Shapeshifter
March 14, 2016 10:50 PM   Subscribe

The Sneaky Life of the World’s Most Mysterious Plant "It looks so ordinary, this vine. But it’s not. It is, arguably, the most mysteriously talented, most surprising plant in the world."
posted by dhruva (14 comments total) 50 users marked this as a favorite
 
really, national geographic, blinking images?
posted by ryanrs at 11:02 PM on March 14, 2016 [4 favorites]


I've wondered if poison oak does the same thing.
posted by sebastienbailard at 11:03 PM on March 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


In the comments someone suggests that Morning Glory vines do too.
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:19 PM on March 14, 2016


Completely absolutely fascinating! This post is why I read metafilter.
posted by lemonade at 11:50 PM on March 14, 2016 [4 favorites]


Big fan of the "Psychic mimicry bubbles" picture.
posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 11:57 PM on March 14, 2016 [2 favorites]



Completely absolutely fascinating! This post is why I read metafilter.
posted by lemonade at 11:50 PM


Just what I was going to say! This is amazing.
posted by Sleeper at 12:01 AM on March 15, 2016


Wow, Krulwich writes just like he talks on Radiolab!
posted by panama joe at 12:12 AM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]


The triffids are coming!
posted by Acey at 5:52 AM on March 15, 2016


Not answered: do the mimic vine's roots get close to/touch the host plant's roots? Because that would be a much more obvious method of absorbing some of the host plant's information.

Also possible; the mimic vine has genetic info in its DNA from an earlier period when it did climb on a particular tree, that is triggered by the tree's chemicals when it's near that tree again.

It's still a cool thing, though.
posted by emjaybee at 6:48 AM on March 15, 2016 [3 favorites]


In the comments someone suggests that Morning Glory vines do too.

Could be, but my suggestion is that the commenter is seeing both plants exhibit yellowing or not because they're both short of nitrogen or phosphorus.
posted by sneebler at 7:24 AM on March 15, 2016


Also, you don't have to look far for examples of other plants that do surprising and talented things. Here's a previously about the amazing Queen of Trees documentary.
posted by sneebler at 7:37 AM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]


That explains yesterday night. I went to pet my dog, but it was a plant.
posted by Splunge at 7:41 AM on March 15, 2016 [3 favorites]


On the internet, nobody knows you're a mimic vine.
posted by msbutah at 9:05 AM on March 15, 2016 [2 favorites]


Dear National Geographic,

You know I've always liked you. Next time, would you consider just including two images, one after another, instead of blink cycling between two images? I understand why you had to try this, and good work -- keep pushing that envelope -- but it was just too harshly distracting from the text.
posted by amtho at 3:53 AM on March 16, 2016


« Older It's almost costless. We just need to feed the...   |   Mission accomplished Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments