Korn
Jan 17th, 2005, 07:37 AM
Some people claim to know that there are no reliable vitamin B12 sources among plants. There's a lot that could be said about this... I just came across some interesting facts relevant to this issue:
"No-one knows how many different plants there are on the planet. New ones are being discovered every year. The gardener's bible, from the Royal Horticultural Society The Plant Finder, lists all the hardy plants available in Britain and where to buy them. It has more than 70,000 different plants listed. This does not include fruit and vegetables, or specialist plants, such as cacti and orchids!" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/htbg/module2/plant_names1.shtml)
I've read somewhere else that even if you count only the flowering plants (like peas/legumes, of which there are 18000 different species, see below) there are 250 000 different species!
There seem to be a number of researchers who almost suffer from 'batonophobia' (fear of plants) :), because, if they are in the position to perform studies on the levels of B12 and other nutrients in plants, why don't they... or at least honestly claim that they're not even close to have an overview?
"The three largest flowering plant families containing the greatest number of species are the sunflower family (Asteraceae) with about 24,000 species, the orchid family (Orchidaceae) with about 20,000 species, and the legume or pea family (Fabaceae) with 18,000 species. The total number of species for these three enormous families alone is approximately 62,000, roughly 25 percent of all the flowering plant species on earth. To put it another way, if you randomly lined up all the species of flowering plants on earth, every fourth one would be an orchid, a sunflower or a legume. The state of California (where WAYNE'S WORD is based) includes about 5,000 native and naturalized species, and 41 percent of these species belong to the following six plant families: sunflower family (Asteraceae), grass family (Poaceae), legume family (Fabaceae), snapdragon family (Scrophulariaceae), mustard family (Brassicaceae), and sedge family (Cyperaceae)." http://waynesword.palomar.edu/trmar98.htm
"No-one knows how many different plants there are on the planet. New ones are being discovered every year. The gardener's bible, from the Royal Horticultural Society The Plant Finder, lists all the hardy plants available in Britain and where to buy them. It has more than 70,000 different plants listed. This does not include fruit and vegetables, or specialist plants, such as cacti and orchids!" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/htbg/module2/plant_names1.shtml)
I've read somewhere else that even if you count only the flowering plants (like peas/legumes, of which there are 18000 different species, see below) there are 250 000 different species!
There seem to be a number of researchers who almost suffer from 'batonophobia' (fear of plants) :), because, if they are in the position to perform studies on the levels of B12 and other nutrients in plants, why don't they... or at least honestly claim that they're not even close to have an overview?
"The three largest flowering plant families containing the greatest number of species are the sunflower family (Asteraceae) with about 24,000 species, the orchid family (Orchidaceae) with about 20,000 species, and the legume or pea family (Fabaceae) with 18,000 species. The total number of species for these three enormous families alone is approximately 62,000, roughly 25 percent of all the flowering plant species on earth. To put it another way, if you randomly lined up all the species of flowering plants on earth, every fourth one would be an orchid, a sunflower or a legume. The state of California (where WAYNE'S WORD is based) includes about 5,000 native and naturalized species, and 41 percent of these species belong to the following six plant families: sunflower family (Asteraceae), grass family (Poaceae), legume family (Fabaceae), snapdragon family (Scrophulariaceae), mustard family (Brassicaceae), and sedge family (Cyperaceae)." http://waynesword.palomar.edu/trmar98.htm