A prolific 'mother' spider plant that hides the two routers that we use. I am always scared when watering the plant that water will gush over the routers and instant silence on the two will happen. In fact the plant doesn't look very happy. The plantlings (actually they are called spiderettes or pups) should be repotted on.
The plant produces long specialised stems called stolons and the baby plantlets strike out from the nodes along the stolon. In fact this rebirth is in favour of the mother plant (no cross pollination?) as the plantlings extend along the long line into soil, that is if they were in the ground, the mother plant has less to exhaust itself with.
Why am I thinking about reproduction? Must have been the talk about sexual reproduction last night on late radio, which was about Desmond Morris's book called The Naked Ape written in 1967. I never read it but remember the publicity it got, perhaps I should go back and read it. Morris has written many books but lived in Swindon and his girl friend at one time was, never guess who? was Diana Dors.
This book has significantly influenced the understanding of human behavior in relation to animal behavior.
Apparently Morris went on to become a painter, fairly surrealistic and it is assumed that this painting has as the model Diana Dors.
 |
| Girl selling flowers |
You can read the Wiki here
Went off- piste there somewhat, what I was actually thinking of was the reproduction method of greenflies, I mean I know you will all be fascinated by such things ;)
"They can reproduce quickly, with many individuals developed from unfertilised eggs or parthenogenetically from female aphids.
"This is because in asexual reproduction, a successful genotype can spread quickly without being modified by sex or wasting resources on male offspring who will not give birth. Some species can produce both sexually and through parthenogenesis".
I fell in love with the word parthenogenetically along time ago and each year would remember it when I scrunched the blackfly and greenfly off the roses. Sometimes I squirted the roses with Fairy liquid. But as a balance of how livelihoods are experienced through the chain of life and how people have studied these things still gives me a sense of wonder at the intricacies of each and every aspect of life that unfolds before us, and yes I did feel guilty killing greenfly!
And just to finish look at that Longnet Stinkhorn, a fungi in Africa and see the work that is being carried out there. Fungus or plain old mushrooms will teach us about the interconnectivity of the natural world.
Edit: Reason Desmond Morris was on the radio in the middle of the night
because he had died quite peacefully on Sunday night.
I remember reading The Naked Ape, and the follow on The Human Zoo when they first came out, interesting alternative views on human behaviours.
ReplyDeleteI remember the books coming out Will but did not read them. Today I would read them but with my cynical mind in place;) Thelmax
DeleteWell, you sent me down a rabbit hole to find out who Diana Dors was. She certainly had a busy life.
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed at the things you know about, Thelma, like all of that stuff about greenflies. I don't even know what greenflies are!?!
Diana Dors was England's Marilyn Monroe. Though not as good looking Ellen. But she was always on the news, normally I think for some saucy scandal. Obviously you don't grow roses than, greenfly absolutely adore roses. Thelmax
DeleteParthenogenesis is fascinating, es[echoically when some species can reproduce both sexually and asexually. Fungi are equally interesting. I knew they were Nature's refuse collectors, but hadn't realised how important they are for life generally. They are beautiful in their own right.
ReplyDeleteThe word is just as fascinating as the act of it Janice and perhaps rather more interesting today as gender deliberations are current. Fungi has a wide distribution, some very beautiful, others, none edible like King Alfred's cake ( you can use it as a firelighter). And they are also carbon absorbing. Thelmax
DeleteI looked at the word 'echoically' with interest I think it means echoing each other.
DeleteThat stinkhorn is amazing! We have a spider plant that looks slightly younger than yours but is also very prolific with the pups. I'm trying to root one in another pot -- we'll see if it takes. From Desmond Morris and Diana Dors to greenflies! Blogging whiplash!
ReplyDeleteAnd, I missed an important piece of news, the reason I was listening in the middle of the night was in fact because Desmond Morris had died on Sunday. The spider plant offspring should take easily. Thelmax
Delete