Parasitic plants

There are many kinds of parasites in this world. Parasitic plants or bugs or even microscopic ones. The ones we are going to focus on are parasitic plants. Even in plants, there are many kinds of parasites. Ones that are harmless or harmful towards other plants or parasites that could benefit us or look pretty. Here are a few examples that I have looked up on:

Image Reference: http://collectingfood.blogspot.com/

 Honey Mushroom: A mushroom that usually grows on the ground at the base of the tree, occasionally it can be found growing at the tree trunk or stem. Although the honey mushroom is considered as dangerous due to the fact that it kills all the hosts it grows on, in the kitchen most people considers it as a delicious food.

Image Reference: http://gardeninggarden.com/tag/tallest-plants/

Rafflesia: Most people would think this is just the biggest flower in the world. Actually this plant is also considered as a parasite. Despite having a nice look, it has a very strong odor coming from the spiky area of the flower. The Rafflesia can grow to approximately 90cm and weight about 11kg. Rafflesia grows at the base of a tree as their host but they do not kill their host. The Rafflesia can only grow in rainforests from countries Philippine, Malaya, Indonesia, Borneo and Sumatra.

Image Reference: http://www.sybout.com/parasites_fungi.htm

Mistletoe: If none of you knew, mistletoe is actually one type of parasite, but just partially a parasite. Yes, the mistletoe that you all watch in cartoons, where standing under one during Christmas Eve means a couple has to kiss each other. As a parasite, the mistletoe grows on trees, by doing that they absorb nutrients from their host. The fruit of the mistletoe is often targeted by birds and is eaten by them.

Image Reference: http://www.waldeneffect.org/archives/2009/02/

 Dodder: If you can't tell which is the parasite, for your information it is the orange colour vine. The reason it is orange in colour it's because this parasite has no green pigment at all, in other words it can't do photosynthesis on it's own due to the fact that it can't produce sugars. That's why they twine around a preferred plant and than suck the nutrients out of them till their host die. The dodder can be a really picky parasite, it chooses the "tastier" plants as its host.


So this was one of the few parasitic plants that I was interested in and have slightly checked up on, In the end I decided to do something that is similar to the dodder and a bit of the honey mushrooms but mainly focusing on dodder. I will show two images which slightly resembles dodder and honey mushrooms.

Dodder

I slightly raised the number of supposedly vines into something that is more structural. But I did not plan to remove the original purpose of a dodder which is to suck up nutrients from the host but in this case, create some blockage and block some sunlight and at the same time views. I further planed that I will turn this upside down, using it as support of the building in the future as a dodder is a vine and it supports the host for a while as well.

In this case, it's pretty obvious how did the honey mushrooms helped. But on the other hand, the only thing it did was give an idea how to line those boxes up. Nevertheless, further explorations is required. This arrangement might be good but it might not be the result of the best arrangement.










In conclusion, shall it be "DESIGN"? or "FUNCTIONALITY"? The beauty of the dodder? or the functionality of the dodder? the beauty of the honey mushrooms? or the functionality of the mushrooms?