Category Botany

Threats from Animals

All over the world, plants are being destroyed by animals. Sometimes this is perfectly natural and is part of the balance of nature. Other times, it can be disastrous.

Insects such as caterpillars and grubs, which later become beetles, often eat leaves or burrow into the wood of trees. But sometimes, a nest of tent caterpillars eats all the buds or young leaves on a tree. When this happens, the tree will die.

Big problems also arise when people bring animals to areas where they don’t belong. Rabbits have destroyed valuable grazing land in Australia. They eat the grasses farmers need for their livestock. Rabbits were turned loose in 1859 by British settlers. But in Australia, rabbits have few natural enemies, so now there are too many rabbits.

In Hawaii, escaped pigs and goats have destroyed many rare plants. They trample the plants and eat the roots so the plants can’t grow back. Goats also may eat all the plants on a hillside. With no roots to hold the soil, rain can wash it down the hill. This loss of soil is called erosion and keeps plants from growing. Today, about half of Hawaii’s plants are either very rare, endangered, or already extinct.

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Plants can get sick, just as people can. Insects and other animals can chew plants until they die. Fire can turn them into a pile of ashes. Polluted air from cars and factories can choke the life out of plants. And when ground is dug up for new factories, houses, and car parks, plants lose the space they need to live.

Everyone depends on plants for beauty, food, and fresh air. So everyone needs to save them and care for them.

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Plants in Danger

Endangered plants need people’s help to survive. A species, or kind, of plant is endangered when it is seriously close to disappearing, or becoming extinct. Scientists think that as many as 20,000 different kinds of plants are endangered.

Rafflesia is one of the world’s most endangered plants because the rain forests in which it lives are being destroyed. The giant rafflesia has the largest flower in the world. It grows up to 90 centimetres wide, and it smells like rotten meat! The smell attracts the flies that pollinate the flower.

For many years, scientists believed that the Virginia round-leaf birch and a type of Australian elaeocarpus tree were extinct. Then, in 1975, a scientist found a group of round-leaf birches alive and well. Since then, people have worked to protect the round-leaf birch.

In 1992, scientist discovered that elaeocarpus trees were still alive, too, growing in the rain forest of New South Wales. They have found more than 100 elaeocarpus trees in the wild since then.

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Taking Care of Forests

Forests, just like gardens, need care if they are to stay strong and healthy. People who take care of forests are called foresters. There are different kinds of foresters. Some foresters work for a government. They take care of national parks and forests so that people will have places for camping, sightseeing, hunting, and fishing.

Other foresters work in woods that are owned by timber and paper companies. They raise and care for the trees that are used to make houses, furniture, and paper.

All foresters protect trees from insects, animals, fires, and diseases. They make sure that unhealthy trees are replaced with young, healthy ones, and that the young trees grow up to be big, healthy trees. Foresters also plant new trees to replace trees that have been cut down.

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Names of Flowers

Did you ever wonder how some wild flowers got their names?

The daisy looks a little bit like an eye. And, like an eye, it opens up at the start of each day. So, long ago in England, people named it “day’s eye”. In time, the name became daisy.

The buttercup got its name because it looks like a tiny cup made of yellow butter. Long ago, people believed that butter was yellow because cows ate buttercups. But that’s not true. Butter does get its colour from what cows eat, but cows don’t eat buttercups.

Milkweed gets its name from the white juice that oozes from the stems when the plant is cut. The juice looks like milk. When the juice dries in the sun, it covers the cut like a rubbery bandage.

For years, people in different parts of the world have eaten the young, spring leaves of dandelions. They thought the jagged edges of the leaf looked like a row of teeth. So, long ago, the people of France gave the plant the name dent de lion, which means “lion’s tooth”. To the people of England, dent de lion sounded like dandelion, and that’s what they called the plant!

One plant that many cats love is called catmint! A cat that finds a clump of catmint may roll happily around among the leaves. Many cat owners give their pets balls or toys stuffed with dried catmint leaves.

Some people like catmint too, but not usually to roll around in. They drink it. They make catmint tea by putting dried catmint leaves into boiling water and adding a little honey.

World of Gardens

In every part of the world, people have a favourite kind of garden. In a formal garden, flowers are arranged in squares, circles, or fancy shapes. Bushes are often trimmed to points, squares, or balls. Garden paths are long and straight. In Japan, many gardens have little bridges in them. In India, gardens often have ponds filled with water lilies. Gardens in Hawaii may have many ferns. Gardeners in other parts of the world often copy these favourite gardens.

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