In your daily life, I’m sure you take for granted many of the photosynthetic organisms around you. However, there are some so extreme that they deserve attention, accolades, world records and sometimes a name. Read about these ‘Super Photosynthesizers’ here.
Hyperion: The World’s Tallest Tree
Methuselah and Prometheus: The World’s Oldest Organisms
Cat Island Baldcypress: National Champion for its species and largest tree east of the Sierra Nevada
Pumpkins: The World’s Largest Fruit
GSB1: Photosynthesis without the Sun
Prochlorococcus sp.: The smallest photosynthesizer and the most important microorganism you’ve never heard of
Nanotube-infused plants: Truly super powered photosynthetic organisms
Corpse Flower: The largest inflorescence and leaf in the plant kingdom
In contrast to the organisms listed above, the links below describe the sinister, the strange and the shameful when it comes to photosynthetic lifestyles.
Chlorochromatium aggregatum: A microbial mixed marriage of autotroph and heterotroph
Elysia chlorotica: Still torn as to whether this counts as a superphotosynthesizer or supervillian of photosynthetic organisms
Elysia chlorotica is not a superphotosynthesizer, just a photosynthiopathic heterotroph that decorates itself with the organelles of the algae it feeds upon.
Acetabularia acetabulum: Green alga that is the food of choice for Elysia timida another klepto-slug. It’s chloroplasts are superphotosynthesizers because they are more autonomous than the typical green lineage chloroplast.
Homo photosynsapiens: photosynthetic cryptozoology and mythical creatures
Monotropa uniflora aka The Ghost Plant: A plant in name only that does not photosynthesize
Pingback: Super Photosyntesizers: Methuselah and Prometheus | New Under The Sun Blog
Pingback: Extreme cyanobacteria in the lake that turns its dead into stone | New Under The Sun Blog
Pingback: Pumpkins: Decorative, Delicious, Humongous, High-flying | New Under The Sun Blog
Pingback: Photosynthesis without the Sun | New Under The Sun Blog
Pingback: About those solar-powered sea slugs… | New Under The Sun Blog
Pingback: Arbor Day: Thinking about the Trees for the Forest | New Under The Sun Blog
Pingback: Adamantium, for plants! | New Under The Sun Blog
Pingback: Behind the Music: Plants | New Under The Sun Blog