plant friends

[cold before sunrise]

wondering why anybody would fork over that much bank to have something refered to as a 'stink flower' in their home? yucko! my personal favourite is the sensitive plant, which shrinks away and who's leaves pull closed when touched... it's cute and extremely shy. we understand each other.

[milly balgeary]

i wouldn't mind a poisonous cactus that i could put things on or hide beneath camoflage so people would put their hand out and get the spiny needles in their skin and die. hope that helps.

[robOt]

any idea(r) what the shy plant is called? sounds familiar.

it makes me think of a sea anemone.
they do that too, right? shrink away.



::robOt::  <-- curious.

[giraffe]

There's a species of aloe native to the southern regions of Africa that has evolved an unusual method of seed dispersal.

It's a particularly large variety of aloe (about fifteen feet in diameter) with very sharp spines, except for right in the center where there's a patch of smooth, supple leaves.  Birds nest in the center part, and predatory mammals will try to leap onto the center to get the bird and/or eggs.  Often the predator falls short of the center and does a few things:
1. Lacerates itself on and becomes stuck in the spines.
2. Breaks the leaves (which causes the goop inside to leak out).
3&4 The animal's wounds become coated in the goop, and the goop has an agent in it which aids in scabbing.  The animal thrashing around in/on the plant shakes seeds into the animal's wounds.
5. Seeds are dispersed wherever the animal loses its scabs.

[william]

3&4 The animal's wounds become coated in the goop, and the goop has an agent in it which aids in scabbing. The animal thrashing around in/on the plant shakes seeds into the animal's wounds.
5. Seeds are dispersed wherever the animal loses its scabs.

nature is gross.

[giraffe]

I actually made that up.

I was at the tree zoo the other day and saw this really big aloe plant, and thought of that.

But there's even crazier and nastier plant stuff that nature has cooked up.

[cold before sunrise]

anenomes are awesome! could be mistaken but i always thought that the reason they pull closed so quickly when poked is an attempt to eat my finger. on the coast i've had good times exploring tidal pools with friends... we used to hunt for tiny crabs to drop into them and take bets on who would win the 'plant vs. creature' battles.

the shy plant is called a mimosa, and is actually classified as a common weed (although not loved any less for it):

[Good Intentions]

I actually made that up.

I was at the tree zoo the other day and saw this really big aloe plant, and thought of that.

That's good to know, because aloe is very common where I'm from and I was wondering where the honeybirds that love aloe would feature - maybe they'd frantically divebomb out of bushes and poke their long, sharp beaks repeatedly into your neck, spreading goop-filled wounds like acid death acne.  Yeah.

[mackro]

They certainly don't share the same dietary ideals as me, but I still revere them:

[mackro]

(as opposed to the Venus Soytraps... they are more hipster, but we share the same diets and same tastes in music, generally...)

[elpollodiablo]

teh hed-eee nuGz.

I can't really think of too many plants that I enjoy more thoroughly.

[jebreject]

thumbs up

on that note: