Plants

All Biocode files are based on field identifications to the best of the researcher’s ability at the time.

a simplified model of a food web containing Byrsonima arthropoda. VISIT VERA to learn more about the modeling tool and how to run simulations of your own

All Biocode files are based on field identifications to the best of the researcher’s ability at the time.

All Biocode files are based on field identifications to the best of the researcher’s ability at the time.

All Biocode files are based on field identifications to the best of the researcher’s ability at the time.

All Biocode files are based on field identifications to the best of the researcher’s ability at the time.

All Biocode files are based on field identifications to the best of the researcher’s ability at the time.

All Biocode files are based on field identifications to the best of the researcher’s ability at the time.

All Biocode files are based on field identifications to the best of the researcher’s ability at the time.

All Biocode files are based on field identifications to the best of the researcher’s ability at the time.

All Biocode files are based on field identifications to the best of the researcher’s ability at the time.

All Biocode files are based on field identifications to the best of the researcher’s ability at the time.

All Biocode files are based on field identifications to the best of the researcher’s ability at the time.

All Biocode files are based on field identifications to the best of the researcher’s ability at the time.

All Biocode files are based on field identifications to the best of the researcher’s ability at the time.

All Biocode files are based on field identifications to the best of the researcher’s ability at the time.

All Biocode files are based on field identifications to the best of the researcher’s ability at the time.

Figure 1. Phlegmariurusvanuatuensis ARF1140: A habit, leaf arrangement and fertile spikes B close up of sterile leaf arrangement showing subopposite decussate leaf arrangement and ovate-oval leaves C close up of fertile spike showing scale like sporophylls and a sporangium. Scale bar: 10 cm (A); 1 cm (B, C). Illustration by A.R.Field.

In this episode of CreatureCast, the strangler fig first avoids having to sprout in the dark understory of the rainforest by growing in the tops of the trees closer to the sun, and then avoids getting too dehydrated up there by dropping roots to the forest floor. Finally it grows back up to the top of the tree, surrounding and strangling the host tree on the way, taking advantage of the tree's structural integrity to support its own hollow body.Narration by Matt Ogburn of the Edwards lab at Brown University. Artwork and editing by Sophia Tintori. Original score by Amil Byleckie. This video was funded by the National Science Foundation grant # IOS-08432321 and is release under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 license. Check out CreatureCast.org for more stories about animals, plants and fungi.

Let’s face it—when you think of charismatic megaflora, chances are you have in mind something majestic, like a towering Sequoia, or something ancient, like a Joshua tree. But a plant with a four-foot stalk that smells like a cross between rotting stinky cheese and animal feces? This week’s podcast takes us to a sacred island off the coast of Madagascar, where an intrepid botanist braved fever and worse to bring a specimen of this unlikely botanical superstar back alive. Ari Daniel Shapiro reports. Image Credit: Amorphophallus Sp., Greg Wahlert read moreDuration: 5:29Published: Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:00:44 +0000

Species: Psilotum nudum (L.) P. Beauv. Date: 1967-12-29 Location: Sengwa Research Station, Gokwe Habitat: Growing out of rock face in very shaded gorge of a tributary of the Kove River.

Species: Asplenium lobatum Pappe & Rawson Date: 2011-12-27 Location: Road from Mt Selinda to Espungabera border post Habitat: Shade on forest floor, in ravine

Species: Iphigenia oliveri Engl. Date: 2012-01-07 Location: By the lodges, Lake Kyle Recreational Park Habitat: In thin soil over rocks

Species: Satyrium anomalum Schltr. Date: 2012-02-08 Location: Kopje Tops, Mavhuradonha Wilderness Area Habitat: Open Miombo woodland