Original subtitles

Plants have a family tree, stretching back nearly half a billion years.

They have developed an extraordinary range of strategies to survive.

This tree is a bristlecone pine.

It's taken thousands of years to reach this size.

It has seen empires rise and fall, kings, queens and presidents come and go,

and may have seen the sun rise more than one and a half million times.

Bristlecone pines are the oldest living things on Earth.

Bamboo is the fastest-growing plant.

It will be full-grown 30 metres tall in just 90 days.

Like animals, plants are constantly competing for food...

striving to produce offspring...

and battling against predators.

They will deceive...

and in some cases, they will even hunt.

We often don't notice such dramatic behaviour because, to our eyes,

it happens so slowly.

But if time is compressed and you shift perspective to the plant's point of view,

their world comes spectacularly to life.

The events in this woodland can build to a view of half a year in less than a minute.

Like animals, plants need food and water.

But what sets them apart...

is their struggle for light.

Plants must have light in order to grow...

and will do anything to get as much as they need.

The forest might appear to be the perfect place for plants to thrive.

Yet down here, on the forest floor, is one

of the hardest places for plants to thrive.

One of the hardest places imaginable...

for a young plant to begin its life.

The canopy above is so thick... that only a little sunlight can filter through.

For this sapling, too little light means death.

But plants on the forest floor need not be passive.

If the light won't come to them...

they can go to the light.

But they still have a problem.

The light is 50 metres above them.

So they must climb.

It's much easier to use another plant as scaffolding.

But they won't get very high...

unless they can hold on tight.

Like fingertips searching for a hold... this ivy's adhesive pads grip the bark.

Instead of sticking to the trees... some climbers use sharp claws.

The cat's claw creeper hooks its tendrils...

into the tiniest crevices and hauls itself to the top.

With every metre it climbs... the light gets a little stronger...

fuelling more growth.

This tendril of a passionflower...

seems to flail aimlessly in mid-air...

but in fact it's searching for an anchor point.

Its tendril coils on itself... pulling the plant towards its support.

In a matter of just days...

these climbers make it to the canopy.

Now, with light in plentiful supply...

these plants are able to flower.

Other plants have a different strategy...

to find the light they need in the crowded forest.

These are air plants.

They grow on the upper branches of tall trees...

and spend their whole lives basking in the light.

But growing 50 metres above the ground...

does have its drawbacks.

Most plants get water and nutrients...

through their roots in the ground.

For an air plant... with their roots planted

in the treetops... this isn't an option.

But they have a solution.

First, the bare roots... have an extraordinary ability...

to soak up water like blotting paper.

The slightest rain or mist... and they absorb every drop.

They also have a way of gathering nutrients.

Their roots trap falling leaves... which eventually rot and provide the plants...

with their own personal supply of compost.

20,000 different plants... orchids, bromeliads and ferns...

have taken up this remarkable lifestyle.

For a plant to thrive...

it must not only get enough nutrients...

but also the right balance of nutrients.

The soil in this waterlogged bog... is very poor quality, lacking in nitrogen.

But these strange plants...

have an ingenious strategy.

Their leaves are covered in tentacles... tipped with droplets...

of what appears to be morning dew.

These droplets give the plant its name... the sundew.

They're sweet-smelling... and attractive to many insects.

But they're also extremely sticky.

Mosquitoes emerge in huge numbers... from the boggy water...

and the sundews are ready.

The sundew's tentacles... are living flypaper.

Struggling only makes matters worse.

With each contact... the plant tightens its grip.

As more and more tentacles... envelop the prey...

the droplets spread across its body.

Eventually, the insect is smothered... and drowns in sticky fluid.

Digestive enzymes break down the body... into a nitrogen ring... a rich meal...

which is absorbed by the plant.

Without animal tissues...

this plant would not survive.

But there's another carnivorous plant... that's an even more sophisticated predator.

The Venus flytrap.

Like the sundew... it makes itself very attractive...

oozing nectar across the brim... of each leaf.

But any visiting insect... had better watch out...

for these six tiny hairs.

This fly... has to tread carefully.

If it strikes one hair...

it can carry on feeding.

But a timer has been set.

A second strike in less than 20 seconds... and the fly is doomed.

An electrical impulse is triggered... and the leaf snaps shut...

in just a fraction of a second.

The tips lock together... like prison bars.

If the fly is very big or very small... it may just manage to escape.

But most are trapped.

Ten days later... the trap reopens.

All that remains... is a husk.

The plant has finished its meal...

and resets itself...

for its next victim.

But there is one time of year...

when the Venus flytrap needs... some of the visiting insects... to live.

