Download The burning bush Dictamnus albus

Bizarre Plants :Dictamnus
The burning bush Dictamnus albus is a member of the Rutaeceae. Many
plants of dry locations are known to increase production of terpenes to
cool leaf surfaces by terpene transpiration. Dictam, however, produces
so much that it can undergo self-ignition (see burning bush stories in
Bible & Koran) .
It is thought that droplet formation in the leaf focuses sunlight to a
temperature that ignites terpenes which burn like a gas grill using the
stomates as valves.
Stinking Plants
Corps Flower Titan arum. with sharp points at the pollen
surface. One plant produces a billion grains of pollen that can
stay airborne for days spreading over an area of many miles.
Affects 75 % of all allergy sufferers.
Rafflesia arnoldii. Rafflesia was found in the Indonesian rain forest
by an Indonesian guide working for Dr. Joseph Arnold in 1818, &
named after Sir Thomas Raffles, leader of the expedition
Stinking Iris Iris foetissima. It is known as "stinking" because
some people find the smell of its leaves unpleasant when
crushed or bruised, an odour that has been described as "beefy"
Stinking Hellebore Helleborus foetidus, known variously as
stinking hellebore, dungwort, and bear's foot, is in Ranunculaceae,
native of the mountainous regions of Central and Southern Europe
Skunk cabbage Symphocarpus foetidus is one
of the many stinky plants in its family the
Araeceae.
The burping skunk tree
is a member of the Burseraceae, related to frankincense (Boswellia) and myrrh
(Commiphora) but unlike them it stinks (skunk tree).
The elephant tree Bursera microphylla is native to Northern Mexico, Southern
California and Arizona, especially desert regions. It reaches 5 m in height. The foliage
is made up of long, legume-like leaves which are composed of paired leaflets. It flowers
in rounded yellow buds which open into small, star-shaped white or cream flowers
When you tug on a
leaf it burps and
emits a fine spray
over 50 cmm
distance that is
foul fetid smelling
caused by amines
Buddha’s Hand Citrus medica
Buddha’s hand is a citrus fruit popular in China and
Japan for its strong fragrance. It fails as a fruit since it’s
pretty much all zest and no pulp, but it has other uses,
Buddha's hand, Citrus medica var. sarcodactylis (also known as
fingered citron), is a fragrant citron variety in the Rutaeceae whose
fruit is segmented into finger-like sections. The origin of Buddha's hand
plant is traced back to Northeastern India.
Chinese Fleece Flower Fallopia ssp.
The Chinese Fleece flower is in the genus Fallopia
in the family Polygoniaeceae, a relative of the
infamous Japanese Knotweed Fallopia japonica.
The Chinese use this plant in their traditional
medicine for kidney health, strong bones and hair
restoration, and as a mild laxative, and it’s.. Hey,
wait a second…
“ I tell you, …
it
is a sign, yeah, ah …
it’s an omen!” The end of
the world is close, oh Rose
Okay, weird. It’s a root that looks like a little dude. But
that’s a rare, onetime fluke, right? It’s not like that’s
what this species typically looks like or anything??
Roots making a perfect couple made headlines in
2006 …. Doll’s Eyes Actaea pachypodia
Actaea pachypoda (Doll's-eyes, White
Baneberry) is a herbaceous perennial plant in
the family Ranunculaceae, native to eastern
North America. The berries contain cardiogenic
toxins which can have an immediate sedative
effect on human cardiac muscle tissue, and are
the most poisonous part of the plant. Ingestion of
the berries can lead to cardiac arrest and death.
The Doll’s eye plant, also known
by the equally unsettling name
“white baneberry.” Just in case
you were actually thinking of
eating this thing, those eyeballs
are highly poisonous.
Phototoxic Plants – Blister Bush
Peucedanum galbanum, Blister Bush, is a plant in the family Apiaceae, Like
other members of the family like Heracleum or cow parsnip or Angelica
touching it can cause blistering if the irritant chemicals are exposed to sunlight
Blister bush, with its greenish-yellow umbrella-shaped
flowers, is perfectly harmless, until you touch it &
a cocktail of psoralen, xanthotoxin, bergapten and
other chemicals are brushed off the plant’s leaves onto
your skin.
Exposure of the chemicals to sunlight triggers from a
mild irritation to severe blistering requiring weeks to
heal. Three days later a red-purple rash and large
burn-like welts appear on your skin.
