Re: Advice is nice
When we think of fungi, we only think of mushrooms, but in fact, the family of fungi is much wider than that. Many forest systems depend on mycorrhizae to break down and store nutrients in such a manner that it is accessible to the tree. They operate as a large network, all interconnected and dependent on one another to survive. There is also the example of Pando: a vast aspen forest in Utah which is entirely genetically one tree, and the forest is comprised of clone off-shoots its sprouted through the Earth.
Let's not confuse metaphysics with science. A plant is incapable of 'wanting' to inflict harm. The reason some plants heal, while others hinder, is almost entirely dependent on the chemical, physical, or neurological reaction between your body and the plant you have touched, inhaled, ingested. And a lot of it has to do with dosage. A very small amount of foxglove administered to a patient undergoing cardiac arrest has the ability to save them. A small amount more than that, and it has the ability to stop their heart entirely. Some minimal research suggests that St Johns wort has positive effects on depression, but continued usage causes photosensitivity. Thal can probably chime in with more detail here, but plants (like animals) develop self-defensive mechanisms to predation from predators in their natural habitat, and also self-preservation techniques (such as hard to digest seeds, which a passing animal eats, shits out somewhere else, and then the plant is able to germinate in a new place, helping to ensure it continues to exist in that ecosystem with less of a chance of dying back). So whatever harmful property the plant may have, it may have it to ensure it does not get eaten, because the plant, for lack of a better term, wants to stay alive and reproduce and continue to take nutrients from its environment.
Originally posted by Lotus
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Originally posted by Lotus
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