Comments on: Clearing Vines http://regex.info/blog/2010-08-31/1617 Not a photo blog. A personal blog with photos. Wed, 23 May 2012 20:38:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Peter in Wales http://regex.info/blog/2010-08-31/1617#comment-40604 Peter in Wales Wed, 01 Sep 2010 09:15:10 +0000 http://regex.info/blog/2010-08-31/1617#comment-40604 Thanks for the encouragement, Grandma Friedl: I think you are right and I should put a dawn redwood in here somewhere - even when young they are attractive. I do know that they grow considerably more slowly here than in the USA (I think that tallest in the UK are about 25m in 60 years) but still are lovely trees; good autumn colour too, which appeals to me. As for the Virginia creeper: I'd still be typing if I had had to copy it word for word ! Thanks for the encouragement, Grandma Friedl: I think you are right and I should put a dawn redwood in here somewhere – even when young they are attractive. I do know that they grow considerably more slowly here than in the USA (I think that tallest in the UK are about 25m in 60 years) but still are lovely trees; good autumn colour too, which appeals to me.

As for the Virginia creeper: I’d still be typing if I had had to copy it word for word !

]]> By: Grandma Friedl http://regex.info/blog/2010-08-31/1617#comment-40602 Grandma Friedl Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:42:54 +0000 http://regex.info/blog/2010-08-31/1617#comment-40602 Thank you, Peter, for that succinct, lucid, and so-illuminating explanation of how Virginia Creeper vines cling. It clearly showed my that my microbiology education, and my dictionary, are incomplete. May we assume that you used the "cut-and-paste" tool rather than actually copying every word? :D And good for you and your sharp eye...that is indeed a Dawn Redwood. I first planted it into a pot when it was a six-inch seedling. A few years later it was four feet tall and we planted it in the drive to replace a 100 year-old maple destroyed by a tornado. I would encourage you to still plant one in your yard today. Just put it where it has room to spread. It will be a beautiful specimen tree. They grow extremely fast...this one is less than ten years old, if I recall, but as tall as the house. We've had to cut back the lower branches several times to allow cars to get by. (Probably a drive wasn't a good choice for such a large fast=growing tree.) But the needles are so soft and feathery and the bark so interesting that I've planted more around the place. May have a forest of them before long. Do yourself a treat and put one in. You'll not be sorry. Thank you, Peter, for that succinct, lucid, and so-illuminating explanation of how Virginia Creeper vines cling. It clearly showed my that my microbiology education, and my dictionary, are incomplete.
May we assume that you used the “cut-and-paste” tool rather than actually copying every word? :D
And good for you and your sharp eye…that is indeed a Dawn Redwood.
I first planted it into a pot when it was a six-inch seedling. A few years later it was four feet tall and we planted it in the drive to replace a 100 year-old maple destroyed by a tornado. I would encourage you to still plant one in your yard today. Just put it where it has room to spread. It will be a beautiful specimen tree.
They grow extremely fast…this one is less than ten years old, if I recall, but as tall as the house. We’ve had to cut back the lower branches several times to allow cars to get by. (Probably a drive wasn’t a good choice for such a large fast=growing tree.)
But the needles are so soft and feathery and the bark so interesting that I’ve planted more around the place. May have a forest of them before long. Do yourself a treat and put one in. You’ll not be sorry.

]]> By: Peter in Wales http://regex.info/blog/2010-08-31/1617#comment-40598 Peter in Wales Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:51:46 +0000 http://regex.info/blog/2010-08-31/1617#comment-40598 I'd always wondered, too, about the adhesive tendrils. I hope this answers the question satisfactorily... "The adhesive appears as a highly heterogeneous, raftlike structure and consists of pectinaceous, rhamnogalacturonan (RG) I-reactive components surrounding a callosic core. In addition, more mobile components, composed of arabinogalactans and mucilaginous pectins, intercalate both the support and the tendril, penetrating the tendril to the proximal ends of the papillate cells. Following adherence to the support, the anticlinal walls of the papillate cells are devoid of RG I side-chain reactivity, indicating that extensive debranching of RG I molecules has taken place. Furthermore, a large amount of RG I backbone reactivity was observed in the contact area. These results may indicate that the debranched RG I molecules diffuse into and permeate the contact region, forming an integral part of the adhesive compound. These results indicate that Virginia creeper adheres to objects by a composite adhesive structure consisting of debranched RG I, callose, and other, less-well characterized mucilaginous pectins and that this structure subsequently becomes lignified and very weather-resistant upon the ultimate senescence of the tendril. " [from http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/klu/709/2008/00000232/f0020003/00000287] Now we know ! Question for Grandma Friedl: Is that a dawn redwood (<em>Metasequoia</em>) off to the side of the third photograph ? I wish I'd planted one here when we came, 16 years ago. I’d always wondered, too, about the adhesive tendrils. I hope this answers the question satisfactorily…

“The adhesive appears as a highly heterogeneous, raftlike structure and consists of pectinaceous, rhamnogalacturonan (RG) I-reactive components surrounding a callosic core. In addition, more mobile components, composed of arabinogalactans and mucilaginous pectins, intercalate both the support and the tendril, penetrating the tendril to the proximal ends of the papillate cells. Following adherence to the support, the anticlinal walls of the papillate cells are devoid of RG I side-chain reactivity, indicating that extensive debranching of RG I molecules has taken place. Furthermore, a large amount of RG I backbone reactivity was observed in the contact area. These results may indicate that the debranched RG I molecules diffuse into and permeate the contact region, forming an integral part of the adhesive compound. These results indicate that Virginia creeper adheres to objects by a composite adhesive structure consisting of debranched RG I, callose, and other, less-well characterized mucilaginous pectins and that this structure subsequently becomes lignified and very weather-resistant upon the ultimate senescence of the tendril. ”
[from http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/klu/709/2008/00000232/f0020003/00000287

Now we know !

Question for Grandma Friedl: Is that a dawn redwood (Metasequoia) off to the side of the third photograph ? I wish I’d planted one here when we came, 16 years ago.

]]> By: Nick P http://regex.info/blog/2010-08-31/1617#comment-40596 Nick P Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:22:41 +0000 http://regex.info/blog/2010-08-31/1617#comment-40596 I presume you saw this (brief) article which indicates ivy/vines use hydrogen bonding at the nano-particle level. http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2008-04/not-your-average-wall-climber I presume you saw this (brief) article which indicates ivy/vines use hydrogen bonding at the nano-particle level.

http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2008-04/not-your-average-wall-climber

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