Re: more on the shakey amorph

From: StellrJ at aol.com on 2001.05.24 at 03:21:48(6549) In a message dated Wed, 23 May 2001 11:16:45 AM Eastern Daylight Time, mburack@mindspring.com writes: << I swear I dont understand how these things ever made it through the evolutionary process..... what plant makes one leaf per year? Dont animals or storms destroy these things in the wild like they do in cultivation???!!!!!??? Survival for a wild plant is partly a matter of luck. If these are tropical Asian species, then perhaps they avoid storm damage by growing in non-monsoon seasons. (Or, I could be all wrong.) With animals, it is purely luck -- do they grow along the animal's habitual daily route, or not? Incidentally, in North America, the genus Trillium (Liliaceae) sends up but one growing shoot per year, with both leaves and flower. If picked, it will not grow again that year, but will wait in dormancy for the next; if picked in several consecutive years, it will die. And so, Trillium has been extirpated by browsing deer in certain areas where it would otherwise be found. Jason Hernandez +More Naturalist-at-Large

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