Re: Survival strategies (bulblets)

From: "Julius Boos" ju-bo at email.msn.com> on 2000.08.09 at 14:38:10(5266) Dear Friends, Just a quick note to add to this discussion---Dr. Guanghua Zhu, in his as yet unpublished work on the Neotropical Aroid genus Dracontium, suggests the same dispersal strategy for Dracontium, with its numerous, large bulbils located on top of some of the species` tubers. He suggests that wild Peccaries (which I like ALMOST as much as I like Warthogs!) and other animals may help to dislodge and so spread these bulbils while feeding on the starch-filled large tubers. Of course, these bulbils are also ideally suited for distrubition by humans, who transport these tubers from where they may be found to where they may travel, and when the tubers are peeled for cooking, or are being dug, these easily detached bulbils are spread! (Paper in prep. on this by me). Cheers, Julius +More >Yes, I see the attraction between the two - the voodoo lily and the warthog. But then wait a minute, I like them too ! BWM Please respond to aroid-l@mobot.org Sent by: aroid-l@mobot.org To: Multiple recipients of list AROID-L cc: Subject: Survival strategies (bulblets) 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 Ellen Hornig Seneca Hill Perennials 3712 Co. Rte. 57 Oswego, NY 13126 www.senecahill.com

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