Floridian Flowers

Disney World was great, particularly the Animal Kingdom. I wish I could take photos of all the plants and flowers there. I managed to nab a few, but we were constantly moving so I couldn't stop to take pictures of them all.

Old n' New

Yeah so we got a new plant and we don't know what it is. Its leaves spread out like a fern, it's tall and has thick stalks. Suggestions, anyone? Anyone?

That corn plant was too stunted/immature to produce anything right, so it's gone now. So are the onions, though they did make cute flowers for awhile. Matt bought new bamboo. The smaller shoots he cut off from the rotting bamboo plant ended up withering away but one of the much more bigger shoots is still growing green and strong. It's even taller than the new ones he bought.

Small, shriveled and missing.

Yesterday I passed by a small batch of corn stalks with full grown corn on them. They were obviously healthy and full sized whereas mine was the size of half my hand. GUESS THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR TRYING TO PLANT A NON-MICROWAVABLE POPCORN FROM JOLLYTIME. My guess in the end was right, although I had hoped that it would grow actual corn. It seems only one of the stalks were pollinated while others did not develop past the actual core of the husk itself.

Only one managed to grow kernels to a respectable size (no fruit on the seeds) and I picked them off and cured them. Now my next experiment: Will they actually pop?! Muahahah!

In other news, I'm pretty glad I took a botany class. I try to apply my knowledge from it into everyday stuff. Like when Sara painted a MAMESHIBA face onto a lychee seed. She was disappointed that it was really hot and the seed shriveled up, but I explained it was just inhibition and that the seed can swell up again through osmosis. SEE ARE YOU PROUD OF ME SCHWARTZ? :33

~_____~ If I could redo the class, I would. Also PS; I have no pictures because the memory card for my camera is still missing.

Corn update!

I'll post the picture later, but the corn is finally starting to bloom fruit. One of them even has silk now! :D The others are just budding. THIS IS SO EXCITING AKFJKAHFASKFJ

Petition to stop building incinerators

I signed up. Apparently there are going to be 8 or 9 more to be built in/around Boston to burn materials that could be recycled instead. Building incinerators promote pollution.

acacia trees

Some quick facts:

Have you ever heard of a plant that strongly relies on a bug to live, and vice versa? A strong symbiotic relationship such as this is the swollen/whistling thorn acacia tree (Acacia drepanolobium) and the acacia ant (there are a few species that protect, but the best bodyguard is Crematogaster mimosae).

Unlike the other acacia trees, "swollen" thorns have no alkaloids, which is what deters herbivores from eating the plant. As a result, this tree has no form of a self defense mechanism.

Instead, it provides protein lipids and nectars filled with carbohydrates that feed the acacia ants. The ants need the tree for this in order for its colony to thrive up to 100,000 times stronger, which is a LOT to be thankful about. The ants in turn support the tree by being its defense mechanism, aggressively chasing off destructive insects and animals who want to stop by for a bite. Maybe they give off pheromones that the animals can detect within a safe distance, I'm not really sure.

In the zoology section of Science News, it reported that efforts had been made to save the acacia trees for about.. I think, a decade? The trees were being tested by reducing the amount of ants and seeing if it would thrive better in order to provide more feed to the larger animals that are declining in Africa. I understand the intention, but what I don't understand is the method used for saving the trees.

I don't really care about the fact that the -importance- of this relationship was "recently discovered" after ten years. It was already noticed that the relationship between the two species is a key trait to its survival. You can even figure that out yourself within a year (with simple tests like comparing the chemicals that make up the leaves in this tree compared to other acacias that have no ants.) Fencing off animals from a tree defeats the purpose of the ants, so the ants turn to other acacia trees for their needs. As a result, the tree would adjust itself to producing LESS food in order to accomodate a smaller colony. The trees actually shrivel up and look pretty unhealthy quickly cause of this. Yeah, duh. Couldn't there have been a better strategy to this problem?

Or maybe I'm over simplifying this when it's really harder than it looks. Afterall, not all experiments are free of errors..

Unrelated

Matt and I got a new bunny. She likes being a neck pillow, and enjoys perching on your shoulder when you're at your desk.