#plantsareweird

[teaphasesoracle]

"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow." 🌵☀️🎍 My #succulent seems to have a mind of its own. Originally, bought it to use in #photoshoots .😆 As you can see, mine is reaching for the Sun. It reminds of "Jack and the Beanstalk." • • • 🌵 We ALL thrive in our own way! • • • ☀️ . . . #plantsareweird #succulents #tea #green #kitchen #quote #letitgrow #reachforthestars #plants #teatime #grateful #teatimedesignz

[scriptastronomer]

how does the type of star + the light it emits affect what kind of plant grows on its orbiting planet? i read somewhere that the trappist-1 star gives off a red/ orange light and therefore the plants would grow black?

Darn good question! Once we find a planet with different types of plants under a different type of star, we’ll have an answer. :-)Until then, all we can do is make some educated guesses.

Plants under a dim red sun (or any sun, actually) would want to absorb as much energy as possible since the red wavelengths are the low-energy side of the spectrum. Black absorbs all visible wavelengths, and so, logically, would be the most efficient color to be.

But that assumption doesn't always work out. Evolution doesn’t choose for the ‘most efficient’ solution, it chooses for the ‘best for now’ solution.

Our Sun puts out most energy in the yellow-green wavelengths, so you’d expect that Earth plants might be reddish or black, absorbing all the higher-energy yellows and greens and blues. But they aren’t.

Enter our green friend, chlorophyll.

Chlorophyll is a comparatively poor absorber of green light - which seems counter-intuitive. Why would plants shun much of the higher energy green light (they reflect much of it - which is why plants are green)? Shouldn't they be red or yellow in order to absorb greens and blues, which are of higher energy?

Plants use chlorophyll (instead of a chemical that absorbs greens better) for a very simple reason - it works ‘good enough.’

So, maybe plants under a dim red sun will be black. Or they may be green, as chlorophyll works to absorb those reds really well. Or they may be some other color because it works ‘good enough’ for the plants in that ecosystem.

We just don’t know yet. Which means any color you want plants on a planet to be would probably be a believable choice.

For more information, you might want to ask @scriptecology, @scriptchemist, or @scriptgenetics. They know more than me about plants.

[tlcartist]

A wild mushroom appeared! No really, I have no idea how this thing got into this potted arrangement. This plant hasn't even been outside in two weeks? Welcome to the family I guess?? #plantsareweird

[redwitchrising]

Flowering onions #neverseenthatbefore #plantsareweird

[thethm]

#PlantsAreWeird #PNW #UpperLeftUSA (at Greenwood, Seattle)

[peonypompa]

This thing looked half dead last week. And now a new peace lily is coming up. #plantsareweird