The Private Life of Plants 2. Growing

General Information

Author/Creator
Attenborough, David, 1926- director
Language
Hungarian.
Published
United Kingdom : BBC, 1995.
Physical Description
DVD-ROM (49 mins.)
Digital ver. identifier
HU_OSA_10000934

Contents/Summary

Summary
Broadcast 18 January 1995, this programme is about how plants gain their sustenance. Sunlight is one of the essential requirements if a seed is to germinate, and Attenborough highlights the cheese plant as an example whose young shoots head for the nearest tree trunk and then climb to the top of the forest canopy, developing its leaves en route. Using sunshine, air, water and a few minerals, the leaves are, in effect, the "factories" that produce food. However, some, such as the begonia, can thrive without much light. To gain moisture, plants typically use their roots to probe underground. Trees pump water up pipes that run inside their trunks, and Attenborough observes that a sycamore can do this at the rate of 450 litres an hour – in total silence. Too much rainfall can clog up a leaf's pores, and many have specially designed 'gutters' to cope with it. However, their biggest threat is from animals, and some require extreme methods of defence, such as spines, camouflage, or poison. Some can move quickly to deter predators: the mimosa can fold its leaves instantly when touched, and the Venus flytrap eats insects by closing its leaves around its prey when triggered. Another carnivorous plant is the trumpet pitcher that snares insects when they fall into its tubular leaves. Attenborough visits Borneo to see the largest pitcher of them all, Nepenthes rajah, whose traps contain up to two litres of water and have been known to kill small rodents.

Subjects

Genre
Documentary films

Bibliographic Information

Holdings

Item Type Current Location Call Number Status Shelving Location Public Note
DVD-ROMOSA Film LibraryFL Record 5439Available-
Digital filmOSA Film LibraryFL Record 5439
(HU_OSA_10000934.mp4)
AvailableAccess Copy, MP4 format