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Post by adamcross on Jun 13, 2013 4:52:20 GMT
For anyone interested in the seed biology of Byblidaceae, my paper on seed and community ecology in B. gigantea has been accepted for publication in the Botanical Journal of the Linnaean Society, and should be available shortly. I'll link to it when it becomes available.
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Post by gregallan on Jun 22, 2013 17:16:22 GMT
Hi Adam,
It sounde very interesting. Have you done any research on the digestive process of B gigantea? I am not aware that any has been done since the early 20th century, when methods were rather more crude than they are today.
Cheers,
Greg
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Post by adamcross on Jun 24, 2013 21:15:21 GMT
Hi Greg,
We've done some tentative work on carnivory and nutrient tracing, but really need a student to come through and work on this full time. Sadly there is only so much time!
Adam
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Post by gregallan on Jun 26, 2013 8:38:40 GMT
Hi Adam,
Have you had any tentative results? I am not a scientist, but I have observed my B gigantea plants very carefully and I have made a number of interesting observations concerning the trapping/digestion processes. As far as I can ascertain, there is a difference between prey which are trapped in such a position as to be resting on the sessile glands and prey which are not in contact with these glands. The former become stuck fast to the leaf after a few days and are quite difficult to remove. The latter remain only loosely adhered. Also, the fluid which surrounds prey in contact with the sessile glands seems to be released and reabsorbed relatively rapidly in comparison to, say, Drosophyllum.
Incidentally, I tried feeding my B aquatica with drops of milk earlier this year (the drops need to be quite small, otherwise the leaf seems to die overnight). Application of the milk appeared to prompt much secretion from the glands. The milk was apparently absorbed over a few days. The plants 'fed' with milk seemed to grow much more quickly and flower more vigorously than those not fed. I have only tried this with a few plants, though. I will use larger samples next spring.
Greg
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Post by adamcross on Jul 2, 2013 1:25:26 GMT
Hi Greg,
I've not experimented with feeding in a similar fashion to your milk trials yet (this will be a student project, I simply don't have the time any more), however the sessile glands are certainly key to the digestion and absorbance process. The longer glands appear predominantly functional in ensnaring prey. Quite often however, I've noticed that large prey (moths for example) will gradually slide down the leaves or stem over the course of digestion, possibly exposing them to new glands over the course of digestion. I'll keep you posted once we get a student involved.
Adam
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Post by lulumegan on Mar 2, 2015 5:53:29 GMT
I'm not sure if you ever linked your article but if you have a link or a copy I'd love to read it
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