[00:00.00]Some plants, known as flowering annuals, bloom without stop before dying at the end of the year or season.
[00:11.39]Other flowering plants, known as perennials, return every year.
[00:18.29]They can bloom all season, with a lot of blossoms at first followed by additional flowers from time to time.
[00:28.20]Sometimes it is a limited show that can last as little as two weeks.
[00:35.47]Biennials flower only in their second year before dying.
[00:41.13]But there is another group of plants called monocarpics.
[00:46.78]Their name comes from the Greek words for "single," mono, and "fruit," carpos.
[00:55.36]Monocarpics spend their whole lives growing in size only to produce a single bloom before dying.
[01:05.21]Some monocarpic plants have a following among a small group of gardeners.
[01:12.38]These gardeners enjoy what can be years of waiting.
[01:16.66]They often throw parties to show their plant's once-in-a-lifetime bloom to others.
[01:24.14]Other growers, however, can be surprised to discover their 30-year-old plant unexpectedly blooming, only to watch it die immediately afterward.
[01:37.39]Flowers have a purpose: to ensure the continuation of their species.
[01:44.24]After their bloom ends, plants produce seeds that grow into new plants.
[01:51.28]Monocarpic plants have just one chance at this.
[01:56.42]So, as you might imagine, the effort is often spectacular.
[02:02.45]Take the century plant. Rather than living for 100 years, as its name suggests, it has an average lifespan of just 10 to 30 years.
[02:16.46]It is a desert plant native to Mexico and Texas.
[02:21.21]During its life, it grows to 1.8 meters tall before sending up a giant flower stalk that can reach nine meters, often surprising its owners.
[02:35.57]A 19-year-old American columbo plant growing at the North Carolina Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill bloomed this spring.
[02:46.50]The plants are native to the eastern and central United States.
[02:51.60]They grow quickly for many years before pushing forth flowers that are up to two meters long.
[02:59.17]The monocarpic plant group also includes the fishtail palm. It can grow over 15 meters in height.
[03:08.67]The trees produce flowers with yellow centers when they are between 10 and 20 years old.
[03:16.67]The good news is the show of flowers can last up to 5 years, after which only the blooming trunk will die, leaving secondary trunks, if present, to take over.
[03:31.63]However, fishtail palms grown as houseplants are not likely to bloom.
[03:38.64]Bamboo is also a monocarpic plant.
[03:41.83]But it can take more than 100 years for some bamboo species to flower, and even then, sometimes their roots push up new plants.
[03:53.82]Bananas, too, are monocarpic, but they reproduce by sending up suckers, or small, new plants, from their roots.
[04:04.46]After their one-and-only fruit crop is harvested, the main plant is cut to ground level, leaving the suckers to take over.
[04:15.87]I'm John Russell._______________________________
Words in This Story
bloom - v. to produce or yield flowers -n. a flower
blossom -n. a flower -v. to produce flowers
gardener -n. a person who raises and keeps plants for flowers and for food
spectacular - adj. describes the quality of being unusual, notable, or entertaining
trunk -- n. the main part of a tree apart from limbs and roots
species - n. a category of biological classification ranking immediately below the genus or subgenus
/1 
鄂公网安备42010202000179号 )