Blister bush isn’t the only plant that can cause
phototoxic reactions. Check out Amy Stewart Wicked
Plants: The Weed that Killed Lincoln’s Mother and
Other Botanical Atrocities,
Unusual Poisons
The slobber weed: Pilocarpus pennatifolius stimulates the
salivary glands much more than the betel nut Areca catechu
(the nut causing red saliva that stains the street of Asia). Here
the secretion becomes so powerful that it interferes with
speech (ideal for political opponents!). Unfortunately, the
drooling (up to 2 pints) is followed by nausea & dizziness.
Drooling is also caused by the pencil tree extract. Pilocarpine
(an alkaloid used for glaucoma) is used to treat dry mouth &
also to stimulate sweat glands.
Pilocarpus: approx13
species in the Rutaceae,
from the tropics of S Amer.
The Suicide Tree: Cerbera odollam is a relative of
Madagascan arrow poison tree Cerbera tanghin ( nuts that
are used in trials by ordeal). The tree grows at the SW coast
of India and has white jasmine-scented flowers. The nuts
look like green mangos & the white meat inside is full of
cardiac glycosides that stop the heart of a human within 4
hours. Widows & other religiously inclined people use these
nuts (mashed nut meat with brown sugar) as their last meal.
Also used to poison people since it has no bad taste & a
delayed action.
Bizarre Plants
Monstrous + stinky (amines): Amorphophallus titanum, Rafflesia
arnoldii, Aristolochia grandiflora (Humboldt), Welwitschia mirabilis,
Victoria amazonica, Aztecs’ handflower tree Cheirostemon platanoides
(related to Cocoa tree, Humboldt), Baobab (sausage) trees Adansonia,
boogam trees Idria columnaris (desert in Baja California), elephant or
skunk tree Bursera microphylla (Baja California; tug on leaf & it burps
out a foul smelling, fetid spray over a distance of 50 cm), squirting
cucumber Ecballium elaterum shoots fruit as a rocket over 3 m distance,
slimy mucilage with seeds sticks to the one who touched the fruit
WB Emboden(1974): Bizarre Plants; magical, monstrous, mythical. MacMillan P. NY
Terpenes and air pollution
It is generally accepted that the forests (called “lungs of the planet”) clean the
air of pollution, add oxygen & remove CO2 to restore an air that is pleasant to
breath. The opposite would be the smoky & stinky air of industrial places and
cities. However, there is an exception to this rule as observed from the forests
of the “ Smoky Mountains”.
Exception
The production of
volatile terpenes is
highest in the early fall.
The terpenes are exuded
through the stomates &
often polymerize under
the influence of the UV
of the sun, creating the
blue haze the Smokies
are famous for.
Unknowns of Water: Water storage in Terminalia trees
A wikipedia picture file from October 15th 2007 shows this picture for
Terminalia tomentosa. Do not try this at home or with other trees!
Terminalia tomentosa has a remarkable
attribute: some members of the species store
water in the dry season. A survey conducted at
Bandipur National Park, India showed that
there is a girth dependent increase in the
frequency and amount of water storage.
Mechanism and ecophysiological
significance of this water storage
are not known
Terminalia elliptica has remarkably large-pored
vessels. The pictures on the right suggests a
large diameter that is no longer able to hold
water in by capillary action.
Higher plants invented propagation units called seeds
A seed is a small, but complete
embryonic plant enclosed in a seed
coat, usually with some stored food
(exception the smallest orchid seeds).
It is the product of the ripened female
ovule and the fertilizing male pollen
and hence a product of sexual
propagation with its genes-mixing
effect increasing the genetic diversity
of the offspring.
Lower plants have a propagation unit called
spore. A spore is a reproductive unit for
dispersal and surviving unfavorable conditions.
Spores form part of the life cycles of many
bacteria, algae, fungi and lower plants like
mosses and ferns.
The difference between spores and seeds is
that spores have very little stored food
resources compared with seeds.
