Just out of curiosity, why would a seedling grow upside-down, with an abortive root sticking up into the air? Did I do something wrong, such as plant it too shallow, or is it just a "bad seed"?
I turned it right-side-up, as it was the only one that sprouted in that pot. If it grows, should I make sure not to plant any seeds I get from it, since they might inherit its poor sense of direction?
If it matters, the plant is Calliandra eriophylla, pink fairy duster.
-- Jerry Friedman
the word to look up is "geotaxis"
Thanks. I wasn't paying attention at all to how I planted it.
-- Jerry Friedman
Thank you. It led me to "gravitropism", which seems to be much more commonly used for plants. ("Geotaxis" is mostly used for motile micro- organisms, though I did find a few Web sites that used it for plants.) That in turn led me to terms such as "micropyle", and I'll plant seeds like this more carefully from now on.
-- Jerry Friedman
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