Heroes Not Zombies

Sometimes a single plant just stops me in my tracks. This one did. Have you ever seen anything quite like it? The combination of colour and form is really something.

I was tempted to simply share this photo with you and tell you, briefly, about my astonishment, but, actually looking at it again just now sets off a train of thought which is never far from my mind. So I’m going to share that too.

I think the plant world is severely under-rated by we humans. Plants evolved before animals did and they’ve managed to establish themselves over the whole planet. In other words they’ve learned how to survive, adapt and thrive a long, long time before we humans did! Not only that but they’ve developed the ability to live sustainably. They don’t use up finite resources and they don’t pollute their environment.

But perhaps one of the most astonishing features of plants is how they can suck what they need directly out of the air and use the Sun’s energy to convert what they capture into stems, roots, leaves, flowers and seeds. Sure they gather some of what they need through their roots but photosynthesis is surely their super power.

We’ve learned fairly recently just how interconnected trees are in a forest, communicating directly but also through an incredible symbiotic relationship with micro-fungi…..to the extent that their networked way of living has been called the “wood wide web”.

But there’s more!

Think of the vast diversity of methods used by plants to have their seeds fertilised and disseminated. And how they use colour, shape and scent to attract pollinators and deter predators.

I’m not saying we need to turn into plants but surely the plant world is an abundant source of inspiration. There’s a whole movement now called biomimetics which looks to nature to learn how we might solve our problems.

Think of how all of our food is dependent on plants, and how a plant based diet has been shown time and again to be the healthiest one.

Finally, we’ve only scratched the surface of the healing power of plants.

As I said…..amazing!