The eternal reflection of a narcissistic life

"I weep for Narcissus, but I never noticed that Narcissus was beautiful. I weep because, each time he knelt beside my banks, I could see, in the depths of his eyes, my own beauty reflected."

– Oscar Wilde

The legend of Narcissus is a very well known Greek myth and as the Greeks have accustoming us, this one is another beautiful and tragic story.

Narcissus was a handsome young man, which used to go hunting to the woods. One day a nymph named Echo saw Narcissus and immediately fell in love, however due to the curse that goddess Hera casted on her, Echo was not able to speak on her behalf – she could only speak by repeating what others had said, so she could not explain the love she had for the young mortal. Narcissus became tired of Echo’s repeated and nonsensical words, and insulted her since he didn’t feel the same. Echo was heartbroken – big mistake Narcissus! Everyone knows that breaking a female’s heart can be of great danger, now imagine breaking a nymph’s heart – a being that has direct contact with the celestial creatures. The other nymphs thought Narcissus deserved to be punished, and Zeus agreed. Again when Narcissus was hunting, he was lead to the lake to drink some water. As soon as he bent to the pond he glimpsed his reflection in the water and fell in love with what he saw.

Echo and Narcissus, John William Waterhouse

He couldn’t do anything anymore except staring at the water and his own true love – himself! He couldn’t eat or sleep anymore, life started to leave him but not before he understood and regret his behavior with Echo. Zeus and the nymphs took pity on him, but it was already too late, they could not restore mortal life, so Narcissus body was transformed into a flower, blooming every spring with the “head” bending to the water.

Narcissus calcicola [Source: Flora-On]

It is very easy to identify the Narcissus flowers due to the presence of a corona, also commonly known as trumpet. I have mentioned this organ before, but whilst in Passiflora the corona is formed by a considerable number of needle-shape structures, Narcissus shows a petal-like structure – here the corona looks like an outer-formation of the perianth, but keep in mind that it is an independent organ and although it is fused with the perianth and is similar to it in many aspects, it is not the same thing, and it is more complex than just an outgrowth of the tepals.

Floral structures in Narcissus calcicola

Narcissus was indeed a very handsome being, but what seemed to be a bliss ended up being his curse, leading him to death. Nobody was good enough for him because nobody was at his level. He became blind with himself, focused only on his reflection – the rest of the world was a complete nothingness. Narcissus showed us in a dramatic way how important it is to respect the love from one another and that contemplation can be the solution for the problems that we keep being focused on. So do never forget, whenever you’re bending your head down, remember that the world is to be contemplated with the head up! 

The mandrake's screaming reputation

"Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see whether the vine hath budded, whether the vine-blossom be opened, and the pomegranates be in flower; there will I give thee my love. The mandrake give forth fragrance, and at our doors are all manner of precious fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved."

Song of Solomon 7:12-13 

Mandrake is known from ancient times, its reputation runs in people's mouths for centuries. The oldest references are to be found in biblical scriptures, Genesis and Song of Solomon (or Song of Songs) where its hebrew name (דודאים) is found to mean literally love plant (hum, interesting!). 

There is no other plant in Europe associated with so many myths and legends. The Mandrake is popular due to its natural properties, and that includes (apart from the aphrodisiac effects that hebrews seemed to be so much aware of) hallucinogenic, analgesic and narcotic effects. But the bad reputation of this plant is probably due to the poisonous character of its whole - especially the root. And it is the root the basis of this whole story. The root of this plant resembles a human shape, so it was believed in the dark old times that a dangerous homunculus was the root of the plant. The imagination lead people to the world of non-sense and in the Medieval times it was believed that mandrakes could be fatal to its catcher because the homunculus root would scream so loudly while pulled out of the soil that the scream, they say, would kill the catcher. Creepy and doubtful, right? Nevertheless it was based on this myth that the price of the mandrakes became as high as an artisan's salary around the XVII century. Of course this was probably a high rentable business, people needed the plant to cast love spells, witches also to rub it on their bodies to be able to fly, and for other ordinary daily tasks that people used to do in the Middle Ages. 

The roots of the mandrake with its human shape

Now, I'm going to tell you how did the ancient mandrake catcher managed without killing themselves out of that loud scream, but first let me warn you - do NOT try this at home to avoid innocent deaths! This was done by experienced men, trained and skilled for mandrake cropping. 

According to medieval legends, the Mandragora roots should be collected close to the Summer solstice during full moon nights. It is wise to keep it still by wetting it with blood or urine. Then, a furrow must be dug around it until a rope can be tied to the root and the other end tied to a black dog. The catcher would then leave the place keeping his ears closed and the dog, by following the owner, will pull out the root. After this, the root is of no harm anymore and can be handled without fear. 

