By Daisy Reid
When pondering the relationship between plants and technology, the first thought for many will be of solar panels: a "biomimetic" engineering feat that imitates the process of photosynthesis in plants in order to convert the sun’s light into energy.
Others might think of Velcro, which was famously inspired by the way in which certain vegetal burrs attach themselves, with tiny hook-like structures, to the fur of passing animals (or to the fabrics of passing coat-wearing humans).