Let's talk about plants (botany thread)

[rachel]

Hanging out on some lithium and boron deposits where some companies want to build a strip mine and kill an endemic species that only grows on the unique substrate

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt9QgV22A_Q[/video]

[rachel]

Start a cool indoor garden by collecting wild seeds and seeing what grows

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRmSMtdAp8k[/video]

[Fishmé]

Is this real? Kinda hard to believe a plant has silicone in it?

[video]https://youtube.com/watch?v=/7yuNp5YBY1Q[/video]

[rachel]

Is this real? Kinda hard to believe a plant has silicone in it?

[video]https://youtube.com/watch?v=/7yuNp5YBY1Q[/video]

Yes, the plant is real: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrocnide_moroides

Dendrocnide moroides, commonly known in Australia as the stinging tree, stinging bush, or gympie-gympie, is a plant in the nettle family Urticaceae found in rainforest areas of Malesia and Australia. It is notorious for its extremely painful and long-lasting sting.

First thing of note: Silicon, not silicone. Silicon is a mineral, often found in sand and rocks. Silicone is a rubbery polymer, often found in bad dragons. .
.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicone

That E makes all the difference.

Moving on to the veracity of these statements, yes I looked it up and it's true. This plant uses a process called cell wall mineralization where the plant takes silicon out of the ground and uses it to create needle like structures filled with neurotoxin.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30080249/

Stinging hairs are striking examples of plant microengineering-the plant equivalent of the hypodermic syringe. The requisite mechanical properties are mostly achieved by cell wall mineralization. Stinging hairs of Urtica dioica (Urticaceae) are known to be mineralized with silica and calcium carbonate

[Fishmé]

Is this real? Kinda hard to believe a plant has silicone in it?

[video]https://youtube.com/watch?v=/7yuNp5YBY1Q[/video]

Yes, the plant is real: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrocnide_moroides

Dendrocnide moroides, commonly known in Australia as the stinging tree, stinging bush, or gympie-gympie, is a plant in the nettle family Urticaceae found in rainforest areas of Malesia and Australia. It is notorious for its extremely painful and long-lasting sting.

First thing of note: Silicon, not silicone. Silicon is a mineral, often found in sand and rocks. Silicone is a rubbery polymer, often found in bad dragons. .
.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicone

That E makes all the difference.

Moving on to the veracity of these statements, yes I looked it up and it's true. This plant uses a process called cell wall mineralization where the plant takes silicon out of the ground and uses it to create needle like structures filled with neurotoxin.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30080249/

Stinging hairs are striking examples of plant microengineering-the plant equivalent of the hypodermic syringe. The requisite mechanical properties are mostly achieved by cell wall mineralization. Stinging hairs of Urtica dioica (Urticaceae) are known to be mineralized with silica and calcium carbonate

That's fucking crazy! Wow!!

[Fishmé]

Been planting trees with Rachel. Highly recommend! (Bonus affects: it increases your mental health stats 📈)