10 Interesting Facts about Plants

1. Apple, onions & potatoes have same taste, don’t believe it. Here is the test: Pinch your nose & taste all three, find any difference?

2. Carrots were originally purple in color.

 3. When an insect touches the hairs of a Venus Fly Trap, it triggers the plant to close, trapping its victim before killing and dissolving it in acid. 

4. Trees get about 90% of their nutrition from the atmosphere (carbon dioxide, etc), and only about 10% from the soil.

5. Tree rings not only tell us age of the tree but they can also tell us about environmental events, including volcanic eruptions.

6. The largest single flower is the Rafflesia or "corpse flower". They are generally 3 feet in diameter with the record being 42 inches.

7. The water hyacinth is the world's fastest growing water plant & world's biggest water plant is Amazon lily, its floating leaves grow up to 6 feet.

8. The world's fastest growing plant is Burma's giant bamboo, it can grow 17 centimeter in a day.

9. The oldest living thing in existence is not a giant redwood, but a bristlecone pine in the White Mountains of California, dated to be aged 4,600 years old.

10. Avocados have the highest calories of any fruit at 167 calories per hundred grams.

Plants Preservation Site---Taman Negara, Malaysia at a glance

Size                  : 4,343 sq km
Highest Point : Gunung Tahan (2,187 meters)
Flora Fauna    : Over 10,000 species of plants, 250 kind of birds. Local mammals include mouse deer, barking deer,   
                            wild ox, and numerous monkey species. Tapir, elephant, leopard and tiger also present, though not             
                            easy to spot. 
Activities           : Jungle-trekking, white-water rafting, fishing, guided nature walks

Taman Negara (National Park) straddles the borders of Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang in Peninsular Malaysia. A totally protected area of 4,343 sq km, Taman Negara is one of the world's oldest tropical rain forests. The diversity of its fauna and flora is a result of undisturbed evolution over 130 million years.

Taman Negara is a particularly favorable destination for trekking, as the park's remarkable biodiversity is matched by a good network of jungle trails and the availability of expert guides. The park is also noted for fishing, especially along the upper reaches of the Tahan or Kenyam rivers, and for rafting the rapids of Sungai Tembeling.

Peninsular Malaysia's highest mountain, Gunung Tahan (2,187 meters), is located in Taman Negara, and climbing the mountain is an unforgettable experience. Due to the scarcity of water along the route, the journey must be done in two stages, and an experienced guide is compulsory. At least three days are required for the journey to the summit and back.

Source: http://www.geographia.com/malaysia/taman.html

Threatened Plants in Malaysia

Although Malaysia is known for it wide species of over 15, 000 plants, many of them can't escape from the fate of extinction due to habitat destruction, infrastructure development, pollution and world climatic changes.

The top THREE plants in Malaysia that face EXTICTION are as followed:

1. Giam Kanching (Hopea subalata)

Special Characteristic: fruit with two-winged seeds

Habitat: Land that is just above sea level (900 meter altitude)

2. Pitcher Plant (Nepenthes Macrophylla)

Special Characteristic: Carnivorous plant, pitcher-shaped leaves

Habitat: Mossy forests at a 2,000 to 2,600 meter altitude in Borneo

3. Moss (Taxitheliella richardsii)

Special Characteristic: Grows on woody vines and rotted logs in subtropical forests

Habitat: Malaysian state on northwest Borneo

Grouping Plants by Flowers

Flowering VS Non-flowering plants

Flowering Plants

• Reproduce by seeds in the flowers
• Can be further divided into monocotyledons (one seed-leaf, e.g. maize plants) or dicotyledons (two seed-leaves, e.g. sunflowers, roses) 

Maize plant (monocots)

Rose and Sunflower (Dicots)

Non-Flowering Plants

Pine tree (gymnosperms)

• Do not have flowers or fruits 
• Reproduce by spores (e.g. mosses, allies & ferns) or cones (e.g. gymnosperms such as pine trees)

Mosses, Allies and Ferns

Refer to Worksheet 2 for reinforcement exercises.

Common Features of Plants

There are 4 basic common, external features which constitute a plant.Each feature has their very own unique functions that are essential for growth of a plant.


1. Flowers
    ~attract animals such as bees and butterflies 
      to help in pollination of seeds in the flowers
      (reproduction purpose)
2. Leaves
    ~aid plants in photosynthesis with the   
      chlorphyll pigment in leaves
3. Stems
    ~maintain posture of the plants
    ~tranport water, nutrients and minerals from one part of plants to 
      another
4. Roots
    ~absorb water and mineral ions from soil

**Refer to Worksheet 1 for more practices. 

Plants that animals (herbivores) can eat

There are several different kinds of plants, and not all kinds of plants can be eaten.

Grasses are only edible to herbivores. That is because the plants contain kinds of fiber that many omnivores cannot digest efficiently. Many herbivores have specially adapted stomachs that allow them to digest these plants.

Wild grass

Zoysia grass flower

Fruit-Bearing Plants make fruit. Herbivores and omnivores can both eat fruit or vegetables from plants, however. Fruit and seeds and sometimes vegetables are part of the plant's reproduction, and generally the presence of pollinators will help these fruit-bearing plants survive better and make more fruit.

Strawberry

Pineapple

 

There are plants called grains which make seeds that can be eaten by certain kinds of omnivores but not all. Humans and chickens can eat grain seeds. Herbivores can eat the whole plant. 

Plants---The Essential Producer

Plants take the roles as the PRODUCERS in the natural food chains or BASE of the pyramid of number to provide energy for the dynamic ecosystem. They act as natural converters of energy after gaining energy directly from sunlight and undergoing the process of photosynthesis.

Energy from plants is then transferred to herbivores (plant eaters, e.g. cow, goat, horse) when they feed on the plants, followed by carnivores (meat eaters, e.g. lion, tiger, leopard ) or omnivores (plants and meat eaters, e.g. dog, cat, rat) and finally detritivores or decomposers (e.g. fungi, bacteria, termites). The decomposers later break down and supply nutrients back to the plants.

All herbivores, carnivores, omnivores and decomposers are known as CONSUMERS as they obtain energy from plants directly or indirectly through food chain transition instead of from the sun.