Home / Resources and Writings / Weblog / July 2007
Plants Recognize Siblings
Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries
Canadian scientists Sue Dudley and Amanda File of McMaster University have discovered that plants of Cakile edentula (sea rocket) allocate more resources to root-growth (and are hence more competitive) when grown with non-sibling plants in the same containers. When grown with sibling plants, the plants do not show the same phenomenon. The question “How do plants recognize their siblings?” is as-yet unanswered.
Plants Recognize Their Siblings, Biologists Discover from the McMaster Daily News
Plants Can Tell Who's Who via news@nature.com
Thank you to Stannous F and Junglekeeper@UBC Botanical Garden Forums for sharing this story with me.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:32 PM
Drought Affecting Kings Park and Botanic Garden
Category(-ies): Climate Change , Other Botanical Gardens
Ongoing drought conditions (including a lack of winter rain) have started to affect the collections of the Kings Park and Botanic Garden in Perth, Australia. Thirty year old sheoaks, banksias and eucalypts are succumbing to the dry conditions, causing losses in the range of ten to twelve percent of the collections (so far).
Drought Killing Western Australia's Biggest Tourist Attraction from the Sydney Morning Herald
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 9:38 AM
Three Gorges Botanical Garden Closes
Category(-ies): Other Botanical Gardens
Xiang Xiufa, a Chongqing businessman and plant conservationist, raced to rescue rare and endangered plants that were going to be exterminated by the Three Gorges Reservoir. His efforts initially met with some success: the formation of The Three Gorges Botanical Garden for Rare and Specious Plants. After startup funding of 53000 USD was received in 2002, government funding has run dry and the garden has been forced to close, placing the plants in jeopardy once again.
Garden’s Closure Leaves Nowhere to Go for Three Gorges’ Plants by Yunwu Cao for the Worldwatch Institute
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:59 PM
