Adhering to Multiple Substrates

Biological Strategy

Blackberry

AskNature Team

Image: Marc Pascual / Pixabay / Free non-commercial use

Move in/on Solids

To obtain needed resources or escape predators, some living systems must move on solid substances, some must move within them, and others must do both. Solids vary in their form; they can be soft or porous like leaves, sand, skin, and snow, or hard like rock, ice, or tree bark. Movement can involve a whole living system, such as an ostrich running across the ground or an earthworm burrowing through the soil. It can also involve just part of a living system, such as a mosquito poking its mouthparts into skin. Solids vary in smoothness, stickiness, moisture content, density, etc, each of which presents different challenges. As a result, living systems have adaptations to meet one, and sometimes multiple, challenges. For example, some insects must be able to hold onto both rough and slippery leaf surfaces due to the diversity in their environment.

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Attach Temporarily

Living systems must sometimes, temporarily, stay in one place, climb or otherwise move around, or hold things together. This entails attaching temporarily with the ability to release, which minimizes energy and material use. Some living systems repeatedly attach, detach, and reattach for an extended time, such as over their lifetimes. Despite being temporary, these attachments must withstand physical and other forces until they have achieved their purpose. Therefore, living systems have adapted attachment mechanisms optimized for the amount of time or number of times they must be used. An example is the gecko, which climbs walls by attaching its toes for less than a second. Other examples include insects that attach their eggs to a leaf until they hatch, and insects whose wings temporarily attach during flight but separate after landing.

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Flowering Plants

Clade Angiosperms (“receptacle seed”): Dandelions, oaks, grasses, cacti, apples

With 416 families containing some 300,000 known species, angiosperms are the most diverse group of plants, and they can be found around the globe in a wide variety of habitats. They are characterized by seeds that grow enclosed in ovaries, which are enclosed in flowers. The floral organs then develop into fruits of myriad kinds and dimensions, from simple seed casings on maples to elaborate fleshy growths like papayas. The oldest flower known from fossils, Montsechia vidalii, appeared during the Jurassic Period 130 million years ago. They are the primary food source for herbivorous animals, which in turn makes them the indirect food source for carnivores as well.

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Spines of blackberries adhere to multiple substrates by having a sharp, backward-pointed structure.

Image: Sage Ross / Wikipedia /

Image: Luc Viatour / Wikimedia commons /

Rubus fruticosus fruits in Belgium (Hamois)

“One of the most mobile of plants…is the blackberry. An individual, once established, immediately starts to seek new territory for itself. It puts out exploratory stems…They begin to advance directly and purposefully…Each stem is armed with sharp backward-pointing spines which catch on the ground and snag on vegetation. They clamber over logs and up the faces of rocks. They reach up, hook onto the stems of other plants and scramble over them, overwhelming them.” (Attenborough 1995:11)

Last Updated August 18, 2016

References

Book

The Private Life of Plants

BBC Books | 21/08/1995 | David Attenborough

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