Begonia

Hi, it’s late at night, I know. And I haven’t really finished with my works lol I am gonna be super sleepy working tomorrow. But here I am writing this out of boredom and this is quite an attempt to preoccupy myself with sth to hinder myself from being inundated from my reports writing just now. Kewl. Nyways, just a little story time.

No one asked but I received an interview invitation from one of my dream government institution in April, which somehow I was not fortunate enough to pass as I did to be listed prolly because I was the only freshgrad (By fresh I mean less than 2 years of graduation yrs la because I was graduated in 2019). The fact that I was the only one with a bachelor degree meanwhile the rest are Phd holders or at the very least, a master student.

So that is not the real deal here. I just want to tell how I came up with this one particular project to present during my interview. Basically you had to present a project proposal based on the topic they had already given you 3 weeks prior to the interview. To which before I was so delighted to do a research on Begonia sp. which I spent almost a week reading research paper about it. So the project kind of looks like this. I was planning to do in vitro propagation and synthetic seed encapsulation on Begonia Yenyeniae which is native to Endau Rompin, Pahang only….to which I thought highkey interesting because ala macam rare so I was giving a thought like why not, right? Also since this species is an endangered one, I also thought that the process would be quite difficult. Well regarding the budget and stuffs could be figured out later lol. Yeah that project did not make it to the presentation because I ended up presenting something else.

According to the article in Phytokeys as the one I mentioned in the caption for the figure below, majority of Begonias grows in primary forest, frequently on rocks beside streams or waterfalls, where they are threatened by loss of habitat. Eco tourism is one of the major cause in forest cover decline due to massive land development schemes which cause the extinction of many endangered species including Begonia. I also found out from the article that this species was discovered from a FRIM plant domestication project to trial pretty wild species for their horticultural potential. Begonia Yenyeniae was one of the species candidates that was discovered by Dr. Sam Yen Yen in the Endau Rompin National Park.

Unlike most native begonias, it does not need to be grown in covered terrarium. This is because of this species is proven to be amenable to cultivation and also does not need constant high humidity. While I have not found any specific research done on the tissue culture of Begonia Yenyeniae. yet, I think the protocol would be not less different or quite similar to Begonia Rajah. The most common explant parts used are petiole, stem and floral stalk with basal ms media as the culture medium. Nonetheless, I am too sleepy now to go deep regarding the micropropagation process lol. So yeah. I might continue writing this next time. Thanks for your time reading my exaggerating dream project lol. See you next time 😀

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Before anyone come at me, this was taken from an article written by J.P.C Tan et al., 2018 (Begonia yenyeniae (Begoniaceae), a new species from
Endau Rompin National Park, Johor, Malaysia)

Ancient Smokable Herbs and Their Benefits

We often heard of different benefits of medicinal plants and herbs. What are the common uses of herbs though? As many know already, herbs were traditionally used as medicines because of their range of healing effects including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, biostimulant and antibacteria. On top of medicinal impacts, spices for example can be used in cooking and some herbs can be processed to produce natural colouring dye and insect repellent as well. But have it ever crossed your mind if any of these particular herbs can actually compose healing smokes for health benefit? Although some herbs were already known to be manufactured massively as scented candles like cinnamon, there are still some species that have never been discovered yet. For this posting, I want to share some species of medical remedies that I had read and did a little research about their smokes effectiveness as healing agent.

Gotu Kola

Scientific name: Centella asiatica.

Family: Apiaceae

Order: Apiales

Native to India, Gotu Kola has been used to treat wounds, reduce stress and treat skin conditions like leprosy and psoriasis. This herb helps to improve respiratory problems and skin infections. Other benefits include boosting cognitive function same as folic acid towards stroke, treat alzheimer, improve blood circulation, reduce ankle swelling and ease imsomnia.

Calea Zacatechichi

Scientific name: Calea ternifolia.

Family: Asteraceae

Order: Asterales

Also known as dream herb and bitter grass, is a medium sized shrub plant that primarily grows in Mexico. This herb is a oinerogen/hallucinogen and helps to induce psychic dreams. A lucid dream herb, Calea Zacatechichi can also sharpen senses and mental clarity. Other than that, Calea Zacatechichi relieves cold or flu and soothes skin infections like dermatitis.

Mugwort

Scientific name: Artemisia vulgaris.

