A paradigm of fragile Earth in Priestley's bell jar

Table 1 Taxa, number of leaves and leaf area of the plants placed within the container

Scientific plant name	Common name	Number of plants	Total number of leaves	Total upper leaf area (cm²)^a
Z. mays	Corn or maize	25	375	37,192
M. x giganteus	Miscanthus	30	720	72,841
Leymus arenarius	Lyme grass	21	3,528	7,281
Calathea rufibarba ‘Wavestar’	Calathea	12	1,560	126,204
Ctenanthe ‘Golden Mosaic’	Ctenanthe	1	160	35,200
Spathiphyllum Cv.	Peace lily	3	282	214,656
Saccharum officinarum	Sugarcane	2	72	34,534
Musa acuminata	Banana	9	224	204,056
Astelia chathamica ‘Silver Spear’	Astelia	33	1,188	26,479
Furcraea longaeva	Fucraea	40	400	12,301
Anthurium andreanum Cv.	Flamingo flower	2	24	163,296
Chrysopogon zizanioides	Vetiver	2	1,088	116,873
Aechmea Cv.	Bromeliad	14	280	20,475
Eruca sativa	Rocket	16	272	11,288
Lactuca sativa	Lettuce	16	272	11,288
Mentha spicata	Mint	5	450	1,512
Ferns	Ferns	9	72	10,557
Totals		274	10,967	1,106,033

Individual leaf areas were determined by tracing a leaf onto graph paper; the area of the petiole was not included within the calculations. From each individual plant, a subsample representing three small, three medium and three large leaves were harvested, and the mean of each of the three leaves was taken and used to provide a representative small, medium and large leaf area. The number of small, medium and large leaves in each individual plant was then counted, and the corresponding areas were used to estimate the total leaf surface area. ^aTotal leaf area was calculated as both the upper and lower sides of the leaves. T. usneoides, a moss, was also placed within the container, but it was not possible to calculate leaf area.

ISSN: 2046-7648