AMAZING PLANTS 60 pictures avalaible TEXT Pedro LIMA To Eat and Drink, Extreme Forms of Plants are ready for anything! In the course of Evolution, certain groups of vegetal life have been randomly endowed with peculiar strategies and tactics so as to find water or nutrients to sustain themselves, which are beyond imagination. From the rarest specimens to the most common plants, all of these rather clever plants display a show of intelligence which makes us wonder. And to think that they have no idea at all of their own cleverness! Here is a series of examples collected in real life situation thanks to electronic microscopic scanning photography. pascal@goetgheluck.com / 7, rue François Quesnay 78490 MÉRÉ, France / tél : 33 (0)1 34 86 03 48 / fax : 33 (0)1 34 86 00 44 / www.goetgheluck.com
Aridity, clouds and vegetation. Water tanks dug by the natives of the Canaries at the foot of the Laurel trees. 005903 005901 006010 005902 005900 An ancient representation of the Garoé. Hierro island - Canaries. Tillandsia x victoriae. Tillandsia ionantha. Young plant growing up on a fellow creature. Tillandsia funckiana. Tillandsia. The plant harnesses water from the drizzle. Tillandia streptophylla. Tillandsia. Water is trapped under the scaly on the surface of the plant. 009507 031697 005906 005907 009510 Tillandsia usneoïdes. A colony of hundreds of plants living on air. Lythops full to bursting. Fenestria. The upper part of the plant collect the least drop of dew. Fenestria in bloom. Fenestria. The upper part of the leaf captures the tiniest drop of water. 009509 033961 033955 035083 033956
Argyroderma. «Living stone». Phalaenopsis sp. Orchid flowers. Far East. Orchid seeds viewed through an electronic scanning microscope. Orchid seed surrounded by a mushroom s mycelium. The plant needs this mushroom to germinate. Young shoots of an orchid growing on their mother s stem. Aerial roots are ready yet to collect water. 033959 013040 033951 033963 026825 Orchid s root on the bark of a tree. The whitish part is covered with cells capable of storing water like a sponge. Orchid s root on the bark of a tree. The whitish part is covered with cells capable of storing water like a sponge. Section of Orchid s root to show the tubes of the water tanks in this epiphyte flower. Viscum album. Mistletoe on poplar tree. Europe. Viscum album. Mistletoe. Germination of the seeds on a maple tree branch. Europe. 031780 031596 033962 008226 002226 Viscum album. Mistletoe on Maple tree branch. Europe. Viscum album. Mistletoe. The rootlike structures are deeply stuck inside the branch of the host tree. Europe. Asplenium nidus. Bird s nest fern. Malaysia. Asplenium nidus. Bird s nest fern. Malaysia. Sprouting of young ferns. Platycerium sp. Platycerium or Stag s Horn fern. The leaf fronds form a basin to capture dead leaves. 007466 005894 000145 011004 033950
Platycerium sp. Platycerium or Stag s Horn fern. The leaf fronds form a basin to capture dead leaves. Pinguicula caudata. Common butterwort. Its leaves catches a lot of midges.mexico. Pinguicula primuliflora. Common butterwort. Its leaves catches a lot of midges. Pinguicula primuliflora. A greenfly stuck in the buttery tentacles of the plant. Europe. Pinguicula caudata. The wing of the greenfly is glued. 033967 031765 000017 010659 033976 Bladderworts. South Africa. Bladder-like sac, are in the ground. South Africa. Bladder-like sac, ready to suck a worm in. South Africa. Drosera pulchella 'rosea'. Drosera. Australia, New-Zealand. Drosera binata. This Drosera with forked leaves has trapped a green lacewing. 009504 031752 009505 006025 015990 Drosera binata. This Drosera with forked leaves has trapped a green lacewing. 009487 Drosera pulchella 'rosea'. Drosera. Greenfly caught by the tentacles. (Electronic Scanning Microscopy). 009489 Nepenthes boissiense rubra. Nepenthes. 009495 Nepenthes ventricosa. Nepenthes. 031563 Nepenthes ventricosa. The top of the pitcher are covered with downward facing hairs meant to prevent the preys from going up. 009492
Nepenthes ventricosa. The edges of the pitcher are covered with downward facing hairs meant to prevent the preys from going up. 033975 Nepenthes x basile. A fly comes near the slippery edge. 009494 Nepenthes ventricosa. Pitcher from the above. 015995 Nepenthes x basile. Nepenthes. A wasp drowning in the digestive liquid. 009496 Nepenthes ventricosa. Nepenthes. The smooth and slippery surface of the upper part of the pitcher prevents the insects from going up. 009498 Pitcher Sarracenia. USA. Darlingtonia californica. Cobra plant. Pitcher. USA. Sarracenia leucophylla. A dipterous comes near the slippery edge attracted by the sap of the plant. Pitcher Sarracenia. A fly is trapped, USA. Pitcher Sarracenia, USA. The remains of ants after the feast. 033948 012126 009499 009500 009502 Flytrap. The traps are wide open. Flytrap. The traps are wide open show Flytrap. One of the trigger hairs controlling the shutting of the trap. Flytrap. A fly caught in the trap of this carnivorous plant. Dionaea muscipula. A fly is visible throught the traps. 009481 009482 033978 020692 012989