A walk in the garden

Nandini Dholepat

Saturday was approaching and it was time to visit Mr. Raja, the research scholar. I sent a reminder about the visit in our WhatsApp group, ‘Backyard Discovery’. Everyone wanted to know what we needed to carry, the kind of clothes to wear, how to reach the university, etc. I answered their questions and asked everyone to reach the university main gate on time.

On Saturday morning, we all reached the university campus. Mr. Raja was there to receive us. After the introductions, we walked to the botanical garden on the campus.

“So, what made you plan your visit here?” Raja asked.

“We found mushrooms, lichens, and algae near our colony. Aunty told us we can learn more about them if we visit the university,” Anand said.

Shalini added, “Also, we found many interesting things in the market, like spirulina, china grass, biofertilizer. I want to see fungi and bacteria under the microscope, which I cannot see with my naked eye.”

We reached the gazebo and Raja asked everyone to sit in a circle. He gave a chart paper and pen to Anand and said, “You have seen many different forms of life. Can you draw a diagram of simple to complex life forms?”

All the children gathered and started discussing. After a few minutes, they came up with a diagram that showed bacteria, algae, fungi, lichen, moss, fern, gymnosperm, and flowering plants.

“This is good,” Raja said.

“But I have a doubt. Where to add Amoeba? In my science book it is written that Amoeba is a simple form of life,” Vivan said.

“Amoeba is a single cell animal. I think we should add a virus before bacteria. Because a virus has only genetic material and a protein coat over it. Not a cell-like structure,” Rini said.

“All of you are right. Our understanding is that life evolved from a simple to a complex form. Is it not?” Shalini asked.

“If we agree, something like bacteria gives rise to an Amoeba or a simple alga, they further evolved to form the animal and plant kingdom. Now, we will observe some strange creatures and try and understand how they evolved and survived, and what kind of relationships they established with each other,” Raja said.

We reached a pond. Raja said, “Observe this pond carefully for a few minutes. Let me know what you see.”

Shalini said, “Apart from these white flowers and leaves, I can see some fish. The green growth on the side wall of the pond is algae.”

“I can see some insects jumping this side,” said Vivan.

“Good observation. Let us take some water sample from the pond to observe in the lab.” Raja filled some pond water in a small bottle.

The children enjoyed walking in the garden, reading the signages and talking to Raja.

“As you are here to learn more about non-flowering plants, let us go to the ‘Fern House,’” said Raja.

“Oh! It is so much green. Many signboards. Are they all different?” Rini asked.

“Yes, many different types of plants you can see here. We have collections from the Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, and Northeastern states. They grow well in heavy rainfall and humid environments. Here, we try to provide the same kind of environment to help these plants thrive,” said Raja.

“What about islands?” Anand asked.

“Oh yes, I forgot about them. Places like the Andaman are rich in biodiversity. We have a good collection of plants from there too,” Raja said.

Prof. Reshma came to meet us. She greeted everyone and asked how we liked the garden so far.

“It is excellent! We never thought we could find so many different types of plants in one garden. Almost every plant has a board with its name and description,” Madhavi replied.

“Look here, have you seen this earlier?” Reshma pointed to a coconut-like object hanging from a tree.

Reshma pulled a leaf from that. “This is a slow-growing epiphytic fern. It means it grows on other plants. You can see two different types of leaves in this. The basal brown fronds (leaves) closely appress to the main plant on which the fern grows. The long green fronds look like deer’s antlers. This is called ‘staghorn’ fern.”

“Wow, it is very different. The leaf tips have formed sporangium and appear like ornamentation,” Madhavi said.

“Where did you get this from?” I asked.

“One of our department professors brought this from Malaysia probably 30 years ago. It was tiny at that time. We have photographs of this in our department album. It has aged now.”

“See this big question mark on the floor,” Anand dragged everyone’s attention towards a fern.

“This is a characteristic feature of all ferns. Come, see this tree. How does this appear?” Reshma pointed towards a tree.

“This is like a stripped umbrella. Relative of the palm? Rini asked.

“No, this too has a question mark tip. Is it a fern?” Madhavi asked.

“Yes, it is a ‘tree fern’. We got this from Sikkim many years ago,” Reshma said.

“I had seen the picture of this tree fern in a storybook. The dinosaur in the story lives in a fern forest,” Shalini said.

“You are right. These ferns dominated the forests during the Jurassic period. Approximately, 200 to 145 million years ago. They have long fossil records,” Reshma said.

“Interestingly, some of these ferns continue to live, but all those huge animals vanished,” Anand said.

“All right, I have to attend to some office work. You see the rest of the garden and then come to the department,” Reshma said and went her way.

We crossed a narrow path along the marsh. “What are these grasses growing in the marsh? They look like miniature bamboo,” Shalini said.

“It is ‘Equisetum’ otherwise called ‘horsetail.’ I will get a piece, wait here.” Raja went to get an Equisetum. He kept a piece on a sheet of paper and pulled it apart to show how the segments are attached.

“It is hollow inside and closed only at the segments,” Shalini said.

“This is a pteridophyte, a kind of fern. You can see the leaves are fused at the nodes. They are greatly reduced and scale-like. The stem is green and helps in photosynthesis. It is also called a ‘living fossil’ because all other members of its genus (group) are extinct. A hundred million years ago, there were many different types of Equisetums. Some of them were tall trees,” said Raja.

“It is difficult to imagine all these,” Shalini said.

Raja showed us a big water tank.

“You can see Azolla growing here. We are encouraging farmers to grow them in their farms.” There was a board hanging over it that said ‘Biofertilizer’.

Vivan shouted, “See there is a frog. It is carrying Azolla over its body.” Everyone laughed.

“Now let us move towards the Gymnosperm Garden.” Raja opened the gate and showed us the way.

As everyone started moving around the trees, each one started noticing special features of the different Cycads.

“See this tree bearing a lot of fruits? Sorry not fruits, they are seeds, very big,” Shalini corrected herself.

“Good, you already know about these,” Raja said.

“I explained a little about gymnosperms earlier,” I said.

“Let us sit here for some time and recollect what we have seen so far,” Raja asked everyone to write what they had seen.

Suggested activities

1. What are the similarities and differences between pteridophytes and gymnosperms?

2. Write the importance of pteridophytes.

References

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/when-did-dinosaurs-live.html

https://jntbgri.res.in/gallery

The author is a botanist. She has been involved in teaching and research for more than 25 years. Currently, she is involved as a consultant for Intellectual Property Rights, for Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology, Bengaluru and is a visiting faculty member at RIWATCH, Roing, Arunachal Pradesh. She can be reached at nandinidholepat@gamil.com.