Why no seedlings in three centuries?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
January 1, 2003
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In 1505, Portuguese sailors discovered the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. (CIA World Factbook) The island uninhabited by humans had a unique set of plants and animals. Among the animals of Mauritius was a columbiforme, a large flightless dove relative. Weighing up to 23 kilograms (50 pounds), the dodos were fresh meat after weeks at sea.
The derogatory name is thought to derive from the Dutch dodoor, sluggard, or the Portuguese, doudo, foolish or stupid. By 1681, the dodos were extinct, clubbed to death or victims of nest poaching by feral pigs and dogs left on the island.
By 1970, Mauritius had only thirteen tambalacoque (Sideroxylon grandiflorum = Calvaria major) left. The trees are members of the pantropical family, Sapotaceae. All the tambalacoque were reported to be over three hundred years old. None germinated in the intervening years, yet the trees produced fruit and seeds which should be viable.
In the mid-1970s, Stanley Temple noted the seeds of tambalacoque had hard, thick seed coats. Generally, seeds with hard coats need scarification to germinate. He proposed that perhaps the lack of young tambalacoque trees corresponded with the extinction of the dodo (Raphus cucullatus = Didus ineptus).
Birds swallow food whole which passes through the crop and into the gizzard, a muscular portion of the stomach. But for the muscular gizzard to grind the food, the bird must fill the organ with stones. The stones remain in the gizzard until worn away. Perhaps, dodos eating the fruit acted as the 'scarifier' on the seed coats.
Turkeys, being close in size to the dodo, were selected as the next best bird for the test of the hypothesis. Turkeys did not like tambalacoque fruit, but could be force-fed the seeds. Seeds passed through turkeys germinated and are thought the first new tambalacoque trees in three centuries.
And perhaps it does not require the intervention of a bird, John B. Iverson of Earlham College proposed that the scarification may have come from the land tortoises once present on Mauritius and now also extinct.
David Reilly has posted a great article, "Justice at last for the Dodo", taken from New Scientist.
To learn more about the fascinating dodo, click on the link:
http://www.davidreilly.com/dodo/books/new_scientist/newscientist.html
Flickr® has a photograph of Calvaria major now Sideroxylon grandiflorum seeds showing abscision line. To view the photograph, click on the link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24431228@N00/405779509
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
What fruit was the symbol of hospitality? Herbal Folklore - April 15, 2002
How did Portugal gain control of the spice trade? Plants that Changed History - December 2, 2003
Where is the marketplace of dragon's blood? What's in a Name? - November 7, 2003
Why plant nutmegs from pigeons? Renfield's Garden - December 3, 2003
What fruit creates a taste illusion? Weird Plants - March 4, 2004
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Henry Fields Seed and Nursery -$20 off—>Click here.
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Michigan Bulb -$20 off—>Click here.
DirectGardening.com—>Click here.
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bloomingbulb.com—>Click here.
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