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A record-breaking pollen catapult

Author

Listed:
  • Joan Edwards

    (Williams College)

  • Dwight Whitaker

    (Williams College)

  • Sarah Klionsky

    (Williams College)

  • Marta J. Laskowski

    (Oberlin College)

Abstract

The release of stored elastic energy often drives rapid movements in animal systems1,2, and plant components employing this mechanism should be able to move with similar speed. Here we describe how the flower stamens of the bunchberry dogwood (Cornus canadensis) rely on this principle to catapult pollen into the air as the flower opens explosively3,4,5. Our high-speed video observations show that the flower opens in less than 0.5 ms — to our knowledge, the fastest movement so far recorded in a plant.

Suggested Citation

  • Joan Edwards & Dwight Whitaker & Sarah Klionsky & Marta J. Laskowski, 2005. "A record-breaking pollen catapult," Nature, Nature, vol. 435(7039), pages 164-164, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:435:y:2005:i:7039:d:10.1038_435164a
    DOI: 10.1038/435164a
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    Cited by:

    1. Xu, Zhongwei & Li, Dianlun & Wang, Kun & Liu, Ye & Wang, Jiaxin & Qiu, Zhirong & Wu, Chaoxing & Lin, Jintang & Guo, Tailiang & Li, Fushan, 2022. "Stomatopod-inspired integrate-and-fire triboelectric nanogenerator for harvesting mechanical energy with ultralow vibration speed," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).

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