By Dave Poult
They might be static and for the most part a shade of green, but that does not limit the wonder of plant life. Their diversity is unsurpassed amongst the natural world and some are truly extraordinary. Here are some examples of the more unusual plants that can be found on our green and pleasant earth.
Venus Fly Trap
One of the most well-known carnivorous plants The Venus Fly Trap is a remarkable organism. Its latin name is dionaea muscipula. Dioneae refers to being the daughter of Dione from Greek mythology that was Aphrodite and the muscipula translates directly as mousetrap. The plant is available all over the world due to cultivation on a large scale and the result has been a plethora of cultivars. However they all still have the hair triggered trap they’re known for. Interestingly if only one hair is disturbed the trap won’t shut, a safe guard against wasting energy.
Aloe Plant
Again it’s not the rarest plant in the world but it is unusual. A lot of modern medicine begins with the study of plants and the gradual refinement into a chemical substance that treats a specific ailment. However in the case of the aloe plant, it’s ready to go. If you’ve suffered sun burn and ran out of after sun, simply snap open an aloe leaf and slap on the fluids inside. It does the trick like nothing else.
Pitcher Plants
Pitcher plants or nepenthes vary as a genus; there are over one hundred species. Despite this the carnivorous fellows comprise of the same parts and are a miracle of evolution. They have a pitcher, a rim and a lid. The pitcher is a where they snare their lunch of insects and other bugs, the rim is often colourful and works as a lure to the soon to be dinner, whereas the lid simply keeps rain water out of the pitcher. If the pitcher were to fill with water its lovely waxy sides and syrupy delights would become useless when snaffling and digesting unsuspecting prey.
Sensitive Plant
The mimosa pudica is called the sensitive plant among many other names all of which reflect its extraordinary ability to fold up or ‘sleep’. Pudica translates roughly as ‘shy’ or ‘bashful’ and the movement of the plant when touched does give that impression. It reacts instantly when either touched or exposed to heat, leaves closing up all over the plant. First it occurs and point of origin but travels through the plant like a shockwave. It reopens in a matter of minutes if left alone. Why the plant does this is not categorically known, but it is believed to be a defence mechanism against predators. Either to ward off larger animals that might spook at a plant that moves, or to simply dislodge harmful insects that come to rest on it.
Millions of years of evolution can do some pretty strange stuff as far as unusual plants go, and these four are just a tiny section of what’s out there. I didn’t even cover the triffid…
About the Author: Dave Poult spends his days researching and writing about
unusual gifts for him
over at Find Me A Gift, the gift ideas people.
Source:
isnare.com
Permanent Link:
isnare.com/?aid=1454192&ca=Gardening