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Ask Botanist Cindy Ross
By Sweetwind, Section Interviews Posted on Mon Jan 03, 2005 at 02:13:29 PM PST
Biologist Cindy Ross is a self-described "plant gynecologist." She is an assistant professor at University College of the Cariboo in British Columbia and her research centers on plant anatomy. She has brought advanced tools and rigorous analysis to studying the reproductive development of the pest dwarf mistletoe. Her published papers include Development of the unfertilized embryo sac and pollen tubes in the dwarf mistletoe Arceuthobium americanum (Viscaceae) in the Canadian Journal of Botany, as well as a new paper that was the subject of a recent SciScoop story. (And to quote rickyjames, "She is also, I kid you not, a member of the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists.") Dr. Ross was previously at the University of Manitoba (where her collaborator Micheal J. Sumner remains) and has become very familiar with the Arceuthobium americanum (dwarf mistletoe) of both provinces. Here at SciScoop, YOU ask the questions! Submit your questions for Dr. Ross all week long on this story. If you don't already have a free account, sign up now and rate each other's posts during the week to determine which questions will be passed on to Dr. Ross. At the end of Tuesday, January 11, the top-rated questions will be sent to her, and her responses will be posted here when ready.

Ask Botanist Cindy Ross | 19 comments (19 topical, 0 hidden)

Fractals? (5.00 / 1) (#2)
by Sweetwind on Tue Jan 04, 2005 at 10:49:04 AM PST

In your webpage you mention using fractal analysis in your research. How does this apply to botany? The only connection I can recall hearing of is an essay of rickyjames' called Fern - Fractal Fusion Frustration ... but his point was that, compelling as it looks, fractals couldn't apply in this case!

Yes, Please Comment by rickyjames, 01/05/2005 01:27:31 AM PST (none / 0)

You didn't mean MY comments, but.... by barakn, 01/06/2005 06:31:14 PM PST (5.00 / 1)

Harvesting specimens (5.00 / 1) (#8)
by Sweetwind on Wed Jan 05, 2005 at 04:34:12 AM PST

Hi Cindy, I wish you could tell us about how you go about getting the samples of dwarf mistletoe. Do you climb trees yourself? It sounds like you have to keep going back throughout the germination period (a year and a half!). Do you need to get specimens from throughout the tree, or it it OK to just take the low-hanging fruit (as it were)? The "pest" link above splits the three in thirds from the top down to rate the infestation -- does the placement on the tree have any significance (top vs. middle vs. bottom), or is it just a way to roughly quantify the total amount of mistletoe?

"Firehose" seed dispersal systems (5.00 / 1) (#9)
by Sweetwind on Wed Jan 05, 2005 at 09:13:52 AM PST

In the press release, in discussing the way the dwarf mistletoe ejects its seeds, you say "This extreme buildup of water pressure as a seed dispersal system is rare in the plant world." What other plants besides dwarf mistletoe use this method? I'd never heard of it before!

A Corny Question (5.00 / 2) (#11)
by rickyjames on Wed Jan 05, 2005 at 03:53:34 PM PST

Cindy, until you came along to take her place, my female botanist heroine over the years has been Mary Eubanks ever since I read an article about her years ago in Discover magazine, and I'm wondering if you are familiar with her work on corn. Who were the role models that got you interested in a career in botany?

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Fav Flower (4.66 / 3) (#12)
by rickyjames on Wed Jan 05, 2005 at 04:13:25 PM PST

Is mistletoe really your favorite, or something else? Somehow I just can't imagine that a self-professed plant gynecologist wouldn't be interested in orchids, that ultimate plant most associated with sex on so many levels and scandal to boot. Are you?

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I like this question by barakn, 01/06/2005 07:05:58 PM PST (5.00 / 2)

FYI by Sweetwind, 01/07/2005 08:06:49 AM PST (none / 0)

Placenta? (4.00 / 1) (#1)
by Sweetwind on Tue Jan 04, 2005 at 07:31:32 AM PST

The abstract for the paper on the pollen tubes refers to the plant's placenta. I have never heard that term used for parts of anything but mammals. Is it really a similar structure? Is it found in many plants?

Effects of domestication (4.00 / 1) (#3)
by apsmith on Tue Jan 04, 2005 at 03:15:58 PM PST

I'm afraid I'm not at all familiar with plant biology, but I've just been reading Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs and Steel", and he makes quite a big deal about the variety of ways in which domestication of plants by humans has resulted in many different kinds of obvious and not-so-obvious changes in their biology. Selection for larger sizes, seedlessness, or larger seeds when the seed is what we're after; self-pollination, quick germination, etc. etc. Can you comment on reproductive differences between wild and domesticated species you've looked at, or any general comments on that subject?

Join us at the National Space Society and help open space to everyone!

Fire And Rain In B.C. Forests (4.00 / 2) (#7)
by rickyjames on Wed Jan 05, 2005 at 01:51:04 AM PST

In early December I drove up from Seattle and spent the day in Vancouver with janra, my first real trip to Canada. We went for a short hike in the forest and I was VERY impressed with just how beautiful it was. I hadn't realized the forest in that part of the Northwest was actually considered a "rain forest". Anyway, you've got a wonderful corner of the world in which to study botany.

One of the most curious things we saw (to me, anyway) were a half-dozen or so burned trees. These were BIG charred hollow trunks going up to 10 or 15 meters above the ground with no "insides" and no real damage to speak of on any of the nearby trees or ground. There weren't, from what I could see, any limbs from the trees on the ground, either. I've spent a LOT of time in hardwood forests in the South, and I've NEVER seen anything like that a single time before, much less a half dozen times in walking distance. They strongly reminded me of so called lava trees I saw in Hawaii many years ago, but of course that's not what formed them. Janra said lightning caused them, but I still find that a little hard to believe. In the South I've seen lots of lightning strikes on trees, and while they do cause fires and generally tear up the side of the tree, down here they never just burn out the core of the tree. Have you ever seen charred trees in B. C.? Your comments?

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burned-out trees by janra, 01/06/2005 10:20:11 AM PST (none / 0)

Evergreen (4.00 / 2) (#10)
by rickyjames on Wed Jan 05, 2005 at 03:40:58 PM PST

The cool thing about mistletoe is its ability to be green all year without being a conifer. From an evolutionary standpoint, why haven't all green leafy plants adopted the mistletoe route and stay green year-round? It seems to me that dropping leaves is much more common. Which came first - falling leaves or mistletoe?

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Wells Gray Park (4.00 / 1) (#17)
by Sweetwind on Fri Jan 07, 2005 at 08:14:30 AM PST

Hi Cindy, your web page says you are director of the Friends of Wells Gray Park. I take it provincial parks are run by the province, so do you have to deal with provincial officials? Or more with the membership of the Friends? How long have you been doing it, and what does it entail?

Hi! (1.50 / 2) (#5)
by Exoscientist on Wed Jan 05, 2005 at 01:46:22 AM PST

Do you students have difficulty studying with someone so beautiful? Bob C.

tee-hee by dwarfmistletoe, 01/26/2005 12:45:57 PM PST (none / 0)

The Mistletoe Press Release (none / 0) (#18)
by Sweetwind on Mon Jan 10, 2005 at 08:47:45 AM PST

Cindy, were you the hand behind the press release "Dwarf mistletoe reveals its sexual secrets"? I can imagine a publicist writing it to spice up the subject, but on the other hand you seem to have a pretty good sense of humor. It's terrific!

Quantum Writing! by dwarfmistletoe, 01/26/2005 12:49:36 PM PST (none / 0)

Ask Botanist Cindy Ross | 19 comments (19 topical, 0 hidden)

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