CAM photosynthesis is a clever adaptation some plants have where they turn light into sugar during the day, and only breathe in CO2 at night. This lets the plant close up its leaves so they don’t lose water during the heat of the day.
CAM plants use sunlight to turn malic acid into sugar, and every night they breathe in plenty of carbon dioxide, storing it as a fresh supply of malic acid. If you have keen senses, you may be able to taste the difference between a CAM plant harvested during the day and one harvested at night because of this variation in sugar and acid content.
Having evolved several times independantly, you see CAM in lots of different kinds of plants: air plants and bromeliads, which have poorly developed root systems; cacti and other succulents, which grow in hot dry environments; you even see it in some aquatic plants. For these, CAM serves not to conserve water, but carbon dioxide - which is of course hard to come by when you don’t have any air.
The “crassulacean” part of the name “crassulacean acid metabolism” is there because this phenomenon was first discovered in crassulas. Jade plants are an example of this genus.
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I think my dad hasn’t really processed my being trans because I’m a lesbian, like he’d be mad if I dated men but because I’m interested in women I’m normal in his head.
Excited to see how he responds if and when I date another trans woman.
Has he said anything to suggest he’s the type who somehow thinks gender and romantic/sexual orientation are intimately connected? Somehow one of my lesbian moms is confused about the difference between the two.
Yes. He’s of a generation that sees being a trans woman as a type of upgraded gay man. I think he just thinks me being trans and dating women as like crossdressing or drag (and that he’s now very accepting of that)
We were talking about my dating again soon and he said something about how he imagined it would be hard to find a straight woman in my situation.
And was surprised when I explained I was going to date lesbians and other queer women. He’s also historically very homophobic to men who are gay.
Its sad so many children miss out on having at least one openly queer parent. Child abuse really.
I think frequently about whether my dad would be as accepting if i wasn’t a lesbian and a butch at that. though he saw in a dress for the first time recently, and while a taken a bit aback, he seemed to take it in stride.