Codariocalyx motorius - Garden Plants and Gardening Forum

cyanide · 01-11-2009, 03:42 PM

15 days ago i finally got around to planting some telegraph plant seeds. yesterday, one sprang up through the soil (just barely). i took this low-res (5.1 mpx) picture today and would just like to share my excitement with you all.

and yes, i know that money WILL NOT grow on trees no matter how many dimes i plant.

lspichkin · 01-12-2009, 02:08 PM

awesome - isn't that just the best feeling?

cyanide · 01-12-2009, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lspichkin

awesome - isn't that just the best feeling?

yes it is! the little guy is about an inch tall now, and some tepin peppers i planted at the same time are sprouting as well. one came out at the same time as the telegraph plant, and another appeared this afternoon.

GreenGrass · 03-30-2009, 03:28 PM

Hello!

I've got one of these guys growing too. Mine is now about 4 inches tall and sprouting leaves rapidly. So, I can't find any literature out there indicating how mature they need to be before they start to "dance."

Any ideas?

Every day I hope to catch it jiving along with my music at home!

: )

hasse222 · 09-30-2009, 07:58 PM

lyx motorius is truly a little-known jewel. It's a perennial tree with a very attractive foliage that has a very special trick up its sleeve: the leaves - most notably the smaller lateral leaflets - can move with an observable speed. The plant does this to maximize exposure to light, and get the most from the sun's energy.

But the telegraph plant goes a bit further than your average sunflower. The large elongated-elliptical leaf has two “satellites”: the smaller leaflets. The plant has a relatively large leaf (can vary per clone) which is very thin and is connected to the leaf stalk via a zone which is a bit thicker and a tad different in color. This is the “hinge”, this zone can lift and slightly rotate the main leaf like we lift our arm with the shoulder. But this small hinge is limited in the amount of energy it can deliver, thus limiting the speed at which the large leaf can move. You can try this by stretching your arm and moving it up and down - doing the same thing with a small weight in your moving hand takes more energy and you won't keep it up that long (or even injure yourself). But here's the plant's problem: it doesn't have eyes. We can point things at the sun because we can see where it is. A plant has to do this by sampling the exposure at different points, meanwhile correcting during movement if it's moving to a worse or a better angle. In other words: the leaf has to make sub-optimal decisions to find out what the better path is, it can never “just follow the best trajectory”. The bigger the leaf, the more effort it costs to move it and the more energy is missed
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01-11-2009, 03:42 PM	#1
cyanide Green Gardener Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 2	Codariocalyx motorius 15 days ago i finally got around to planting some telegraph plant seeds. yesterday, one sprang up through the soil (just barely). i took this low-res (5.1 mpx) picture today and would just like to share my excitement with you all. and yes, i know that money WILL NOT grow on trees no matter how many dimes i plant.

03-30-2009, 03:28 PM	#4
GreenGrass Green Gardener Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 1	Hello! I've got one of these guys growing too. Mine is now about 4 inches tall and sprouting leaves rapidly. So, I can't find any literature out there indicating how mature they need to be before they start to "dance." Any ideas? Every day I hope to catch it jiving along with my music at home! : ) Last edited by GreenGrass; 03-30-2009 at 03:29 PM. Reason: adding question

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01-12-2009, 02:08 PM	#2
lspichkin Administrator Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: West Hollywood, CA Posts: 221 Images: 88	awesome - isn't that just the best feeling?

09-30-2009, 07:58 PM	#5
hasse222 Green Gardener Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 3	lyx motorius is truly a little-known jewel. It's a perennial tree with a very attractive foliage that has a very special trick up its sleeve: the leaves - most notably the smaller lateral leaflets - can move with an observable speed. The plant does this to maximize exposure to light, and get the most from the sun's energy. But the telegraph plant goes a bit further than your average sunflower. The large elongated-elliptical leaf has two “satellites”: the smaller leaflets. The plant has a relatively large leaf (can vary per clone) which is very thin and is connected to the leaf stalk via a zone which is a bit thicker and a tad different in color. This is the “hinge”, this zone can lift and slightly rotate the main leaf like we lift our arm with the shoulder. But this small hinge is limited in the amount of energy it can deliver, thus limiting the speed at which the large leaf can move. You can try this by stretching your arm and moving it up and down - doing the same thing with a small weight in your moving hand takes more energy and you won't keep it up that long (or even injure yourself). But here's the plant's problem: it doesn't have eyes. We can point things at the sun because we can see where it is. A plant has to do this by sampling the exposure at different points, meanwhile correcting during movement if it's moving to a worse or a better angle. In other words: the leaf has to make sub-optimal decisions to find out what the better path is, it can never “just follow the best trajectory”. The bigger the leaf, the more effort it costs to move it and the more energy is missed __________________________________________________ __ Doctor Reviews HGH