'Chameleon' Vine Discovered in Chile

[Still Waters]

Move over, Sherlock Holmes. There is a new master of disguise - and a plant. Camouflage and mimicry are usually reserved for the animal realm.

Fewer examples of mimicry - or crypsis - are known for plants.

http://news.sciencem...iscovered-chile

[Sundew]

This is pretty amazing, a plant, lacking eyes and thus having no visual cues, can mimic its host tree's leaves. Now mistletoe plants do this; they are partial parasites and often mimic their host trees, but they are connected to their hosts living tissue and probably pick up chemical signals directly from their host. The vine here is not a parasite as far as I can tell so without direct connection it somehow picks up on (perhaps) the chemical cues released into the environment by its host.

[freetoroam]

When the vine climbs onto a tree’s branches, its versatile leaves can change their size, shape, color, orientation, and even the vein patterns to match the surrounding foliage

http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2014/04/scienceshot-chameleon-vine-discovered-chile

pretty amazing.....

lets hope it does not need to change into concrete or dust, and hows it going to adjust to these new non native varieties?

In dealing with the issues of deforestation and the high demand for wood products, companies have begun planting non-native tree species such as the Radiata Pine, which now dominates throughout Chile.

wwf.panda.org/who_we_are/wwf_offices/chile/about_chile/threats/