Hochstetter's Butterfly-orchid, Europe's Rarest Orchid, Found in the Azores

A research team of botanists have discovered Narrow-lipped Butterfly-orchid (P. micrantha) which was last seen in 1844. This species of orchids was found in the highest volcanic ridge on the central island of São Jorge in the Azores islands.

Previously, there were only two species of orchids known to inhabit the Azores and the discovery of this third butterfly orchid, which was documented by German botanist Karl Hochstetter 173 years ago and never seen again, urgently requires conservation recognition.

The Hochstetter's Butterfly-orchid is threatened by habitat destruction and invasive alien plants.

The Azores is made up of nine volcanic islands in the middle of the northern hemisphere of the Atlantic Ocean. It is situated west of Portugal (around 1,360 kilometers or 850 miles). It is also 1,510 kilometers (940 miles) northwest of Morocco, and about 1,925 km (1,196 mi) southeast of Newfoundland.

The islands were formed through volcanic and seismic activity around 8 million years ago during the Neogene period.

Each of the nine islands have unique and distinct geomorphological characteristics which sets it apart from each other; ranging from Corvo which is a crater formed from a major Plinian eruption to the almost circular Terceira which has one of the largest craters in the region. The largest island is São Miguel which has many large craters and fields of spatter cones.

How Do Roots of Plants Grow In Outer Space With Zero Gravity?

An experiment in the International Space Station was conducted to study the growth of plant roots in outer space in a zero gravity environment.

The root is the organ of the plant that grows typically into the soil to extract water and minerals for the plant's nutritional need.

Roots grow depending on physical barriers, quality of the surrounding environment, and soil conditions. Some roots are aerial meaning that they rise above the ground. But most conventional root systems grown into the soil which aside from extracting nutrients, provides a stable anchor for the plant or tree to grow.

The experiment on the International Space Station (ISS) was conducted to determine if gravity is a factor in the growth and spread of plant roots. This was done to verify the long held belief that gravity also affects the way a root spreads into the soil.

The International Space Station is an international collaboration to provide a suitable environment for space experiments. It is 109 meters (357 feet) in length and has a habitable space of 388 cubic meters. Its habitable space is comparable to a five bedroom house. Aside from its high tech instruments, The ISS also has a gym and a 360-degree bay window.

Carnivorous Sundew Plant Drosera Glanduligera Use Tentacles To Capture Prey

Plants that source its nutrients from insects and other animals are carnivorous plants. These plants live in areas where the soil lacks the proper nutrients, such as nitrogen, necessary to grow. Instead of deriving these nutrients from the soil, these plants have adapted to capturing and consuming nearby organisms such as insects and arthropods for it.

They consume the prey by secreting digestive enzymes to break it down to the basic components and absorb the available nutrients.

There are around 630 species of true carnivorous plants and another 300 that show some of its characteristics.

Carnivorous plants capture prey using biological traps. These traps can be passive or active traps. Passive traps such as the "flypaper" plants trap foraging insects and arthropods in mucous. There are active traps such as snap traps that operates on a mechanism similar to a rat trap. Snap trap plants uses acid which allows its cells to expand and bend which helps it capture and digest its prey.

Despite the fact that these plants capture and digest prey for nutrients, they still require basic plant necessities such as soil, water, and sunlight. Carnivorous plants rarely die from not catching any prey.

Recent studies show that secretions of carnivorous plants can be used in the development of better anti-fungal medication.

Touch-sensitive tentacles catapult prey into carnivorous plant traps

Swift predators are common in the animal world but are rare in the plant kingdom. New research shows that Drosera glanduligera, a small sundew from southern Australia, deploys one of the fastest and most spectacular trapping mechanisms known among carnivorous plants.

The study, published Sep. 26 in the open access journal PLOS ONE, is a collaboration between the Plant Biomechanics Group at the University of Freiburg and private sundew cultivators from Weil am Rhein, and provides the first experimental demonstration of fast-moving snap tentacles in sundew plants propelling prey into the plant's leaf trap, where they are captured and digested. The authors also provide a biophysical explanation for the quick motion of these touch-sensitive tentacles.

MRI Imaging of Plant Shows Roots and Pots Affect Size of Potted Plants

The root is the organ of the plant that absorbs water and minerals from the soil. Tiny hairs stick out from the root that helps in the absorption.

Aside from absorption, the root also has other functions for the plant. The main functions of the roots are:

1. Absorption of water and nutrients
2. Supporting and anchoring the plant in place
3. Storage of food and nutrients

There are also other functions of the root such as to prevent soil erosion and for vegetative reproduction. These minor functions depends on the type of plant.

Some roots are harvested for food. They are called root crops. Some root crops are cassava, sweet potato, beet, carrot, rutabaga, turnip, parsnip, radish, yam and horseradish. Spices are also obtained from roots which include sassafras, angelica, sarsaparilla and licorice.

This image on the left shows the roots of a barley plant in a cylindrical pot imaged by MRI 44 days after sowing. Blue roots are in the outer 50 percent of the pot volume, yellow roots are in the inner 50 percent of the pot volume, the stem of the barley plant is in red. (Credit: Jonas Bühler

Want bigger plants? Get to the root of the matter

Plant scientists have imaged and analyzed, for the first time, how a potted plant's roots are arranged in the soil as the plant develops. In this study, to be presented at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on 30th June, the team has also found that doubling plant pot size makes plants grow over 40% larger.

From their 3-D MRI root scans, the researchers observed that potted plants quickly extend their roots to the pot's walls. It is likely that the plants use their roots to 'sense' the size of the pot, although the details of how the roots relay the message about the pot's size remain the plants' secret.

Frankincense Supply is Dwindling

The Three Kings brought three gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. It represented the rarest and most precious tributes one could give a king. Now, frankincense has become even rarer and will continue to do so

Frankincense, also called olibanum is an aromatic resin obtained from the desert tree Boswellia. It is used in incense and perfumes.

There are four main species of Boswellia which produce true frankincense and each type of resin is available in various grades. The grades depend on the time of harvesting, and the resin is hand-sorted for quality.

Unfortunately, frankincense, has now become even more rare. In the Journal of Applied Ecology, researchers say that frankincense will continue declining in supply. Boswellia trees have had trouble reproducing in recent years, and ecologists believed that they were weakened when traders tapped them for resin.

Video: The spiritual, medicinal and historical significance of Frankincense

Working in Ethiopia over a period of 2 years, the researchers monitored 12 copses of B. papyrifera: six that had been tapped and six that had not. A copse is A thicket of small trees or shrubs that is being pruned for resin. They found that the tapped trees were able to reproduce as well as the untapped, ruling out human interference as the major killer.

Instead, the biggest threats seemed to be grazing livestock, fires, and the longhorn beetle, which burrows into trees' bark, kills them, and leaves them as ready fuel for forest fires. If these problems aren't remedied soon, the team's models suggest that frankincense production could drop by 50% in the next 15 years: a tough blow to the economies of Ethiopia and Eritrea who export it.

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