It needs their help... to be pollinated.

It sends up flowers...

on tall stems... well away from the danger... of the traps below.

Here... insects can feed safely... on nectar.

In return... they provide a vital service...

carrying pollen from flower to flower.

But the truce...

is only temporary.

When pollination is over... it's back to business... as usual.

80% of plant species on Earth... have flowers.

Flowers have just one role... to enable the plant...

to produce offspring.

Colour, perfume... nectar... and shape... all act to make a flower...

irresistible.

Sunflowers grow... to face the rising sun.

The warmth of the rays... speeds the production of nectar...

and this lures pollinators.

One after another... hundreds of individual florets...

produce pollen-covered stamens.

And like most flowers... sunflowers...

establish a close relationship... with animals... in order to ensure...

their reproduction.

As these bees busily feed on nectar... they unwittingly brush against the stamens...

collecting pollen... and then carry it... from flower to flower.

The sunflower... is fertilised.

In the sun-drenched fields... of southern France...

the flowering season is a long one.

But not all plants... have this luxury.

Cradle Mountain in Tasmania...

is blasted... by bitter Antarctic winds.

To reproduce...

the richer honeybush... must flower.

But the delicate parts... of the flowers risk being damaged... by the cold.

The plant...

appears to have... an ingenious solution.

The flower petals... fuse together...

forming an insulated protective case... around its stamens.

However, this creates another problem.

The flower case... is so well sealed... that unfortunately...

it also keeps out pollinating insects.

During... brief sunny spells...

the flowers warm up... and suddenly... start producing nectar.

This attracts a bird... the black currawong.

It has the strength... to rip open... the flower's outer casing...

and gets its reward of nectar.

At the same time... it exposes the delicate stamens... to waiting insects.

With luck... there's enough time for pollination... before the biting wind...

kills the flowers.

For some plants... the relationship... with their pollinators...

is not collaborative...

it's war.

Butterflies... and in such numbers... would seem to be perfect pollinators...

for any flower.

The sandhill milkweed... blooms every

spring... in the sandy meadows... of Florida.

It times its flowering...

perfectly to match the arrival... of monarch butterflies...

migrating here from Mexico.

The monarchs... search out milkweed plants...

but they have something other than...

pollination on their minds.

Rather than collect pollen...

this female lays her eggs... on the milkweed leaf.

This is the only plant... the caterpillars can eat.

But the milkweed... has a defence mechanism.

As the caterpillar bites... into a vein... a kind of latex... swells out...

engulfing it.

If the caterpillar... isn't quick... it will drown.

Or find its jaws... glued together.

But the caterpillars... don't.

The plant's defence... is so effective... that only one third...

of the monarch caterpillars... make it through the first day.

But the caterpillars... that survive... grow in size and strength.

And they go...

for the jugular.

By carefully chewing... through the main vein...

the caterpillar drains the leaf of latex... and cuts off its supply.

The milkweed's leaf... is now defenceless.

And the caterpillar... eats in safety... before preparing to pupate...

into a butterfly.

But after about ten days... it becomes clear... why the plant has endured...

this onslaught.

A newly hatched monarch... simply can't resist... the nectar-filled cups...

of the milkweed flowers.

As it moves... across the flower heads... its feet slide...

between grooves in the petals... where the flower's pollen sacs... are waiting.

As it flies off...

the monarch's feet... hook out the pollen... and carry it to the next flower.

And pollination is achieved.

Although the milkweed... has paid a heavy price... in the end it used the monarch...

to get its way.

Here in Dominica...

there's a plant... that is so manipulative...

that it has enslaved... its pollinator.

The bright red structures... of the Heliconia...

are actually modified leaves.

These...

are its flowers.

They may be small...

but they play a very important role...

keeping nectar well guarded... at the very bottom of their long stems.

The purple-throated... Carib hummingbird... with its long, curved beak...

is the only bird capable of reaching... this energy-rich food.

But cleverly...

the Heliconia rations... the amount of nectar it produces...

to force the hummingbird...

into returning to the flower... time and time again.

Every time it makes a visit... it picks up more pollen... on its beak and feathers.

The hummingbird... is like an addict.

Not only does it never stray... but it will aggressively defend...

the flowers from thieves.

The plant... is the master... in this relationship.

To ensure... it gets pollinated...

Heliconia has made the hummingbird... its prisoner.

The plant's problems don't end... once it's been pollinated.

Plants need... to spread their seeds... as far away as possible...

otherwise the adults... will be in direct competition... with their offspring.

Here in South Africa... one flower achieves this...

by performing a remarkable trick.

