{"id":4934,"date":"2011-04-04T14:18:03","date_gmt":"2011-04-04T18:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/?p=4934"},"modified":"2011-04-04T14:18:03","modified_gmt":"2011-04-04T18:18:03","slug":"strange-but-true-tales-from-botany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/2011\/04\/04\/strange-but-true-tales-from-botany\/","title":{"rendered":"Strange but true tales from botany"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Venus<\/a><\/p>\n

The natural world is ripe with stories more incredible than the human mind can possibly fathom. Similarly, some of the most engaging science fiction is set within the boundaries of real phenomena. For example, the tale of a human-eating plant\u2014a legend<\/a> that dates back to at least 1881, and one that has been popularized by the 1960 American film<\/a> The Little Shop of Horrors\u2014may seem more feasible after learning about the carnivorous Venus Flytrap<\/a> (Dionaea muscipula). But as astonishing as a flesh-eating plant sounds, there are others with a similarly fantastic existence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Take two species of pitcher plants on the island of Borneo that have adapted to rely on mammal feces for nutrients. Nepenthes lowii attracts mountain tree shrews (Tupaia Montana) with its sticky nectar, and a modified structure appeals to the shrew\u2019s other physical needs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor instance, the rim of the pitcher is not slippery like it is in the insect-trapping [variety of pitcher plants,] such as the ground-lying, terrestrial N. lowii pitchers. That way, tree shrews stay safe from a spill while eating and pooping,\u201d Jeanna Bryner reported on the Biology Letters study in a Live Science article<\/a>. \u201c\u2026And there\u2019s no way for the animals to miss the hole. The shape of the pitcher opening and orientation of the leaf lid that\u2019s coated with nectar ensure a tree shrew will position its hindquarters over the orifice while feeding.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Also in Borneo, a subspecies of the Nepenthes rafflesiana pitcher plant benefits<\/a> from the guano of roosting bats. That is, Hardwicke\u2019s woolly bats roost inside the pitcher plants for protection, while the plants feed on the droppings.<\/span><\/p>\n

These pitcher plants might be shaped like and used as a toilet, but other plants lead with the most odorous aromas. Flowering plants\u2014such as the Amorphophallus titanium, also called the \u201ccorpse flower\u201d\u2014are known for for their foul fragrance. That is, some species of Eucomis, or pineapple lilies, have adapted to attract flies with the scent of carrion. The flies flit from flower to flower, pollinating along the way.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just as in science, these serendipitous encounters can lead to a whole new avenue of opportunity. And sometimes the resulting encounters are stranger than fiction.
\nRead more incredible botany stories at \u201cMillions of Spiders in Pakistan Encase Entire Trees in Webs\u201d in Wired Science, \u201c\u2018Wicked Plants\u2019 Creep Through Brooklyn Gardens\u201d in NPR and \u201cPunishment Important in Plant-Pollinator Relationship\u201d in Science Daily.<\/span><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/cameliatwu\/3943378974\/<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The natural world is ripe with stories more incredible than the human mind can possibly fathom. Similarly, some of the most engaging science fiction is set within the boundaries of real phenomena. For example, the tale of a human-eating plant\u2014a legend that dates back to at least 1881, and one that has been popularized by the 1960 American film The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1184,1185,1186,1187,1188,1189,1190],"class_list":["post-4934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research","tag-corpse-flowers","tag-flesh-eating-plants","tag-pitcher-plants","tag-pollinators","tag-tree-shrews","tag-venus-flytrap","tag-woolly-bats"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4934\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}