Two Carnivorous Plants

Location

• Carnivorous plants grow in locations such as rock outcroppings and acidic bogs where the soil is poor in nutrients. This is especially true for nitrogen, which is a chief nutrient requirement derived from insects and small amphibians by carnivorous plants. These food sources provide the nitrogen and other nutrients that plants require for optimum growth.

Features

• There are five basic mechanisms that carnivorous plants use to feed on prey. Pitfall trappers such as pitcher plants trap their prey in rolled leaves containing digestive bacteria or enzymes, allowing nutrients to be absorbed. Flypaper traps rely on sticky mucilage to prevent prey from escaping. Snap traps such as the Venus flytrap rely on rapid leaf movements to spring closed around unsuspecting prey. Bladder traps rely on internal vacuums to suck prey into a bladder. Lobster-pot traps lure prey into a digestive organ using hairs pointing inward. Traps are either active or passive in nature depending on how they trap and feed.

Active Trappers

• Active trappers respond with movement to prey capture. Sundews are an active flypaper trap, with leaves that undergo a rapid acid growth, allowing tentacles to bend, which aids in retaining and digesting captured prey. Snap traps such as the Venus flytrap and the waterwheel are active trap plants. Their traps feature two lobes which snap closed when trigger hairs are touched, so invertebrates and insects that travel across the open traps are quickly caught. Once the prey is digested, the trap reopens in anticipation for another meal. Each trap is viable for only a few traps, at which point it wilts, which is why healthy Venus flytraps have several open traps at any time.

Passive Trappers

• Passive trappers do not involve movement in how they capture prey. Triphyophyllum is a flypaper trap that secretes a mucilage to trap prey without moving or growing in any manner to respond to prey capture. Pitcher plants are passive trap plants, luring prey into the depths of rolled pitcher-shaped leaves, where digestive fluids or bacteria wait to digest the prey. These enzymes digest the nucleic acids and proteins in the prey, releasing phosphate ions and amino acids for the plant to absorb.