5 AMAZING FACTS WE’VE LEARNED
FROM THE GREEN PLANET This winter, the cold, dark nights were been brightened up by The Green Planet, David Attenborough’s latest natural history epic. Here are the top moments when our preconceptions about plants were blown clean away.
We don’t normally think of plants as being particularly dynamic. They’re rooted to the spot and tend to play second fiddle to more exciting and charismatic animals. But David Attenborough’s new BBC series, The Green Planet, is showed exactly how extraordinary plants really are. New camera technology has opened up the world of plants like never before, revealing in gobsmacking detail exactly what they get up to. And scientific discoveries are challenging our notions of what plants are and how they behave. It was tough to choose, but here are five incredible things The Green Planet has taught us about plants.
1. PLANTS CAN COUNT
Carnivorous plants like sundews and pitcher plants are fascinating as they are, and the way they trap and consume insects has fuelled science fiction stories about killer plants. But Venus flytraps can actually count. Their lack of brain or central nervous system hasn’t prevented these plants from developing an ingenious way to conserve energy when waiting for a meal. The trap is triggered when an insect brushes against the exposed hairs, but the plant will wait until this has happened twice. Just once might be a false alarm. So how do Venus flytraps count? Each time a hair is triggered, it generates a wave of calcium through the trap but one wave isn’t enough to close it. If a second wave is triggered within a few seconds, then the trap will close; if not, then calcium levels return to normal until a hair is brushed again. Mind blowing. 50
2. PLANTS CAN HUNT
Venus flytraps catch insects by lying in wait, but some carnivorous plants go in search of their food. The bladderwort shown in episode two hunts among small pools of water that collect at the base of other plants. Overhead view of a cluster of bladderwort growing on a bed of dark moss. It has tightly-packed, spiralling green leaves. Bladderwort grows near plants that create pools of water in their leaves. WOKINGHAM LOCAL • APRIL / MAY 2022
