Kevin Frediani

Curator of Plants and Gardens

Paignton Zoo Environmental Park

Totnes Road

Paignton

Devon

TQ4 7EU

Telephone: 01803 697525

Fax: 01803 523457

www.paigntonzoo.org.uk

Paignton Zoo Environmental Park is a registered charity. Registered office: Paignton Zoo Environmental Park, Totnes Road, Paignton, Devon TQ4 7EU. Registration number 792877. Registered charity number 300923. Place of incorporation: Companies House, Cardiff.

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From: AZH@... [mailto:AZH@...] On Behalf Of Rob Halpern
Sent: 12 October 2009 17:03
To: AZH Discussion
Subject: [AZH] ZHCD Botanical NEWS for October [1 Attachment]

Celebrating Plants and the Planet:

October and a botanist's thoughts turn to beautiful autumn leaves and terrifying Halloween-themed plants and creeping insects. Makes sense, right?

This month's links at www.zooplantman.com (NEWS/Botanical News) are all about bugs, beginning with autumn leaves but quickly morphing into the evil deeds of plants:

·         Red autumn color dominates North America while yellow dominates in Europe. Is the red a relict of a battle between plants and insects that ended 35 million years ago?

·         From a region rich in carnivorous plants comes the baddest one of all: the pitcher plant that eats rats!

·         When eating the occasional ant wasn't good enough, Venus Flytraps evolved to take on bigger prey. 

·         And when prey weren't enough, pitcher plants evolved to become the toilets of tree shrews (Yes! Video included!)

·         Cycads are not content to attract pollinating insects. Male cones eventually drive off thrips while female cones then lure them in.

So many people have written to say how much they appreciate these stories that we have created a new web site specifically for them! Now you can find all the past stories by category, or share with educators, students, or fans of strange Nature: www.plantworldnews.com

Finally, congratulations to The Minnesota Zoo and the terrific design team responsible for the 2009 AZA Top Exhibit Award winning "Russia's Grizzly Coast."

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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