Fern sporangia called sori are
packages containing many spores
Bizarre Plants: the largest & weirdly shaped seed
Maldives or Seychelle Islands : source of unusual seed
coco-de-mer seeds first mistaken as eggs of griffins (Georg
Eberhard Rumpf 1682 named it Cocus maldivicus): most
important aphrodisiac & antidote like the benzoar (ideal
goblet material). Rudolf II German Emperor (1650) payed
4000 florins = 5000 gold thalers (dollars) for a seed
1742 French landed from Mauritius, 1768 that the
islands interior was explored & confirmed as the source
of coco-de-mer, the Seychelles’ nut Lodoicea palms
(daughter of Troy’s king Priam)
difficult to germinate; first Kew RoyalGarden plants
were pre-germinated in Seychelles & then grown in
1854 , hurrah ==> a yellow horizontal shoot projects
parallel to soil surface for 3 m before horizontal shoot
develops & root grows. Horizontal shoot rots away &
seedling cannot be traced back to seed.
Jelly-like endosperm of nuts is a delicacy for the rich.
“Surely, Sir, it is
Priam’s daughter”
Why are bean seeds so special?
We know from the labs of Botany I that Phaseolus or
the now so common garden beans have already a
primary leaf showing in their dormant embryos
inside the seed. This is truly unusual.
Pythagoras – one of the first European vegetarians did not
only abstain from meat, he didn’t eat beans either (the bean of
his time’s Europe was not the American Phaseolus but Vicia faba
– the broad bean).
P. believed that humans and beans were spawned from the same
source, and he conducted a scientific experiment to prove it.
He buried a quantity of beans in mud, let them remain there for a
few weeks, and then retrieved them. He noted their resemblance
to human fetuses, thus convincing himself of the intimate
relationship between beans and humans. To eat a bean would
therefore be akin to eating human flesh.
Equally, to crush, smash, or dirty a bean would be to harm a
human. Thus the very strict rule to abstain from beans.
Myth: Pythagoras died refusing to run through a bean field.
Botanical Jewelry: Seeds
Beauty & Toxicity are often close together
The garden bean Phaseolus (upper
panel) has multiple color varieties
in its native Ecuador. Also kidney
beans (2) do not have to be red and
lima beans (3rd panel) occur in
many shades other than white.
Voila, the toxic (hemagglutinins) but
soooo oh irresistably pretty seeds of the
1. rosary pea Abrus precatorius,
2. unique castor beans Ricinus communis
3. coral bean Adenanthera pavonina.
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0901.htm
Botanical Jewelry http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0901.htm
Most people think of natural jewelry as shiny pieces of corals, pearls and precious
or semiprecious stones, polished and set in gold or silver. Who would ever believe
that some of the most unusual and striking jewelry comes from plants? Most
bot. jewelry is made from seeds which are drilled and strung into necklaces
Ear rings in dolphin shape made from
the exploded seed of the toxic plant
Hura crepitans – the sandbox tree
Arango created his bold jewelry from
tagua nuts, a botanical alternative to
ivory (a.k.a. vegetable ivory), a seed
that comes from the ivory-nut palm or
tagua palm which grows in the humid
tropical forest of South America.
Phytelephas aequatorialis or Tagua nut – ivory plant
A place to see the beautiful South American ivory-nut palm (Phytelephas
aequatorialis), is the Napo River of Ecuador, a major tributary of the Amazon.
It typically grows under large rain forest trees along streams.
Female palms bear large, brown fruits, the
size of grapefruits or melons. Each fruit is
studded with numerous horns and contains 4
large seeds. The seeds have an outer shell
(seed coat) and a large white endosperm.
which is pulpy and sweet--food for people.
Mature, dry seeds are so hard that it
requires a hacksaw to cut one in half.
tagua fruit cut open to expose 4 seeds
The white, dried endosperm inside the seeds of
ivory-nut palms contains a substance called
hemicellulose that becomes so hard and dense
that it can be carved and polished like elephant
tusks. 1865 ship sailing from South America to
Hamburg carried a load of tagua nuts as ballast.
Botanical Jewelry http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0901.htm
Fruits of rudraksha
(Ruda’s = Shiva’s eyes)
Elaeocarpus angustifolius
have an iridescent blue
coating, which is used as a
prayer bead and good-luck
charm by religious hindus
like the sadhu on the right.
The fruits are 2 cm in
diameter and are coated
with a wax that scatters
blue light similar to what
we know from Laurintinus
berry Viburnum tinus.
