Musanga
Thursday, March 1, 2012 at 9:52AM
[chuck] in Cecropia peltata, Musanga cecropioides, Science, convergent evolution

Have always been amazed at how the plant shown above, Musanga cecropioides R. Br. & Tedlie, from Cameroon, looks exactly like Cecropia peltata L. from Central and South America. Exactly. And both plants are early successional species that grow very fast and recruit from dormant seed in disturbed enviornments. Lovely example of convergent evolution. [NOTE: Just so you know, Cecropia peltata is on the the list of World's 100 worst invasive species].

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