555-555-5555
mijnmail@mailservice.com
555-555-5555
mijnmail@mailservice.com
Ant plants
Mar 28, 2020
A fascinating collaboration
This article also appeared in Gardeners' World magazine NL in April, 2020. Read the translation below or download
the Dutch article. Scroll down to see the video about how I cut open my ant plant.
Many thanks to botanist Rogier van Vugt for introducing me to these wonderful plants and making sure this article does not contain any botanical errors :-)
Many thanks to botanist Rogier van Vugt for introducing me to these wonderful plants and making sure this article does not contain any botanical errors :-)
They immediately caught my eye when I walked through the greenhouses of the Hortus botanicus in Leiden: large, above-ground tubers, some covered with spines. Branches with bright red or orange berries protruded. My weakness for strange plants played up. Botanist Rogier van Vugt
explained what I was looking at: ant plants.
What does the plant do?
"Ant plants" are not just one type of plant: there are ant ferns, ant palms, ant orchids, ant trees... you name it. What they have in common is they provide ants with a sheltered nest. Sometimes it's a hollow branch or hollow trunk, but some species grow a very thick above-ground tuber with channels in it: a ready-made ant nest. Ants may be hard workers, they don't say no to a prefab house like that!
All inclusive
But the plant offers even more: in addition to accommodation, meals are included in this deal. The plant secretes nectar not only from the flowers, but also in other places. This is done via the so-called "extrafloral nectaries". Not only ant plants do this: more than 4,000 types of plants have these types of glands. You may have seen it yourself on a houseplant, or even on a passion flower: thick transparent drops on a leaf. They are sticky and taste sweet - yes, you can try it! These drops mainly consist of sugars and some fats and enzymes. It has long been a point of discussion among biologists: why do plants do this? After all, the nectar they secrete through those glands has nothing to do with pollination. Some thought that the plant could secrete excess substances in this way, others believed in the theory of protection: the treats attract beneficial creatures such as ants, which in turn keep herbivores at bay. It seems that the latter theory is gaining ground. Anyway, the ants in ant plants are grateful for it.
Compensation
There's no such thing as a free lunch. What does the plant get out of this symbiosis? The most important thing is protection: ants protect their nest and thus the plant. After all, when the plant dies, their shelter is gone. Critters that can harm the plant are chased or eaten by the diligent tenants. This can go a long way: if you, as an unsuspecting mammal, accidentally run into the bull horn acacia (Acacia corginera), you can run into a horde of extremely aggressive ants. I bet you will leave that tree alone in the future.
Ant plants with such a beautiful channel system in their tuber often benefit extra: ants dump their waste in specific channels of the tuber. This waste still contains many valuable nutrients for the plant. The slightly different structure of these 'landfills' allows the plant to absorb these nutrients.
Ant plants with such a beautiful channel system in their tuber often benefit extra: ants dump their waste in specific channels of the tuber. This waste still contains many valuable nutrients for the plant. The slightly different structure of these 'landfills' allows the plant to absorb these nutrients.
Growing from seed
Back to the Hortus in Leiden: those bright red and orange berries: that means seeds! I was allowed to pick some berries from different ant plants: Hydnophytum simplex, Hydnophytum formicarum
and Myrmephytum beccarii. Sowing turned out to be very easy: they germinated quickly and when you look at a seedling, you recognise the ant plant figure: the trunk is already a bit thick. In the meantime I have also bought an adult ant plant for in my living room, because it will be years before my seedlings will be grown up!
In the living room??
You must be crazy to bring such a plant into your home. Who wants an ant nest in their living room? Rest assured, the ant plants you buy in stores do not contain ants. As usual, the conditions in which a houseplant lives are very different from those in which its wild brothers and sisters live. My ant plant at home is in soil, so it gets enough nutrition and I try to protect the plant as much as possible from herbivores. Aphids or thrips might be interested, but so far, it stands its ground!
Video of how a cut open my ant plant
Did you like this article? Head over to Wonderful weird plants
for more!
Read my other articles for Gardeners' World Magazine here.
Share this
Aroids: so diverse!
What does it mean if you receive a cactus as a gift? It's probably your birthday or a houswarming gift. After all, a stylish cactus is a hip accessory in a modern living room. However, it was not a suitable gift in the past: it was said that if you gifted someone a cactus, you would secretly experience the recipient as 'prickly' and unpleasant. Or maybe you underestimate the recipient's green thumb? Since a cactus just stand there, on your windowsill, whatever you do or don't do for it. But is that really the case? Let's take a closer look at these spiky statues.
Euphorbia is a genus with many diverse species. From native Marsh Spurge to Madeiran trees and bulbous succulents. Our poinsettia also belongs to this genus!
In the 17th century, something remarkable happens: botanist Rumphius places a plant between the animal kingdom and the plant kingdom. Why? Because it moved when touched. At the time, such sensitivity was only ascribed to organisms in the animal kingdom. But this was a plant!
Caudex plants are extremely popular these days. But the concept of caudex plant is not so clear. What exactly is it and how do you take care of them?
Confession: until recently, no orchid was allowed in my house anymore… Years ago I had 2 Butterfly orchids and planned to take better care of them, hoping to get more flowers. I did everything to make them feel good! Until one day in the summer I didn't pay attention and the poor plants burned to death on my south-facing roof terrace… Together with my good intentions I threw the plants away. No more orchids for me!
I wrote about a fast-moving plant before, in my article on carnivorous plants : the Venus Flytrap. The dancing plant is also a fast-moving plant, albeit not as fast as the flytrap. Yet it can be seen with the naked eye! I sowed some of these plants and made some timelapses, see the video below.
A succulent plant with partly transparent leaves! I got it from Rogier after our first meeting, about two years ago. This little Haworthia cooperi was a 'pup', a little one that had started growing on the mother plant. This mother plant was collected by an acquaintance of Rogier (with permission) in the Bolo Nature Reserve in South Africa. My love for weirdos in the plant world immediately bubbled up. And there is much more to discover about succulents!
