Plants: The Base of all Terrestrial Ecosystems
Flowers
A reliable indicator for species identification.Â
Bird pollinated
Hummingbird Pollinated flowers show a pattern of having bright red petals and long tubular flowers that allow the birds long slender beaks to take advantage of.
Moth pollinated
Pale yellow or white flowers that my primarily open in the evening and use strong sweet fragrances to attract moths.
Bat pollinated
Saguaro cactuses shown above can be pollinated by bats offering a large amount of nectar to attract the animals. Some plants that are exclusively pollinated by bats can have acoustic beacons that refelct bat echolocation to advertise to passing bats.
Fly pollinated
Lysichiton americanus (Skunk Cabbage) Fly pollinated smells terrible, and uses starch digestion to melt heat up and melt snow surround initial bud.
Wind pollinated
Dangling flowers of a grass species that disperse pollen by wind to other members of the same species.
Orchids
Species Specific Pollination
Hummingbird Pollinated flowers show a pattern of having bright red petals and long tubular flowers that allow the birds long slender beaks to take advantage of.
Tools and apps
There are many great guide books that can help you learn what plants you are looking at. Many guide books are organized by region or petal color.Â
Identification keys are different. They are more precise and technical comparing features of the plant that can help you identify exactly which species you have encountered.Â
A great light and compact magnifying glass that can help you get a closer look while enjoying the outdoors.
Considerations
Plants are a great entry point into learning to appreciate the biodiversity around you. They are the base of most land ecosystems on the planet, and big bonus they don’t run away.
I recommend learning flowering plants at the family level. This will help you learn the general structure of flowers families that will apply at many different locations around the globe, and help you appreciate the truly amazing deviations from the typical structure.
Bonus geology and environment are big factors that cause plants to speciate. Finding unique geology is a good way to find some truly unique and beautiful plants.
Annual
- Built for unpredictable environements
- Full lifecycle in a single year
- 6% of Herbacious Species
- Focuses energy on large amount of seeds, usually have shallow roots
Perennial
- Built for predictable environments
- Vast Majority of Herbacious Species
- Lifecycle goes beyond two years
- Focuses energy on deep roots that can last through predictable environmenal variation
Form and Function
Deserts
In deserts the limiting resource is water. Many different adaptations occur to prevent the loss of water either from evaporation or predation.
No leaves, tiny leaves or photosynthetic stems
Many spines to prevent predation
Shiny hairs as sun block
Tropical
Here the opposite is true. Sunlight is the limiting resource not water. We see adaptations for growing fast, having larger leaves or other methods of trying to grow closer to the top of the tree canopy where sunlight is more available.