[LynandIndigo]

Hi. Everyone... My mother has just come back from her holiday up in North QLD.... She went to Cairns for a holiday with her sister and toured other places as well. Mum came across this strange plant.. I also got a good shot of the moon to...Ill post photo's of her holiday in another week when they are sorted out.. There are two plants in this pot...

The plant is called an Ant Plant.

It grows on paper bark trees like an Orchid and ants like to live in the big bulb... The ants leave food inside the bulb for the plant to grow also the ants live inside the bulb.. The plant gets small white flowers on it... I thought i would share some photo's with you all.... Have you all seen this plant before


Ant Plant. Native to Australia. North QLD.




Nearly a Full Moon..

 

[aluz]

That's very interesting, Lyn! I never knew there was such a thing as a plant that needed the help of ants to have nourishment.
Thanks for sharing the pics, the one of the moon is amazing!

 

[LynandIndigo]

That's very interesting, Lyn! I never knew there was such a thing as a plant that needed the help of ants to have nourishment.
Thanks for sharing the pics, the one of the moon is amazing!

Thank you Ana. I didn't know of this Ant plant either till mum brought it home...

 

[Kate C]

A very strange looking plant Lyn. I had not heard of it either. Beautiful shot of the moon.

 

[Jonah]

How cool is that, a mutually beneficial partnership between the ant's and the plant. That is an awesome pic of the moon. Thank you for sharing Lyn....

 

[FaeryBee]

Very interesting plant.
Do the ants ever come out of the bulb and roam around?
If so I don't think I'd want the plant in my house.

Wonderful photograph of the moon -- I love it!

 

[nuxi]

Very cool looking plant! I have never seen that before. Thanks for sharing,Lyn!

 

[Jedikeet]

Such unique looking plants and they look rather scary like some alien creature. I get goosebumps just looking at them!

I do like the photo of the moon. Tell you a secret, Lyn - I turn into a werewolf and howl ARRRRHOOOOO when there's a full moon!

 

[Jo Ann]

Ant plant

WHAT a unique plant and a great moon shot, Lyn. Do not give JediKeet any attention. He just likes to try to scare people for fun. I bet he would think it was fun to have Holloween 365 days a year. He is a character to be told.

Blessings, J A

 

[Jedikeet]

WHAT a unique plant and a great moon shot, Lyn. Do not give JediKeet any attention. He just likes to try to scare people for fun. I bet he would think it was fun to have Holloween 365 days a year. He is a character to be told.

Blessings, J A

LOL you got me, Jo! I'm the naughty little gremlin here who loves to run amok amok amok!:laughing::evil:

Pleeeaase gimme all your attention, Lyn! Yes, its Halloween everyday for me and I Trick or Treat for attention like candy!

 

[LynandIndigo]

A very strange looking plant Lyn. I had not heard of it either. Beautiful shot of the moon.

Thankyou Kate. Mum got the plant off a bark tree in Cairns the care taker said to mum she could have one... I don't know if they grow in your area....

How cool is that, a mutually beneficial partnership between the ant's and the plant. That is an awesome pic of the moon. Thank you for sharing Lyn....

Thank you Randy... Mum said the ants love this plant and they thrive on it.....

Very interesting plant.
Do the ants ever come out of the bulb and roam around?
If so I don't think I'd want the plant in my house.

Wonderful photograph of the moon -- I love it!

Thank you Deb. You are safe as the plant has to live outside in a bush house or tied on a bark tree... Yes the ants come out of the bulb they have to find food then go back to the bulb this is how the plant lives.. The one mum has has no ants in it yet so at the moment it is inside the house it goes back in the bush house this morning.......It gets white flowers on it. I wanted to try my tripod to take the photo of the moon I tried the stars again but it was cloudy...

Very cool looking plant! I have never seen that before. Thanks for sharing,Lyn!

Thanks Gabby....

Such unique looking plants and they look rather scary like some alien creature. I get goosebumps just looking at them!

I do like the photo of the moon. Tell you a secret, Lyn - I turn into a werewolf and howl ARRRRHOOOOO when there's a full moon!

