Comments | tamnonlinear: Seriously cool: Wider range of plant carnivory

tamnonlinear

Seriously cool: Wider range of plant carnivory

Dec 10, 2009 11:19

This is one of those things that makes so much sense that it would be a dreadful act of inelegance on the part of the universe for it to be wrong.

Common plants, such at petunias and potatoes, may be mildly carnivorous (via nancylebovMakes perfect sense to me. It's already established that plants engage in acts of complicated acts of bioterrorism, chemical ( Read more... )

public, nature, science!, linkses

Comments 9

jedibl December 10 2009, 16:45:31 UTC

Googling "squirrel acorn cycle" (not in quotes) suggests that you are not the first to have had this idea, although so far all of the evidence is at least once removed from a primary scientific source...

tamnonlinear December 10 2009, 16:47:31 UTC

I never claimed to be the first.

jedibl December 10 2009, 17:12:33 UTC

I didn't mean to invalidate your idea, just to say, "hey, your idea is definitely not completely off the wall!"

I was hoping I could find something that linked to an actual scientific source so I could say, "you're totally right", but I didn't have the time to do that much digging...

(The comment has been removed)

tamnonlinear December 10 2009, 16:54:39 UTC

Glad to help! This is the sort of stuff that makes me love the world, because it is complicated and messy at times, but there is so much going on we don't know and a lot of it is amazing.

uilos December 10 2009, 18:47:47 UTC

Also the tendencies to hostile takeover of real estate as demonstrated by thirsty willows.

I have no doubts in my back brain that those things use to get up at night and have a wander about.

tamnonlinear December 10 2009, 19:02:29 UTC

The salicylic acid produces by the willow trees (and used by humans as a early form of aspirin) is a nice little insecticide. Willows also produce high levels of hormones that disrupt the growth patterns of other plants.

p_sunshine December 10 2009, 19:41:34 UTC

I had an idea for a short story a few months ago called "Die, Birch, Die!" about chemical warfare between trees but it never took off.
Interesting idea about the squirrel/oak relationship!
While the first part of the article -the petunias- was really interesting, the latter part didn't do much for me. I thought it was pretty much given that plants took their nutrients from the soil, so if there happens to be a corpse nearby, it would inevitably become part of the plants. Not really a lightbulb moment.

tamnonlinear December 10 2009, 22:48:14 UTC

But the ideas that the plants are creating the corpses is pretty neat.

p_sunshine December 11 2009, 14:23:04 UTC

True. I forgot about that part.