# The mysterious Ophthalmophyllum friedrichiae



## TimV (Aug 11, 2010)

OK, this one can perhaps only be appreciated by a nerd, but whatever. Hopefully some of you will enjoy them even if you're not nerds. The shiny parts on top are "windows"; they are the parts that do the photosynthesis, so they're so clear you can look down into the plant. Sunlight gets in there and reacts with water and CO2 and makes food for the plant and air for us. Special waxy surface that has pores the open up during cool weather to let CO2 in but shut down when it's hot to keep water from being evaporated.

The gravely skin is often underground to protect the plant from the harsh sun and predators. It's job is to store water. These plants may get two or three rains in the whole year, so they have to really conserve their moisture. 

From seed planted two years ago. I hope to get blooms in another couple of years.


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## ericfromcowtown (Aug 11, 2010)

It's amazing what billions of years of completely random chance can produce! Sorry, I couldn't find the sarcasm smiley.


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## TimV (Aug 11, 2010)

That's how I see things


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## Wayne (Aug 11, 2010)

It's from another planet, isn't it? Aliens brought it here, didn't they?

I KNEW IT!!!!!


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## TimV (Aug 11, 2010)

You and SarahH have the same strange world view, Wayne. She said the exact same thing on facebook.


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## py3ak (Aug 11, 2010)

While not the most spectacular plant you've posted, those windows are possibly the coolest plant feature I've ever heard of.


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## Wayne (Aug 11, 2010)

TimV said:


> You and SarahH have the same strange world view, Wayne. She said the exact same thing on facebook.


 
Aliens brought us here. The hive mind is active.


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