"Jangchub" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 17 Jan 2008 18:53:55 -0500, "symplastless"
wrote:


I am more incline to listen to people who do not claim that fertilizer,
elements alone, are food for autotrophs!

I am not familiar with the term autotrophs, but I do know orchids
(with the exception of some) are epiphytes and take nutrients from air
and water which collects between the roots or hold tights and the bark
of the tree the plant has adhered to.

Autotrophs

Very good question. People of course may disagree with my definition. That
is fine. I will provide you with my definition so you will understand what
I mean. If somebody else uses the word, you may want to ask them to define
so you understand what they mean.



Autotrophs make their own food. Heterotrophs have to have it made for them.



Not the last word on the topic. Most trees and plants are autotrophs.
E.g., An oak tree. An oak tree absorbs (not like a Bounty paper towel
though - that was just pointed out to me) essential elements dissolved in
water with non-woody roots and the help of organs, for example, mycorrhizae
and root hairs.



Mycorrhizae are composite organs consisting of tree tissue and fungi.

http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT20...corrhizae.html



Root hairs are the extension of a single cell.

A root hair is the extension of a single epidermal cell, epidermal, which
means skin.

http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT20...oot_hairs.html



Oak trees with the water, essential elements and trapped sun light energy
manufacture their food with the process called photosynthesis. Generally
speaking, after many processes glucose (tree food) is manufactured. One
reaction is the glucose is transformed into starch and stored in living
parenchyma. Trees only store starch in living cells. They load, store and
then use - water, elements and glucose as it is manufactured. The
collection of living cells is called the symplast. Most of these words are
in my dictionary. I call this type of organism a autotroph.

Even though the bag in the store says tree food, it is not tree food.



Elements are very important. That's why we call them essential elements.



Elements can be found here.

http://www.webelements.com/



The most recognized essential elements for trees are -

C; H; N; O; P; K; S; Mg; Ni; Fe; Ca; Zn; Mo; Mn; B; Cl; Cu



Different species of plants require different amounts of the latter. E.g.,
legumes such as black locust, coffee tree have a unique requirement for
cobalt. I think it is pertaining to nitrogen fixation. A new topic to me,
i.e., the requirement of cobalt for legumes.



Now, there are, as always in nature, exceptions. E.g., The Ghost Flower.
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT20...flowers-1.html

It is a plant with no chlorophyll. It cannot photosynthesis and manufacture
its own food or nutrients. It gets its required food, nutrients etc., by
way of the bicarbohydrate transfer of plants. It then would fall under the
heterotroph category. We cannot provide food for the ghost flower. It is
manufactured by other plants and then transferred. What would you call the
host to an autotroph?



Animals such as humans are heterotrophs, us, like the Ghost Flower, have to
have something or someone else manufacture our food for us. We cannot
photosynthesis to manufacture our required food.



Glucose is the international biological currency. I require it, you require
it, other animals and plants require it. "All" is not a term that can be
used often. I am thinking, just a thought, that all living organisms living
on Earth require glucose. Without it we would not be here.


--
Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Consulting Arborist
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman
and www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.