Suckers Steal Water and Nutrients

a tree with intensely bright orange flowers grows in a grassland in sunlight

Biological Strategy

Australian Christmas tree

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Capture, Absorb, or Filter Liquids

The most common liquid used by living systems is water, which they require to survive. But there are many other liquids that provide nourishment, play a role in defense mechanisms, or serve other purposes. Water varies in its availability; it is sometimes plentiful and sometimes very scarce or only available as fog or mist. To minimize the energy required to capture, absorb, or filter liquids, living systems have strategies that take advantage of the unique properties of the given liquid. For example, water moves from a gaseous to liquid state when it encounters a surface colder than the air. Plants in forests that experience fog and clouds more than rain have strategies that condense liquid water from moist air.

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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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The roots of the Australian Christmas tree extract water and nutrients from the roots of other plants via penetrating, absorbing suckers.

“The fact is that the Christmas tree steals the water that its neighbours have managed to extract from the parched ground before they themselves are able to make use of it. A pair of sharp woody pincers then develops from the side of the collar opposite the point where the sucker first made contact with the root. This unique structure grows inwards and completely severs the water-carrying tubes in the root. At the same time the sucker develops vessels which grow into the root’s wound, connect with both sides of the cut and divert the liquid carried by the root back to the Christmas tree…With this technique repeated many thousand times in the ground all around it, the Christmas tree steals water and mineral nutrients from plants growing over a huge area of bush. Its roots, in their search for victims, may extend for as much as a hundred yards from its trunk.” (Attenborough 1995:226-228)

Last Updated August 18, 2016

References

Book

The Private Life of Plants

BBC Books | 21/08/1995 | David Attenborough

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