Is Size Everything?

I'm posing with a giant legume pod from southeast Asia. It's no surprise that this pod looks so much like a pea pod. They both come from the same family (Leguminosae) and have similar (homologous) structures. A homologous structure we are all familiar with is backbones in vertebrate animals. Homologous features indicate that certain organisms share a common ancestor. Humans and other vertebrates evolved from a common vertebrate ancestor and legumes evolved from a common pod-forming ancestor.

 

Please join me in my blog “Botany Without Borders: Where Design Meets Science”

 

botanywithoutborders.blogspot.com/

 

Plant homology is not always as obvious as the giant bean pod I'm holding here.

 

This picture reminds me of a question involving our built environments. Do they have to be big to be successful? Can we get the job done by designing something smaller? I think it's worth considering how we can conserve space and other resources by designing smaller, more effective built environments.

 

For more scientific literature on legumes see:

 

Isely, D. 1982. Leguminosae and Homo sapiens. Economic Botany 36: 46-70.

Done