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Sunlight emitted from the sun → absorbed by plant for photosynthesis to make food → growth of plant and flowers blossom, leaves grow → caterpillars eat leaves for energy and to complete its life cycle and turn into butterflies, ants drink, eat nectar produced by flowers for food → ants and caterpillars/ butterflies get eaten by other larger animals for food and the process gone on and over again

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1 August, Thursday, 2.20 p.m. the last analysis 

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1 August, Thursday, 2.20 p.m. the last analysis 

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This is our 12th and last week of observing the stachytarpheta indica and the stachytarpheta indica is definitely growing back as there were plenty of new flowers, some still blooming, and the shrubs on which the flowers grow on have also grown thicker and longer. The weather was just as hot as last week, with plenty and more than enough sunlight for photosynthesis to make more food.
The leave of the stachytarpheta indica are still the same, returned to its parakeet green, though there are some holes  on some of the leaves, probably nibbled on, eaten by some caterpillars, but otherwise they are fine. This also indicated that there was another animal-plant interaction.
The flowers are definitely growing back, as there were a lot more flowers as compared to the last few weeks and last week’s flowers had just wilted.
All in all the plant should be in good health as it is growing rapidly indicating it has sufficient water and sufficient food.

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25 July, Thursday 2.35 p.m. week 11 day 11 the curious case of the indica 

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25 July, Thursday 2.35 p.m. week 11 day 11 the curious case of the indica 

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This is the 11th week of observing our plant the stachytarpheta indica  and it seemed to be growing back like last week, after looking like wilting last last week. The weather today is very good, with the hot sun shining down the entire time, providing the stachytarpheta indica with enough sunlight for photosynthesis to make more food to grow back to its usual state.
The leaves are turning from their light lime green colour when they were trying to save water back to their usual parakeet green, indicating that the plant now had sufficient water once again.
The flowers of the stachytarpheta indica are slowly, but surely, growing back as well! There were more flowers today then compared to last week, indicating that it had been growing back.
The brambles have also grown more and grown thicker. This week we added in a few more camera shots, a few from the bottom and a few  from the top.
Sadly no interactions with insects were captured today, but we noticed that ants liked to crawl on the lower brambles, roots of the stachytarpheta indica quite often.
All in all the plant should be be back to the way it was with is flowers blooming in a few weeks time, hopefully by next week.

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18 July, Thursday, 2.10 p.m. week 10 day 10 stachytarpheta indica plant diary

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18 July, Thursday, 2.10 p.m. week 10 day 10 stachytarpheta indica plant diary

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This is the 10th week of observing the stachytarpheta indica and it seemed as healthy as it was the previous week, but it was once again trimmed. The weather today is sunny, hot and bright.
The stachytarpheta indica had been trimmed again today, for it had less leaves as compared to last week, and the branches, brambles are all shorter as compared to last week and are the same length, and the top has clear indications that they had been snapped, trimmed and the brambles at the bottom of the plant have also decreased.
There were only a few flowers still growing and a few old ones last week have also wilted but have not dropped off yet, which means they just wilted not long ago. And the new flowers looks fresh and soft, which mean they just blossomed.
Today we spotted another plant-insect intersection. An ant had been spotted crawling in and out of the leaves.
The plant should be overall be healthy.

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11 July, Thursday, 2.15 p.m. week 9 day 9 plant journal

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11 July, Thursday, 2.15 p.m. week 9 day 9 plant journal

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This is the 9th week of observing the stachytarpheta indica and it still somewhat the same as the previous week, with its flowers and some of its leaves and brambles wilting (as shown in pictures), with only a few flowers remaining. The weather today was slightly cloudy this morning, but quickly changed to bright, sunny and hot in the afternoon and there was no rain today.
The stachytarpheta indica flowers’s were slowly wilting which is odd as it was supposed to bloom all year long, and as there were fewer flowers, there is fewer nectar which acts as food for insects so  less insects were attracted to come to the plant, which is most likely the reason why there were no insects this week and last week. The flowers might have wilted to save water, as recorded from last week’s observation, but the leaves are perfectly moist, and so is highly unlikely.
The leaves are a bright green though, and are well hydrated, and there were less wilted, dried up leaves as compared to the last week, indicating that the leaves are actually healthy and are continuing to make food to support the plants growth, which makes the theory of why the flowers of the stachytarpheta indica is wilting even more bewildering.
Overall, apart from the wilting flowers the stachytarpheta indica should be in good health.

