Fascinating Nature
Leafy Mysteries
Some plants fold their leaves when you touch them. Some leaves never get dirty. And one tree near Kolkata looks like a whole forest! Let's explore some leafy secrets.
Did you know?
The touch-me-not plant (Mimosa pudica) folds its leaves the moment you touch it. Scientists think this makes it look wilted, so grazing animals leave it alone. It also folds its leaves every evening!
Lotus leaves never stay dirty. They are covered with tiny waxy bumps, so raindrops form round balls and roll off, carrying the dust away with them.
The Great Banyan in Howrah, near Kolkata, is at least 250 years old. It has more than 3,700 prop roots (roots that grow down from the branches), so this one tree looks like a forest!
Try this: Leaf Rubbing Detective
Collect three fallen leaves of different shapes. Place each one under a sheet of paper, vein side up. Rub a crayon sideways over the paper and watch the lines appear! Do the veins spread out like a net, as in a peepal leaf? Or do they run side by side in straight lines, as in grass or a banana leaf?
Go further: Plants Without Flowers
Ferns never make flowers or seeds. Turn a fern leaf over and you may see rows of tiny brown dots. These hold spores, specks as fine as dust. The wind carries them away, and a spore that lands on damp soil can grow into a new fern. Ferns are very old plants. They have been on Earth for about 36 crore (360 million) years, so they were around even before the dinosaurs!