Article written by Ellyn Wyss and Juna Hager(grade 6)
Mystery of the Plant with Eyes
Do plants have eyes?
You would probably say no immediately, but what Boquila trifoliolata has to offer may lead you to believe otherwise. This article will introduce the Boquila trifoliolata to you, covering facts like how it works, who found it, and lots more!
Who Discovered the Boquila?
One morning, Ernesto Gianoli, a plant scientist, was walking alone in a forest in Chile and looking at the plants and their shapes. He looked closer at one of the plants he was familiar with, and noticed that the plant in front of him was not what he thought it was. Although it looked similar to most house plants in size, texture, and shape, he realized it was an entirely different species: the Boquila trifoliolata.
This curious plant can mimic the physical attributes of other plants. At first glance, it may seem like a normal vine, but after close inspection, scientists have realized that it can transform itself to look like other plants.
How the Boquila Works
How does this mysterious plant really work? What gives it the ability to mimic the shape, colors and textures of other plants?
To clarify, the Boquila plant does not actually have eyes. However, studies have indicated that perhaps the Boquila can see. Even without eyes. Although the first discovery of the Boquila plant was in 1837, scientists are still trying to figure out if Boquila trifoliolata actually can “see” to this day.
What the plant does is that it uses microbes to help the Boquila shape its leaves like surrounding plants. A microbe is an organism, for example, bacteria, that you can only see with a microscope. The microbes transfer the DNA from a plant to the mimicking plant, the Boquila, through a mechanism called “gene transfer.” Even knowing that animals have the ability to mimic other animals is fascinating, but the fact that plants can also do this is even more incredible. However, this is not as commonly researched. Scientists are trying to figure out how the Boquila actually mimics other plants. It is a huge mystery that scientists have been trying to solve for years.
Where Does the Boquila Trifoliolata Live
The Boquila plant grows in the rainforest and is primarily indigenous to Chile and Argentina. Boquila uses mechanisms to help the plants mimic their protection against herbivores that try to eat it. A herbivore is an animal or organism that mostly eats plants. As the Boquila climbs up its host tree (the tree it’s growing on) in order to reach more sunlight, it changes its shape, size, color and much more to match the leaves of the host tree. That means that if the host’s leaves are spiky, then the vines‘ leaves grow spiky too.
Some studies show that Boquila plants can, in fact, mimic faux plants, which leads some scientists to believe that its abilities should not be traced back to gene transfer communication. However, these studies are not veritable enough to prove how the Boquila functions. Some scientists that were part of the study even believe that the Boquila might have eyes.
Plants that can mimic have been studied a lot less than animals that mimic or camouflage, because most people, unfortunately, do not really believe in plant imitation. That is thought because the Boquila vine often gets compared to normal plants, which are different to the Boquila vine in many ways. The most common misperception is that other plants can’t mimic a host tree like the Boquila can. Although scientists have been able to conduct experiments on Boquila trifoliolata, some findings being legitimate, there are many things that remain unknown to us.
We will soon release an article sharing results from weekly experiments and observations with the Boquila. Further research will be conducted by GISB students in the months to come.
Thank you!
Thank you so much for taking some time to read this article. We hope you had fun learning about this mysterious plant, and encourage you to start learning more about it. If you are really interested in this plant, then keep on checking in the Student’s Voice, because there will be a new article coming out about our experimenting and exploring the Boquila here at GISB. If you still want to figure out more about this plant, check — out this podcast. It might interest you:
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