Catalogue of Plants
By: Darcy Schnarr
Name and Picture
Strangler Fig:
Scientific Name of
Plant
Genus: Ficus
Species Examples:
F. Obtusifolia
F. Nympaelfolia
Orchid:
Genus Examples:
Bulbopyhllum
Epidendrum
Dendrobium
Species Examples:
B. beccarii
E. fulgens
Growing Location
Defense Mechanism
Key/Unique Characteristics About Plant
The strangler fig
grows by wrapping
itself around a tree
trunk and creating a
shell around the trunk
of the tree.
Fig trees grow very
quickly and take over a
forest by killing their
hosts.
The seeds of the
strangler fig are very
resilient often surviving
the journey through an
animal’s digestive tract
and making it out the
other side to grow a
new plant.
Orchids grow in a
variety of different
locations including on
other plants such as
trees as well as on the
ground in dirt, on
nearly bare rock or
rocky terrain.
The color of the orchids
helps orchids to attract
the animals which help
it spread it’s pollen to
fertilize the eggs in
other flowers.
Most strangler figs will, after getting
their roots into the ground, grow a
very dense shell around their host tree.
Due to the leaves of the fig blocking
sunlight and the roots of the fig
competing with the roots of the host,
the host tree will often die. This leaves
a hollow fig ”tree” left by the shell of
the fig.
The fruit of a strangler fig grows
almost year round providing food for
birds, bats and other mammals all year
long.
Orchids have very specialized methods
of pollination. This means that Orchids
are not pollinated easily. Therefore,
when they do pollinate, they do in en
masse. In one pollination, they can
fertilize thousands of eggs.
Some species of orchids cannot
photosynthesize. They instead rely on
parasitism using soil fungi.
Pitcher Plant:
Genus Examples:
Heliamphora
Nepenthes
Species Examples:
H. pulchella
H. ionasi
N. edwardsiana
N. rowanae
Pitcher Plants grow
mainly in three
locations including in
the canopy of their
ecosystem, growing
off the trunks of trees,
and on the ground in
forest clearings.
Teak Tree:
Species Name:
Tectona grandis
The teak tree grows
natively in southeast
Asia but it has been
introduced to the
Caribbean as well as
Africa.
Calabash:
Species Name:
Lagenaria siceraria
Lagenaria vulgaris
The calabash is a
gourd that grows on a
vine. It is one of the
world’s first cultivated
plants and was likely
brought over from
Africa, Asia and
Europe to the
Americas.
Pitcher Plants have
developed many
different ways of
digesting their prey.
Some use bacteria
washed into their tubes
by rain to digest their
prey while others
produce enzymes to
break down the insects.
Some even have insect
larvae in them that eat
the prey. The plant
then digests the
excrement of these
larvae.
The Teak Tree contains
many natural oils that
protect it from being
eaten or damaged by
termites and other
bugs. Teak wood is
very strong and very
durable.
Pitcher Plants are carnivorous plants
that have developed a variety of ways to
catch their prey. One of the most unique
is a simple leaf with a sticky substance
on it. When an insect lands on it, it
cannot escape and is literally digested
through the leaf. Another method
involves a long tube shaped leaf with
hairs that point downwards allowing the
incest to get in but not out.
The Calabash has been
discovered to possess
slightly cytotoxic traits.
This means that certain
substances in the
Calabash are toxic to
cells.
The Calabash gourd, if harvested when it
is young and soft, can be used as a
vegetable whereas if it is harvested when
the gourd is more mature, it can be dried
out and used as a container for liquids
primarily but is also used for the
production of musical instruments and
pipes.
The Teak Tree is grown in plantations in
southeast Asia and it is becoming much
larger in Costa Rica as well.
The flowers that grow on the Teak Tree
between June and August have the slight
tendency to go from being male to
female or, in other words, they are
protandrous.
