Honduran white tent bats roosting under a heliconia leaf, which they sever down the length of its midrib to create a ‘tent’ that provides a waterproof shelter and protection from potential predators.
Tag: leaves
Sensitive Plant, Mimosa pudica
“Pudica” is the Latin word for “shy” or “bashful,” which is an apt description of the sensitive “Touch-Me-Not.” Native to South and Central America, this shade-lover often grows as a weed under trees and shrubs. It is popular among collectors as a specimen plant worldwide, because of its unique sensitivity to touch.
The foliage retracts when touched to prevent consumption by herbivores, and it also exhibits nyctinastic movement, meaning circadian rhythms affect the leaves to close at night, and re-open during the day. This trait is present in many other members of the legume family as well.
You can buy seeds for this plant and grow it yourself:
Canada, USA, UK & Europe, Worldwide, Biodiverseed.
The Honduran white bat has snow white fur and a yellow nose and ears. It is tiny, only 3.7-4.7 cm long. It modifies its immediate surroundings for its own benefit, by cutting the side veins extending out from the midrib of the large leave of the Heliconia plant causing them to fold down to form a ‘tent’. They cling to the roof of this tent in small colonies of up to half a dozen individuals, consisting of one male and a harem of females.
Vetches and passion flowers have modified some of their leaves and converted them into tendrils. These grope around in space until they touch the stem of another plant and swiftly coil around it. The tendrils then coil and pull the plant up towards the sunlight.
Illustrated plant chart: Edible leaves, pungent herbs, mushrooms and seaweed; Chikuyou Hasegawa (1873).
Mimosa pudica (from Latin: pudica ”shy, bashful or shrinking”; also called sensitive plant and the touch-me-not), is a creeping annual or perennial herb often grown for its curiosity value: the compound leaves fold inward and droop when touched or shaken, re-opening minutes later. The species is native to South America and Central America, but is now a pantropical weed.
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