The Big, Bad Book of Botany
Page 21
Some species of rattan produce fruits that give a red resin called dragon’s blood, used as a dye for violins and thought to have medical utility. In some Indian states, people treat the plant as a vegetable and prefer to eat it. Rattan is good for martial arts, too: long staves called baston are used for Filipino martial arts, such as eskrima, and also as striking weapons in some new and bloody full-contact combat sports. Other uses include (along with birch and bamboo) the handles in percussion mallets for vibraphones, marimbas, and xylophones, and for the stems used on high-end umbrellas.
However, as a result of over-exploitation, such as the harvesting of immature plants before they seed, forest degradation threatens to endanger many rattan species. The rush for immediate economic gain can affect the whole ecosystem in these tropical regions. Also, the processing of rattan with toxic chemicals affects the soil, air, and water resources of its growing areas, which can seriously shrink these once-suitable habitats.
Rattan Punishments
Rattan sticks were once a tool for corporal punishment in English and Welsh schools. The infamous ritual that accompanied this act required the student to drop his trousers or lift her skirt, bend over a table, and receive the whacks from the rattan on his or her butt. Even today, some schools in Malaysia, Singapore, and a few African countries use rattan for this purpose. It’s still a punishment employed by the Singapore armed forces, as well as a judicial corporal punishment allowed in Brunei, Singapore, and Malaysia. The greater the crime, the thicker the rattan used for castigation.
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Wooden Leg
Recent discoveries suggest rattan has spectacular potential as a bone replacement. Called “wood to bone,” this process produces artificial bones for people by first placing small pieces of rattan in a furnace and then mixing them with calcium and carbon. This produces a close replica of bone material, which bodies do not seem to reject—a truly amazing feat. European Union countries plan to start using these “wood” implants in 2015.
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REDWOOD
Sequoioideae
Ambassador from Another Time
This redwood genera subfamily of the family Cupressaceae gives us the biggest, tallest, and most massive trees in the known history of the planet. The world record is held by a Sequoiadendron giganteum, measured at 311 feet tall and 56 feet in diameter. The oldest known living redwood (according to its ring counting) is 3,500 years old. Redwood is an ancient taxon: a Sequoia jeholensis has shown up in deposits dating from the Jurassic era. The fossils have shown that the genera originated in the northern parts of the globe, which conclusion is supported by genera of redwood found in the Arctic Circle, northern Europe, and North America, as well as throughout Asia and Japan. Its evolutionary adaptation shows that as the climate was changing, the species migrated southward to survive. Could this impulse for life be attributed to an unfathomable type of consciousness among plants?
There are three known redwood species: the first two are Sequoia sempervirens and Sequoiadendron giganteum, from California and Oregon, which are the largest in the world; the third, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, found in China, is a much smaller species. All are endangered, which means we are on the verge of losing some of the oldest and tallest plant forms on the planet, purely as a result of humans—supposedly the most enlightened forms of consciousness ever to walk the planet. Actually, the Chinese Metasequoia is so rare, it was considered extinct until a forester found one in 1948, in the Hubei region; luckily he didn’t cut it down. Attempts to reestablish it are under way.
There are two California redwood species, as well as the Chinese redwood from 1948, that people have successfully cultivated in habitats far beyond their native areas. These attempts were successful, so today some redwoods can be found in botanical gardens, public parks, and private lands within similar climates throughout the world, particularly in the northwestern and eastern United States and some areas in China, the United Kingdom, and Germany, all of which gives hope for further migration and adaptation of the species.
Redwoods reproduce both sexually and asexually through layering, sprouting buds, or lignotubers, which are woody burls or knobs that form on the root crown. The seeds appear after the tenth year of age, when large crops are frequent, although the feasibility of the tree producing seeds is very low. Redwoods reproduce primarily by burls, which occur as lignotubers appearing on the tree, usually 10 feet below the soil surface; burls sprout into new plants when detached from the mother tree, particularly after a forest fire, although botanists still do not fully understand the process. Redwoods actually benefit from flooding and flood deposits, which can result in rapid growth. Throughout its evolution, the species have obviously learned to use everything possible to survive.
