Stir It Up
How crazy is it, really though, that a plant knows to grow in a perfect spiral order? My plant sprouts a new big leaf every 2-3 weeks, and it just knows exactly how to fall to make the perfect pattern. It looks so simple, but it still boggles my mind. Even if you read some of the science of it,
Roots and young leaves are major sites of gibberellin production. Gibberellins stimulate growth in both the leaves and the stem, but they have little effect on root growth. In stems, gibberellins stimulate cell elongation and cell division. In a growing stem, gibberellins and suxin must be acting simultaneously in some synergistic manner we do no yet understand.
-Campbell, Reece, Mitchell. Biology 5th Edition. 1999.
That doesn't really explain anything, does it? It just creates more questions. For example, "how the hell do gibberellins know what they are doing!"Even the scientist says, "we do not yet understand." Hehe.
posted by Ash D at 11:11 a.m.
8 Comments:
Bla bla bla bla bla.
-Andrew
Hehe, just kidding...trying to pass some time at work.
I asked that question too. How do the plants know that they're supposed to grow like, and how do the cells know where they are in the plant to grow that way. It's a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a riddle.
how do my arms know not to grow on top of each other? what happened to those people with both ams on the same side(freaks)?
why don't my arms grow in a spiral?
oh, i figured it out in, like, third or fourth grade. i'm just not tellin'.lennie
haha. Luke wouldn't it be funny though if we did grow arms ina sprial around our body. Oh the possibilities!
And Lennie. I'm soooo stealing your hat at recess.
See the arms thing you can explain with Darwin. People with both arms on one side probably didn't/wouldn't survive as well...or reproduce as much.
But plant spirals is a bit harder. I can't really see the plants with the perfect spirals being able to reproduce more offspring then those with the choppy spirals.
You make me sick. I thought that we left all that hidoeus Botany behind when we left UPEI....I think i'll go and try to keep from blowing chunks. HAHA. It's nice to see you post more, keep's me having something to read.
If you have arms in a spiral pattern around your body, giving high-fives would be awsome! youd me your friends and twirl on the spot to greet each other...damn that would be sweet.
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