Introductory Plant Biology 9th Edition
Book Preface
Upas trees (Antiaris toxicaria), which are relatives of the common fig tree, flourish in the jungles of Java and some of the neighboring islands. There are legendary tales of people having died while sleeping beneath these tall trees or even from merely being downwind from them. Whether or not there is truth to the stories, we do know that upas trees produce a deadly sap, which for centuries has been used to tip poison arrows used in hunting. On the other hand, the cow trees of Venezuela and Brazil (e.g., Brosimum utile; Mimusops huberi) produce a sweet, nutritive latex that is relished by the natives of the region. Still other plants, such as opium poppies, produce latex that contains narcotic and medicinal drugs (Fig. 1.1).
Why do plants such as upas trees produce poisons, while parts of so many other plants are perfectly edible, and some produce spices, medicines, and a myriad of products useful to humans?
In late 1997, a fast-food chain began airing a television commercial that showed a flower of a large potted plant gulping down a steak sandwich. Most of us have seen at least pictures of Venus’s flytraps and other small plants that do, indeed, trap insects and other small animals, but are there larger carnivorous plants capable of devouring big sandwiches or animals somewhere in remote tropical jungles? Occasionally we hear or read of experiments—often associated with school science fairs—that suggest plants respond in some positive way to good music or soothing talk; conversely, some plants are said to grow poorly when exposed to loud rock music or to being harshly yelled at. Do plants really respond to their surroundings, and, if so, how and to what extent?
When a botanist friend of mine invited me to his office to see a 20-gallon glass fish tank he had on his desk, I expected to find a collection of house plants or tropical fish. Instead, I saw what at first appeared to be several small, erect sticks that had been suspended in midair with large rubber bands; there were also beakers of water in the corners. When I got closer, I could see that the “sticks” were cuttings (segments) of poplar twigs that were producing oots at one end and new shoots at the other end. The roots, however, were growing down from the tops of the cuttings, and the shoots were growing upward from the bottoms (Fig. 1.2). My friend had originally suspended the cuttings upside down, and new roots and shoots were being produced in the humid, lighted surroundings of the fish tank—regardless of the orientation of the cuttings. If I’d seen such bizarre plants in a movie, I might have assumed that the fiction writers had imagined something that didn’t exist. There right in front of me, however, were such plants, and they were real! When cuttings are separated from the parent plant how do they “know” which end is up, and why would the roots and shoots grow the way they did?
California’s huge coastal redwoods and Tasmania’s giant gum trees can grow to heights of 60 to 90 or more meters (200 to 300 or more feet). When these giant trees are cut down, there is no evidence of pumps of any kind within them. How then does water get from the roots below ground to the tops of these and other trees? How does food manufactured in the leaves get down to the roots (Fig. 1.3)? Our tropical rain forests, which occupy about 5% of the earth’s surface, are disappearing at the rate of several acres a minute as the plant life is cleared for agriculture, wood supplies (primarily for fuel), cattle ranching, and for other human activities such as mining for gold. Is the dwindling extent of our rain forests, which are home to 50% of all the species of living organisms, cause for alarm? Or will the same plant and animal life simply return if the human activities cease? There is currently much debate about global warming and the potential effects on life as we know it. Are those who proclaim that global warming will eventually have disastrous effects on modern civilization and living organisms simply exaggerating, or is there a scientific basis for the claims? What about the many forms of pollution that exist? Will we be able to either ignore or overcome the effects? Plant life constitutes more than 98% of the total biomass (collective dry weight of living organisms) of the earth. Plants and other green organisms have the exclusive capacity to produce oxygen while converting the sun’s energy into forms vital to the existence of both plant and animal life. At the same time, plants remove the large mounts of carbon dioxide given off by all living organisms as they respire. In other words, virtually all living organisms are totally dependent on green organisms for their existence.
If some major disease were to kill off all or most of the green organisms on land and in the oceans and lakes, all the animals on land, in the sea, and in the air would soon starve.
Even if some alternative source of energy were available, animal life would suffocate within 11 years—the time estimated for all the earth’s oxygen to be completely used up if it were not replaced. Just how do green plants capture the sun’s energy, use carbon dioxide, and give off oxygen? This book tries to answer these and hundreds of other questions about living organisms—particularly those pertaining to plants, fungi, and bacteria.
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