Kingdom Plantae
Over this last week in AP Biology, we have shifted our focus from Kingdom Protista towards Kingdom Plantae. In the lastest kingdom, we are looking at what makes a plant a plant and how the kingdom is broken down into different main groups. As an opening glance into Kingdom Plantae, we watched a video titled Botany Of Desire which was presented by Michael Pollan and directed by Michael Schwarz.
The movie presented an interesting idea that I had not really considered before. Botany Of Desire describes how we might not be using plants as much as plants use us. Plants carry out their desires by getting humans to ensure their survival, thanks to appealing to our desires for beauty, sweetness, intoxication and control. The movie is broken down into the four different human appeals that plants play off of.
Apples-Sweetness:
There are thousands of different breed of apples that stretch all across the world. Originating in Central Asia, the apple become world renowned and an iconic symbol for many different parts of the world. Originally, apples were known to be quite bitter and rather unpleasant to eat such was the case in the early United States. The bitter apples were instead used to make hard cider, a much safer alternative to the polluted and dangerous water at the time. However, apples adapted to have a sweeter taste that people would then eat instead of turning the apple into hard cider. The sweetness of the apple would make possible the chance that humans would nurture the the plant in order to harvest the apples for consumption. Enamored by the great taste of the apple, Americans, along with many other people across the world, ensured the survival of the plant and passed along its genes.
As I was watching the portion of the video about the apple, I was shocked to find out that there were so many different types of apples, thousands that scattered all around the world. If I were to go to the grocery store, however, I would only be able to find a select few types. Learning that the apple had so many different breeds really did show me just how successful and diverse apple trees were. In capturing the human desire of sweetness, apples were able to greatly diversify and become a global phenomenon.
Tulips-Beauty:
The tulip is a rather striking flower, capturing the attention of people all throughout the world due to their beauty. While the flower is objectively breathtaking, such an organism cannot be such a powerful entity, or could it? The movie displayed just how much power and wealth this flower commanded back in 1634. The Dutch people were truly taken away by the beauty of the tulip, so much so that the time period gained the title of “Tulip Mania”. You may be thinking to yourself, “Well, just how crazy can a person get over a flower?” and to that I tell you to hold onto your socks. During the time period of Tulip Mania, a single tulip was solid for the equivalent of an apartment on Fifth Avenue. Yes, a single flower was selling for over a million dollars. Are your socks still there? Mine certainly were not after hear the price for the first time. The tulip was able to catch the attention of so many people, as the plant still does to today, and be breed by tulip farmers. Today, the flower business is a multimillion dollar industry. Millions of dollars is not bad for a product that starts to die as soon as it is harvested and serves no practical purpose to own.
By playing off of the human desire for beauty, the tulip has been able to thrive. Spread all throughout the world, the plant has been given the opportunity to diversify with the help of tulip breeders. I would say that the tulip is coming out on top in their relationship with humans.
Cannabis-Intoxication
Cannabis, pot, marijuana, or any other nickname, the plant widely recognisable now due to their presence in pop culture and historical influence in American politics. Nearly one hundred Americans have smoked pot at some point in their lifetime. The intoxicating properties that the plant provides has caught the attention and hearts of many people throughout the world. The plant has enamored people so much so that people throughout the history of the United States have risked jail time to grow, sell, and use cannabis. Federal law prohibits the recreational use, selling, and growing of the plant, but the jail time did not stop Americans in their pursuit for the high. People began to breed the twelve foot high plant with a six foot breed in order to be grown inside and at a much faster rate. Growers tend to their cannabis plant very attentive, giveing the plant the maximum amount of nutrients and care that the plant can possibly get.
There is no doubt to me that the cannabis plant completely has humans under their metaphorical thumb. Due to their intoxicating properties and the human desire for such a high, the cannabis plant is treated like a king. The plant is supplied with the exact amount of care and nutrients in order for the plant to perform at maximum capacity. Their chemical producing highs are just too good for humans to ignore.
Potatoes- Control
The highly nutritious potato is a staple in the diets of many people all across the globe and all throughout history. The potato is to believably have been around for about eight thousand years and originated in the Andes Mountains. Making their way over to Europe, the potato became immensely important to a whole different group of people. Due to the relatively simple growing measures, more people were allowed to work outside of the farmers while also providing the population with a seemingly reliable food source. Ireland became reliant upon the potato due to the land’s poor growing conditions for other crops. The potato thrived in Ireland, well up until the potato did not. What I mean by this is that the potato had a great demise in the Great Potato Famine in Ireland. The Irish people relied one one specific type of potato, which left the crop susceptible to disease, fungi, and insects. A spore carried over from a Spanish ship wiped out the potato crops in Ireland, sending the entire country into a famine that killed one million people.
The potato is a widely consumed crop that millions of people across the globe depend upon. The relative ease and convenience of the crop allowed for many different cultures and groups of people to thrive off of. However, humans need to be aware of the dangers on monoculturing. If we depend on one type of crop, whether that be potatoes or otherwise, we can leave ourselves open to the possibilities of a famine due to fungi, disease, or insect.
Work Cited
Bloomberg Creative Photos. “Medical Marijuana Plants Grow in a Climate Controlled Growing Room
at…” Getty Images, http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/medical-marijuana-plants-grow-in-a-
climate-royalty-free-image/869503670?adppopup=true.
Photography, P_A_S_M. “Apples on Apple Tree Branch.” Getty Images,
adppopup=true.
Yuan, Xia. “Multicolor Tulips Blooming Outdoors.” Getty Images,
mage/940333454?adppopup=true.
alle12. “Farmer Carrying Basket with Vegetables.” Getty Images,
image/870863742?adppopup=true.