Well I'm not scared of the big bad werewolf he is only make believe... He is not real...

WHAT a unique plant and a great moon shot, Lyn. Do not give JediKeet any attention. He just likes to try to scare people for fun. I bet he would think it was fun to have Holloween 365 days a year. He is a character to be told.

Blessings, J A

Thank you JoAnn..... No I don't give Jedkeet attention he likes to make attention..... Halloween only comes around once a year for him to scare people.....

LOL you got me, Jo! I'm the naughty little gremlin here who loves to run amok amok amok!:laughing::evil:

Pleeeaase gimme all your attention, Lyn! Yes, its Halloween everyday for me and I Trick or Treat for attention like candy!

Nick you are so a naughty.... I'll give you my attention if you are a good boy.... If you eat candy every day Nick your teeth will fall out.....

 

[Kate C]

We do have Paper Bark Trees down here Lyn but I think it would be too cold for the Ant Tree. It is freezing down here at the moment. Yesterday at 10.30am it was only 8C and at 11.30am it only got to 10C. Was a wind blowing too which made it even colder. Not much better today, but no wind so far.

 

[FaeryBee]

OK, I hate to show my ignorance but could you please explain to me what a "bark tree" is? I've never heard that term before.

 

[Kate C]

Paper Bark trees are members of the same family as the Bottle Brush which is the Melaleuca. Most are not particularly tall trees only about 20 feet maximum but some can get to 20m. They have a bark like paper which you can easily peel off the tree and it is in layers. Aboriginals use it to wrap food in to cook in the coals of a fire, they also use the bark for their shelters. The Tea Tree is a member of this family. They have small white flowers that are full of nectar and the lorikeets just love them. I have one across the road from me and when it is in flower the lorikeets just flock to it.

Apparently you have them introduced into the US where in Florida they are considered an invasive plant.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melaleuca_quinquenervia

 

[LynandIndigo]

OK, I hate to show my ignorance but could you please explain to me what a "bark tree" is? I've never heard that term before.

Oppppsssss!!!!! I meant to say paper bark tree... The paper is loose and falls off... You also can use the paper to make pictures with the artists do this. I'll be going up town this morning I'll take a photo of one..... Deb you made me laugh so much this morning.

 

[LynandIndigo]

We do have Paper Bark Trees down here Lyn but I think it would be too cold for the Ant Tree. It is freezing down here at the moment. Yesterday at 10.30am it was only 8C and at 11.30am it only got to 10C. Was a wind blowing too which made it even colder. Not much better today, but no wind so far.

Kate mum said you would need a hot house for the plant to live. Mums sister from Sydney wanted to take one back.....

 

[FaeryBee]

Thank you, Lyn and Kate! I've now learned something new today

 

[LynandIndigo]

Thank you, Lyn and Kate! I've now learned something new today

I'll be back to post the photo of the paper bark tree later today but Deb you may be in bed when I do this please come back later to check it out....

 

[LynandIndigo]

Here you go a Paper Bark Tree this was taken in front of the Bank and the post office.... I took a close up of the paper back to show you why it is called that.. It is the tall trees with the white flowers on it. These trees can grow pretty big.. Paper Bark Trees are Native to Australia...

Paper Bark Trees.


You can peal off the Paper Bark from the tree.


Close up of the Paper Bark.

 

[StarlingWings]

Wow, Lyn, what awesome pictures! It made me really, really happy to learn about the Ant Tree. I know so many different plant types and I love to learn more! I think it's amazing that the ants and the tree depend on each other to survive.

Nature is a funny thing--everything is always in harmony, even if sometimes it seems like it isn't. Sometimes humans try to intervene in things or change the way things are, but I don't think it's really up to us to do that. Like, what if someone wanted to keep the Ant Tree in their house? You couldn't, because it lives outside. Without the ants, it would die. If everyone kept the Ant tree in their house, the ants would die too, without their shelter. So you have to keep it outside, like it was meant to be.

Thank you for these wonderful pictures, love the moon one too.
I never knew about the paper bark tree, either! How cool