A beautiful illustration of some of the NZ natives from the Wellington Regional Council website.
These natives include the Kowhai, Northern Rata, Clematis, Bush Lilly, Tree daisy, Mistletoe, Tui, Kingfisher, Wood pegion, Whitehead, Bellbird and Skink.
A carnivorous; meat-eating plant?!?!
“A new species of giant carnivorous plant has been discovered in the highlands of the central Philippines!
The pitcher plant is among the largest of all pitchers and is so big that it can catch rats as well as insects in its leafy trap.During the same expedition, botanists also came across strange pink ferns and blue mushrooms they could not identify. The botanists have named the pitcher plant after British natural history broadcaster David Attenborough…”
“….Pitcher plants are carnivorous. Carnivorous plants come in many forms, and are known to have independently evolved at least six separate times. While some have sticky surfaces that act like flypaper, others like the Venus fly trap are snap traps, closing their leaves around their prey. Pitchers create tube-like leaf structures into which insects and other small animals tumble and become trapped…”
Via BBC, Earth News. read more…
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This following plant has developed a mechanism to appear ill to its onlookers! This clever thing has been found growing in the rainforests of Ecuador. Oh, the wonderful world of plants!
“….The plants feigns sickness to stop it being attacked by insect pests known as mining moths, which would otherwise eat its healthy leaves. It is the first known example of a plant that mimics being ill, and could also explain a common pattern seen on plant leaves known as variegation…”
“…Variegation is familiar to gardeners and affects many species of plant. Variegated plants have different coloured patterns on the leaf surface, produced by a variety of causes. One of the most common is when cells in the leaf lose chlorophyll and their ability to photosynthesise, appearing white. In theory, plants with variegated leaves should be at a disadvantage, because of this restricted ability to photosynthesise…”
A species is defined as introduced (also known as non-indigenous, alien or exotic) in a certain geographical area, if that area is outside the species’ native distributional range, and the species has arrived there by human activity. Introduced species sometimes are damaging to the ecosystem they are introduced into, others negatively affect agriculture and other human uses of natural resources or impact on the health of animals and humans.
There are many ways in which the introduction of non-native or exotic species negatively affects our environment and the diversity of life on our planet. But what would it mean on our moon or other planets? Sounds like the stuff science fictions are made of. Well, now the US Scientists are to grow brussel sprouts (my fav. by the way) on the moon!
According to telegraph.co.uk, the scientists (US scientists) are planning to grow hardy vegetables such as brussels sprouts on the Moon in an experiment to see if a future colony could produce its own food! Paragon Space Development Corporation in Arizona working with NASA unveiled plans to land mini-greenhouses on the moon. These little 1.5 ft tall greenhouses, capable of growing flowers and veges are designed to safely land a laboratory plant on the lunar surface, and protect it while it grows. They call the mini-greenhouse project, “Lunar Oasis”.
The miniature greenhouse is to be launched into space no earlier than 2012 by Odyssey Moon Ltd, a participant in the Google Lunar X Prize, which will reward any project which can launch, land and operate a rover on the lunar surface.
Read the whole article here.
Apparently, Paragon is very keen on developing other similar and very interesting projects that involve experiments of plants and plant-cycles elsewhere in the galaxy or right here on our earth. From their website;
Mars Greenhouse Experiment Module, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
A sealed plant growth chamber designed for deployment on Mars. They have designed the plant growth chamber, including the atmospheric control system and a molecular-level mass balance and flow model for hydrogen, carbon and oxygen throughout the plants’ life cycles.
Closed Ecological Experiment Facility, Tokyo Engineering
Gas Control and Analysis system design for the Closed Ecological Experiment Facility (CEEF) in Japan. CEEF is a human-rated regenerative life support system with controlled plant growth chambers and an animal/human habitat.
Climate Time Machine from NASA has some great time-series animation and visualizations showing sea surface height variations, changing global surface temperatures, the amount of CO2 emissions produced by top 12 nations, and the annual Arctic sea ice minimum from 1979 to 2007.
Five Plants that Repel Mosquitoes: who can say no to that?
Mohonk Mountain house is a beautiful place to vacation with loved ones. The spa there is very enjoyable I must confess. However, the landscape architect in me was most impressed by the landscape formation and the variety of flowering plants that grow there. The hiking trails, the grounds and the lake that encompass 2,200 acres along the crest of the Shawangunk Mountains are just some of the most picturesque.
Mohonk Preserve is admittedly the largest private, non-profit ecological sanctuary in New York. It covers 6,000 acre along the crest of the northern Shawangunk Mountains and partially surrounds the grounds of the Mohonk House. A system of trails through the Shawangunk Mountains Preserve is wonderful to hike, and the massive Silurian conglomerates are quite amazing. They form high cliffs perfect for rock climbing. These conglomerates were said to have been carried by glacier ice throughout the regions south and east.
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