Botany of Desire - Amelia Breckenridge

 

Botany of Desire

In AP Bio, we watched “Botany of Desire”, a documentary based on Micheal Pollan’s book. The documentary explores the relationships between humans and plants, comparing the ideas that plants have evolved to humans needs, and in turn, we have helped the plants survive and spread. Each plant in the documentary has components that satisfy human desires, and have become a huge part of society and certain cultures. The apple contains sweetness, the tulip contains beauty, cannabis contains intoxication, and the potato contains the ability to be controlled. 

Apples

Apples were first discovered in Kazakhstan and became popular because the apple could ferment into an alcoholic beverage. Now, the apple is popular for being a portable, long lasting sweetness. Over time, the apple has appeared in many stories, legends, and societal symbols. The very first story of the bible, Adam and Eve, contains a forbidden fruit, the apple! But researchers who study the bible believe that the fruit is more likely to be a pomegranate, not an apple, because of where the story took place and what climates apples can thrive in. The documentary also talked about Johnny Appleseed, which is a famous children’s book but the real character, John Chapman, discovered the genetic diversity of appleseeds. He realized that every seed in an apple could result in a different tree, so planting apple buds instead of apple seeds could create fruits more similar to the parent fruit. The popular saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”, originated after the apple cider alcohol era. Now, apples are seen as a health symbol because of the many nutrients, vitamins, and natural sweetness of the fruit. A curious question about apples: How did the many different types of apples come to be regarding geographic distribution and human selection? 

Tulips

Tulips were once thought to be boring because people thought the flower looked like a “lollipop on a stick”. But tulips can have many different colors, shapes, and petals. The mountains in central Asia have the first record of blooming tulips, but in the 17th century, the sultan of the Ottoman Empire had a deep love for the flower, and Tulip Mania occured. Tulip Mania is an era where the Dutch wanted to show their wealth, so people grew tulip gardens because the vibrant colors stood out against the grey sky. The Dutch even had a tulip bulb market, where bulbs were sold for insanely high prices. But eventually, buyers realized the bulbs were being sold for unreasonable prices and the market crashed. The tulip portion of the documentary focused on how the tulip has no use for humans, so the flower keeps humans interested by constantly changing. I also learned that different colors of tulips are a result of plant disease. A curious question about tulips: How have breeders manipulated tulips to make the flower so diverse? 

Cannabis 

Cannabis contains molecules that can alter the human mind. The documentary talks about the idea that humans have a desire to be in a different consciousness periodically. In every society, 1-2 intoxicants are accepted, but that varies from culture to culture. Cannabis was discovered in India and was used as a pain killer and stress reducer. In the 19th and 20th centuries, cannabis became a very widely accepted drug in Mexico. Mexican immigrants introduced the plant to America, and Americans started using the drug to forget things. The documentary explains that forgetting is just as important as remembering, especially for people who suffer from PTSD. Scientists discovered how the plant alters memory, coordination, and judgement- the THC molecule. The human brain has CB1 receptors, which the THC molecule of the plant can bind to temporarily to lessen the effects of stress and pain. Currently in America, the recreational use of cannabis is legal in 24 states, and the medical use of cannabis is legal in 40 states. A curious question about cannabis: Does cannabis have different effects on different people, or are the effects the same because all brains have the same receptors?

Potatoes 

The Peruvians first discovered potato farming and how potatoes could be domesticated. In the Andes mountains, farmers realized that potatoes could adapt to the natural environment the potato was placed in and still thrive. Farmers were able to control their fate when planting potatoes! Potatoes are a staple crop and have become an essential part of many peoples diet because of the rich carbohydrates and vitamins in the plant. In the 16th century, Ireland was in need of starchy calories that could grow in Irish soil and climate. Potatoes were the perfect plant, but Irish farmers only planted one kind of potato. In the 17th century, a South American cargo ship carrying a fungus arrived in Ireland and the fungus whipped out the potato fields, killing 1 in every 8 Irish persons due to famine. The potato famine reminded me of Darwin’s theory of natural selection, because every potato field contained the same type of potato, no population had different traits that made the field more resistant to fungi, leading to every potato field in Ireland to be killed. A curious question about potatoes: Why are sweet potatoes and regular potatoes considered different plants?