The spindly orange vine known as dodder ( Cuscuta pentagona ) is a parasitic plant. Time-lapse video reveals that a dodder seedling twirls through the air, sniffing volatile chemicals released by neighboring plants in search of a suitable host....[More]
NOSING AROUND:
The spindly orange vine known as dodder (Cuscuta pentagona) is a parasitic plant. Time-lapse video reveals that a dodder seedling twirls through the air, sniffing volatile chemicals released by neighboring plants in search of a suitable host. When it finds one, dodder entwines its victim and inserts nozzles into the host's stem, siphoning of vital nutrients.
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Silvae, Wikimedia Commons
POWER PLANT:
If you look closely at the inner pink lobes of the Venus flytrap's ( Dionaea muscipula ) trap, you will see several hairs. The trap shuts when an insect touches two or more of these hairs - or the same hair more than once – within a 30-second window....[More]
POWER PLANT:
If you look closely at the inner pink lobes of the Venus flytrap's (Dionaea muscipula) trap, you will see several hairs. The trap shuts when an insect touches two or more of these hairs - or the same hair more than once – within a 30-second window. Tripping the hairs triggers an electrical impulse that propagates through the carnivorous plant's modified leaves, opening pores in cells walls so that water rushes in and snaps the trap shut. Scientists can also force the trap to close by applying an electric current to its lobes.
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Tristan Gillingwater, Wikimedia Commons
SOLAR TRACKER:
Alpine buttercups ( Ranunculus adoneus ) are known for their solar tracking abilities – their small yellow flowers follow the sun's daily journey from east to west....[More]
SOLAR TRACKER:
Alpine buttercups (Ranunculus adoneus) are known for their solar tracking abilities – their small yellow flowers follow the sun's daily journey from east to west. Researchers think that the behavior helps keep the flowers warm, which boosts chances of pollination by heat-seeking insects. Scientists have shown that the buttercup responds specifically to the blue wavelengths of sunlight: artificial blue light, but not red, gains the flower's loyalty.
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Sherel Goodrich, USDA Forest Service
SWIFT SWIVELING:
Like Alpine buttercups, a small Asian shrub named the telegraph plant ( Codariocalyx motorius ) tracks the sun - not with its blooms, but with its leaves....[More]
SWIFT SWIVELING:
Like Alpine buttercups, a small Asian shrub named the telegraph plant (Codariocalyx motorius) tracks the sun - not with its blooms, but with its leaves. Small leaflets attached to the base of larger leaves constantly swivel to monitor changing levels of sunlight, adjusting the position of the primary leaves as needed. The leaves move so quickly you can see them dance with the naked eye.
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Wikimedia Commons
RISE AND SHINE:
Irises bloom in the spring and early summer. They know that the time for flowering has arrived because they can sense that the days are getting longer and the nights are getting shorter....[More]
RISE AND SHINE:
Irises bloom in the spring and early summer. They know that the time for flowering has arrived because they can sense that the days are getting longer and the nights are getting shorter. In the lab, scientists have induced an iris to flower in winter by switching on the lights for a few seconds each night, punctuating the darkness. Irises raised in this fashion respond particularly well to red light.
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Dr. Yuval Sapir
FAST FOLDING:
If you stroke the sensitive plant ( Mimosa pudica ), also known as touch-me-not, its fern-like row of leaves reflexively folds in half. Same thing if you blow on the plant or shake it....[More]
FAST FOLDING:
If you stroke the sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica), also known as touch-me-not, its fern-like row of leaves reflexively folds in half. Same thing if you blow on the plant or shake it. Whereas the Venus flytrap evolved rapid movement to catch insect prey, the sensitive plant probably shrinks from touch to discourage any insects or herbivores looking for a leafy snack.
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H. Zell, Wikimedia Commons
CLINGY CREEPER:
The wild cucumber's ( Sicyos angulatus ) spidering tendrils, which grab onto fences and other plants for support, are super-sensers. Most people cannot feel the weight of a string weighing less than 0.07 ounces (2 grams)....[More]
CLINGY CREEPER:
The wild cucumber's (Sicyos angulatus) spidering tendrils, which grab onto fences and other plants for support, are super-sensers. Most people cannot feel the weight of a string weighing less than 0.07 ounces (2 grams). But the tendrils of the wild cucumber respond to the touch of a string weighing only 0.009 ounces (0.25 grams) and immediately start twirling around the tiny thread.
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Wikimedia Commons
ZERO GRAVITY:
Like most plants, morning glories ( Ipomea nil ) usually grow up towards the sun. But this strain of morning glory, called Shidare asagao , has lost its balance – it has lost its ability to sense gravity....[More]
ZERO GRAVITY:
Like most plants, morning glories (Ipomea nil) usually grow up towards the sun. But this strain of morning glory, called Shidare asagao, has lost its balance – it has lost its ability to sense gravity. It doesn’t know where “up” is. Hence the vines of this morning glory fall down, making for a beautiful ornamental plant.
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Wikimedia Commons
FAMILY VALUES:
In lab experiments, researchers have shown that a weedy beach plant known as sea rocket ( Cakile ) recognizes its siblings and restrains its root growth in their presence....[More]
FAMILY VALUES:
In lab experiments, researchers have shown that a weedy beach plant known as sea rocket (Cakile) recognizes its siblings and restrains its root growth in their presence. The idea is that siblings benefit from sharing nutrients and helping each other pass on genes they have in common. When planted near strangers, however, sea rocket grows as many roots as possible, since there is no benefit to helping out an unrelated plant. Sea rocket probably identifies family based on chemicals that roots secrete into the soil.
