Survival strategies (bulblets)

From: Ellen Hornig hornig at Oswego.EDU> on 2000.08.07 at 19:46:12(5255) On Mon, 7 Aug 2000 MAIL13A/SHU%SHU@shu.edu wrote: > The "fiend" writes - > Sue, still don't have any of those Gonadotopons in my yard, none dropped > there. That species then may have truly supernatural abilities to spread. > A thought on bulblet production and the particular success of digging > around or rototilling in propagating and increasing numbers of some of > these bulbous species: > it would seem to me that they would be excellent food for certain rooting > herbivores such as wild hogs. These may dig up the large bulbs which would > have developed an evolutionary strategy to then disseminate bulblets over a > wider area. > Bonaventure This was exactly the explanation that Rod and Rachel Saunders of Silverhill Seeds (South Africa) gave me, when they visited here, for the incredible numbers of tiny cormlets produced by some of the Drakensberg irids I grow (tritonia, gladiolus, etc). I don't remember which rooting herbivores they have there, but it's exactly as Bonaventure says: the animals eat the large corms and spread the tiny ones around. Ellen +More Ellen Hornig Seneca Hill Perennials 3712 Co. Rte. 57 Oswego, NY 13126 www.senecahill.com

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