Thursday 28 November 2013

Extreme Plant

The leaf of Darlingtonia is unique: it is tubular, and contains a fluid that digests trapped insects. The upper part of the leaf, is modified for the trapping function. The end of the leaf is hooded. There is a circular opening through which insects can fly into the hood. If you look closely you can see the opening in. So why would they do so? One reason: on the two flag-like structures, there are glands that secrete sugary nectar, such as flies and other insects like to feed on. There are more nectar glands inside the hood, so an insect tends to progress right into the hood.

1 comment:

  1. Oh dear, poor fly. Isn't that amazing that plants have evolved ways to trap and digest insects. Are they using the fly for "food"? Why would they need to if they are photosynthetic?

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