Re: The Private Life Of Plants
Frank Udovicic (franku@pican.pi.csiro.au)
Thu, 24 Aug 1995 09:55:48 +1000 (EST)
G'Day everyone,
It seems that for once Australia is ahead of America!
The Private Life Of Plants series started here on August 12. (For any
Aussies, it is on Saturdays, 7.30pm, ABC). Two episodes have been
screened so far, and they were both great. The camera work is amazing.
The first episode was about plants moving around via seeds, runners etc.
The second episode was about how plants grow and included CPs! They
showed VFTs and Sarracenia flava. In the mouth of one of the Sarras
there was a small frog waiting for insects; quite clever, but risky too.
They showed ants sipping on nectar at the rim too. Then they showed a
variety of Nepenthes, including N. rajah. My favourite part was when
they showed a couple of pitchers developing in slow motion-especially
seeing the lids open and the rim fold back. There was probably about
five minutes on CPs.
Slow motion photography is one of the highlights of the shows
so far. It is amazing how they can film a plant growing over days and
there seems to be no fluctuation in the lighting. They have also
incorporated some great computer simulations, eg. the viewer has the
point of view of a water molecule, starting in the soil, going into the
roots, going up through the xylem (wood in the trunk) and finally into
the leaves and out through stomata (breathing pores in the leaves).
To summarise.....it is a great series and I'm sure anyone interested in
CPs or other plants would enjoy it. I have seen the book of the series
in bookshops here and it has a few pages on CPs, including a couple of
photos. It has pictures of CPs on the covers too!!
Frank Udovicic
PS. Thanks to all the people who replied to my question about growing
Cobral Lilies. It was a great response and very helpul:)