten raw, cooked in curry, stir-fried, mixed in omelettes, in soups or simply boiled. 

It has a distinctively stinky odor, similar to those of petai.  

Senegalia pennata is known to be cultivated in parts of Thailand and Vietnam

 







Thursday 29 July 2021

Friday 2 July 2021

The Distribution of the ferns Gleicheniaceae in Peninsular Malaysia

Thorough investigations on morphology, anatomy, spore morphology has revealed that the fern family Gleicheniaceae in Peninsular Malaysia were represented by 4 genera with 14 species and 10 varieties, of which genus  
Dicranopteris (4 species, 7 varieties), 
Diplopterygium (5 species), 
Gleichenia (3 species) and 
Sticherus (3 species, 3 varieties).





































Sunday 18 April 2021

Actinorhizal Plants

Actinorhizal plants are a group of angiosperms characterized by their ability to form a symbiosis with the nitrogen fixing actinobacteria Frankia. 

Actinorhizal plants are dicotyledons distributed among 3 orders, 8 families and 24 genera.  These three orders form a single clade within the Rosids, which is a sister taxon to the other major nitrogen-fixing order, the Fabales.  Not all plants in this clade are actinorhizal, however. 



Order

Family

Genus

Cucurbitales

Coriariaceae

Coriaria

Datiscaceae

Datisca

Fagales

Betulaceae

Alnus

Casuarinaceae

Allocasuarina
Casuarina
Ceuthostoma
Gymnostoma

Myricaceae

Comptonia
Myrica

Rosales

Elaegnaceae

Elaeagnus
Hipophae
Shepherdia

Rhamnaceae

Colletia
Discaria
Kentrothamnus
Retanilla
Talguenea
Trevoa
Ochetophila
Ceanothus

Rosaceae

Cercocarpus
Chamaebatia
Cowania
Dryas
Purshia

 

 

Actinorhizal plants are found on all continents except for Antarctica. Their ability to form nitrogen-fixing nodules confers a selective advantage in poor soils. Most actinorhizal plants are therefore pioneer species that colonize young soils where available nitrogen is scarce. 



Other nitrogen fixing families include Trema ( Parasponia ), a tropical genus in the family Cannabaceae, which are able to interact with Rhizobia.