Cornus canadensis
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| Cornus canadensis L. |
Cornus canadensis (Canadian Dwarf Cornel or Canadian Bunchberry) is a herbaceous member of the dogwood family. It grows about 20-30 cm tall and bears tiny flowers a few millimeters across that form an inflorescence at the center of four white, petal-like bracts 3-4 cm diameter.
Each flower has highly elastic petals that flip backward and release springy filaments that are cocked underneath the petals. The filaments snap upward flinging pollen out of containers hinged to the filaments. This motion takes place in less than half a millisecond and the pollen experiences 800 times the force that the space shuttle does during liftoff. The bunchberry has one of the fastest plant actions found so far requiring a camera that takes 10,000 frames per second to catch the action (Edwards et al. 2005).
The fruits are edible with a mild flavour somewhat like apples. The large seeds within are somewhat hard and crunchy.
[edit] External links
- NCRS: USDA Plants Profile: Cornus canadensis
- Exploding Dogwood Flowers Williams College website describing the work of Joan Edwards and Dwight Whittaker, with videos and animations.
[edit] References
- Edwards J, Whitaker D, Klionsky S, Laskowski MJ (2005). Botany: a record-breaking pollen catapult. Nature 435 (7039): 164. PMID 15889081.
