Wednesday’s Abstracts

November 6, 2019

October Leftovers

Like I said before, I do have some leftovers from last month. Not as many as usual…and they’re all abstracts!

Hope you enjoy!!

The gum leaf skeletoniser caterpillar has fuzzy hats on top of its head. This “hat” is made from old heads that the caterpillar sheds every time it molts. Each time it casts off an old skin, the caterpillar pops its most recently shed head on top of its new, bigger head until it makes a small tower.(tonsoffacts.com)

Strangler Fig – Angkor Wat: This sinisterly named plant grows up around an existing tree, slowly covering the entire plant. Then it proceeds to tighten its grip on the host tree until it dies, literally strangled to death by the parasite plant. Sometimes the fig is so strong by the time the host tree dies that it remains in position around a hollow space where the tree used to be. (top10hq.com)

The King’s Holly can technically be said to be one of the world’s oldest living organisms. While each plant is thought to live to around 300 years old, the way the plant propagates itself is unique. Instead of breeding as other plants do, the King’s Holly simply drops a leaf, which sprouts roots and becomes a tree all by itself. Reproduction by this method is cloning and the DNA of each tree matches that of samples from 43,600 years ago – making a case for the entire plant claiming to be that great age. (Some scientists say the plant could even be as old as 183 000 years old!) The downside of this unique method of reproduction is that the plant is unlikely to be able to develop any defence in the event that a disease strikes… (top10hq.com)

Angel Trumpet: Zombie Maker!This is a beautiful name for a beautiful plant, but one that contains a positive cocktail of potent chemicals and toxins. While some are harvested for medicinal use: atropine (used in eye-drops amongst other medical uses) hyoscyamine (used for a wealth of conditions including drying up secretions and increasing cardiac output) there is another drug that can be derived from the pale and elegant lily-shaped flower – scopolamine. Known as the ‘zombie drug’ scopolamine makes the mind of those ingesting it very susceptible to influence (i.e. they can be told to behave in ways that are contrary to their usual behaviour) and has also been used (many decades ago) as a truth serum by the Russian security forces, although not for long due to unwanted side effects. It has also been used as a date-rape drug and in order to incapacitate victims in order to mug them. There are some incidents of people taking the drug voluntarily as a hallucinogenic, but these are few and far between as the side effects can be awful. (top10hq.com)

Migratory geese fly in a V-shaped formation to minimize wind resistance and conserve energy. This formation also allows geese to remain in close proximity to one another during long journeys. (justfunfacts.com) The strongest one is usually in the front, the weakest in the back. (Just my own tidbit of info!)

When a goose’s mate is killed, he or she will mourn in seclusion. After a partner dies, some geese spend the rest of their lives as widows or widowers, refusing to mate again. (justfunfacts.com)

“Work Tip: Stand up. Stretch. Take a walk. Go to the airport.Get on a plane. Never return.”

~ unknown

Hope you have a great day!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

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