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4 July, Thursday, 2.18 p.m. week 8 day 8 plant investigation 

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4 July, Thursday, 2.18 p.m. week 8 day 8 plant investigation 

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This is the 8th week of observing our plant and the 1st week observing into term 3. The stachytarpheta indica has changed a lot compared to the last few weeks. It was really sunny and hot today, with no rain. The weather these days are also hot and dry, compared to the wet, dry season in the first few months of the year, so there is not much rain and less water.

Some of its brambles, branches and leaves has dried out and wilted. This is probably due to these few months current dry and hot weather and the plant did not have enough water and hence dried out, causing some of its brambles, branches and leaves to wither. A possibility is that they are wilting to save water so that they will have enough water to make food and for essentials to live, as retrieved from a gardening website. Another very unlikely possibility is that the stachytarpheta indica is reaching the end of its life cycle and is going to die soon since the stachytarpheta indica is a perennial plant and can live up for more than 2 years. But the stachytarpheta indica was currently very healthy, so it is unlikely, near impossible it is currently near death.

As observed over the last few weeks, the flowers of the stachytarpheta indica decreased over time and today, very few flowers were still growing, probably to save water as well.
Sadly today there was no insect interactions.
Overall the plant should be fine.
Sources (gardening website):
Petruzzello, M. (n.d.). Why Do Plants Wilt? Retrieved July 4, 2019, from https://www.britannica.com/story/why-do-plants-wilt

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27 June , Thursday, 11.45 a.m. week 7 day 7 the weekly plant report

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27 June , Thursday, 11.45 a.m. week 7 day 7 the weekly plant report

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This is our 7th week of observing our plant and the 4th week of observing into the June holidays. The stachytarpheta indica is fine and the same as last week except that some of the flowers and leaves have grown back after last week . The leaves are bright green as observed in the 1st week. It is very sunny today so the soil should be quite dry and the amount of light has increased as compared to the last few weeks.

Today , new flowers have grown in place of the flowers that were observed to have wilted and fallen off. The new flowers should be fresh and full of nectar. And ready for pollination.No insects  were observed today.It may be because not all of the flowers have grown back resulting in fewer flowers attracting fewer pollinators.

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20 June, Thursday, 11.45 a.m. week 6 day 6 the weekly plant report

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20 June, Thursday, 11.45 a.m. week 6 day 6 the weekly plant report

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This is the 6th week of observing our plant the 3rd week of observing into the June holidays. The stachytarpheta indica is generally fine and the same as last week. Some of the leaves have grown back. The colour of the leaves are parakeet green like the 1st week. It was raining this morning so the soil is damp with sufficient  water for the plat to grow. It was cloudy this morning as compared to previous weeks so lesser sun light was absorbed for photosynthesis. A few flowers have wilted and fallen .

Today no insects or pollinators were observed on or near the plant. This could be because some of the flowers had wilted and fallen. Resulting in a lesser amount of flowers to attract pollinators and insects with their sweet nectar, lesser pollinators are present to drink the sweet nectar and pollinate the flower.

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13 June, Thursday, 8.50 a.m. week 5 day 5 the weekly plant report

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13 June, Thursday, 8.50 a.m. week 5 day 5 the weekly plant report

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This is the 5th week of observing our plant and the 2nd week of observing into the June holidays. The stachytarpheta indica is generally fine and the same as last week, except that it’s leaves had grown back after last week’s trim, and the leaves have grown back to their usual parakeet green as observed in the 1st week.
It was raining last night, so the soil is pretty damp and the plant has sufficient water for growth. It is pretty cloudy this morning, so the amount of light decreased compared to the last few weeks.
Today, the old flowers last week have wilted, though some just wilted and had fallen off and some are still wilting. The new flowers have already grown to take their place. The flowers should be fresh and filled with nectar, as we observed that there were more insects, ants going in and out of the flowers to collect the sweet drink as food and also probably pollinating the plant but unlikely as research has shown that the stachytarpheta indica when pollinated by animals is by moths or butterflies.

