Celebrating Plants and the Planet:

Summer has come to the North, so I offer cool plant stories. (OK, they've all been cool, right? Right?)

July links at www.zooplantman.com  (NEWS/Botanical News) take you to plant stories to amaze and delight.

·         Maple seeds are fun to stick on the end of your nose or watch twirl in the breeze. Researchers playing with them have uncovered just how they can fly so efficiently so far (cool video included).

·         Plants sometimes "clone" themselves. And when they do, the clones communicate with each other for their mutual benefit!

·         White-capped sparrows keep their songs fresh and change them as their habitat grows. 

·         Where are the tallest trees generally found and why are they tallest there? It took a study of 7,000 species to answer that question.

·         Pacific North American forest trees are dying off at astonishing rates, changing habitats for thousands of species. What's behind it? (No, not amazing nor delightful.)

Getting back to delight, then: like the sparrows you can change your song! Here's a perfect toy to amuse you: http://lab.andre-michelle.com/tonematrix

Please share these stories with associates, staff, docents and -- most importantly -- visitors! Remember, over a hundred other stories can be found in the archive section of the website.

Rob

Zoo Horticulture

Consulting & Design

Greening design teams since 1987

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