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Janke, Wikimedia Commons
MOLECULAR MEMORY:
Common bread wheat ( Triticum aestivum ), also known as “winter wheat," only flowers and makes grain following a cold winter. If winter snows do not blanket the sprouts, they never flower....[More]
MOLECULAR MEMORY:
Common bread wheat (Triticum aestivum), also known as “winter wheat," only flowers and makes grain following a cold winter. If winter snows do not blanket the sprouts, they never flower. But if prior to planting, farmers keep the seeds in the freezer for a while, then the sprouts will flower even in the absence of snow. In other words, the plants remember their exposure to the cold. How do they encode this memory? The cold induces characteristic changes in the pattern of molecules hitched to DNA, a process known as epigenetics that in turn modifies gene expression.
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Bluemoose, Wikimedia Commons
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Human pheromones and food odors: epigenetic influences on the socioaffective nature of evolved behaviors. Socioaffective Neuroscience & Psychology 2012, 2: 17338 details the molecular mechanisms involved in the calibration of individual survival by nutrient chemicals, and their metabolism to pheromones that promote species survival in species from microbes to man. The concept of chemical signalling important to plants can be viewed in the context of what occurs in every species because the molecular biology of life is the same.
Flowers have fragrances that we can’t smell and colors and patterns that we can’t see; their pheromones make insect passions swell, and UV marks can hypnotize a bee. Who says that flowers can’t be chefs gourmet, tantalizing both butterfly and slug? What tactile pleasures come through antennae from a surface specific to some bug? Flowers have a broader range than do we of the visual and olfactory -- a greater access to life’s energy -- so maybe, too, other things sensory. Perhaps they call to us with ESP or siren song we hear unconsciously.
SIDEBAR The scent of chocolate is not generally a favorite of insects. In fact, husks from the plant are used as a garden mulch to deter insects. However, there is a hybrid orchid now popular in horticulture (Oncidium Sharry Baby) that has the scent of cocoa. I submit that this plant produces this fragrance for its newest of pollinators (mankind), showing that it has some awareness of its domesticated situation. After all, insects only pollinate species, but an orchid hybridized by man that has "learned" to smell like a human's favorite food, gets pollinated, cultivated, watered, fertilized and generally pampered under conditions ideal to its growth.
The sensitive plant or more commonly know in classrooms as the TickleMe Plant responds by closing its leaves and lowering its branches when Tickled. http://www.sensitiveplant.com It is the one plant every one should grow.
7. Mimosa Pudica
in reply to harris08:41 AM 6/6/12
Yes and even more amazing to me is the TickleMe Plant that will suddenly closes its leaves when Tickled yet won't hurt a fly. Search TickleMe Plant to see it in action or to grow your own.
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8 Comments
Add CommentHuman pheromones and food odors: epigenetic influences on the socioaffective nature of evolved behaviors. Socioaffective Neuroscience & Psychology 2012, 2: 17338 details the molecular mechanisms involved in the calibration of individual survival by nutrient chemicals, and their metabolism to pheromones that promote species survival in species from microbes to man. The concept of chemical signalling important to plants can be viewed in the context of what occurs in every species because the molecular biology of life is the same.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMarvellous to know that the Venusfly-trap has hair to detect insects . Reminds me of insect sensillae.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThat doddery dance needs to be set to music! -typo on 'astonighing' :)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHas anyone checked the root system of the dodder to see if they may launch a two pronged attack against their host/victim?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFLORAL ATTRACTION
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this-- James Ph. Kotsybar
Flowers have fragrances that we can’t smell
and colors and patterns that we can’t see;
their pheromones make insect passions swell,
and UV marks can hypnotize a bee.
Who says that flowers can’t be chefs gourmet,
tantalizing both butterfly and slug?
What tactile pleasures come through antennae
from a surface specific to some bug?
Flowers have a broader range than do we
of the visual and olfactory --
a greater access to life’s energy --
so maybe, too, other things sensory.
Perhaps they call to us with ESP
or siren song we hear unconsciously.
SIDEBAR
The scent of chocolate is not generally a favorite of insects. In fact, husks from the plant are used as a garden mulch to deter insects. However, there is a hybrid orchid now popular in horticulture (Oncidium Sharry Baby) that has the scent of cocoa. I submit that this plant produces this fragrance for its newest of pollinators (mankind), showing that it has some awareness of its domesticated situation. After all, insects only pollinate species, but an orchid hybridized by man that has "learned" to smell like a human's favorite food, gets pollinated, cultivated, watered, fertilized and generally pampered under conditions ideal to its growth.
The sensitive plant or more commonly know in classrooms as the TickleMe Plant responds by closing its leaves and lowering its branches when Tickled.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.sensitiveplant.com It is the one plant every one should grow.
Yes and even more amazing to me is the TickleMe Plant that will suddenly closes its leaves when Tickled yet won't hurt a fly. Search TickleMe Plant to see it in action or to grow your own.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHere is a TickleMe Plant in action
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this<a href="TickleMe" target="_blank"http://www.Ticklemeplant.com">TickleMe Plant</a>