Family: Asteraceae

Order: Asterales

The mugwort plant has been traditionally used for everything for digestive disorder to beer making, insect repellent and more. Mugwort is also known as an oneirogen where it enhances or improves recollection of dreams. Not just that, it helps with fever, athma, cold/cough, chronic pain, digestive+nervous problems and menstrual cramp.

Mullein

Scientific name: Verbascum sp.

Family: Verbascacaeae

Order: Lamiales

Native to Europe and Asia, Mullet is a soft, velvet-like dicotyledonous biennial that can grow very tall. Mullein is safe and profound respiratory tonic. It helps open the lungs and eases spasm. It also acts as a decongestant, where mullein can provide short-term relief for a blocked or stuffy nose (nasal congestion). It helps ease the symptoms of conditions such as colds and flu, hay fever and other allergic reactions, reduces inflammation and sinusitis.

Damiana

Scientific name: Turnera diffusa.

Family: Passifloraceae

Order: Malpighiales

Originated from Southern Texas of the United States, Damiana is a small shrub with yellow flowers and fragrant leaves. It was said that the indigenous had been using this herb as an aphrodisiac and bladder tonic for centuries. An aphrodisiac is basically any food or drug that arouses sexual instinct, brings on desire, or increases sexual pleasure or performance. Damiana’s scent helps to reduce depression, anxiety and nervousness. It also relieves headache.

Plant Propagation

Plant propagation is the process of producing a new plant from an existing one. There are two general types of propagation: sexual and asexual. Sexual reproduction is the reproduction of plants by seeds. The genetic material of two parents is combined by pollination and involve fertilization to create offspring that are different from each parent. In the meantime, asexual reproduction which sometimes referred to as vegetative reproduction involves taking vegetative parts of a plant (stems, roots, and/or leaves) and causing them to regenerate into a new plant.

Sexual Propagation

Sexual propagation involves the union of the pollen (male) with the egg (female) to produce a seed. Some of the advantages of sexual propagation are it may be quicker and more economical than asexual propagation. It may also result in new cultivars and vigorous hybrids. For some plants, it may be the only means of propagation. It provides a way to avoid transmission of particular diseases, such as viruses, maintains genetic variation, which increases the potential for plants to adapt to environmental pressures. Sexual breeding involves 3 processes which are gametogenesis, pollination and fertilization.

Gametogenesis is the formation of plant gametes and is divided into two; Male gamete production (microsporogenesis) and female gamete production; megasporogenesis. Both processes involve meiosis. An advantage of meiosis is that it produces genetic variation. The gametes resulting from meiosis II have new combinations of maternal and paternal chromosomes, increasing genetic diversity.

Pollination occurs when animals, water, or the wind carries pollen from flower to flower or it is moved within flowers. The successful transfer of pollen in and between flowers of the same plant species leads to fertilization, successful seed development, and fruit production. The two types of pollinations are self pollination and cross pollination.

Self-pollination or autogamy occurs when the pollen from the anther is deposited on the stigma of the same flower, or another flower on the same plant. Many cultivated plant species are reproduce by self pollination. These species must have hermaphrodite flowers. Affected by factors like temperature, humidity and location.

On the other hand, cross-pollination, also called allogamy, occurs when pollen is delivered from the stamen of one flower to the stigma of a flower on another plant of the same species. Transfer of pollen maybe brought by wind(anemophily) or insects(entomophily). Many crop plants are cross pollinated.

Asexual Reproduction

Unlike sexual reproduction, asexual propagation does not involve fertilization of gametes. Asexual propagation, multiplication without passage through the seed cycle, is the best way to maintain some species, particularly an individual that best represents that species. Divided into two categories which are vegetative propagation and apomixis.

The major methods of asexual propagation are cuttings, layering, budding and grafting. Cuttings involve rooting a severed piece of the parent plant; layering involves rooting a part of the parent and then severing it and budding and grafting is joining two plant parts from different varieties.