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6 June, Thursday, 8.30 a.m. week 4 day 4 stachytarpheta indica analysis 

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6 June, Thursday, 8.30 a.m. week 4 day 4 stachytarpheta indica analysis 

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This is the 4th week, 4th day of observing the stachytarpheta indica and also the 1st week of observing into the June holidays. The plant is still in good health, though there are some slight changes and surprises.

There was light rain earlier, so the soil was damp which will provide sufficient water for the stachytarpheta indica to make food and for its growth.

As observed today, the stachytarpheta indica seemed to have fewer, lesser leaves than compared to last week, indicating that it had been trimmed. The leaves’s colour seemed the same as last week, slightly paler green which means the plant has lesser chlorophyll but overall, the leaves and plant are still pretty healthy.

Today, the new flowers are currently in mid-bloom, the old flowers last week have wilted but have not dropped off yet and some new bulbs are already blooming, growing out of the shoot.
Today, we spotted our first plant-animal interaction. Insects, ants had also been spotted on the leaves crawling around, going in and out of the flowers, probably looking for the sweet nectar the flowers, which are bisexual, which means they have both female and male body parts produced and probably help to pollinate the flowers of the stachytarpheta indica in the meantime as according to research by biologists, the stachytarpheta indica can be pollinated by animals which are the ants in this case.
The plant is in overall great health.

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30 May, Thursday, 11 a.m. week 3 day 3 “logbook” of the stachytarpheta indica 

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30 May, Thursday, 11 a.m. week 3 day 3 “logbook” of the stachytarpheta indica 

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This is the 3rd day, 3rd week of observing the stachytarpheta indica and the plant seems the same as before and still blooming, and might have grown more. It seems the small shrubs sprouting from the stemy shrub and which the flowers grow on, compared to last week and observed by only the human eyes, it had seemed to grow longer.
Today was a sunny day and rained later, though it rained the previous night, so the plant had sufficient water and sunlight to make food.
But by today, the old wilted flowers last week had fallen off, the flower buds had bloomed, and the flowers in bloom last week had now wilted.
The leaves of the plant were slightly paler this week as compared to last week, but are still healthy. There are also dewdrops on the leaves of the plant from the previous night, as the pictures of the stachytarpheta indica was taken today at 10.00 a.m..
In overall, the plant is in good health, blooming and constantly growing.

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23 May, Thursday, 2.00 p.m. week 2 day 2 plant “diary”

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23 May, Thursday, 2.00 p.m. week 2 day 2 plant “diary”

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This is the 2nd week of observing our plant, the stachytarpheta indica and it is still growing healthily, with most of the conditions that it prefers fulfilled.
Once again today was a sunny day, which provided the plants more than enough sunlight for photosynthesis to make food. The soil was soft and squishy, indicating that the plant had been watered hence proving that it has sufficient water supply.
The health of the leaves of the stachytarpheta indica can be told from observing the colour of the leaves as according to a gardening website. The colour observed of the leaves are a bright parakeet green which proves that it is in good health. There were some tiny holes from insects nibbling and eating it as food but overall the leaves are healthy and hence we can tell that the plant is also in good health. (Close-up picture of current leaves included in collage picture of observation this week)
The tiny but bright flowers are constantly still growing to replace the old ones that have wilted. From observation, we can see that some of the old flowers that were blooming last week when we took the picture already wilted, but it isn’t a huge surprise since the stachytarpheta indica’s flowers wilt in less them a day according to Wikipedia and there are constant new flowers replacing them (close-up and other pictures of flower also included in collage).
Source:
Dyer, M. H. (n.d.). Choosing Healthy Plants: How To Tell If A Plant Is Healthy. Retrieved May 23, 2019, from https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/shop/choosing-healthy-plants.htm.

