With Halloween being just a few days past, I thought I’d share some startling, if not scary, Halloween facts about plants:
- We all know that some plants are toxic: Hemlock, Poison Ivy, etc. But we need to watch out for other plants that contain poisonous parts. Green potatoes contain a toxin called solanine. They are perfectly edible when ripe; don’t eat green ones. Tomatoes are delicious, but their stems and leaves can make you ill. Kidney beans are mildly toxic when not cooked.
- Some plants are called allelopathic, and they can release certain substances into the soil. Black walnuts, for example, contain a compound called juglone, which can make plants nearby grow poorly. Broccoli releases a substance that can affect other members of the broccoli family (cauliflower, cabbage, kale, brussels sprouts, etc.), causing them to not do well. I guess it doesn’t like competition.
- Some plants are parasites. They live off of other plants, taking moisture and nutrients away from the host plant. Mistletoe, believe it or not, is a parasite.
- Some plants, like the Sensitive Plant, can actually move quickly, thereby startling anything nearby.
- Some plants actually pretend to be something they are not. The Corpse Flower smells like rotting meat to attract carrion flies to pollinate it. The Ophrys orchid is one of the sneakiest, however. It produces a flower that closely resembles an insect called the Ophris wasp. It even emits a scent similar to the pheromones released by the female ophris wasp. Guess how that flower gets pollinated.
- Plants can communicate with each other through root systems and organic compounds. For example, when under threat from pests, some plants release chemicals that warn neighboring plants to bolster their defenses.
Now to me, all these things just make plants even more interesting. NOT scary.
Happy Three Days After Halloween!