The seeds have many
faces ( the faces of Shiva,
see below)
Euphorbia lathyris or Caper spurge
is an erect biennial plant of European origin growing up to 1.5 m tall, with a
glaucous blue-green stem and decussate opposite lanceolate leaves.
All parts of the plant, including the seeds and
roots are poisonous. Handling may cause skin
irritation as the plant produces latex. While
poisonous to humans and most livestock, goats eat
it and are immune to the toxin. However, the
toxin can be passed through the goat's milk
This plant is a good source of copious
amounts of latex.
Since the latex is an emulsion of hydrocarbons
in water, this plant was investigated as a
possible source of making petroleum.
But then the oil prices dropped again and ...da
da da
Dragons blood - red resin
is a bright red resin that is obtained from different species
of a number of distinct plant genera:
Croton, Dracaena, Calamus rotang and Pterocarpus.
The red resin has been used since ancient times as
varnish, medicine, incense, and dye.
The resin of Dracaena species, "true" dragon's blood,
and the very poisonous mineral cinnabar (mercury
sulfide) are often confused and some call anything that
was bright red "dragon's blood". Voyagers to the Canary
Islands in the 15th century obtained dragon's blood as
dried garnet-red drops from Dracaena draco, a tree
native to the Canary Islands and Morocco. The resin is
exuded from its wounded trunk or branches. Dragon's
blood is also obtained by the same method from D.
cinnabari, which is endemic to the island of Socotra.
Peter James , Nick Thorpe (1994): Ancient Inventions, Ballantine books, New York
Bizarre Plants: Dragon blood plants
Dragon blood plant Draceana draco (Canarian Islands) dragonier
The dragon who guarded the garden of the Hesperides. Draco was
venerated plant of the guanches- extinct natives of the Canarian Islands
The lucky bamboo
is small relative of
the mysterious
dragon blood tree
Draceana sanderiana
Resin called Dragon blood
Draceana draco (Canaria)
(3) Vegetative Propagation “Do not try this at home”
Plants consider vegetative propagation the safer method. When they
have to choose between asexual and sexual propagation, the clearly vote
for the first one. There are many plants that rarely produce flowers:
One reason for this behavior is that the assimalated organic substances
are drawn to the geophytic organs rather than the flower.
Potatoes Solanum (Lycopersicum) tuberosum. In large
potato fields you find very few plants that are flowering.
Horseradish Cochlearia armoracia flowers
but hardly ever produces seeds since the
growth of storage roots has absolute priority.
Buttercups of Ranunculus ficaria flower in early spring
but hardly produce any fruits. They propagate by small
visible bulblets that form near leaf nodes at the stem.
Jerusalem artichoke, Topinambur Helianthus tuberosum. Flowers
in late summer but never succeed making seeds store inulin in tubers
The only plants that do the locomotion ….
Cuscuta (Dodder) about 100species of
yellow, orange or red (rarely green) parasitic
leafless (minute scales) plants placed in the
morning glory family, Convolvulaceae.
The seeds are minute and produced in
large quantities. They have a hard
coating, & survive in soil for 5–10 years.
Germination can occur without a host, it
zooms in on the smell of nearby plants
Beware of chlorophyll-free plants they are like animals
Pinedrop = Pterospora andromedea grows in coniferous forests
native to North America. It is in the family Ericaceae. The upper
portion of the red stalk has a series of yellowish, bell-shaped
flowers face downward.
They exist for most of their lifecycle as a mass of fleshy roots in
relationship with mycorrhizal fungi that is described as either
parasitic by different experts.
They are thus described
as mycorrhizal heterotrophs.
Coralroot orchids, Corallorhiza, are leafless, relying
entirely upon symbiotic fungi within their coral-shaped roots
for sustenance. Because of this dependence they cannot be
successfully cultivated. Most species do not produce
chlorophyll, and do not depend on photosynthesis for energy.
Holoparasites have virtually no chlorophyll & are completely
parasitic & include 4,100 species in 19 families of flowering plants
Beware of chlorophyll-free plants they are like animals
Indian Pipe or Monotropa uniflora, also known as the Ghost
Plant, is a herbaceous perennial, classified within the Ericaceae.
It is native to temperate regions of Asia & North America. Unlike
most plants, it is white and does not contain chlorophyll. Instead of
generating energy from sunlight, it is parasitic, more specifically a
myco-heterotroph. Its hosts are certain fungi that are mycorrhizal
with trees, meaning it ultimately gets its energy from
photosynthetic trees. It can grow in very dark environments as in
the understory of dense forest. The complex relationship that
allows this plant to grow also makes propagation difficult.
