----- Original Message -----
From:
M*@cs.com
To: a*@mobot.org
Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2002 10:26
AM
Subject: Re: Monstera bloom and
eating.
In a message dated 7/30/2002
7:25:21 PM Pacific Daylight Time, j*@msn.com writes:
My GUESS is that both Jason`s
'empty jar' method and the saran-wrap method may concentrate the pheromones (
? ) released by ripening fruit at the spadix`s base, which may then cause
all the fruit the whole length of the spadix to ripen together. If
not wrapped or placed in a jar, the fruit on the spadix may ripen only a few
at a time as described by one of the other contributors, and this does not
provide a lot of fruit ready to eat all at once. I THINK we
discussed the possible 'strategy' or the 'why' of this amount of fruit tissue
being produced without seed a while ago, and how the plant may benifit from
this. I believe my theory was that there used to be now-extinct big
herbivores in Mexico/Cen. America that probably used to eat the whole ripe
spadix, seed and all, or perhaps paleo-man did some selection for clones that
demonstrated less or a seedless condition, much like was done with
bananas. We may never know!
Julius Boos
>>The saran wrap causes the
entire
spadix to ripen at the same time (in about a couple/three of days,
I keep a
close watch on it!) , thus providing a substantial amount of
substance to
savor all at the same time. Look out for the few
large seeds concealed in
the soft, mushy flesh, they are about the size of
a large pea, don`t bite
into one!
Huh. My
empty-jar method, with no saran wrap, also gave me a fruit all ripened at the
same time. I must have had a seedless clone -- possibly selected for
that trait, as it was a commercially-produced fruit for the produce trade.
Jason Hernandez
Naturalist-at-Large <<