The plant waits... dormant underground... for more than a year.

The first heavy rains... for many months... are the trigger...

the plant has been waiting for.

Bronze vigia... burst into flower.

Their timing is perfect.

These conditions... are ideal for insects too.

The flowers enjoy... a few days of frenzied... pollination.

But it's not long... before the searing heat... returns.

The flowers start to wilt... shrivel... and die.

Bronze vigia now needs... to disperse its seeds widely.

Yet the flowers still have... their seeds trapped inside.

But the flower... isn't finished yet.

There are strong winds... that blow across this landscape.

They snap the dry dead stalks... sending each and every plant...

cartwheeling across the ground... casting seeds as it goes.

With the heat... threatening to dry them out... the seed's germination...

has to be immediate.

Deep in the forests of Borneo... some plants also use the wind...

to disperse their seeds.

But in a completely different way... by giving their seeds... wings.

Some are helicopters... that twist and turn... their way down to the ground.

But there is one... that has a design...

that enables it to travel greater distances... than all the others.

This is Alsomitra.

Its football size...

pod is packed... full of hundreds... of extraordinary seeds.

Each is an almost... aerodynamically perfect glider... that can be supported...

by even the slightest breeze.

Its paper-thin... upswept wings... allow it to travel... hundreds of meters...

through the forest.

Once the seed hits the ground... the wings rot away...

and starts to germinate.

A new Alsomitra vine... starts to grow up... towards the canopy...

and into the light... well away from its parent.

There are other ways... to disperse seeds...

and plants have evolved... different tactics... depending on where they live.

In the desert of Arizona... lives a master...

called a cactus.

In the cool of the night...

the cacti open... their radiant flowers.

They are soon visited...

by nectar-feeding bats.

And as the bats move... from cactus to cactus...

they pollinate them.

Each flower... only lasts a night.

But over three weeks... each cactus will produce... more than 200 flowers.

Every pollinated flower... immediately begins... to form a fruit at its base...

packed with thousands of seeds.

The mature saguaro cacti...

are superbly adapted... to survive out in the intense heat...

of the Sonoran desert.

But their seeds are delicate...

and must find shade... or they will scorch to death... before they germinate.

The seeds are covered... with succulent sweet flesh...

a meal that all sorts of desert creatures... find irresistible.

White-winged doves... are among the first... to reach the ripening fruit.

The seeds survive... in the birds' stomachs...

and will be carried many miles... before being deposited... in their droppings...

their own little packet of fertiliser.

But the cactus... doesn't just rely on birds.

Fallen fruit... provides a bonanza... for creatures on the ground.

Foraging ants... quickly gather seeds... and flesh.

That's if a tortoise...

doesn't get there first.

The greater range of animals... the cactus can get to eat its fruit...

the more likely the seeds within... will be carried to the perfect place...

to germinate.

The ants carry the seeds... underground into their nests... often excavated...

among the roots of trees.

The tortoise too... will head for shade.

It spends much of its day... cooling off under trees...

where it's sure to leave... undigested seeds in its dung.

Now the seeds wait...

for the rains to come.

Of the 14 million or so seeds... a cactus produces in its lifetime...

the chances are that only one... will develop into a plant...

that outlives its parent.

If it was lucky enough... to find shade...

a seed will still take 10 years... to become a 5cm tall cactus.

To reach the size of its parents...

10 meters... will take at least 100 years.

Plants can survive... in the most

unlikely... and inhospitable places on earth.

Here on Socotra... a remote island... in

the Arabian Sea... the dry season is brutal.

But this... strange tree... has a strategy to survive it.

The dragon's blood tree.

The key...

to their success...

lies in their bizarre shape.

They live on the mountain tops... where there's little soil...

but there are critical... compensations.

Occasional morning mists...

sweep across the high ground.

The mist... condenses on the skyward pointing... waxy leaves.

The droplets... run down to the center... of the trunk... and down to its roots.

Water is so precious...

that the tree...

cannot afford to waste any.

Drops that do escape... and fall to the ground...

are not totally lost.

The tree's huge... densely packed crown...

acts as a parasol.

It shades the ground... so effectively... it allows time for the water...

to seep into the sand.

And it also shades... the network of roots... that lie just under the surface.

Another plant... shares this parched desert...

and survives... in a very different way.

The desert rose.

In really harsh conditions...

it jettisons its leaves...

to minimize water loss.

Strangely...

it chooses this time... to flower.

Its bulbous trunk... is like a barrel...

that stores water all year round.

It's so hardy...

it can grow out of bare rock.

It might seem... that conditions can't get much tougher... for the plant... than here.

