Parasitic Plants
Parasitic plants like mistletoes have their "roots" embedded in a host plant, but their shoots, flowers and fruits are above ground, visible to pollinators and seed dispersors. But what about parasitic plants that live below ground, attacking the roots of their host plants? How does that affect their flowering and seed dispersal? Go to the "Parasitic Plant Connection" web site and on the opening page scroll down beyond "General Information" until you get to "Lists: Orders, Families and Genera" then examine the pages for the families Balanophoraceae, Hydnoracaea, and Rafflesiaceae that are linked under "Parasites of Dubious Affinity". These pages have photos of subterranean root parasites, some photos showing the pollinators. As these plants became adapted to the unusual habitat of living underground, what kinds of changes would have been adaptive with regard to flowering, fruiting and interacting with animals? Can you think of ways that these plants could detect what season it is, that is -- how do they know it is springtime and time to produce flowers?
Visit the Parasitic Plant Connection web site
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Parasitic Plants
The habitats of cacti and succulents are not quite so unusual as those of root parasites, but they do tend to be stressful -- often hot and dry. Chapters 5 Stems and Chapter 6 Leaves in your textbook discusses some of the ways that the shoots of these plants have become adapted to their habitats. But the flowers and fruits must also be adapted, or do they? Go to the "Cactus and Succulent Plant Mall" web site, scroll down the page to the link "The Cactus and Succulent Plant Mall Picture Gallery" and click on it. It will take you to links for photos of many types of succulent plants. Click on several of these and examine the types of plants and flowers shown. Think about the habitats and water conservation: what kinds of modifications to flowers might be advantageous in hot, dry climates? Are most of the flowers small or large or is there a variety. Do many of the flowers appear to have a thick cuticle or to have water-storing tissues of their own? Is it possible that they save water for blooming only briefly and then abscising quickly? If so, how do pollinator find them in time?
Visit the Cactus and Succulent Plant Mall web site
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