Do plants poop?
Clay Thompson, The Republic | azcentral.com 2:43 p.m. MST October 18, 2014
Today's question:
Do plants poop?
Do plants poop? Good grief, it's come to this. Did you know I once … oh, never mind. Those days are gone. Pooping plants. Good grief.
Ah, well, best get on with it.
Every living thing has to have some way of getting rid of waste.
In the case of green plants most of the waste is oxygen generated during the photosynthesis process. Plants give it off through stomata – little tiny pores – and through root cells.
And they give off extra water from respiration or guttation, secreting little drops of moisture on the tips of leaves. Some plants store waste in leaves that will fall off with the seasons and some exude saps and resins and the like.
What about carnivorous plants? Do you really want to know? I hope you're not eating breakfast just now.
Carnivorous plants process their food with their own digestive enzymes or bacteria or some combination of those. The bacteria eat the rotting prey, and the plants swallow the results.
Other carnivorous plants use insects, such as assassin bugs, to eat the other insects they catch. Then they eat the insect excrement.
According to the International Carnivorous Plant Society, plants that use their own enzymes produce a "sickening mass of crunchy bits that will put you off popcorn for a long time."
Why do people at the New York Stock Exchange clap and smile even after another big drop in the market at the close?
Beats me, I suppose you clap at the end of a bad day because you still found a way to make money from it or because you're just glad it's over.
