Creepy Plant Creatures Keep On Growing

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“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” - John Muir

A television program about plants caught my attention recently. Time lapse cinematography sped up their growth and exposed the plants as living entities reaching for the sun and driven to survive. The film unmasked what at first glance appeared to be harmless leafy limbs with pretty petal faces. A closer look showed most foliage is ferociously determined to propagate. This is certainly true of the morning glory (top left) I spotted at Crescent Beach. The cone shaped flower that I wrote about earlier grows on vines by the hundreds of thousands. Not just in my neighborhood, it overtakes unattended gardens with roots that stealthfully creep underground throughout our world.

The program gave me new insight into the dangling flower (above) that I held as it fluttered strangely like a captured exotic bird about to snap at my fingers. Whether a steely tangle of roots strangling rival species embedded in the soil or seeds hitching a ride on the slightest breeze to far off destinations, the spectacle of these living organisms (revealed by the film's quickened time frame) was breathtaking.

Formidable as any prehistoric beast or creature currently in the wild, plants are trampled upon by humankind and hacked to pieces yet they live on and thrive quietly adapting. Even a sliver of dirt on the pavement provides a nest from which to grow.

For the most part the marvelous transformations and survival tactics of plants go unnoticed. In the end, they crave what people need ... sunlight, soil, air and water. They grow, move, reproduce and eat.

We invite select plants into our homes. And while some taste good enough to eat, others like the aloe vera could even heal us.


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Comments

  1. Sallie (FullTime-Life)July 28, 2019 at 5:19 PM

    This was so interesting Maria ... I would love to see that film...I have often marveled at plants that win the battle to survive in harsh conditions ... way up in the high desert for instance or blooming in dark mountainside crevices. I marveled at this post as well! (On a mundane note, back in our previous life when we gardened, I honestly wished an horrid fate to our back fence neighbor who planted morning glory *on purpose*. I still have nightmares about untangling that darn vine from my rhododendron bushes.)

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  2. Lady FiJuly 29, 2019 at 12:00 PM

    I like that red dangling flower!

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  3. DeniseinVAJuly 29, 2019 at 12:16 PM

    That was very interesting, thanks Maria :) I would enjoy the film very much and enjoyed your beautiful photos also.

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  4. eileeninmdJuly 29, 2019 at 12:19 PM

    Hello, the time lapse images are beautiful to see. The red flowers are lovely and I like the pretty morning glory. Enjoy your day, wishing you a happy new week!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hootin AnniJuly 29, 2019 at 2:49 PM

    Wow.

    Not only beautiful images, but such information was astounding.

    ReplyDelete
  6. David M. Gascoigne,July 29, 2019 at 2:56 PM

    Plants are indeed amazing organisms, Maria. It is a long time since I took undergraduate plant biology, but I have recently been reacquainting myself with it, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I remembered. The documentary that you watched sounds very worthwhile. I will keep my eyes open for it. Some of the stuff that Attenborough did in one or more of his remarkable series was very compelling, so if you get a chance to view those I am sure you would enjoy them.

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    Replies
    1. Penelope NotesJuly 29, 2019 at 3:08 PM

      This was a particularly good documentary on PBS (Public Broadcasting Station) that took us through to the different survival tactics of plants from around the world. Unfortunately, all I remember is the word “plant” in the title and I’ve not been able to find the exact one online yet. If I find it I'll add its link to this post.

      Delete
  7. Fun60July 30, 2019 at 5:47 AM

    The top creeper, bindweed, as it is known here is the bane of my life. Its growth rate is incredible and it can wrap itself around a plant in next to no time. It is impossible to eliminate it from the garden.

    ReplyDelete
  8. colleenJuly 30, 2019 at 7:24 AM

    Nice shots. I reach for the sun too!

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  9. GattinaJuly 30, 2019 at 12:17 PM

    Beautiful pictures ! Here we all changed and leave blooming weeds for the bees because they nearly disappeared and they are so important for us. Now you see some blooming weeds on the lawn a corner in the parks and even on the highways ! Looks colorful and really nice !

    ReplyDelete
  10. Carol @Comfort Spring StationAugust 5, 2019 at 12:08 PM

    The film sounds great and you have shared beautiful photos

    ReplyDelete

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