PLANT LIFE MARVELS

Waipa Post, Volume 32, Issue 1927, 28 October 1926, Page 2

PLANT LIFE MARVELS

SOME STRANGE STORIES. A group of English travellers and natural'lsits was asked 'by the editor of 'Conquest Ito wriij,e on the subject: “ The Most [Remarkable Plant I Ever Sa'w” Professor 'D. Thoday, of University College, Bangor, and .formerly o'f (the University of Capetown, 'tells icif mangrove trees which are remarkable, in many way's. 'They inhabit t'he soft mud of tr'oplical and' sub-tropical', estuaries, keeping Itlbemselves upright by prop roots, which grow obliquely down I from the trunk or haunches; they flourish in sea waiter, which kill's miost. flowering plants; they possess special breathing organs by which air is suppi j; d to the roots buried in the waterlogged mud; their seeds germinate while still on the It.ree, and form seedlings which are specially adapted for fixing themselves in t!h)s; mud when they drop. IHe cobtin|u,es: “ Rising from 'the mud are the peculiar breathing organs formed from knee-like, bends of the ro.'olt above the mud. When these structures are uncovered by tlfe tide 'their spongy .tissues allow- air within 'them to communicate friedy with the atmosphere.” 'Dr Alex. .'Hill, secrelcary of ‘the University Bureau, contributed the following:— •• When in Western Australia, exnloring the beautiful caves at Yallingup.l exclaimed to my guide : ‘ That Is nor. a stalactite: it ds wood,’ and I po'nted to a column as Ithick as my 5 arm. which reached from. t)he roof to the floor, ‘lit is the root o'f a jarraii ’ (eucalyptus .m'arginaita), he replied. ‘ \Ve are. 90 .feet below t'h'e surface, and that root is to he in the chamber under 'this, 30 fee/r. lower down.’ ” Professor M. C. Potter, .formerly of t'hq University of Durham, tells of the gbnus euphorbia with' its estraordiarily varied forms and wonderful structural aSdaptationg. He writes: “ The most remarkablfe species I

have seen Is that strangle: leafless, form E. aphylia. Its clustering rods rise three or four fleet from the hare red soil o’f the Karroo, Where under a perfectly cloudless sky both day and night it is exposed to violent extremes of temperature. Its peculiar smooth cylindrical structure exposes a minimum of surface for evaporation of water, and (tfe intense, glistening white colour, hiy diminishing absorption .of heat, affords additional protection from It he sun’s .rays. Its rool penetrate the earth to an eiiormon depth.” Professor R. H. Yapp, otf (the. University of Birmingham, writes that one of this most remarkable plants he has ■encountered in tits wild sitate is the Malayan fern. He says:

“ I first saw this fern on a jungleeovored mountain ridge some 5000 feet above sea level* in the interior of the Malay Peninsula. It was growing, as it always does, on (the branches of trees. The fleshy, creeping stems of this curious farn give off numerous branches, which form thick, crusting masses, often several feelt in length, completely encircling the branches of .itis host. A system of c'emmunicafl'ing passages or galleries runs through th}a entire mass of stems and branches. These galleries are invariably inhabited by colonies of ants. the fern being literally a living ants’ neefc The ant galleries have a' definite arrangement. Inside each stem or branch, along almost i-ts entire length, .is a continuous central passage or corridor. At .intervals side passages are given off to other brandies, white overhead are two series of separate cave-like galleries all built to precisely the same pattern Each overhead gallery communicates by’ a short passage. This complicated system of galleries is not tunnelled out by the ants,-hut appears naturally in the fleshy tissues of the plant. The ants, however, excavate short entrance passages from the exterior, and so find their way to this ready-made nest. If an inquisitive naturalist intterferes with their living house the

ants sally forltlh and pugnaciously attack the intruder. Still more extraordinary cases arte known of the close association of (plants and ants Elabqrate though 'disputed theories have been put forward regarding the in-ter-relations of ''these strange .partners.”