植物秘密绝技.docVIP

植物秘密绝技 　　植物只能原地不动、坐以待毙吗？它们无法移动，也无法思考，更不用说策划什么计谋了。但事实表明，一些植物可是身怀绝技抑或“老谋深算”的哦。 　　 　　Natures Leafy Arsonist1) 　　 　　For most trees, fire is kind of a bad thing. Nothing burns better than a nice dry hunk2) of wood, and a tree is in no position to stop, drop and roll when you light a fire under it. But the Australian eucalyptus3) tree is not only immune to forest fires, but also actively encourages them. 　　You see, the eucalyptus itself is designed specifically to be the only tree standing after a fiery4) apocalypse5)―it has stems hidden deep inside its trunks, ready to spring out once the smoke clears. So it basically spends its life throwing around6) gasoline, waiting for a spark. 　　And were not exaggerating―eucalyptus contains a kind of oil that is so flammable that the trees can actually explode. The leaf litter from eucalyptus trees is so full of toxic napalm7) that bugs and fungus dont break it down―it just dries out and covers the ground like a super-flammable carpet. If that werent enough, the trees produce a bluish-gray cloud of evaporated8) gas that can go up like a fireball with one lightning bolt or thoughtlessly discarded cigarette butt. 　　Think about this the next time you take the shears to that dinosaur-shaped hedge in your backyard: science is discovering that some plants have the ability to summon and command insects like some lesser known X-Men character. 　　Take the common tomato, for example. If a caterpillar9) is chewing on it, experiments show that the humble tomato can throw up a chemical smoke signal that summons an army of parasitic10) wasps to come fight them off. Tobacco, too, calls for help from nearby predators to fend off the caterpillars of certain hawkmoths11), leaf bugs and other pests. And just to be clear, it doesnt just randomly send out a chemical dog whistle12) for whatever carnivorous13) bug happens to be in the neighborhood―it actually summons specific predators according to whatever kind of pest its trying to deal with. W