But for some...

the conditions are even harsher.

Six hours ago... here on the coast of Australia... this tree was high and dry...

on a sandy beach.

For almost all plants... salt water is lethal.

So submersion of this tree's roots... by the tide twice a day... should kill it.

Yet this red mangrove... is flourishing.

The retreating tide... reveals the key... to surviving the sea's assault.

The mangrove's roots... are covered... in warty growths.

The growths... surround pores... that take in oxygen from the air...

when the roots are above water.

But the pores... become useful... in a quite different way...

when they're submerged again.

They allow water... into the plant...

but filter out 99% of the salt... as it passes through.

Any salt that gets in... is pumped into a few... sacrificial leaves...

that turn yellow... and are discarded.

Plants can not only cope...

with being poisoned... parched and scorched...

but they can also survive... being frozen.

In the world's northern forests... the changing of the seasons...

creates its own challenges.

As summer moves to autumn... plants prepare themselves...

for the toughest time of their year.

Broadleaf trees...

a colourful spectacle.

But for these plants... it's the beginning... of a series of urgent...

and drastic survival strategies...

to cope with the coming cold.

They begin... by pulling all the water and nutrients... within their leaves...

back into the trunk.

The last rays... of useful sunlight... are channelled into making...

a sugary antifreeze... that will protect... the body of the tree.

The green pigment... chlorophyll disappears...

leaving purples, reds, oranges... and yellows.

Finally, the leaves die...

and the trees discard them.

As temperatures drop...

below freezing...

the plants of broadleaf forests... settle down to hibernate...

until spring.

Pine trees... can survive... much colder conditions.

They have antifreeze... in the leaves themselves... that means that they can...

keep them all winter.

The needle-like leaves... also have a thick waxy coating...

that limits any water loss... through pores.

The winters here...

are long and hard.

The trees have to survive... temperatures of down to... minus 40 centigrade...

for five months.

But one pine tree... is capable of surviving... even harsher conditions.

These pines... live at the limit of life...

above 3,000 meters... in the mountains of Western America.

Almost continuous... freezing temperatures...

and savage winds...

make life so tough...

that these bristle cones...

only manage to grow...

for six weeks of the year.

Everything is about... conserving energy.

They hardly ever... shed their needles...

which can last more than 30 years.

After centuries... of being blasted by storms... a full-grown tree...

still survives... with only a strip of bark... a few inches wide.

These trees live life... at such a slow pace...

that they can reach great age.

Some are over 5,000 years old.

It's been said of the bristle cones...

that to live here... is to take a very long time to die.

As the northern spring approaches... the warming temperatures...

and increased day length... release the land from winter.

Plants that have... lay in dormant... begin to grow again.

These have overwintered... buried in the mud at the bottom... of this frozen lake.

The retreating ice... allows the water to warm...

and this white water lily... to flourish... for another season.

And as all the trees... come out of their winter rest...

the vivid green of new leaves... returns to the land.

From the frozen north... to the southern deserts... the spring bloom symbolizes...

the success of plants...

in surviving against the odds.

But the most successful type... of flowering plant...

is one that makes up 20%...

of all plant life on the planet.

Grass.

There are 10,000... different species.

Today they form the diet... of many thousands of different animals.

And a few grasses... particularly rich in nutrients...

have developed a relationship... with one animal...

and together the two...

Ten thousand years ago... we humans started to cultivate rice...

in order to harvest... its food-rich seeds.

Now half of the world's population... depends on it.

But there is one other grass...

that has spread even further... across the planet...

due to its relationship with humans.

Wheat.

It underpinned the development...

of western civilization.

Today it covers more of the land... than any other kind of plant.

Plants have been residents on land... longer than animals...

and have had nearly half a billion years... to evolve.

During that time they've diversified... into countless forms...

and have colonized every habitat.

This is the first time... As well as collaborating with animals...

plants are sometimes their masters... exploiting them to their own advantage.

Plants capture energy from the sun... and all life on land...

directly or indirectly... depends on them.

So ultimately... plants fuel the diversity... of life on earth.

To see the behaviour of plants... as they struggle to survive...

presented a unique challenge.

The plants team... had to employ many techniques... including time-lapse...

and high-speed photography.

They filmed in jungles... deserts, swamps and plains...

but they also spent many hours... shooting in a converted barn...

just outside Exeter.

Plants are the only animals...

that can survive... under the watchful eye... of green-fingered cameraman...

Tim Sheppard.

Filming plants in time-lapse... takes so long and is so susceptible...

to changes in light levels... and weather conditions... that some key sequences...

had to be filmed in this studio.

