Orchid has sex with itself

dilloduck

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Chinese Orchid Found to Have Sex With Itself
Thursday, June 22, 2006

LINKS
•FOX News CountryWatch: China
BANGKOK, Thailand — For one type of orchid in China, procreating is a lonely affair.

Rather than depending on insects or even the wind for pollination, scientists have discovered that the orchid Holcoglossum amesianum actually fertilizes itself, according to a report in this week's Nature.

The orchid defies gravity to twist the male part of its flower into the necessary shape to fertilize the female one, a team led by LaiQuang Huang of Tsinghua University found.

The plant does so without the help of sticky fluids or other methods used by self-pollinating plants to ensure that the pollen reaches the egg, LaiQuang reported. This makes it a new method of pollination, he said.

The team studied more than 1,900 flowers of this species, which grows on tree trunks in China's Yunnan province and flowers during the dry, windless months of February to April.

The orchid produces no scent or nectar, and the researchers did not see a single instance of pollination by an insect or by wind

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200503,00.html
 
dilloduck said:
Chinese Orchid Found to Have Sex With Itself
Thursday, June 22, 2006

LINKS
•FOX News CountryWatch: China
BANGKOK, Thailand — For one type of orchid in China, procreating is a lonely affair.

Rather than depending on insects or even the wind for pollination, scientists have discovered that the orchid Holcoglossum amesianum actually fertilizes itself, according to a report in this week's Nature.

The orchid defies gravity to twist the male part of its flower into the necessary shape to fertilize the female one, a team led by LaiQuang Huang of Tsinghua University found.

The plant does so without the help of sticky fluids or other methods used by self-pollinating plants to ensure that the pollen reaches the egg, LaiQuang reported. This makes it a new method of pollination, he said.

The team studied more than 1,900 flowers of this species, which grows on tree trunks in China's Yunnan province and flowers during the dry, windless months of February to April.

The orchid produces no scent or nectar, and the researchers did not see a single instance of pollination by an insect or by wind

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200503,00.html
So what? There are a gazillion high school aged kids having sex with themselves every day.
 
misterblu said:
It'd be much more effective as a means to justify autosexuality.

;)

I know what autosexuality is. This story will likely be used to justify homosexuality the same way a few penguins are used to justify the acts. "See? Even PLANTS have unique sexuality! That plant didn't CHOOSE To have sex with itself...it was BORN that way. If PLANTS can be born to have sex in a different way, why can't PEOPLE??"
 
dmp said:
I know what autosexuality is. This story will likely be used to justify homosexuality the same way a few penguins are used to justify the acts. "See? Even PLANTS have unique sexuality! That plant didn't CHOOSE To have sex with itself...it was BORN that way. If PLANTS can be born to have sex in a different way, why can't PEOPLE??"


bu-huh-but... people DO have sex with themselves. :D
 
no1tovote4 said:
There was a tale of a Surgeon General who suggested we teach auto-sexuality to our children...

Joycelyn Elders:


In 1994, she was invited to speak at a United Nations conference on AIDS. She was asked whether it would be appropriate to promote masturbation as a means of preventing young people from engaging in riskier forms of sexual activity, and she replied, "I think that it is part of human sexuality, and perhaps it should be taught." This remark caused great controversy, especially amongst conservative Christian groups and right wing interests in the United States. Under great political pressure President Clinton asked for her resignation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joycelyn_Elders

She was appointed to SG by Bill Clinton.

I had to laugh. I just find that hysterical.
 

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