Vegetative part used/method	Example of plant species
Rhizome	Ginger, Tumeric, banana
Stolon	Most grasses family
Tuber	Potato, yams, beetroot
Stem cutting	Woody plants (soft/hard woods)
Grafting	Coco, Rubber tree, most fruit crops
Layering	Climbing plants like roses, rhododendron, honeysuckle, boxwood and azalea

Apomixis is the reproduction using seed that is produced without involving the fertilization of gametes. Happens throughout many mechanisms including apogamy, apospory, diplospory and parthenogenesis. Basically, apogamy often occurs in some ferns where sporophyte are produced from the gametophyte without involving fusion of gametes. In contrast to apogamy, during apospory, 2nd gametophyte is developed without meiosis and spores from vegetative, or non reproductive, cells of the sporophyte. Diplospory is the second type of gametophytic apomixis. Whether directly by mitosis or indirectly by modified meiosis, the diplosporic embyro sac arises from a generative cell, resulting in an unreduced restitution nucleus. Parthenogenesis happens when a female gamete or egg cell develops into an individual without fertilization. The term comes from the Greek words parthenos (meaning virgin) and genesis (meaning creation.)

My Two Cents on Indoor Plants

As a plant lover myself, I have always dreamt of having a house decorated with succulents and other verdure greens. Just currently I find that indoor plants are becoming a trend in Malaysia. It happened as an article written about the benefits of having them in the house went viral. I cannot gainsay that planting house plants gives a natural aesthetic vibe into home decor. Not just that, they also purify the air inside the house and remove common pollutants like formaldehyde (a type of preservative), Benzene and many more. Nevertheless, does it really relevant to keep house plants? Of course, every action has their own drawbacks too.

As for now, I think the most strenuous task is to take care of the plants. Most houseplants need more frequent watering then they would if planted outdoors because the soil dries out quickly in containers. On top of watering, you will also need to feed your plants regularly and turn them a few times a week so they don’t become bent over from leaning into the sunlight.

Since you are keeping the plants inside a house, you seemingly restraining the plants’ opportunity to receive sunlight. Consequently, you have to make sure the decoration is suitable to ease the process. Of course they still can receive artificial light from the lamp, however, artificial light won’t emit the same energy as sunlight. After all, that will only add up one’s expenses on electricity bills.

Other than that is I don’t think some people can handle dirt especially that comes from the soil. Soil has a lot of microbes. In addition, humid condition can cause molds and fungal infections on plants as well as bacterial infection. Fungus spores that flown by wind in the atmosphere is very detrimental to health if inhaled.

A lil peek to hybrid seed

Have you ever heard of hybrid seed? What in the world is hybrid to begin with? If you ever read or encountered articles regarding mules, you might understand the term a tad bit. Hybrids are offsprings of animals or plant that originated from a different species or genera. Basically, they are like mix children in the plant and animal kingdom hahaha. Joke aside, according to my previous example, why mule is considered a hybrid organism? As you see, mule is actually the product of the mating of donkey and a horse.

Meanwhile, hybrid plants are produced when two or more plant varieties or species are hand pollinated. The real question is, why do scientists and farmers introduce this type of seed? Like what is the purpose to it? Well, some gardeners are likely prefer to grow hybrid seeds eversince grower can choose types of plants they want to hand pollinate, hybridization helps to choose desirable traits from the parent plants they want to grow. As a result, hybrid seeds usually has a faster growth rate, produce healthier yield, highly resistant towards diseases, ship better than heirloom seeds and adapt better in a stressful conditions.

INTERGENERIC HYBRIDIZATION

When two different plants coming from two different genera (sing:genus) of the same family are crossed, they will produce a hybrid. This is called intergeneric hybridization. Nonetheless, in as much as they are already closely related, coming from different genera will result in sterile offspring. When the relation between the two genera is more distant, the difficulty of intergeneric species will be greater. Genera that generate intergeneric hybrid are always genetically related members of the same taxonomic tribe. Intergeneric hybridization represents a chance to combine genomes from distinctly different plants and to introgress traits that are not found in the main genus of interest. Most intergeneric hybrids are infertile.

DISADVANTAGES

The main problem of hybridization in farming is cost and expenses. This is mainly because of the difficulty to reproduce it on top of taking longer time to develop. Not just that it is hard to produce, there will be countless of trial and error until desirable outcome is actually developed. This means that there will be risk of failing the experiment and charging more money to repeat the same step. Other than that, hybrid seeds make it difficult and impractical to save seed. This is because the hybrid seeds frequently will produce seedless fruits. Since no seed is produced, it is not possible to continue to next generation. Growers will eventually have to repeat the same steps to produce the same hybrid plants. Unfortunately, the resulting plant for the second generation grown from these new seeds is not guaranteed to be anything like the previous one. They are usually much lower yielding, have less vigor, and are quite variable in their physical characteristics. You don’t know what you are going to get, and usually you’ll lose all the advantages you had in growing the original hybrid.