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Silence and Awe
The great John Steinbeck wrote about the redwood: “The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always. No one has ever successfully painted or photographed a redwood tree. The feeling they produce is not transferable. From them comes silence and awe. It’s not only their unbelievable stature, nor the color, which seems to shift and vary under your eyes, no, they are not like any trees we know, they are ambassadors from another time.”
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The Top 10
Here is a list of the largest known redwoods, with their name, height, diameter, volume, and location, as measured in 2009.
1.The Lost Monarch: 321 feet tall, 26.0 feet in diameter, 42,500 cubic feet, located in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, Crescent City, California.
2.Melkor: 349 feet tall, 22.4 feet in diameter, 39,100 cubic feet, in Redwood National Park, Crescent City, California.
3.Iluvatar: 300 feet tall, 20.5 feet in diameter, 37,500 cubic feet, in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Orick, California.
4.Del Norte Titan: 307 feet tall, 23.7 feet in diameter, 37,200 cubic feet, in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.
5.El Viejo del Norte: 324 feet tall, 23.0 feet in diameter, 35,400 cubic feet, in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.
6.Howland Hill Giant: 330 feet tall, 19.8 feet in diameter, 33,580 cubic feet, in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.
7.Sir Isaac Newton: (strange name, as redwoods don’t produce apples) 299 feet tall, 22.5 feet in diameter, 33,192 cubic feet, in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.
8.Terex Titan: 270 feet tall, 21.3 feet in diameter, 32,384 cubic feet, in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.
9.Adventure Tree: 334 feet tall, 16.5 feet in diameter, 32,140 cubic feet, in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.
10.Bull Creek Giant: 339 feet tall, 22.3 feet in diameter, 31,144 cubic feet, in Humboldt Redwood State Park, Weott, California.
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RHODODENDRON
Rhododendron ferrugineum
“The Day We Were Lying Among the Rhododendrons”
The ancient Greek name for rhododendron means “rose tree,” most probably arising from the Greeks’ tendency to classify all beautiful flowers simply as “roses.” The spectacular flowers of the rhododendron, however, deserve poetic descriptions all their own; theirs is a different kind of beauty, not as mysterious as the rose’s, but gentler, purer, and more innocent. It is a genus with about 1,000 species of mostly woody plants of the heath or heather family, Ericaceae; some are evergreen or deciduous, but nearly all bear large flowers. There are also two subgenera of rhododendron, the more famous of which is Azalea, which botanically differs by containing more anthers per flower. Rhododendron is native to Asia, Europe, North America, and Australia, while the highest diversity is found in the Himalayas (it is the national flower of Nepal) and East Asia. Most people grow the tree for its flowers, which usually bloom in spring; the deciduous rhododendrons give flowers both in spring and autumn.
Some rhododendrons grow as shrubs of less than 5 feet tall, while some are large trees, such as the Rhododendron protistum var. giganteum, which soars up to 98 feet high. Generally, leaves
appear in spirals, about ½ inch long in the small species, but can be as large as 23 inches long in some varieties—like the Rhododendron sinogrande. Some rhododendrons have their leaves covered with scales or hairs on the underside. The most valued species have many leaf clusters, bearing large flowers.
Sometimes, beauty isn’t enough, and certain species of rhododendrons have earned the classification “invasive.” Rhododendron ponticum in Great Britain is one such example; this variety dominates other plants because of its wide-spreading roots, which constantly give new shoots and outcompete other species for resources. Rhododendrons have fibrous roots and prefer well-drained, highly organic soils; cultivation requires mulching and careful watering before the plant is established. So much is the plant beloved that people have produced 28,000 hybrids of the species to date.
