
Bamboo Mathematicians - robrenaud
http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2015/05/15/bamboo-mathematicians/
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ColinWright
As opposed to the Periodical cicadas[0] which breed on a 13 or 17 year cycle,
which are specifically prime numbers, and therefore specifically _not_
products of small factors.

[0]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodical_cicadas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodical_cicadas)

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wodenokoto
Why is this only a problem for bamboo and not other trees?

A few years ago the flowering of bamboo was posted as a TIL on reddit. A few
commentors had interesting stories about how the flowering of bamboo was a
dark omen, since rats would feast on the fruits on multiply like crazy during
the rare bamboo season.

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Gravityloss
And why don't other plants in the same forest also synchronize their flowering
to the same time, so that all trees in one forest would flower say every 60
years? A bit like bird colonies that have many different species, enjoying the
protection. Maybe they would not be synchronized to the same part of the year,
losing most synchronization benefits.

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Someone
That would probably not be the best strategy for those plants that need
animals to help them reproduce. Animals and plants could co-evolve, yes, but
getting there likely is slower.

Also, Wikipedia
([http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_blossom#Mechanism](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_blossom#Mechanism))
mentions a competing theory: _" the fire cycle hypothesis, argues that
periodic flowering followed by death of the adult plants has evolved as a
mechanism to create disturbance in the habitat, thus providing the seedlings
with a gap in which to grow. This argues that the dead culms create a large
fuel load, and also a large target for lightning strikes, increasing the
likelihood of wildfire. Because bamboos can be aggressive as early
successional plants, the seedlings would be able to outstrip other plants and
take over the space left by their parents."_

If that is a factor in synchronized blooming it only can be beneficial for
those plants that are pioneer species
([http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_species](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_species))

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Gravityloss
There is a large number of plants don't use animals for pollinating. For
example Conifers.

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vijayr
Bamboo is amazing. Here is a very interesting talk about how it is being used
in construction (well worth the 10 mins)

[http://www.ted.com/talks/elora_hardy_magical_houses_made_of_...](http://www.ted.com/talks/elora_hardy_magical_houses_made_of_bamboo)

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Fjolsvith
So, is it possible to use this mathematical model to calculate backwards the
number of years from the 120 year cycle plant to the one-year cycle plant, to
deduce how far in the past the "family tree" reaches?

