erlenneli09's Journal

Xylaria polymorpha, commonly known as Dead man’s fingers, is a type of saprotrophic fungus that received its common name for its fruits having the resemblance of human fingers, or in my own opinion, the zombie hands sticking out of the ground in plants vs. Zombies. The fungus is found across North America and Europe, typically growing around wide varieties of dead or decaying woods, which was the same condition these creatures were found in. The fungus also may “attack” trees that are under stress such as any possible insufficiency in living requirements or under potential disease, quickly colonizing around it (Vogini & Powell, 2013).
The fruiting bodies of the fungus are not considered edible, its texture is described to be very wood-like and the mushroom itself also contains a few compounds that are similar to the most dangerous mushrooms in the world (Tu, 2018). A study conducted in 2007 also showed that the fruiting bodies of Xylaria polymorpha contains two particular compounds, xylarinic acids A and B, which have shown excellent ability in inhibiting growth of other pathogenic plant fungi such as Pythium ultinum, Magnaporthe grisea and Fusarium oxysporium, making the fungi a good possible choice for fungal control (Collins, 2021). However, further study had also shown that the compounds showed no antibacterial or cytotoxic effects (Jang et al., 2007).

1. Bittersweet nightshade, also known for its nomenclature as Solanum dulcamara. On the OneZoom phylogenetic tree, within the Solanum genus branch, other closely-related sister groups of the species include solanum lyratum (common name is climbing nightshade, also characterized by the round, tiny red fruits), solanum wallacei and solanum crispum. These species are all part of the dulcamaroid clade among all other varying clades of species of Solanum.
   
   https://www.onezoom.org/life/@Solanum_dulcamara=121226img=best_any&anim=flight#x957,y781,w1.0560

2. For our group, we decided on the theme of Angiosperms. Since these plants all produce flowers (as suggested by its clade name), the common adaptation observed is that the plants all rely on the flower produced to varying extents to attract insects, which helps the transportation of pollen.
3. Other than relying on pollen, what is interestingly unique and observed only on Burdocks during the group project, is that their seeds are very spiky and grab onto furs particularly well. This may allow animals passing by to carry some burdock seeds with them and transporting them elsewhere, increasing the survival rate of burdocks (increase in reproduction).