Pollia condensata, "shiniest living thing in the world&

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ChrisR
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Pollia condensata, "shiniest living thing in the world&

Post by ChrisR »

AKA Marble berries, which grow in central west Africa.

Has anyone ever seen them or photographed them?
Right up Mr Krebs' street, I think. :wink:

A plant sold in 2015 on Italian ebay for $35 - may not have been in fruit though!

It would make a change from butterflies and beetles.
Last edited by ChrisR on Fri Feb 10, 2017 2:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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MarkSturtevant
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Post by MarkSturtevant »

I had heard of them, and pictures are available online:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollia_co ... Pollia.jpg

I remember learning that they are an example of a structural color, which are the metallic colors more often seen in animals (think blue morpho butterflies, or metallic green beetles). The effect is caused by differential interference of light.
Mark Sturtevant
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ChrisR
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Post by ChrisR »

That's right Mark. I found them while searching for things about organic structural colours. Most are animals.
The pointilist nature of the structure is interesting.
I'm not far from Kew Gardens, "largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world" so I'll ask if they can show me any.
Perhaps I can scrounge a berry.
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Beatsy
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Post by Beatsy »

Very interesting - thanks for posting Chris. There's a bit more info in this article. http://earthsky.org/earth/brightest-bio ... its-secret

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Post by Pau »

...and the original paper can be read (free) following the link at the end of the article liked by Beatsy, just click on "full text" :D
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ChrisR
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Post by ChrisR »

I don't see a "full tect" link, only the abstract.

Read the "Reply" though.


THis is fun too: The vanishing Sea sapphire
https://youtu.be/26kus22RaTo
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Pau
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Post by Pau »

At http://www.pnas.org/content/109/39/15712.abstract

Image

You can also access to the images at full resolution, but could be because I'm a registered PNAS suscriber
Last edited by Pau on Fri Feb 10, 2017 3:51 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Beatsy
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Post by Beatsy »

Pau wrote:...but could be because I'm a registered PNAS suscriber
I think that's it because I don't see that tab bar. Only the abstract is available.

ChrisR
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Post by ChrisR »

I don't see that tab bar.
Nor I.
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