275000 different plants: No reliable B12 sources?

**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/...t_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

1vegan · Jan 17th, 2005, 12:02 PM

There are no plants that "contain" b12.

If plant products/vegetables contain "b12" then it's often a "analog of b12".

As far as I understand it, a "analog" of "b12" is much like b12, but does not have the same efffect / is not absorbable like the "real b12".

B12 is a bacteria, and some plant product have b12 cause the are "contaminated" when harvested/produced.
(seaweed / processed lupine iirc)

**Korn** · Jan 18th, 2005, 12:13 AM

1vegan

There are no plants that "contain" b12.
If plant products/vegetables contain "b12" then it's often a "analog of b12".

Hi 1vegan, if your first sentence is correct, then your second one would need to have 'always' instead of 'often'.

B12 is a bacteria

B12 is actually not a bacteria, but is made from microorganisms/bacteria. B12 is a coenzyme.

Regarding the true/active vs. B12 analogue issue, please have a look at this this thread... or this thread. Or this one. This article about B12 analogues in animal products is also very interesting.

**eve** · Jan 18th, 2005, 05:23 AM

Korn, thank you for that url, I love websites connected to flora, and the bbc is certainly an excellent source of info, though I'd never come across these particular urls.

**Korn** · Jan 20th, 2005, 05:35 PM

Here's another one... plant facts are often very fascinating:

http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache...there%3F&hl=en

Fun Facts about Plants

There are approximately 250,000 different types of flowering plants in the world.

Wheat is the world's most widely cultivated plant. It is grown on every continent except Antarctica.

One ragweed plant can release as many as one billion grains of pollen.

Sunflowers have long been used to control weeds in cultivated fields. They produce a natural toxin from their roots that keeps weeds from germinating.

There are almost 600 species of carnivorous plants. They capture and kill prey like small insects and then digest and absorb the nutrients. Most carnivorous plants capture insects, but some species can

capture frogs, birds, and even small rodents!

The corn cob (ear) is actually part of the corn plant's flower. There are about 600 kernels on each ear of corn.

Pioneers planted 4 corn kernels for every plant they hoped to harvest: "1 for the maggot, 1 for the crow, 1 for the cutworm, and 1 to grow".

In a full grown rye plant, the total length of the roots may reach 613 kilometers (380 miles).

Batonophobia is the fear of plants.

The tallest tree in the world is the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), which is recorded at 117m (385ft). This specimen can be found in Humboldt Redwoods State Park in California.

The oldest recorded living tree is a bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) growing on Wheeler Peak in east Nevada. It is believed to be more than 4600 years old.

The world's tallest grass, which has sometimes grown to heights of more than 130 feet, is bamboo.

The fastest growing plant is the giant timber bamboo from China (Bambusa oldhamii). It can grow as much as 1.21 m (4 ft.) in a day, reaching its adult height of up to 18.3 m (60 ft) in just two months.

The world's largest flower is Rafflesia spp., which can attain a diameter of 91cm (3ft) and a weight of 7kg (15lb). It is commonly known as the stinking corpse lily due to its smell of rotting carcasses.

The foul smell attracts flies, which pollinate the flower.

Duckweeds of the family Lemnaceae are the smallest flowering plants. Wolffia arrhiza is the smallest, with a plant body measuring 0.5-1.2mm (0.01-0.04in)

The world's biggest seed is the coco-de-mer nut, which can weigh up to 20kg (45lb).

The plant that takes the longest time to flower is the rare Bolivian herb Puya raimondii. The flowers (see below) emerge after the plant is about 150 years old, and the plant then dies.