Ways Plants Defend Themselves From Danger
Our planet is home to thousands of different species of plant that have been forced to adapt in unique ways over time in order to defend themselves against predators and herbivores, which means even the cute and cuddly koala bares a threat. Join us, as I reveal to you the strangest ways plants defend themselves from death and danger.
Before I unveil to you what this species is and it’s bizarre method of self-defence let us first take a journey through the evolutionary history of plants. There are a number of different strategies that plants implement in order to deter aggressors and increase their likelihood of survival. Herbivores have been chomping down on plants for the past 410 million years, which has led to them responding in direct and indirect ways.
Direct defences include the physical armour plants possess such as thorns, thistles, prickles and bark. Roses, for instance, have the structural defence system of prickles on their outer layer – the stems and leaves – which pokes and scratches at the animals attracted to them. Once the predators become aware of this barrier it deters them from coming any closer to what was once intended as their dinner.
An indirect strategy many plants have come up with to defend themselves against animals is by teaming up with ants that are attracted to their nectar. In return, the ants ward off the herbivorous insects that could otherwise slip past their direct defences.
While these methods are all effective, it is the Mimosa Pudica, also known as the sensitive plant, that has the strangest. It farts. Yep, you heard me right. The Mimosa Pudica lets off a nauseating stench from hair-like sacs less than half a millimetre long that can gas-out an entire room instantaneously.
