Boquila Vine Can Mimic Leaves of Different Trees
Posted on April 29, 2014
The Boquila vine, which grows in rainforests in Chile, can mimic the leaves of the trees it climbs. When the vine encounters a new leaf it changes its leaves to match the newly encountered leaf. Science magazine calls it a "chameleon" vine, which is a good description of the vine, which engages in leaf mimicry as it encounters new leaves. Scientists are not sure how exactly Boquila trifoliolata manages to make its leaves look like those of surrounding trees. They also don't know why the vine mimics leaves of other trees, although it is suspected it is to protect the vine's leaves from being eaten. The discovery was made by Ernesto Gianoli and Fernando Carrasco-Urra from the University of Concepcion in Chile.
The researchers write in a paper published in Current Biology, "The woody vine Boquila trifoliolata mimics the leaves of its supporting trees in terms of size, shape, color, orientation, petiole length, and/or tip spininess. Moreover, sequential leaf mimicry occurs when a single individual vine is associated with different tree species. Leaves of unsupported vines differed from leaves of climbing plants closely associated with tree foliage but did not differ from those of vines climbing onto leafless trunks."
Ed Yong interviewed Gianoli about his amazing findings for National Geographic. Gianoli told Yong that the same vine can mimic multiple trees. The Boquila vine will change its leaves if it crosses another tree. The vine only appears to change its leaves when it encounters another leaf.
Boquila trifoliolata does not always perfectly mimic leaves of other plants. Gianoli says there are some cases where it appears the vine tried to mimic the leaves of another plant, but was unable to completely copy the features of the leaves. Gianoli tells National Geographic, "There are some leaf features that are too hard to copy, such as serrated leaf margins."
Discovery Agriculture says the plant's mimicry might be useful in agriculture. Take a look: