>Jeremy,
>There are many video suppliers with time-lapse videos, film loops, etc.
>But it is so much better in-person! I recommend planting some
>Mimosa pudica (sensitive plant)-the leaves fold instantly upon
>touch. Another fun one is Mimulus (monkey flower). In the flower
>is a stigma with two lobes. Upon touch the two lobes close up.
>There are others, but these are easy to grow and students like them.
>If the season is right, Berberis japonica flowers close by touch.
>Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) flowers have stamens held in a
>spring trap which blasts pollen all over visiting insects of a certain
>weight.
>>I am less enthusiastic about Venus' fly trap. If you grow your own
>they take a long time to get very large. If you buy from a supplier
>you cannot always be sure they grew them from culture rather than
>collecting these endangered species from the wild!
>>ross
>>______________________________________________________________
> |
>Ross Koning | Koning at ecsu.ctstateu.edu>Biology Department | http://koning.ecsu.ctstateu.edu/>Eastern CT State University | Phone: 860-465-5327
>Willimantic, CT 06226 USA | Fax: 860-465-5213
>____________________________|_________________________________
>> Plant Physiology is Phun!
>> /\|___/\ //\______COOH NH-CH2-CH=3DC-CH2OH \/OH
>| | | | | | || //\___ \CH3 /\|/\\/\\COOH
> \/ \/|\/| \\/ \ / N || N | |
> /\ | |__|=3D NH | || || //\//\
> | COOH \\ /\ / O
> COOH H2C=3DCH2 N NH
>______________________________________________________________
>>Since we're on the topic-last night my husband and I watched our "Cup of Gold" (Senora
(?) maxima) flowers open. If you're not familiar with these plants, the 6 inch flowers
actually burst open, often making a popping sound and filling the room with a gardenia
like fragrance. Since you can actually watch the petals move as the flower prepares to
open and the actual opening takes about a minute (it's like watching a time-lapse film,
only it's in real time!) we got into a disscussion (two scientists-what can I say?)
about the forces that cause the flower to open this way. Anyone familiar with this
plant and able to shed some light on what I think it a fascinating bit of plant
movement?
Julia Frugoli
Dartmouth College
visiting grad student at
Texas A&M University
Department of Biological Sciences
College Station, TX 77843
409-845-0663
FAX 409-847-8805
"Evil is best defined as militant ignorance."
Dr. M. Scott Peck