The Snow Plant or Sarcodes sanguinea is a
flowering plant in the heath family. It is a
parasitic plant that derives sustenance and
nutrients from mycorrhyzal fungi that attach
to roots of trees. Mycorrhizal fungi are
themselves symbiotic parasites that help
plants fix nitrogen from the atmosphere in
exchange for nutrients from plant roots.
What kind of plants do we have on earth? A collection.
Welwitschia mirabilis is a plant
living in remote areas of the
Namib desert . It is in the
subdivision of Gnetophyta in
the Gymnosperms related to
conifers. The plant is a living
fossil & was named after the
Austrian botanist Friedrich
Welwitsch who discovered it
in 1859. Two ever-growing
leaves (toilet paper plant)
Hydnora africana is an achlorophyllous
plant native to southern Africa that is
parasitic on the roots of members of the
Euphorbiaceae family. The plant grows
underground, except for a fleshy flower that
emerges above ground and emits an odor of
feces to attract dung beetles and carrion
beetles. The flowers act as traps for a brief
period retaining the beetles that enter, then
releasing them when the flower is fully
opened
The weirdest plants on earth
The weirdest plants are often also very rare leftovers (living fossiles) of
bygone times. Their presence is a great treasure – a true “Jurassic Park”.
Welwitschia endemic to Namib
Dionaea musc. trap distribution
Rafflesia attracts by cadaverine
Darlingtonia is an insect trapper
Amorphophallus corpse pl
The tallest seed plants are Eucalyptus trees in the Myrtaeceae family. The giabnt
redwood Sequoia giganteum reaches 135 m & stem thickness of 12 m, coastal or
evergreen redwood Sequoia sempervirens has same height but lesser stems
Buddha’s Hand Citrus medica
Buddha’s hand is a citrus fruit popular in
China and Japan for its strong fragrance. It
fails as a fruit since it’s pretty much all zest
and no pulp, but it has other uses,
Buddha's hand, Citrus medica var. sarcodactylis (also known as fingered
citron), is a fragrant citron variety in the Rutaeceae whose fruit is segmented
into finger-like sections. The origin of Buddha's hand plant is traced back to
Northeastern India.
Compass plants
Prickly lettuce Lactuca seriola is a
compass plant. If you look at it from
the east or west it looks broad but
when viewed form the North it looks
like flattened by a car.
Another compass plant is Silphium
laciniatum (Compass Flower, or
Rosinweed)- a sunflower native to
the Prairies of Dakota. Like lactuca
it aligns leaves in N-to-S direction.
The rule that moss is growing on the northern side of
trees is false for more than one reason. Moss prefers
shade and th shade is from all sides ina dense forest.
Second, what is growing on the northern side of tress
is the green algae Pleurococcus. It cannot deal with
direct sunlight and prefers N.
Bizarre Plants: the largest & weirdly shaped seed
Maldives or Seychelle Islands : source of unusual seed
coco-de-mer seeds first mistaken as eggs of griffins (Georg
Eberhard Rumpf 1682 named it Cocus maldivicus): most
important aphrodisiac & antidote like the benzoar (ideal
goblet material). Rudolf II German Emperor (1650) payed
4000 florins = 5000 gold thalers (dollars) for a seed
1742 French landed from Mauritius, 1768 that the
islands interior was explored & confirmed as the source
of coco-de-mer, the Seychelles’ nut Lodoicea palms
(daughter of Troy’s Priam
difficult to germinate; first Kew RoyalGarden plants
were pre-germinated in Seychelles & then grown in
1854 , hurrah ==> a yellow horizontal shoot projects
parallel to soil surface for 3 m before horizontal shoot
develops & root grows. Horizontal shoot rots away &
seedling cannot be traced back to seed. Jelly-like
endosperm of nuts is a delicacy for the rich.