Here you can see a professional of the Mandrake catching in action

Ok, let's put some seriousness on this post, Mandragora officinarum L. belongs to the Solanaceae family and you can tell that straight away by looking at the flowers. How? Hum, good one! I think the petal tube and the 5 corolla lobes, associated with the haplostemony character of the stamens helps. The difference with Solanum species is that the dehiscence of the stamens isn't poricidal, and so Buzz Pollination doesn't happen in Mandragora.

Detail of the flower showing the longitudinal dehiscence of Mandragora flowers 

The majestic legends of a Sacred & Sad Tree

Had fell in love, couldn’t avoid the pain for this love wasn’t reciprocal, becoming sorrowful for the whole eternity.

In short, this is the legend I heard about a tree native to the Indian sub-continent – the Parijat or sad tree. The reason for such a name is something that always made me curious – why was this plant condemned to have such a dreadful and miserable destiny? Of course it had to have love involved at some level. After all, isn’t love the mother of all emotions? Love or the absence of love is the root of all feelings and such a pain that lasts the whole eternity had to be linked with this. 

Let’s start by dissecting the scientific name of the plant, Nyctanthes arbor-tristis means literally “night-blooming sad tree”, so it does give us already a clue about the behaviour of the plant – flowers bloom at night. Taking a look at the flower and blooming patterns, the candidate pollinator can be guessed. The flowers are definitely designed to attract night-pollinators – the colour, the night-blooming condition and the characteristic sweet fragrance that Oleaceae is well-known to exude is also very strong at night. Linked with the size and shape of the flowers, I can only think of a moth to do this kind of job!

One of the legends say that the heavenly Parijat tree was brought to this world by Lord Krishna as a gift for one of his wives, Rukmini. [Source: www.indianminiaturepaintings.co.uk]

As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, the first legend I heard is about an Indian princess, Parijat who fell in love with Surya-deva (the Sun-god), which deserted her. Heart-broken and in despair, the princess committed suicide, was cremated and brought back to life from the ashes in the form of a tree. Incapable to bear the sight of the one that lead her to kill herself, the flowers only bloom at night, and it is said that the flowers are shed like tear-drops in the first shade of dawn. It is a romantic but cruel story from which Linnaeus was probably based to name the tree. But apart from this one, there is a much important story that puts this plant into a sacred level in several Asian religions as Jainism, Hinduism and Buddhism. The Parijat tree is linked with a very famous episode from the sacred texts Puranas that describes a wish-fulfilling divine tree formed during the Churning of the Milky Ocean. Other legends were made around this incredible tree, but it would be an endless post if I start telling them all!

Sagar Manthan by Raja Ravi Varma representing the Churning of the Milky Ocean, and the Parijat tree represented as one of the treasures churned by the gods

No wonder though that this tree, known to be sorrowful, is full of stories and legends around it. It has a special behaviour, and descriptions say that the fragrance produced take us to drawn into its sweetness – it perfumes the entire universe it is said and so its essential oil is used in perfume-making. Also, it is popular for medicinal purposes in Asia, including Ayurvedic medicine.

The flower of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis. [Source: Saroj Kumar Kasaju]

Botanically it might be a bit boring – or is it?! This is Oleaceae, we are in the realm of Lamiales, the land of merism hodgepodge. But in Oleaceae things seem to be more pacific and there is a pattern we can rely on: usually flowers are hanged in the tips of branches forming wonderful cymoses of rather small flowers. These usually have four petals and two stamens, so it seems to be quite easy to spot a member of the Oleaceae family. But because this lovely one has to be special in every field, the merism is higher here than in the rest of the family (along with some Jasminum) and the number of petals can go from 5 to 8. 

I am only sorry that we cannot feel fragrances through internet yet! :)

The legend of the money tree

Dillenia indica is a plant native to tropical Asia, brought to Brazil by the Portuguese and it was a Portuguese that built up the idea of a tree that produces money. The legend says that D. Pedro I of Brazil (D. Pedro IV of Portugal) sent the fruits of this plant to Portugal with the note “In this land money grows on trees”. When the Portuguese opened the fruits they were astonished! All the fruits had patacas’ coins inside! – the Brazilian currency used on those days. This was a very extravagant way that D. Pedro found to symbolize the natural richness of Brazil. 

D. Pedro I of Brazil

As you can imagine that was a trick, Dillenia does not grow patacas nor any other currency in their fruits, but the trick was so good that the legend remained and stayed in people’s imaginary – even today people from Portuguese speaking countries keep talking about the Patacas’ tree as a hypothetical easy way to make money, but I can assure that such trees do not exist!

Imagine what it would be like if you find a coin inside this fruit...