Some rhododendrons are even edible. In Nepal people use the flowers for their sour taste. Fresh or dried flowers have also found their way into fish curries, as many believe this combination makes their bones softer, more supple, and less likely to break. In the state of Uttarakhand, India, people make rhododendron juice called buran, which is also the Indian name for rhododendron.
The tree’s flowers have significant cultural symbolism. Certain types serve as national flowers (or trees) in the Indian states of Kashmir and Sikkim, while in the United States the so-called mountain laurel, or Kalmia latifolia, is the state flower of Pennsylvania.
In the famous James Joyce novel Ulysses, the flower plays an important and symbolic role in Molly and Leopold’s courtship. In a soliloquy, Molly remembers: “The sun shines for you he said the day we were lying among the rhododendrons on Howth head in the grey tweed suit and his straw hat the day I got him to propose to me.” The rhododendrons’ beautiful flowers have of course been the source of much inspiration in the world of literature. British author Jasper Fforde, for example, has used the rhododendron as a motif in most of his books.
Sherlock’s Toxin
Despite its symbolism of innocent love and simple beauty, some rhododendrons have a toxic element. Their pollen and nectar contain grayanotoxin, poisonous to grazing animals and to humans. Xenophon, for example, describes a strange behavior of Greek soldiers who had consumed honey in a village surrounded by rhododendrons. The Pompeiian soldiers had similar problems from honey produced by bees feeding on rhododendron flowers. Such problems had been reported in Turkey in the 1980s. The most suspected species with this toxic nectar are Rhododendron ponticum and Rhododendron luteum, both from Asia Minor. This effect of rhododendron was mentioned in the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes, in which the master detective considers the plant’s ability to help a person fake a death.
ROSE
Rosa
Beauty Itself
The rose is inspiration, legend, myth, divine scent, and transcendence, made all the more mysterious by its guard of thorns. There are 100 species in the genus Rosa, all bearing flowers of immense symbolic importance. This plant seems to require deeper speculation than other plants: What is beauty, the rose asks, and why does it exist? Can something truly beautiful be innocent? These reflections have permeated numerous cultures and made the rose a perfect symbol of beauty. Unlike other flowers, which may be merely pretty, roses seem to encapsulate the irony that all beauty is fleeting and often accompanied by thorns, or a terrible danger of some kind.
The rose belongs to the genus Rosa (Rosaceae family), which grow as shrubs or climbing (trailing) plants, with stems containing sharp thorns that are actually prickles. Its scientific name comes from the Latin rosa, derived from the Old Greek rhodon. Species vary in size, and their flowers come in a spectrum of white, red, burgundy, yellow, and (rarely) lavender. There are now numerous hybrids that boast different color combinations, even a pure blue one. The plant is native to Asia, northwest Africa, Europe, and North America—the most characteristically rose-shaped variety is from a species commonly called American Beauty. Rose bushes can grow up to 21 feet tall. After the flowers bloom, the bush produces red fruits, called rose hips or rose hep, which are rich with vitamin C. Rose hips are food for some birds (thrushes, finches, waxwings), which aid in dispersing the seeds.
In addition to the flowers’ beauty, roses have a sweet fragrance that has long been used as a perfume. Bulgaria and Iran produce what are considered the best rose perfumes; these usually employ the Damask rose (Rosa damascena), which originated in Syria. The perfumes are made from rose oil, also known as attar. The technique requires collecting a mixture of volatile essential oils from the stem and a distillation of the petals of roses. It takes about 2,000 flowers to yield only 1 gram of rose oil!
Roses are also sometimes used in foods and drinks. Hips are an ingredient in jelly, marmalade, tea, and syrup, as well as in rose hip seed oil, used for skin and makeup products. Syrup made from rose petal extract is widely popular in France; Americans use it to make marshmallows and scones. Rose flowers are also used for flavoring some meals. A traditional English confection is rose cream, which is a rose-flavored condiment, covered in chocolate and topped with crystallized petals. Medicinal applications are minor, though traditional Chinese medicine makes extensive use of Rosa chinensis for stomach problems.
