Category Ask the Psychologist

All plants soak up energy from the sun and slurp nutrients from the dirt. But hundreds of species have developed an ability to add to their diets in sorrier soils, such as acidic swamps and rocky outcrops. They’re called carnivorous plants after their favorite food – fresh meat – which gives them the nutritional boost they need to grow leaves that capture energy from the sun. But humans have nothing to fear from these meat-eating plants. They’re deadly only to morsel-size animals, such as flies, mosquitoes, mice, lizards, frogs, and the occasional unlucky bird.

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These trees may look like they’ve been painted on, but these colors are all natural. This peculiar tree is called Eucalyptus deglupta, commonly known as the Rainbow Eucalyptus, and also known as the Mindanao Gum, or the Rainbow Gum. The multi-coloured streaks on its trunk comes from patches of outer bark that are shed annually at different times, showing the bright-green inner bark. This then darkens and matures to give blue, purple, orange and then maroon tones.

Eucalyptus deglupta is the only Eucalyptus species found naturally in the Northern Hemisphere. It grows naturally in New Britain, New Guinea, Ceram, Sulawesi and Mindanao. Now, this tree is cultivated widely around the world, mainly for pulpwood used in making paper, and also for ornamental purposes.

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These prickly plants have evolved to thrive in sunny deserts and sandy soils that would kill your average potted geranium in less than a day. You might think cacti have spines instead of leaves to jab hungry desert animals looking for a cactus snack, but that’s only half the story. The spines keep the plant from loosing water to the air. They also trap the moisture from morning mist and evening fog. The moisture condenses on the spines (like water drops on a cold soda can), then drips to the ground, where it’s soaked up by the roots. In other words, a cactus’s spines create the planet’s personal rain showers.

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The fragrance or smell of the flower plays a very important role. Insects, birds, butterflies or animals do not come to the plant knowing that they have to help them in the process of fertilization, but it is the smell of the flowers which attract these creatures. The fragrance strongly attracts the insects and brings them so close to the flower that the pollen gets stuck to their body. Then when these animals get attracted to other plants in the same manner, the pollen goes and gets fertilized with the other flower containing egg cells and results in the production of seeds. The color of the flowers also plays a very important role in attracting them. All flowers do not have a similar smell and the reason behind this is that specific flowers attract specific types of pollinators only so as to make sure that the pollen gets fertilized to the right species. Some plants like orchids have a specific smell which attracts only one pollinator and hence they totally rely on these pollinators for fertilization.

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To set the mood for shootouts at high noon in old cowboy movies, of course. Actually, tumbleweeds tumble to create future generations of tumbling tumbleweeds. The part of the tumbleweed you see blowing end over end in the breeze is actually the above ground portion of many species of desert plants. When the plant matures and dies, it breaks free from its roots in the ground and tumbles in the breeze, spreading new seeds along the way. When the seeds find suitable soil, they take root and sprout new tumbleweed.

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Leaves are colored by molecules called pigments. The pigment that causes leaves to be green is chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is important for plants to make food using sunlight. During spring and summer when there is plenty of sunlight, plants make a lot of chlorophyll.

In autumn when it starts to get cold, some plants stop making chlorophyll. Instead, those plants break down chlorophyll into smaller molecules. As chlorophyll goes away, other pigments start to show their colors. This is why leaves turn yellow or red in fall.

The color change usually happens before the leaves fall off of the tree. Why might that be? It takes a lot of energy to make chlorophyll. If the plants break down the chlorophyll and move it out of their leaves before the leaves fall, plants save energy. The plants can reabsorb the molecules that make up chlorophyll. Then, when it’s warm and sunny enough to grow again, the plants can use those molecules to remake the chlorophyll. That way the plants don’t have to make chlorophyll from scratch.

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