''Passiflora discophora'' is a species of
plant In the family
Passifloraceae
The Passifloraceae are a family of flowering plants, containing about 750 species classified in around 27 genera.
They include trees, shrubs, lianas, and climbing plants, and are mostly found in tropical regions. The family takes its name from t ...
, native to western
Ecuador and
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
.
It is restricted to closed wet coastal forest, and considered endangered due to the rapid ongoing
deforestation of Ecuador's coast.
Description
Adhesive pads
It is highly unusual among the genus ''Passiflora'' in regard of its climbing strategy. Unlike most other members of the genus, it forms branched tendrils with terminal adhesive pads. After surface contact of the tendrils, multiple adhesive pads are formed by papillate cell proliferation of the apex and a callus is formed, which perfectly reflects the microtopology of the substrate. In addition adhesive substances are secreted, which ensures persisting anchorage even after the tissue has died. The tendrils coil after adhesion, providing a firm support to the climbing plant. The functional principles of these structures have been used as inspiration for engineering of similar materials.
[Speck, T., Speck, O., Masselter, T., Bohn, H., & Mülhaupt, R. (2013, June)]
"Plants as concept generators for biomimetic self-healing and self-adaptive materials, structures and surfaces."
In ICSHM 2013: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Self-Healing Materials, Ghent, Belgium, June 16-20, 2013. Ghent University; Delft University of Technology.
References
*
discophora
Flora of Ecuador
Flora of Colombia
Endangered plants
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
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