Our Newest Carnivorous collection is available!! These meat-eaters of the plant world have some unique and bizarre adaptations! It's easy to get the bug (pun intended) for these plants.
A recent fossil discovery pins down the date when many plants became carnivorous. It's estimated this ability to obtain Nitrogen from the bodies of decaying insects began between 8 and 72 million years ago. Today they have flourished into 583 species in 20 genera, 12 families and 5 orders of flowering plants.
Plants that Darwin called "insectivorous" have adapted to thrive in soils with low nitrogen content. These poor soil conditions can often be found in equatorial jungles, where high rainfall and acidic pH lock up nitrogen, making it unavailable to many plants.
It's not hard to imagine during the evolution of the Earth how these unusual plants became carnivores. More accurately, they became bug compost pits, luring prey into their traps. As their victims decompose, nitrogen produced as byproduct feeds the plant and assists in photosynthesis.
Carnivorous plants are, indeed, incredibly fascinating. Not only are they native to every continent except for Antarctica, but each species adapted its own unique mechanism for trapping and digesting prey.
A variety of these plants' adaptations enable them to entice, capture, and eat their prey. The majority of carnivorous plants are found in bogs and other wetland settings, which have low soil nutrient levels. In these situations, they can augment their nutrient intake by eating insects and other tiny animals.
Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula): This is one of the best-known carnivorous plants, featuring leaves that mimic an open mouth with "teeth." The delicate hairs on the leaves react when an insect lands on them, which causes the leaves to close and the plant's enzymes to break down the bug.
Nepenthes (Asian pitcher plants) : Most species of Nepenthes are climbers or epiphytes, and all live in moist tropical forests. Nepenthes plants are climbing vines with (usually) long and somewhat unremarkable sword-shaped leaves. At the tip of each leaf is a tendril that often has a little looping twist in it. This twist lets the plant hang onto surrounding vegetation for support. The tendril is tipped by a pitcher---the carnivorous pitfall trap.
Carnivorous plants use deception to lure their prey. The mottled patterns on Nepenthes pitchers resemble decaying flesh, attracting insects in search of an easy meal. Additionally, nectar glands scattered across the plant emit a sweet scent, further enticing insects towards the pitcher's mouth. However, the lip of the pitcher is slippery, causing insects that attempt to feed on the nectar to fall into the trap.
The interior walls of pitcher traps are covered in countless minuscule wax scales. These scales detach easily upon contact, causing insects that try to grip them to lose their footing. The insects then slide further into the pitcher trap's slick interior. At the bottom of the trap, the insects drown in a pool of digestive enzymes and are broken down for nutrients. Unlike other carnivorous plants in the Nepenthales order, Nepenthes traps can be used multiple times and are capable of trapping numerous victims within the same pool of digestive fluid.
Although some organisms do live in the pitcher traps, the acidity of the secreted digestive fluid prevents most microbes, fungi, slime molds, protozoa, diatoms, worms, larvae, nematodes and other species from living in the fluid. Because of the long time required to digest the trapped insects, Nepenthes often competes with other organisms such as spiders and primates for food. Spiders may build webs above the fluid in order to take advantage of the plant's insect-attracting abilities, and thus rob the plant of its potential catches. Some primates engage in a similar activity of stealing insects that are found near the traps. In response, certain species of Nepenthes have evolved claws around the rim of their pitchers. These claws ward off predatory competition by making it unpleasant for any thief that might try to put an arm into the trap.
The butterwort, or Pinguicula is a type of carnivorous plant that catches and digests insects using its sticky leaves. Butterworts are great for catching fungus gnats. The leaves emit a faint smell that attracts insects to the glistening pools of digestive enzymes. They get stuck and the plant turns them into a digestive soup to sip. They can get the nutrients they need from their prey. However, if the plant does not catch enough insects because it is indoors, you can supplement it with small insects such as fruit flies. Be very careful with this and try to avoid damage to the plant.
The name butterwort comes from the Latin pinguis, meaning fat, referring to the fleshy leaves. The most common are Mexican butterworts with leaves up to 4 inches long and cute, violet-like, pinky-purple flowers. They make great houseplants. They like warm conditions all year round, but can go outside in summer. They can grow in full sun or shade, but do best somewhere in between. In full sun the leaves often turn brilliant pink, but watering can be an issue in strong light because the leaves scorch if splashed. Come winter, they ditch their sticky leaves for succulent ones, surviving with little or no water; the substrate just has to remain damp.
Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia): This plant attracts insects into a pool of digesting enzymes with its tube-shaped leaves that have a slick inner surface. Additionally, the inside of the leaf has hairs that point downward to stop insects from crawling out.
Different species of pitcher plants form unique mutualistic relationships that aid in their survival. For example, one species protects itself from foliage-damaging weevils by forming a relationship with a specific ant species. The ants retrieve large prey from the pitcher fluid and excrete nitrogen-rich waste, which accounts for 42 to 76% of the total nitrogen used by the pitcher plant. Another species attracts tree shrews by secreting rewards. The tree shrews defecate into the pitcher while marking their territory, and their deposits account for 57 to 100% of the nitrogen available to the plants.
South facing windows with full exposure would be this plant’s first choice. Keep this plant permanently wet all year round. You can water very heavily so the bottom third or even half of the pot stands in the excess water. The native home for these plants are bogs or marshes which are constantly damp and wet. Sarracenia tend to have a thirst and this combined with the hopefully sunny spot you'll grow it in will mean regular watering is a must.
Sundew (Drosera): The Sundew's leaves include clingy, glandular hairs that trap and consume insects. The insect's body is broken down by digestive enzymes that are released as the hairs curl around it.
If you have been thinking about growing carnivorous plants but don't know where to start, look no further than Drosera capensis. These plants are easy to grow, rewarding and will grow in a variety of conditions. They will thrive indoors in full sun, on a windowsill or under lights.
While the Venus flytrap puts on an action-packed show, snapping closed dramatically when it traps insects, the sundew employs more subtle tactics. It quietly produces sap that lures smaller insects in for a taste, and ensnares them more passively, and without as much display.
The sundew, unlike the more familiar Venus flytrap, has fewer endangered species. Sundew species are also distributed more widely, growing on nearly every continent. In the United States, they can be found in the wild almost everywhere except the arid southwest.
The dense rosette arrangement of leaves in many sundew species makes it nearly impossible for small insects, such as mosquitoes, to escape the sticky sap once they wander into the plants. Even if they manage to break free from the trichomes on one leaf, they are likely to become trapped in those of neighboring leaves. Sundews have been observed consuming a variety of insects, including gnats, aphids, and ants, with the size of prey limited by the size of the sundew species.
Thigmonasty is a process triggered by special cells within the leaves of certain plants that can sense an insect's struggle after it becomes stuck in the plant's sap. These cells emit electrical currents which cause the leaves to curl around the prey; depending on the species, this may take anywhere from a few seconds to several hours. If the plant is healthy, it will then secrete digestive enzymes to consume the insect; however, if the plant is unhealthy, this process may not occur and the leaves may not curl.
It typically takes a few days to more than a week for these enzymes to fully digest an insect, and the plant can process more than one insect at a time. However, the amount of energy that it requires to generate movement is substantial, and overfeeding may lead to leaf die-off.
So what are you waiting for? Come find the right carnivorous plant for you at either our Lawrenceville or Ewing locations–we’re open all winter, so you can escape the cold and grow your indoor garden!
To learn from Ike about our carnivorous plants, check out our Lawrenceville greenhouse tour video!
Comentarios