Parasitism And Allelopathy - Insights Talk

This talk by Reg Harris is about plants being horrible to plants! A brief look at the semi-parasitic New Zealand mistletoes and fully parasitic wood rose and dodder will set the scene.

Then there is allelopathy. This is the chemical inhibition of one plant species by another species. The talk, with excellent visuals, will present a selection of plant-to-plant interactions including unexpected ones such as lemon grass vs mouse-ear cress, rye vs cucumber, wild hairy vetch vs tomato, and thornapple vs soybean. The talk will highlight the ‘super-allelopathic’ black walnut, revealing some of our domestically grown fruit and vegetable plants that are likely to succumb to its chemical skullduggery.

It will touch on some of the underlying mechanisms for both parasitism and allelopathy, research challenges and the potential to expand and enhance agricultural management systems in an environmentally friendly way. Black walnut’s skullduggery goes even further. Chemicals identical to the neurotransmitters that convey electrical impulses between cells in humans are found to regulate the origin and development of morphological characteristics in at least one commonly grown domestic fruit.

Located in the Treehouse Seminar Room, Wellington Botanic Garden ki Paekākā. Free of charge. You’re welcome to bring along your own ‘brown bag’ lunch to enjoy during the talk.