Air Plants:
Scientific name:
Epiphyte
Examples include:
Tillandsia
recurvate
Guzmania
lingulata
Air Plants grow trunk
or branch of another
plant, usually a tree.
Air Plants are
Air plants have the
obvious advantage of
being high enough off
the ground that land
predators that cannot
climb cannot reach
them. At the same time
they often do not grow
in the canopy of trees
keeping them away
from the many species
that live there.
Many Air Plants have developed unique
ways of attaching themselves to the
hosts they grow on. Some Air Plants
roots have claw-like hairs covering them
allowing them to attach to the trees
much like Velcro while others roots
secrete glue-like substances that keep
them literally stuck to the tree.
Resurrection Fern:
Species Name:
Pleopeltis
polypodioides
The Resurrection Fern
is an Air Plant
meaning it grows the
outside of other
plants.
The spores of the fern
rest on the bottom of
the fern leaf and, when
the conditions are right,
are released and attach
to wet tree branches to
grow new ferns.
The resurrection fern receives it’s
nutrients and all it needs to survive from
the air and water around it as well as the
nutrients that gather on the bark of the
host it is living on.
Angel’s Trumpet Tree:
Genus:
Brugmansia
The Angel’s Trumpet
Tree is native to South
and Central America.
They grow best in
very sunny
environments.
All the species in the
Brugmansia genus are
extremely toxic if eaten
by animals including
humans. This applies to
all parts of the plants
including the leaves,
plants, branches and
bark.
The flowers of the Angel’s Trumpet
Trees can grow very long in length
allowing only specific animals to spread
their pollen.
The toxic properties of the Angel’s
Trumpet Tree are important parts of
many tribes rituals for becoming a
shaman.
Species Examples:
B. arborea
B. aurea
B. versicolor
Coconut:
Sensitive Plant:
Species:
Cocos nucifera
Species:
Mimosa pudica
The Coconut grows on
a tree known as the
coconut palm which
grows almost
everywhere in the
tropics including
regions in Central
America and South
America.
Coconuts have
extremely hard shells
with many layers that
protect the single seed
inside the fruit until it
is ready to be released.
This shell prevents
animals or other
outside factors from
damaging the shell
until it is ready to
grow.
The endosperm or “meat” of a coconut
can be eaten and, in less mature
coconuts, there is a substance called
coconut water that can be drank. The
meat of a coconut provides energy but
is rather high in fat.
The Sensitive Plant is
native to South and
Central America.
When touched, the
leaves on the plant
quickly close and move
towards each other.
Scientists believe that
this occurs to either
scare predators or
shake off insects
looking to eat the plant.
The Sensitive Plant responds to
stimulation by touch, it is sensitive to
heat and also being shaken by the wind
or an animal. The flowers it grows are
globe shaped and a pink or pale purple
color.
Works Cited
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http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/568081/strangler-fig - Encyclopedia Britannica: Strangler Fig
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchidaceae#Ecology - Wikipedia: Orchidaceae
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitcher_plant - Wikipedia: Pitcher Plant
http://www.botany.org/carnivorous_plants/ - Botanical Society of America
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teak - Wikipedia: Teak Tree
http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/23/5/893.full - Oxford Journals: Reconstructing the Origins and Dispersal of the Polynesian
Bottle Gourd
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calabash - Wikipedia: Calabash
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphyte - Wikipedia: Epiphyte
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleopeltis_polypodioides - Wikipedia: Pleopeltis polypodioides
http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/4h/Resurrection_fern/resufern.htm - Florida Forest Plants: Resurrection Fern
http://www.botanical-journeys-plant-guides.com/angel-trumpet-plant.html - Angel Trumpet Plant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brugmansia#Plant_Registration - Wikipedia: Brugmansia
http://www.coconutresearchcenter.org/ - Coconut Research Page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut - Wikipedia: Coconut
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimosa_pudica - Wikipedia: Mimosa pudica
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLTcVNyOhUc - Youtube: Mimosa Pudica – The Sensitive Plant