But the mystery remains – if Dillenia don’t make patacas, how did the fruits had patacas inside without being opened before? I must say D. Pedro had sense of humor, and by using a very cheap trick he managed to keep this legend in people’s mouth until today. The Patacas’ tree is known in Brazil also as the chest-fruit tree, and the origin of this name is the key to solve the mystery. When the flowers of Dillenia are fertilized, the fruit grows in the middle as usual, however, also the petals start developing and growing around, becoming juicy, edible and protecting the fruit inside. Whatever you place in the flower (between the ovary and the petals) remains there, and obviously the coins that D. Pedro placed in the flowers remained inside until they got ripe and someone shopped the fruit. 

Chopped fruit of Dillenia indica - the coins were placed in the gap between the fleshy petals and the inner core - the real fruit! Source: http://come-se.blogspot.pt

Basically, the coins were not inside the real fruit, even though for non-botanists that’s what it looks like, the petals and all organs that are part of the flower are not considered to be the fruit, so the juicy edible petals are just that - petals and are not considered to be part of the fruit (at least, botanically speaking). For all those that are now disappointed knowing that money really doesn’t grow on trees, at least now you know how to trick a friend!

Even though the way that the fruit is formed is pretty odd, also the flowers are quite impressive, and have a lot of evolutionary clues to be demystified. From my view, one of the most interesting morphological characters of Dilleniaceae, apart from the petals that become part of the fruit, is the androecium. The androecium is known to be polyandric in most cases, which means that it is formed by many stamens (more than double the number of petals), originated by the division of common primordia.

Dillenia indica flower. Source: André Benedito

Some other morphological aspects are said to be related with basal Caryophyllales (including the centrifugally developing multistaminate androecium, persistent calyces and campylotrous ovules), but the truth is that the placement of this group among eudicots is not entirely clear yet.

Primula’s little secret

“The earthly manifestations of God’s world began with the realm of plants, as a kind of direct communication from it. (…) Plants were bound for good or ill to their places. They expressed not only the beauty but also the thoughts of God’s world”

Carl Jung

I have heard from many people that plants are boring creatures because of their incapacity of movement, but on the other hand this is an incredible challenge they have to deal with all the time. They have to answer to with certain problems even though they cannot move or see to, for example, choose the visitors of their flowers. They need to be selective enough to attract pollinators, avoiding nectar robbers, herbivores and their own pollen (self-pollination); they are to me one of the most incredible examples of the mysterious abilities of Nature. There are many fascinating examples on pollination strategies to avoid inbreeding in plants and Primula seems to be quite talented on finding the right strategy on this matter, avoiding selfing like no other. 

Primula acaulis. Source: Flora-on

To avoid selfing, Primula flowers managed to find a way to create hermaphrodite flowers of two different types, each type can only pollinate the other type, and each individual only forms one of the morphotypes. Pin plants (morphotype 1) have a long style and short anthers; thrum plants (morphotype 2) have a short style and long anthers. Pollen of pin plants can only grow down on the style of thrum plants and the pollen of thrum plants only fertilizes pin plants. For this reason, flowers of one type cannot be fertilized by pollen of their own type, and since one individual can’t produce both types inbreeding is hardly possible to happen. 

Morphotype 1 cannot fertilize morphotype 2 and vice-versa, as the pollen is only "fertile" with the opposite morphotype

The secret recipe for this special strategy can be easily explained genetically – pin plants are heterozygous (Aa) or homozygous-dominant (AA) and thrum plants are homozygous-recessive (aa). Because crossing happens only between both morphotypes, there are only two possibilities of crossing, Aa x aa or AA x aa. 

Crossing between both morphotypes can be explained in two ways, depending on the genotype of the pin plants. If they are homozygous (AA, example on the left), all offspring will also be of the pin morphotype because their genotype will certainly be heterozygous (Aa)

However, it is not as simple as this, as there is not only one locus responsible for this character, but a group of three loci tightly linked together (linkage), forming a complex locus or a super gene. Because these genes are so closed together, a cross-over that separates them is highly improbable to happen, however it may happen in rare situations and only in this rare situations self-pollination might occur. When crossing-over takes place within those loci, two complementary kinds of homostyle are formed, with the stigma characteristic of one type and the pollen characteristic of the other, allowing self-fertilization to happen. These homostyles are though naturally eliminated from most populations because of the selective disadvantage that inbreeding brings along. 

Primula veris thrum mophotype (aa genotype). Source: Flickr (padikeo)

Primula veris pin morphotype (Aa or AA genotype). Souce: Flickr (Viveka)

So now, whenever you find a Primula flower, take a look at the reproductive structures, and you will be able to tell if they have an AA/Aa genotype or an aa genotype!