Journal Entry 3
4/3- Botany Greenhouse
Beginning with Josh at a station looking at the questions of how and why do plants alter their competition. We began the discussion with the use of the sensopollen miracle berry, which alters the taste buds of the eater to block sour receptors, allowing sour fruits and other substances like lemons to be eaten without as much difficulty. Analyzing the reasons behind this are complicated and not entirely known, but presumably it, like any trait, has evolved from a competitive advantage derived from the trait. This could be something to do with seed dispersal, as animals that might eat the berries might then be more prone to eating more because of the effects it has on their taste buds, thereby allowing the spread of its seeds far and wide. However, one problem with this theory is that it does not seem consistent with the fruit of the miracle berry itself, as it is not itself very sour, so its effect is mostly on the taste of other plant’s fruits, which would seem contrary to its own biological goal of reproduction.
Another example examined is the peppers of South America. Capsasin is the primary chemical surrounding chili seeds that makes them taste hot by triggering the neurons in the trigenial gland, which are responsible for the reaction to burns in our bodies. Some peppers have significant amounts of capsasin, such as the ghost chili, which contains roughly 7% capsasin. This is an energetically expensive characteristic, so what makes it biologically worthwhile? Potentially a defense mechanism, potentially the opposite, as some organisms greatly enjoy chilies. However, some of the primary seed dispersers of any kind of plant, birds, are incapable of feeling the capsasin when they consume chilies, so it’s effect is lost entirely on that market of dispersers. More questions are raised when it is considered that in parts of Bolivia where many chilies are found, some superficially identical or very similar at least species of chili are growing side by side, however some species contain capsasin, while others have none. There seems to be no particular bias toward one or the other’s growth and productivity, however the differences exist and are stark considering the trademark of chilies has been its capsasin production. Worth noting that chilies are an evolutionarily young family of plants.
We moved on to look at a variety of exotic plants that were grown in the greenhouse. These included monstera deliciosa, dischidia, eichornia, water lilies, and many others. The plants that were shown all shared common characteristics of extreme adaptability. Some were massive with dominating rain collecting capabilities, some were epiphytes which would sap the strength and use the trees in its surroundings to get ahead in life. Others were carnivorous and had developed ways of luring in their prey through sweet smelling puddles of biological product, and subsequently trapping them in a slippery valley of death. There were some really amazing and somewhat frighteningly well-adapted plants.
With Susan we looked at more adaptable traits, however these were more about survival than dominance as in the other exotic plants. Going to the desert room of the greenhouse we found a large sprawling plant called the welwitchia, which when found naturally in the Nambian desert can get as little as 25mm of rain per year. It had characteristics of reflective leaves to keep sunlight from drying and evaporating its little water stores, and examples of welwtichia have lived up to 2000 years old. However, this particular individual is uniquely massive due to its stable and abundant source of water. It is theorized that it was pushed to the extreme desert because it could not compete elsewhere with other plants, however because it was well adapted or became well adapted to the extreme drought, it was capable of becoming the sole dominator of the region. Another plant is the peperomia, which contains translucent windows in its sides to allow sunlight in for photosynthesis, but not needing to open stomata like other plants, which would subject it to the potential evaporation of its water stores. Another trait found in the desert rooms plants was with the haworthia, which camoflauged itself as a rock to avoid being eaten.
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