“Surely, Sir, it is
Priam’s daughter”
The flying Zanonia fruit served as a template for the first
non-stalling airplane trianer (STOL)
Zanonia macrocarpa (Syn. Macrozanonia macrocarpa
(Blume) Cogn., Alsomitra macrocarpa M.Roem.) alias Javan
cucmber is a vine in the cuccurbitaceae. The fruit - a maplelike samara - has thin dry wings with 13 cm wing span and
can fly with only a slight turn distances of up to 50 m. The
plant was first described under the name Zanonia macrocarpa
in 1825 by Carl Ludwig Blume
This principle was used to build a monoplane in 1903 in cooperation
of botanists with the Austrian airplane pioneer Ignaz Etrich
(designing strategy called biomimetics) ands in 1912 the motorized
glider “Taube” which had a stall speed of less than 10 mph (idiots
could fly this one). Unfortunately this design was not fit for tight turns
– the developing strategy of fighter planes
 The “Taube” of the famous Lieutenant Plüschow was the
only plane of the Imperial Navy in Tsingtao, in 1914 a German
colony in China. Before Tsingtao was overwhelmed by superior
numbers of Japanese & British ships & troops he flew his badly
damaged plane for 250 miles into China & continued on foot
The Devil’s Claw
The horrifying seed pods are designed
to latch on to the feet of passing
animals, which will then transport
them to another location before
crushing them underfoot and releasing
the seeds.
Harpagophytum procumbens,
also Devil's Claw, is in sesame
family, native to South Africa.
The plant's large tuberous roots
contain steroid & are used to
reduce pain and fever, and to
stimulate digestion. Europeans
used it to treat arthritis.
http://aayuni.tumblr.com/post/4832997867/9-creepy-plants-that-shouldnt-exist
Chinese Fleece Flower Fallopia ssp.
The Chinese Fleece flower is in the genus Fallopia
in the family Polygoniaeceae, a relative of the
infamous Japanese Knotweed Fallopia japonica.
The Chinese use this plant in their traditional
medicine for kidney health, strong bones and hair
restoration, and as a mild laxative, and it’s.. Hey,
wait a second…
“ I tell you, …
it is a sign, yeah, ah …
it’s an omen!” The end of
the world is close, oh Rose
Okay, weird. It’s a root that looks like a little
dude. But that’s a rare, onetime fluke, right? It’s
not like that’s what this species typically looks
like or anything??
Roots making a
perfect couple made headlines in 2006 …. Doll’s Eyes Actaea pachypodia
Actaea pachypoda (Doll's-eyes, White
Baneberry) is a herbaceous perennial plant in the
family Ranunculaceae, native to eastern North
America. The berries contain cardiogenic toxins
which can have an immediate sedative effect on
human cardiac muscle tissue, and are the most
poisonous part of the plant. Ingestion of the
berries can lead to cardiac arrest and death.
The Doll’s eye plant, also known by
the equally unsettling name “white
baneberry.” Just in case you were
actually thinking of eating this thing,
those eyeballs are highly poisonous.
Some plants have been around since the beginning of recorded time
(3000 BC): they saw the building of the pyramids, the rise and the
fall of Rome, the Mongols, the USA and USE, they saw it all ….
Plants in today's world: aphrodisiac eaten to extinction
An African plant called White’s ginger (Mondia whitei ), wrongly referred to as
“white ginger.” mukombero in Kenya, where it is said that chewing the root of
or drinking it in tea form can boost virility and stamina in the bedroom.
Mukombero is available in Kenyan markets for as little
as one euro, making it much cheaper than Viagra or
other pharmaceuticals, which are too expensive for
most Kenyans.
A study in 1998 (cited by Infonet-biovision) found that
the plant had disappeared from South Africa and central
Kenya. Now, it is getting rarer still. “I am overwhelmed
by the demand,” a man who collects & sells mukombero
Watai, head of bioprospecting for the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), told that
mukombero is being grown as a ” cash crop ” in Florida and China but did not identify
actual companies growing the plant. “The Chinese must have obtained it from the
region without informing communities he said. The KWS itself runs a small factory to
commercialize the plant.
Stinging Hairs
For a long time we did not know what caused
the stinging sensation of Urtica dioica? It was
first shown that formic acid was inside the hairs
but that alone does not cause such effects!
pict
Urtica dioica is harmless when compared with tropical
nettles like Urtica stimulans (Java) & Urtica crenulata
(India) & the worst Urtica urentissima (Timor) which
also cause skin irritations but in addition affect the nervous
system in the area with paralytic cramps & permanent
damage to nerves. Dogs refuse to search for game after
experiencing the burning sensation of nettels, geese seem
to be insensitive, larvae of some butterfly too
There are other plant families with stinging hairs
Hydrophyllaeceae Wigandia urens , Euphorbiaceae
Jatropha urens have stinging hairs while many members
of the Urticaeceae (glass plants, hops) have none. Other
plants like Primula obconica cause dermatitis
Mimicry of nettle leaves by dead nettels alias Lamium species
Do plants kill? Sure. Are they predators?
