Hexagram 4 - Dodder as described by Sir David Attenborough

[my_key]

Episode 3 of the BBC nature series " The Green Planet" was aired last night in UK. I was surprised to see Dodder taking a starring role. "A parasite with an insatiable appetite" was how Sir David Attenborough described it in his commentary and later as "a hunter" - 'we do not seek the dodder, the dodder seeks us' (Rutt).

This BBC clip taken with time lapse photography shows the dark nature of the plant and I found the part where all the stems were whirling around in search of their next victim quite eerie and menacing. Is that the deep nature of dodder?

What is not shown in this clip is that after the dodder plant has connected to several prey plants. These preyed upon plants, because they are under attack, release toxins into their leaves as an attempt to ward off future attacks from other assailants e.g. leaf munching caterpillars etc. Because the dodder and the plant have become one these warning signals are not only contained within the plant but are also transmitted along the stems of the dodder to other plants that are now connected to each other by the parasitic dodder. (Rutt, line 6: 'favourable against raiders')

So dodder becomes a connecting pathway allowing information to flow from a place of knowing to a place of ignorance: teaching and enlightening.

BBC One - The Green Planet, Series 1, Seasonal Worlds, The parasite with an insatiable appetite

The parasitic dodder hunts in a stand of nettles.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Liselle]

Thanks, My_key. Also thanks for the summary, since the video can't be watched in the U.S. (Unless you have a VPN, I suppose.)

 

[my_key]

Thanks, My_key. Also thanks for the summary, since the video can't be watched in the U.S. (Unless you have a VPN, I suppose.)

Is that state censorship or a technical reason?

 

[Liselle]

I don't know!