Orchids: The Masters Of Lying, Cheating & Stealing
Thanks to Curtin University and the University of Western Australia for sponsoring this video. Also, special thanks to Kingsley Dixon and the Orchid Specialist Group of the IUCN's Species...
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Earth’s most ubiquitous life-forms tend to be generalists – species whose individualscan adapt to eating just about anything, anywhere. But the flowering plant family known as orchidshave gained a global presence by being specialists, with each species customized to a very specifichabitat. And behind orchids’ wild variety of looks and behaviors are the same few stingystrategies. For one, while other flowering plants sendtheir seeds off with a supply of victuals to get them growing, orchids don’t – instead,their seedlings must trick fungi into feeding them until they're old enough to photosynthesizetheir own food. At that point, some species start giving back, but others hoodwink theirfungal partners into lifelong one-way relationships; in fact, several a...
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Earth’s most ubiquitous life-forms tend to be generalists – species whose individualscan adapt to eating just about anything, anywhere. But the flowering plant family known as orchidshave gained a global presence by being specialists, with each species customized to a very specifichabitat. And behind orchids’ wild variety of looks and behaviors are the same few stingystrategies. For one, while other flowering plants sendtheir seeds off with a supply of victuals to get them growing, orchids don’t – instead,their seedlings must trick fungi into feeding them until they're old enough to photosynthesizetheir own food. At that point, some species start giving back, but others hoodwink theirfungal partners into lifelong one-way relationships; in fact, several a...