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Which Color Do You Prefer?
From a sociocultural and symbolic point of view, rose colors carry nearly universal meanings. The red rose represents love, romance, beauty, and perfection; the white one means innocence and purity; the burgundy rose symbolizes grace, elegance, admiration, appreciation, and joyfulness; the yellow rose expresses warmth, friendship, and happiness; orange is for desire, enthusiasm, passion, excitement, and fervent romance; while the amazing lavender rose is a symbol of enchantment and love at first sight.
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SANDBOX TREE
Hura crepitans
Don’t Mess with Me
The sandbox tree is one of two species (Hura crepitans and Hura polyandra) of the large family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to tropical regions of South America, the Caribbean, Mesoamerica, the Amazon rain forest in Brazil, China, and Australia, and grows best in wet soil and partially shaded areas. Sandbox trees grow up to 195 feet and have ovate (egg-shaped) leaves, with shiny purple blossoms that are more than 2 feet in width. The trunk of the tree has dark, pointed thorns, which are 1 to 1½ inches wide at their base, and act as a sort of natural barbed wire. Because of this feature, many have come to call the trees “monkey no-climb trees.”
Sandbox flowers are red in color, but have no petals. Female flowers blossom at the axil (the space between leaf and stem or branch), whereas the male flowers grow on the long spikes and also have no petals. Flower stalks are up to 5 inches long. The tree’s fruit is a large, pumpkin-shaped seed capsule, which explodes violently when ripe. This launches the seeds all around at a speed of 160 miles per hour and to incredible distances of 300 feet. The fruit of this plant is literally a bomb! The shrapnel of this botanical capsule contains flattened, circular seeds, with dolphin-shaped sections. From its burstlike strategy of seed dispersal, the tree is sometimes also called the dynamite tree.
In some regions, people use sandbox wood to make furniture, called hura. Fishermen use its milky, caustic sap to poison fish. In the Caribbean, arrows dipped in its toxic sap, or latex, were once a staple of hunts. Before the advent of fountain pens, the unripe seedpods of the trees were cut in half, with each half used to make a pen, hence the name. In the past, people cultivated these trees for medicinal and ornamental purposes. The latex even proved useful for addressing decayed teeth; with a small dab of the latex, an aching tooth will fall out on its own within hours. The sap also proved useful in treating rheumatism and killing intestinal worms. The United States even uses the sap in the manufacture of tear gas shells. Others have used it to great effect as a treatment for leprosy, as it dries the lacerations caused by the disease. The plant can also cause a skin disease called dermatitis, however, when skin is exposed to the sap for only a short period of time. Lumberjacks who cut this tree m
ust wear face masks to take extra care to cover their eyes because the sap can cause temporary blindness. This is one tree that employs serious warrior tactics, both chemical (sap) and physical (sharp thorns), to ensure its survival.
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Known Properties
Sandbox trees were introduced as boulevard trees to decorate urban landscapes, since they are hardy enough to grow in polluted environs and between buildings. However, their poisonous leaves, bark, and exploding capsules frequently caused injury to humans and livestock, making the sandbox one of the most ferocious trees in existence. Serious stomachache, vomiting, diarrhea, temporary problems in vision, and rapid heartbeat result when humans ingest the seeds.
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SATAN’S APPLE
Mandragora officinarum
Just One Bite
Mandragora officinarum is a species of plant native to central and southern Europe. Historically, people have associated the plant with a variety of superstitious practices. Satan’s apple, or mandrake, is actually a common name that is given to plants that belong to the nightshade family. It is a very pretty plant, with attractive flowers that grow in the middle of huge, beautiful green leaves. These flowers remain in bloom for more than a month; the plant retains its leaves even during milder winters, an uncommon ability that adds to this plant’s mystery. The tree can self-pollinate, since it has both the male and female parts (also known as a hermaphrodite or having hermaphroditic capabilities) that generally pollinate with the help of insects.