In time-lapse...

a camera takes a series of pictures... over an extended period of time...

so when played back... the action appears speeded up.

These sunflowers actually take... three days to open... but are seen opening...

in a matter of seconds.

The most complex time-lapse... the team attempted...

showed an entire growing season... in an English woodland... in one continuous shot.

A shot that took two years to create.

As the producer... Neil Lucas... leads Tim and Mick Conair... the graphic designer...

out to the location... he explains his idea.

Well this is the one that I thought.

That's a lovely rock.

Which is just here.

I think that would be great... to have the brambles growing a lot.

It will be a tracking shot... through the wood... with plants growing...

flowers blooming...

and the woodland coming to life... over the course of a year.

We're condensing that one year... down into less than a minute.

We're going to have to have them all... coming out at the same time.

And that's going to be... multiple passes isn't it?

How long does a foxglove take to grow?

Well if we start with the...

just before the buds are about to open.

You've got the whole long spike... from top to bottom.

That's probably about three weeks.

So even if you wanted to... you couldn't shoot the plants actually here.

Because I mean three weeks... the weather's going to change.

You've got the day-night... and also just leaving the equipment here running.

It's not feasible is it?

You just have to imagine the changes that would happen...

here in three weeks.

And if that was...

all joined together.

And one frame the plant might be there.

And you take a shot of it an hour later.

And if the wind's blowing it's over here somewhere.

And then you join those two shots together.

So what we've got to do is... not only have we got to produce a move...

that is exactly the same.

A repeatable move.

A track that can be built exactly the same again...

in a studio.

Build exact models of every object in here.

So we can put plants in the right places.

And then time everything so they grow...

just as the camera happens to be pointing at them.

Yes.

The scale of the challenge is dawning on them.

Months of planning lie ahead.

Oh wow.

Big black slug.

The following spring the team head back to the wood.

With no road access, manpower is the only way...

to get the tons of equipment into position.

Everyone's wondering how this will turn out.

Including the locals.

Then sick.

Just in case that guy gets in my garden.

It's got a nice edge.

Straight... Something like this.

I don't know.

No... No.

It's pulled this wheel round.

Two days of building...

Testing, levelling, test runs, and even a few minor disasters.

And finally, the track is ready to run.

OK, that's pretty close.

If you move your... Can you see that little bit of lichen?

Go to 8,900.

Accuracy is paramount.

Yeah, I mean, whatever we shoot in the studio,

it's got to match this landscape exactly.

So unless we know precisely where everything is relative to the camera,

there's no way of placing the plants in the studio in the right place.

So we have to measure the hell out of it.

Oh, bloody hell, it's spot on.

Look at that.

So, 250.

Shot by shot and step by step, the camera inches its way back up the 30-metre track.

Well, that's working.

This is only the background shot.

There is still a huge amount of other filming to be done.

The track has to be rebuilt exactly as it is on location back in the studio,

a task that would take weeks to get right.

Right

in front of the tree at the end of the rock.

Using the detailed measurements taken in the wood, the position, size and shape of

every structure has to be matched precisely.

30.

30 minus 30.

25, yeah.

The slightest discrepancy will put the team back to square one.

Chiquinoire and polystyrene form the rocks and trees of the woodland.

Blue screen is used to cover every inch of the set to

allow the original shot to be mapped on later in graphics.

Once built and with the plants placed in their exact locations, filming can start.

The stars of the show finally make an appearance.

Everything.

With each plant taking up to three weeks to flower,

there's only one chance of getting it right.

A year later, and thankfully, so far, all had gone to plan.

The final stage is to bring all the pieces together

seamlessly, a challenging task for any graphic designer.

We've got things overlapping that wouldn't necessarily grow at the same time,

but all the growth of each individual plant is absolutely accurate.

It's exactly what they would do.

We've just seen it in a short space of time.

That big rock in the foreground at the end of the shot that we wanted to try and get

stuff climbing along, well, that's worked really, really well.

This is the bramble pass here.

We had to measure it so carefully so we knew exactly where these things were,

how round they were, how deep they were from the camera.

And then when we take the blue out of that, you

can see that the plants start to sit in there.

So we just slotted them into the shot exactly where we wanted them to be,

things disappearing from behind the tree, crawling on the top of the rock.

That's fantastic.

So here they go.

And if I switch those off, you can see just how neatly they slot into the shot.

If we play it, you can see that everything's sticking in pretty well.

96 layers, 15 tracks, and two years later, the shot is finally complete.

A 60-second shot that proved to be one of the most

complex ever attempted in natural history filmmaking.