Dischidia major: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Species of epiphyte}}
{{taxobox
{{Speciesbox
|image = Dischidia major (Vahl) Merr.00.jpg
|image = Dischidia major (Vahl) Merr.00.jpg
|image_caption = Plate 142 from ''[[Plantae Asiaticae Rariores]]''
|image_caption = Plate 142 from ''[[Plantae Asiaticae Rariores]]''
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|genus = Dischidia
|regnum = [[Plantae]]
⚫
|species = major
|unranked_divisio = [[Angiosperms]]
⚫
|authority = ([[Martin Vahl|Vahl]]) [[Elmer Drew Merrill|Merr.]]
|unranked_classis = [[Eudicots]]
|unranked_ordo = [[Asterids]]
|ordo = [[Gentianales]]
|familia = [[Apocynaceae]]
|subfamilia = [[Asclepiadoideae]]
⚫
|genus = ''[[Dischidia]]''
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|species = '''''D. major'''''
|binomial = ''Dischidia major''
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|binomial_authority = ([[Martin Vahl|Vahl]]) [[Elmer Drew Merrill|Merr.]]
|synonyms = *''Dischidia rafflesiana''
}}
}}
⚫
{{commons category}}
'''''Dischidia major''''' or '''Malayan Urn Vine''' is an unusual plant first encountered in 1772 as a specimen sent from [[Madras]] to [[Nathaniel Wallich]], the curator of the [[Calcutta Botanical Garden]]. He published a description in the second volume of ''[[Plantae Asiaticae Rariores]]'' and named it ''Dischidia rafflesiana'' in honour of his late friend Sir [[Stamford Raffles]], the founder of [[Singapore]]. The honorific did not survive the test of time, but the peculiar morphology of the plant persists. 'Dischidia' is derived from the Greek, meaning "cleft in two" and refers to the apically bifid staminal corona.


''Dischidia'' is a genus of some 80 species of trailing, twining or scandent, succulent epiphytes found throughout the tropics of [[Asia]] ([[New Guinea]], [[Moluccas]], [[Philippines]], [[India]], tropical [[Australia]], [[Hong Kong]], [[Taiwan]]) through to the western Pacific. They carry modified leaves offering accommodation to ants, including those of the family [[Dolichoderinae]], and in return gain some sustenance from increased carbon dioxide and nitrogen levels, and a degree of protection from noxious animals and plants.<ref>[http://www.ehleringer.net/Jim/Publications/195.pdf ''Absorption of Ant-provided Carbon dioxide and Nitrogen by a Tropical Epiphyte'']</ref> This [[Mutualism (biology)|mutualism]] trait, known as [[myrmecophily]], is widespread across the plant world and clearly carries considerable benefits for both ants and plant.<ref>[http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/content/os-7/2/223.extract Annals of Botany]</ref>
'''''Dischidia major''''', the '''Malayan urn vine''', is a plant in the genus ''[[Dischidia]]''. They carry modified leaves, offering accommodation to ants, including those of the family [[Dolichoderinae]], and in return gain some sustenance from increased carbon dioxide and nitrogen levels, and a degree of protection from noxious animals and plants.<ref>[http://www.ehleringer.net/Jim/Publications/195.pdf ''Absorption of Ant-provided Carbon dioxide and Nitrogen by a Tropical Epiphyte'']{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> This [[Mutualism (biology)|mutualism]] trait, known as [[myrmecophily]], is widespread across the plant world and clearly carries considerable benefits for both ants and plant.<ref>{{citation |author=Groom, P. |year=1893 |title=On ''Dischidia rafflesiana'' (Wall.) |journal=Annals of Botany |volume=os-7 |issue=2 |pages=223–241 |url=http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/content/os-7/2/223.extract |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707092359/http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/content/os-7/2/223.extract |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-07-07 |doi=10.1093/aob/os-7.2.223}}</ref>