Predation describes a biological
interaction where a predator
attacks & feeds on its prey. The
act of predation always results in
the death of the prey.
Is Ficus bengal. a predator?
Insectivorous plants are certainly
predators since they kill and feed
on them poor little insects.
Gurmar – “you shall miss sweetness forev … an hour”
Gurmar – a vine growing in the rain forests of the Indian subcontinent
means “sugar destroyer” or “sweetness destroyer”. When eaten, the
leaves take away your ability to taste sweetness. The major bioactive
constituents of Gymnema sylvestris are a group of oleanane-type
triterpenoid saponins known as gymnemic acids. Gymnemic acids are
causing the blackage of the sweetness-receptors.
Gurmar or Gymnema sylvestre is a vine native
to the tropical forests of India where it has been
used as a natural treatment for diabetes. for nearly
two millennia. Gurmar has also been shown to
reduce the blood sugar levels and even the
amount of insulin necessary to control blood
sugar. According to research done by Persaud et
al.1999, the raise in insulin levels may be due to
regeneration of the cells in the pancreas
Chana dal- the miracle bean for diabetics
It is known that Vit A (made from plant carotenoids) plays an important
role in the control of insulin, which is controlling the blood sugar levels.
Also biotin (a vitamin of the B series) seems to increase the effectiveness
of insulin action.
Chana dal
Desi chickpeas have a markedly
higher fiber content and hence a very
low glycemic index which may make
them suitable for people with blood
sugar problems. The desi type is
used to make Chana Dal, which is a
split chickpea with the black skin
removed. This is done by soaking the
whole chickpeas and removing the
loose skins by rubbing.
Quiz about Plants
1. Which plant is the smallest flowering plant?
2. Which plant has the largest single flower on this planet?
3. Which plant has the largest leaves? …
4. Which plants have no leaves? ………………………………………
5. Which plants have no roots? ………………………………………
6. Which plant makes only two leaves although keeping it > 100 years?
7. Which earthly plant produces the largest seeds?
8. Which plant family has the smallest seeds?
9. Which plant has the longest-living seeds?
10. Which plant has the edible fruit with the most calories?
11. Which plant produces the largest edible fruits?
12. Which creature is largest living being on earth?
13. Which creature is longest living being on earth?
14. Which creature is longest living plant on earth?
15. Which plant species was the first one in space?
16. Which is the oldest recent (old but still around) flowering plant?
17. Which plant is the tallest monocot?
18. Which plant is the tallest dicot?
19. Which plant has the deepest roots and how deep do they go?
20. Which creature is the largest being by area?
21. Which creatures are the longest beings in the ocean?
Quiz about Plants
1. Which plant is the smallest
flowering plant?
Wolffia arrhiza – the small relative of the
duckweed Lemmna being only 0.5 mm across.
Quiz about Plants
2. Which plant has the largest single flower
on this planet
Rafflesia , a stinky parasitic plant from the
Mediterranean region.
Quiz about Plants
3. Which plant has the largest leaves? …
The Raffia palm. This imposing African palm has the largest
leaves of any tree. IT has leaves that measure up to 20 m in
length. They are the source of raffia, a natural fiber
Quiz about Plants
4. Which plants have no leaves?
1. there are the lower plants like mosses,
which do not have real leaves.
Quiz about Plants
4. Which plants have no leaves?
1. there are lower plants like mosses,
which do not have real leaves.
2. there are desert plants and deciduous
trees in our area that drop their leaves
part of the year.
3. there are parasitic plants like
coralroots and pinedrops that are pale
and have no leaves, just scales
4. there are cacti that have modified
leaves appearing as spines.
Quiz about Plants
5. Which plants have no roots? …
A.Lower plants ( bryophytes) have no
real roots.
B. There are parasitic plants like
Cuscuta (dodder) or mistletoe that
absorb nutrients from their hosts.
C. there are duckweeds like Wolffia
arrhiza.