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16 May, Thursday, 1.40 p.m. week 1 day 1 observing our plant 

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16 May, Thursday, 1.40 p.m. week 1 day 1 observing our plant 

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We started observing our plant stachytarpheta indica today, which is currently healthy and growing. As research implies, the stachytarpheta indica grows best in moist, damp soil, and is actually very easy to grow. As it rained slightly today and the previous day, the soil is moist and in favour of our plants growth, and as it was a sunny weather today, the plant will get maximum growth.
The flowers of the plant are blooming, and the leaves of the plant are also in good health.
From observation, the colour of the flowers of the stachytarpheta indica is a shade of red, with a possible small hint of pink. The leaves are parakeet green in colour, with toothy, jagged edges, pinnacle veins and a waxy texture. The stachytarpheta indica has sharp, pointy, twisty, snaky thin light brown coloured brambles, branches as stem which hold the leaves of the plant up to receive more sunlight for photosynthesis to make food.

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The red stachytarpheta indica, or as we call it, the stachytarpheta indica, known as Dwarf Red False Vervain, Red Compact Porterweed or Dwarf Red Porter Weed is a woody erect shrub with long prominent spike inflorescences. They come from the Verbenaceae family and are Herbaceous foliage. They are usually grown as an annual and has a perennial life cycle, meaning that it lives for more than 2 years. They grow very fast though, due to their large seed production, which is a con. They are dwarf plants, and can grow from 30 cm to 45 cm in height.
They are said to be found in these regions:

Sarasota, Florida

Winter Park, Florida

Hebron, Kentucky

Lincoln, Nebraska

Foliage:
Leaves:

Light green and opposite are approximately elliptic to ovate (5 cm long, 3 - 4 cm wide).

They have a dentate leaf margin with teeth of unequal size. Leaves are slightly curled inwards.

Stems:

Wood stem has tan bark with linear-shaped lenticels.

Flowers:

Blooms repeatedly all year round (free-flowering)

Bright red, salverform flowers with smooth petals that grows in clusters have 5 unequal lobes and a white throat (1 cm wide).

Flowers are arranged on a 15 - 25 cm long terminal spike inflorescence (an inflorescence at the stem tip which has stalkless flowers held along one main axis).

Only about 3 - 6 flowers are open at a time, lasting for one day and replaced by a new set the next day. The spike inflorescence blooms in this manner for several weeks.

They are pollinated by fauna (Biotic) and insects (Butterfly, Moth)

Fruits:

Dry, indehiscent fruit is known as a nutlet, a one-seeded small nutlike fruit.

It is formed by the fragmentation of a multi-sectioned fruit into single-seeded pieces.

Their seeds are dispersed through wind (Abiotic)

Seed collecting:
Allow seedheads to dry on plants; remove and collect seeds

Caring for the plant:
Preferred conditions

It prefers full sun or semi-shade (light preference)

moderate amounts of water (water preference)

A planting distance of 0.3m to 0.5m (planting distance)

Grown best in Moist Soils, Well-Drained Soils, Saline Soils / Salt Spray, Fertile Loamy Soils (plant & rootzone prefenc/tolerance)

Propagation Method : the stachytarpheta indica red can also be reproduced through propagation, through Stem Cutting (Propagate by seed or softwood cuttings. To collect seeds for propagation, allow the seedhead to dry on the plant before harvesting the seeds. )

Sources:

1. Stachytarpheta ‘red compacta’. (2013). Retrieved 15 May, 2019, from https://florafaunaweb.nparks.gov.sg/Special-Pages/plant-detail.aspx?id=4865

2. PlantFiles: Stachytarpheta, Dwarf Red Porterweed, False Vervain, Snakeweed. (n.d.). Retrieved May 16, 2019, from https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/187895/#b

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The stachytarpheta indica, as according to google, or better known as the Indian snakeweed. The stachytarpheta indica we are observing is a red one instead of a usual violet one.