You’ve probably heard of mimicry in poisonous butterflies and venomous snakes, but did you know plants can do it, too?
Meet Boquila trifoliolata, a vine species with a remarkable ability to mimic its neighbouring plants or the trees it climbs on, replicating their leaf size, angle, colour and even texture in a phenomenon known as cryptic mimicry [1]. This allows it to take on the appearance of less palatable species nearby, thus protecting itself from herbivores.
Left: Boquila trifoliolata. (Source | License). Middle: Boquila trifoliolata, Melipeuco by Hector Montero (Source | License). Right: Boquila trifoliolata 2 by Scott Zona (Source | License).
While other plants, such as the Australian mistletoe (Viscum album), also utilises this strategy, Boquila sets itself apart in three amazing ways.
Boquila doesn’t require physical contact or a parasitic bond to mimic its host. Mistletoe is a hemi-parasite, or ‘half’ parasite, meaning its growth partially relies on extracting nutrients and water from the host tree it sits on. However, such a relationship doesn’t exist between Boquila and its mimicry targets — simple proximity between plants does the trick.
Boquila isn’t just limited to one host, but can mimic more than a dozen different species. This includes the creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens), prickly myrtle (Rhaphithamnus spinosus), Chilean myrtle (Luma apiculata) and more [2].
A single Boquila plant can imitate multiple hosts at once, resulting in distinct appearances across its parts [1].
Boquila trifoliolata mimicking different plants. Images A - G illustrate different host plants next to Boquila, which is indicated by yellow arrows. Image H illustrates Boquila alone (Gianoli, 2016).
Volatile organic compounds, horizontal gene transfer, and bacterial colonies have all been suggested as possible explanations for Boquila’s amazing leaf plasticity [1,3]. However, none of these hypotheses have been tested thoroughly enough to allow a definitive conclusion. For now, the exact mechanism behind this spectacular phenomenon will remain a mystery to us.
References:
Gianoli, E, Carrasco-Urra F. Leaf mimicry in a climbing plant protects against herbivory. Curr. Biol. 2014, May, 5;24(9):984–987.
Gianoli E. Eyes in the Chameleon Vine? Trends Plant Sci. 2016, Nov, 15;22(1):4–5.
Gianoli, E, González-Teuber M, Vilo C, Guevara-Araya MJ, Escobedo VM. Endophytic bacterial communities are associated with leaf mimicry in the vine Boquila trifoliolata. Sci. Rep. 2021, Nov, 22;11:22673.
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