Spigelia genuflexa: New Plant species that sows its own seeds

Scientists have discovered a tiny angiosperm plant which bows down and sows its own seeds. The dainty, inch-high plant with pinkand-white flowers was found growing in the backyard of a local plant collector in rural north-eastern Bahia, Brazil, one of the world’s most biologically diverse areas.

The name of the plant (Spigelia genuflexa) has been derived out of its dexterity. It is a species of annual herb of the family Loganiaceae. It has been confirmed that the plant is a new species. When the plant’s fruits form, the plant slowly bends its small, fruiting branches down, depositing the seed capsules carefully onto the ground — and sometimes burying them in the soft cover of moss. ^{(photo:wikimedia commons)}

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2011