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Prospecting Weekly #48 - Focus Beats Brilliance...Every Time

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ASTRONAUTS exploring the far reaches of our solar system could in the future be breathing clean air from Australian plants such as wattles.

The plants are a step closer to aiding deep space probes after the seeds of four types of Australian flora survived six months aboard the International Space Station.

Canadian-born NASA astronaut Gregory Chamitoff, who was on that mission aboard the shuttle Discovery last May, said the seeds completed more than 2800 orbits of the Earth with no signs of "space fatigue or damage".

"From NASA's perspective, we are interested in seeds that might be hardy enough to survive long duration exposure to the space environment and then germinate in greenhouses in space or on other planets," he said.

"Ultimately, this will be essential to support self-sustaining outposts or colonies with food and oxygen."

The wollemi pine, golden wattle, flannel flower and waratah seeds, germinated at the NSW Seedbank at Mount Annan Botanic Garden near Campbelltown, were exposed to microgravity - almost weightlessness - and low-level ionising radiation.

Dr Tim Entwistle, Executive Director of the Botanic Gardens Trust, which asked NASA to take the seeds into space, said wattle in particular held promise because of the long journeys needed for deep space exploration.

THE Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board has declared war on four aquatic weeds. Water hyacinth, alligator weed, cabomba and salvina are declared pest plants, which by law, the public has a legal obligation to report.

The movement or sale of these plants can incur fines up to $50,000. These weeds can cause significant environmental harm by spreading to local watercourses and are a cause of concern for the board.

Alligator weed is one of the worst weeds in Australia because of its invasiveness and economic and environmental impacts. It is especially problematic as it invades land and water, and is extremely difficult to control.

The Board's Animal & Plant Control compliance officer Phil Elson encourages owners of ponds, aquariums and outdoor water features to be aware of the implications of emptying water into local waterways.

He also recommends vigilance when buying pond or aquarium plants that have the potential to be environmental risks.

"Emptying aquariums or pond water into local waterways can have enormous implications for native plants and animals," Mr Elson said.

"As seen with these four weeds, they can choke native plants which provide food sources and habitat for local species.

"We recently confiscated and destroyed a number of water hyacinth plants from commercial premises and private homes in Adelaide's northern suburbs. In previous years, it has also been found in the Adelaide Hills."

Labels: aquatic, natural resources, reeds, weeds

A new study has determined that an Australian native plant is using chemical warfare to prevent its bright red flowers from being eaten, by using some quantity of cyanide.

According to a report by ABC News, the finding challenges conventional thought that flowers evolved as a way for plants to attract birds and animals that help them cross-pollinate.

The study was done by Professor Byron Lamont and his colleagues from the Centre for Ecosystem Diversity and Dynamics at Curtin University of Technology in Western Australia.

Lamont said that the team studied 51 species of Hakea, and found they could be easily divided into two groupings.

Insect-pollinated species have predominantly tiny, white flowers surrounded by spiky, dense foliage, which they suggest stops animals such as emus and cockatoos from eating the flower.

Bird-pollinated species instead have soft open leaves and bright, easily accessible, usually red, flowers with room for birds to land on stems.

This makes the plant vulnerable to being eaten by emus and cockatoos.

Lamont and colleagues travelled to the heathlands north and south of Perth to collect samples of Hakea.

They macerated the flowers on-site and then used an enzyme and a strip of paper that was sensitive to cyanide to test for its presence.

He said that they found that plants with red flowers contain 10 milligrams of cyanide per gram, enough to make an animal sick.

According to co-author Dr Mick Hanley, of the University of Plymouth, animals that eat the red Hakea flowers may learn to associate the colour with the bitter taste produced by the cyanide.

“The colour red acts as a warning to large vertebrate herbivores like emus, parrots and kangaroos that the flower contains distasteful or even poisonous cyanogenic compounds,” he said.

“It seems that Western Australian plants have not only developed a remarkable defence against would-be flower predators, but that they also clearly advertise the fact,” he added.

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