Able to be found across various harsh environments, the Western Ragweed is a highly adaptable plant, allowing it to thrive from parking lots and railroads to dry prairies and riverbanks in disturbed soil. The Ragweed’s highly lobed leaves that give the perimeter its wavy shape allows the plant to manage drought and high temperatures. The lobed leaves allow them to curl up when water conservation becomes essential, reducing surface for water to evaporate through. Moreover, the Ragweed is adapted to be able to shoot up new, independent plants from its rhizome stem system. Unlike its counterpart, the Common Ragweed, the Western Ragweed has rhizomes, which are modified stems underneath the surface, and can send new shoots upwards. Given this ability, the Western Ragweed is able to both sexually reproduce, through pollen, and asexually produce through its rhizome system, which may be essential for rapid reproduction in harsh environments.

Dr. Mingchao Liu, from the University of Birmingham, studied the curling-mechanism of leaves, published a journal detailing the process where veins curl leaves by controlling the water content, which can be applied to soft-bodied robots and medical prosthetics in order to control extension and retraction without bulky, stiff mechanisms.

Ryan Fu