SNHS Biology Blog 2: Fritillaria Delavayi

Alisha Kohli

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Every day, the world is changing. In the past, we have seen thousands of living species, all of them somehow connected. Even though all of them may not be directly connected, they all have one similarity. All of them evolved. We can see this in many examples throughout history as well. From bacteria grew small multicellular species. Then small plants, small animals, growing and changing through every breeding season. Then the great dinosaurs roamed the Earth, with the trees that we now call the oldest in the world. Some species groups, such as the reptiles, are said to have been walking this Earth the longest, though how did they survive? They survived with plants. As the animals grow, so do the plants. Even though people only hear about the animals that are evolving, plants are evolving as well.

One very uncommon example is the Fritillaria delavayi plant, which lives in the rocky mountain terrain of China. According to SciTech Daily, Fritillaria delavayi is a perennial herb that has leaves – varying in color from grey to brown to green – at a young age, and produces a single flower per year after the fifth year.” This plant is used in many medicines and traditional health remedies in Ancient China, though, the only part that is being used is the bulb. It is heavily harvested to this day from their rocky habitat. More specifically, “Though, over the years, this plant has been seemingly disappearing into thin air. Though this is not what truly happened. This plant went through evolution. The bulb of the fritillary species has been used in Chinese medicine for more than 2,000 years, and high prices in recent years have led to increased harvesting.”

Evolution takes place over thousands of years and it is when a living organism changes to adapt to their changing environment. Evolution has helped many animals grow into creatures that can survive. Some animals did not adapt quickly enough, and sadly, they are just a part of history now. This plant is yet another example of how evolution works in nature. According to SciTechDaily, “‘Like other camouflaged plants we have studied, we thought the evolution of camouflage of this fritillary had been driven by herbivores, but we didn’t find such animals,’ said Dr. Yang Niu, of the Kunming Institute of Botany.” Since herbivores are part of the environment, the path that evolution takes may be affected on how herbivores react to the plant, meaning how much they eat it. With this plant, though, this was not the case. The plant evolved due to humans. “‘The current biodiversity status on the earth is shaped by both nature and by ourselves.’” Since commercial harvesting is beginning to raise, the plants evolved so that they won't not be seen as much by the human eye. This way, they won't be able to be harvested.

The Fritillaria delavayi is one of many plants that has evolved to change for human interference. Though, by controlling how much humans interfere, maybe in the future, these plants can go back to their original selves.