Wolffia vs Lemna duckweed
Quiz about Plants
6. Which plant makes only two leaves
although living more than 100 years?
Welwitschia mirabilis. This South African desert plant
produces only 2 leaves, which keep during its whole world.
Quiz about Plants
7. Which earthly plant produces the
largest seeds?
Coco de Mer, Seychelles nuts
Quiz about Plants
8. Which plant family has the smallest
seeds?
The orchids.
Quiz about Plants
9. Which plant has the longest-living seeds?
Arctic Lupine were found frozen in the soil of the
Canadian Yukon were estimated to be 10-15,000
years old. Nevertheless, they did germinate into
new plants
Quiz about Plants
10. Which plant has the edible fruit with the most
calories?
Avocado has 750 cal per pound. On the other hand
cucumber has only 70 cal /pound.
Quiz about Plants
11. Which plant produces the largest edible fruits?
Of course, the pumpkin Cucurbita pepo reaching
up to 180 pounds followed by melons with 45
pounds.
Quiz about Plants
12. Which creature is largest living being on earth?
The giant Sequoia or
Sequoiadendron
giganteum; specimen
“General Sherman” is 83
m tall with a trunk of
24.22 meters
circumference.
Quiz about Plants
13. Which creature is longest living being on earth?
Lichens in
Antarctica were
shown to be older
than 10,000 years
growing 3.4
mm/century.
Xanthoria
Quiz about Plants
14. Which creature is longest living plant on earth?
Pinus longaeva –
the Bristlecone pine
form the SW of the
USA.
Quiz about Plants
15. Which plant species was the first one in space?
It was Arabidopsis
aboard the Soviet
spaceship Salute 7
in 1982.
Quiz about Plants
16. Which plant is the oldest recent (species old but still
around) flowering plant?
Gingko biloba first appeared
all over the world 180
Million years ago. 300
years ago, when the
Kaempfer discovered it for
the West, it was extinct in
the wild except for some
monasteries in China.
Quiz about Plants
17. Which plant is the tallest monocot?
It is the
giant black bamboo
Phylostachys nigra
reaches up to18 m
tall.
Quiz about Plants
18. Which plant is the tallest dicot?
Eucalyptus regnans at Mt. Baw
Baw, Victoria, Australia, is
believed to have measured 143 m
(470 ft.) in 1885. Formerly,
another Australian eucalyptus, at
Watts River, Victoria. almost
certainly had been over 150 m
(492 ft.) tall."
Quiz about Plants
19. Which plant has the deepest roots and how deep do they go?
The deepest roots were found
with a Ficus species in South
Africa reaching 120 m deep.
The official, confirmed record
is with the 10 m tall Shepherds
tree
Boscia albitrunca from the
Kalahari Desert with roots
measuring 68 m long.
Quiz about Plants
20. Which creature is the largest being by area?
A giant fungus of the
species Armillaria ostoyae
(honey mushrooms) in the
Malheur National Forest in
Oregon was found to span
8.9 km2 (2,200 acres), which
would make it the largest
organism by area.
Quiz about Plants
21. Which creatures are the longest beings in the ocean?
These are the giant kelps
Macrocystis pyrifera, which may
reach a length of over 100 ft (30
m). This majestic giant of the
kelp forest grows faster than
tropical bamboo—about three to
five inches each day.
Macrocystis vs Nereocystis (our bullkelp)
Quiz about Plants
22. Which plant is known as the burning bush
(as e.g. told in NAfrican traveller stories, Bible & Koran)?
The
burning bush , Dictam or
Dictamnus albus
is a member of the Rutaeceae
(Citrus family).
Dictam, produces terpenes to
cool its leaves during sunny
days. It does that to such an
extent that it can undergo selfignition (see burning bush
stories in Bible & Koran) .
Quiz about Plants
23. Eating which plant takes away the taste of sweetness?
This plant is
Gurmar or
Gymnema sylvestris
In the mint family containing
triterpenoid saponins known
as
gymnemic acids
Quiz about Plants
24. Eating which plant makes a typical sour tasting sweet?
This is – among others – the
miracle berry
Synsepalum dulciferum
The berry has a low sugar
content and contains a
glycoprotein molecule called
miraculin
Thank you for your participation !!!
Everybody knows – of course that Botany is sooo cool!