''Dischidia major'' twines around the branches and trunks of trees, having a preference for those that are decaying. It produces both circular succulent leaves of about 2&nbsp;cm diameter, and hollow, pouch-like 12&nbsp;cm long leaves, reminiscent of the fruits of ''[[Araujia sericifera]]'', a related species. These modified leaves, pitchers or ascidia, are purplish and richly dotted with stomata on the inner surface,<ref>[http://biostor.org/reference/5899 On the Structure of the Ascidia and Stomata of ''Dischidia rafflesiana'' Wall.]</ref> and have an opening at the top end near the stalk. Organic debris and rainwater, possibly augmented by secreted fluids, accumulate in the cavity over the course of time, offering a source of nutrition which the plant utilises by growing roots into the chamber. ''Dischidia astephana'' and ''D. parvifolia'' do not provide housing for resident ants, but have roots that penetrate decaying wood and humus, reaching into the ant nests and presumably obtaining nutrients from the ant waste there.<ref>[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1095-8312.1986.tb01729.x/abstract ''A reassessment of the relations in Malaysia between ants (Crematogaster) on trees (Leptospermum and Dacrydium) and epiphytes of the genus Dischidia'']</ref><ref>[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1846.tb00429.x/abstract Structure of the Ascidia]</ref>
''Dischidia major'' twines around the branches and trunks of trees, having a preference for those that are decaying. It produces both circular succulent leaves of about 2&nbsp;cm diameter, and hollow, pouch-like 12&nbsp;cm long leaves, reminiscent of the fruits of ''[[Araujia sericifera]]'', a related species. These modified leaves, pitchers or ascidia, are purplish and richly dotted with stomata on the inner surface,<ref>[http://biostor.org/reference/5899 On the Structure of the Ascidia and Stomata of ''Dischidia rafflesiana'' Wall.]</ref> and have an opening at the top end near the stalk. Organic debris and rainwater, possibly augmented by secreted fluids, accumulate in the cavity over the course of time, offering a source of nutrition which the plant uses by growing roots into the chamber. ''[[Dischidia astephana]]'' and ''[[Dischidia parvifolia|D. parvifolia]]'' do not provide housing for resident ants, but have roots that penetrate decaying wood and humus, reaching into the ant nests and presumably obtaining nutrients from the ant waste there.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1095-8312.1986.tb01729.x | volume=27 | issue=2 | title=A reassessment of the relations in Malaysia between ants (Crematogaster) on trees (Leptospermum and Dacrydium) and epiphytes of the genus Dischidia (Asclepiadaceae) including 'ant-plants' | year=1986 | journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society | pages=113–132 | author=Weir J. S.| s2cid=84380455 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.1846.tb00429.x | volume=20 | issue=3 | title=XXI. On the Structure of the Ascidia and Stomata of Dischidia Rafflesiana, Wall. | year=1851 | journal=Transactions of the Linnean Society of London | pages=387–390 | author=Griffith William| url=https://zenodo.org/record/1433102 }}</ref>


''Dischidia major'' flowers are yellow striped with green, and arranged in few or many-flowered [[umbels]]. The fruit of ''D. major'' consists of the usual horn-shaped pair of [[follicle (fruit)|follicle]]s while the seed has a tuft of silky hairs at one end and includes an edible portion or [[elaiosome]] as incentive for ants to move the seed ([[myrmecochory]]) into nests inside the tree with an improved chance of germination and growth.
''Dischidia major'' flowers are yellow striped with green, and arranged in few or many-flowered [[umbels]]. The fruit of ''D. major'' consists of the usual horn-shaped pair of [[follicle (fruit)|follicle]]s while the seed has a tuft of silky hairs at one end and includes an edible portion or [[elaiosome]] as incentive for ants to move the seed ([[myrmecochory]]) into nests inside the tree with an improved chance of germination and growth.
<gallery>
<gallery>
Dischidia major (Vahl) Merr.08a.jpg|Plate from [[Richard Wettstein]]'s ''Handbuch der Systematischen Botanik'' 1924
Dischidia major (Vahl) Merr.08a.jpg|Plate from [[Richard Wettstein]]'s ''Handbuch der Systematischen Botanik'' 1924
Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution (1846) (17813702993).jpg|Plate from Smithsonian Institution report, 1846
Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution (1896) (17813702993).jpg|Plate from Smithsonian Institution report, 1896
Dischidia rafflesiana vMH165.png|Plate from Anton Joseph Kerner von Marilaun, Adolf Hansen: Pflanzenleben
</gallery>
</gallery>


==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==
*''The Ecology and Evolution of Ant-Plant Interactions'' - Victor Rico-Gray & Paulo S. Oliveira (University of Chicago Press, 2007)
*''The Ecology and Evolution of Ant-Plant Interactions'' - Victor Rico-Gray & Paulo S. Oliveira (University of Chicago Press, 2007)

