Ep. 331 - Unraveling Quillwort Mysteries
In Defense of Plants Podcast
In Defense of Plants
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 22 August 2021
⏱️ 60 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Their ancestors once dominated the coal swamps of the Carboniferous Period, growing into massive trees that could reach upwards of 160 feet (50 m) into the canopy. Today, the quillworts (Isoetes spp.) are all that remains of this lineage. Though cosmopolitan in their distribution, quillworts can be hard to find unless you know where to look. Luckily, there are people like PhD student David Wickell who have placed them at the center of their scientific focus. David is hard at work helping to uncover the mysteries of these wonderfully strange lycophytes. As you will hear, this work includes everything from CAM photosynthesis to the role of hybridization in speciation. This episode was produced in part by Kristina, Christine, Silas, Michael, Aristia, Felicidad, Lauren, Danielle, Allie, Jeffrey, Amanda, Tommy, Marcel, C Leigh, Karma, Shelby, Christopher, Alvin, Arek, Chellie, Dani, Paul, Dani, Tara, Elly, Colleen, Natalie, Nathan, Ario, Laura, Cari, Margaret, Mary, Connor, Nathan, Jan, Jerome, Brian, Azomonas, Ellie, University Greens, Joseph, Melody, Patricia, Matthew, Garrett, John, Ashley, Cathrine, Melvin, OrangeJulian, Porter, Jules, Griff, Joan, Megan, Marabeth, Les, Ali, Southside Plants, Keiko, Robert, Bryce, Wilma, Amanda, Helen, Mikey, Michelle, German, Joerg, Cathy, Tate, Steve, Kae, Carole, Mr. Keith Santner, Lynn, Aaron, Sara, Kenned, Brett, Jocelyn, Ethan, Sheryl, Runaway Goldfish, Ryan, Chris, Alana, Rachel, Joanna, Lori, Paul, Griff, Matthew, Bobby, Vaibhav, Steven, Joseph, Brandon, Liam, Hall, Jared, Brandon, Christina, Carly, Kazys, Stephen, Katherine, Mohsin Kazmi Takes Pictures, Manny, doeg, Daniel, Tim, Philip, Tim, Lisa, Brodie, Bendix, Irene, holly, Sara, and Margie.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | In Defensive Plants is made possible by all of our wonderful patrons that support the podcast each |
| 0:04.3 | and every month over at patreon.com slash indefensive plants. Their monthly contributions ensure that |
| 0:09.7 | Indefensive Plants can continue to bring you amazing botanical and ecological conversations each and every week. |
| 0:15.7 | If you are enjoying this podcast and want to help make free science communication possible, consider |
| 0:20.1 | becoming a patron. |
| 0:21.4 | By supporting the show, you will receive wonderful kickbacks like stickers, producer credits, |
| 0:25.6 | and access to multiple mini bonus episodes each month. |
| 0:28.7 | Consider becoming a patron today and help spread the love of plants around the globe. |
| 0:33.3 | Hello everyone and welcome to the Indefensive Plants podcast, the official podcast of |
| 0:37.7 | Indefenseaplants.com. |
| 0:39.1 | What's up? |
| 0:39.5 | This is your host, Matt. Welcome to the show. How is everyone doing this week? I'm doing great because this week we are looking at a group of plants I've been curious about for a very long time, the quill warts of the genus Issaweetes. Now, if you like me, you probably haven't had a lot of encounters, or at least not knowingly |
| 0:57.1 | encountered one of these species in the wild, because they can be kind of obscure, a little |
| 1:00.8 | cryptic, because they look like a little rosette of grass or maybe a sedge. |
| 1:05.0 | But they're a really fascinating plant lineage with very ancient history. |
| 1:09.9 | Their ancestors lived during eras like the carboniferous |
| 1:12.9 | and were the size of trees, but today they may be at most a foot or so. Regardless, maybe some of you |
| 1:18.8 | that are in the aquarium trade have come across them before, but that is going to be the topic of our |
| 1:22.9 | discussion, just how interesting they are, what they can tell us about evolution, and some interesting things |
| 1:28.6 | that they're doing with their photosynthetic pathways. Joining us to talk about this is David Wickel, |
| 1:34.5 | who is a PhD student in the School of Integrative Plant Science and Plant Biology at Cornell. |
| 1:40.1 | And David has a really interesting take on what's going on with the Quill Wharts. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from In Defense of Plants, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of In Defense of Plants and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.