Creeping dogwood, Isle Royale National Park, 2015.
Summary
This plant goes by many names: Canadian dwarf cornel, Canadian bunchberry, quatretemps, crackerberry or creeping dogwood (Cornus canadensis). This slow-growing herbaceous subshrub forms a carpet-like mat on the forest floor. Interestingly, each flower has highly elastic petals that flip backward, releasing springy filaments that are cocked underneath the petals. The filamets snap upward flinging pollen in a motion that lasts less than half a millisecond. The pollen experiences two to three thousand times the force of gravity. This is one of the fastest plant actions found so far, requiring 10,000 frames per second to catch the action.
Tags
Date
2015
Source
National Parks Gallery
Copyright info
Public Domain Dedication