Thursday, July 2, 2009

Plant Catcher: Israel



"Researchers from the Department of Science Education-Biology at the University of Haifa-Oranim have managed to make out the 'self-irrigating' mechanism of the desert rhubarb, which enables it to harvest 16 times the amount of water than otherwise expected for a plant in this region based on the quantities of rain in the desert. This is the first example of a self-irrigating plant worldwide."

Credit: Prof. Gidi Ne'eman, University of Haifa

“A typical plant harvests more than 4,100 cm3 of water per year, and enjoys a water regime of about 427 mm/year, equivalent to the water supply in a Mediterranean climate. This is the first example of self-irrigation by large leaves in a desert plant, creating a leaf-made mini oasis.”

You can read about it
here.

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