⚫
==References==
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
⚫
{{Commons category}}
*[http://www.dischidia.com/picture_index.htm Gallery of ''Dischidia'' species]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160305013925/http://www.orchidsonline.com.au/node/6296 ''Dischidia major'']
*[http://www.asian-myrmecology.org/publications/am06-49-61-peeters-wiwatwitaya-2014.pdf Philidris ants living inside Dischidia epiphytes from Thailand]


{{Taxonbar|from=Q5281449}}
⚫
==References==
{{reflist}}


[[Category:Asclepiadoideae]]
[[Category:Dischidia]]
[[Category:Flora of Asia]]
[[Category:Flora of Asia]]
[[Category:Flora of Australia]]
[[Category:Flora of Australia]]
[[Category:Flora of the Pacific]]
[[Category:Flora of the Pacific]]
[[Category:Epiphytes]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1917]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1917]]

Latest revision as of 13:02, 17 February 2023

Dischidia major
Plate 142 from Plantae Asiaticae Rariores
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Genus: Dischidia
Species:
D. major
Binomial name
Dischidia major

Dischidia major, the Malayan urn vine, is a plant in the genus Dischidia. They carry modified leaves, offering accommodation to ants, including those of the family Dolichoderinae, and in return gain some sustenance from increased carbon dioxide and nitrogen levels, and a degree of protection from noxious animals and plants.[1] This mutualism trait, known as myrmecophily, is widespread across the plant world and clearly carries considerable benefits for both ants and plant.[2]

Dischidia major twines around the branches and trunks of trees, having a preference for those that are decaying. It produces both circular succulent leaves of about 2 cm diameter, and hollow, pouch-like 12 cm long leaves, reminiscent of the fruits of Araujia sericifera, a related species. These modified leaves, pitchers or ascidia, are purplish and richly dotted with stomata on the inner surface,[3] and have an opening at the top end near the stalk. Organic debris and rainwater, possibly augmented by secreted fluids, accumulate in the cavity over the course of time, offering a source of nutrition which the plant uses by growing roots into the chamber. Dischidia astephana and D. parvifolia do not provide housing for resident ants, but have roots that penetrate decaying wood and humus, reaching into the ant nests and presumably obtaining nutrients from the ant waste there.[4][5]

Dischidia major flowers are yellow striped with green, and arranged in few or many-flowered umbels. The fruit of D. major consists of the usual horn-shaped pair of follicles while the seed has a tuft of silky hairs at one end and includes an edible portion or elaiosome as incentive for ants to move the seed (myrmecochory) into nests inside the tree with an improved chance of germination and growth.

  • Plate from Richard Wettstein's Handbuch der Systematischen Botanik 1924
    Plate from Richard Wettstein's Handbuch der Systematischen Botanik 1924
  • Plate from Smithsonian Institution report, 1896
    Plate from Smithsonian Institution report, 1896
  • Plate from Anton Joseph Kerner von Marilaun, Adolf Hansen: Pflanzenleben
    Plate from Anton Joseph Kerner von Marilaun, Adolf Hansen: Pflanzenleben

Bibliography[edit]

  • The Ecology and Evolution of Ant-Plant Interactions - Victor Rico-Gray & Paulo S. Oliveira (University of Chicago Press, 2007)

References[edit]

  1. ^ Absorption of Ant-provided Carbon dioxide and Nitrogen by a Tropical Epiphyte[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Groom, P. (1893), "On Dischidia rafflesiana (Wall.)", Annals of Botany, os-7 (2): 223–241, doi:10.1093/aob/os-7.2.223, archived from the original on 2012-07-07
  3. ^ On the Structure of the Ascidia and Stomata of Dischidia rafflesiana Wall.
  4. ^ Weir J. S. (1986). "A reassessment of the relations in Malaysia between ants (Crematogaster) on trees (Leptospermum and Dacrydium) and epiphytes of the genus Dischidia (Asclepiadaceae) including 'ant-plants'". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 27 (2): 113–132. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.1986.tb01729.x. S2CID 84380455.
  5. ^ Griffith William (1851). "XXI. On the Structure of the Ascidia and Stomata of Dischidia Rafflesiana, Wall". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 20 (3): 387–390. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1846.tb00429.x.

External links[edit]

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