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BATS,
MUCUNA GIGANTEA and DRIFT SEEDS |
MUCUNA GIGANTEA! WHAT KIND OF PLANT IS THAT?
Mucuna gigantea is the Latin name for the Velvet Bean plant that grows in many parts of the tropics. As you can see, it is pollinated by bats.
Common
long-tongued bat (Glossophaga commissarisi)
Mucuna gigantea pollinator in the New World Tropics(1)
The plant is a member of the Leguminosae or pea family. It has long pods which are up to 8 inches long (20 centimetres). In the Marianas Islands Velvet Bean leaves are used to make a medicinal tea.(2)
WHY ARE YOU TELLING US ABOUT THE VELVET BEAN PLANT IF IT IS A PLANT THAT IS APPARENTLY NOT VERY IMPORTANT?
Because, like the coconut, the seeds can be long distance ocean travellers. The seeds may not make a big splash in world or local economies but they certainly get around!
Velvet bean seeds have a very tough outer coat. Inside the seed there are holes filled with air. When the seeds drop into a river and travel to the sea they are equipped to be buoyant during a long sea journey.
The seeds of the Velvet Bean plant can travel for months or even years. Finally they may drift ashore on an island or continent many miles from their parent tree.
Velvet Bean seeds don't hold the World's Drift Seed Record For Long Distance Travel. That record is held by the seed of a Morning Glory called Mary's Bean. That seed is known to have travelled 15,000 miles by sea.(3)
Remember in the chapter on the black bean tree how Captain James Cook grounded his ship, the Endeavour, on rocks off the east coast of Australia? That was on 17 June 1770 during a 1000 day scientific voyage around the world. During the time required for repairs to the ship, scientists and artists were able to to examine and record the flora and fauna around them.
The
Velvet Bean plant was collected
and drawn at that time. Below is a sketch of that original 1770 drawing by
Frederick Polydore Nodder. To see the original drawings visit http://www.nhm.ac.uk/jdsml/nature-online/endeavour-botanical/
and http://www.nhm.ac.uk/jdsml/nature-online/endeavour-botanical/detail.dsml?IMAGNO=000617
To read much more about
Drift Seeds, visit http://waynesword.palomar.edu
and do a search for drift seeds, or do a Google search for Wayne's Word. Then
search for drift seeds on the home page.
References:
(1)BATS, Bat Conservation International,
2001 Calendar, January
(2)Fujita, M.S. 1991. Flying Fox (Chiroptera:Pteropodidae)
Pollination, Seed Dispersal, and Economic Importance: A Tabular Summary of
Current Knowledge, Resource Publication No. 2, Bat Conservation International
(3)A Sea-Bean Guide: Mary's Bean; http://www.seabean.com
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THE PLANT FAMILY: Leguminosae or Fabaceae GENUS: Mucuna SPECIES: Mucuna gigantea |
THE BATS Marianas flying fox (Pteropus mariannus) Sources: Fujita, M.S. 1991. Flying Fox (Chiroptera:Pteropodidae) Pollination, Seed Dispersal, and Economic Importance: A Tabular Summary of Current Knowledge, Resource Publication No. 2, Bat Conservation International BATS, Bat Conservation International, 2001 Calendar, January
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Text and illustrations by ML Alley-Crosby who thanks Dr. Merlin D. Tuttle, Founder and President of Bat Conservation International, Austin, Texas, for permission to use his photograph of the common long-tongued bat with Mucuna flowers as source material. http://www.batcon.org
July 2010
August 2008
March 2006
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