All About GOD - Growing Relationships with Jesus and Others
Mystery of God: carnivorous plants
Carnivorous plants are such a mystery of God; they are beautiful, cunning and great predators - shocking when you consider how the vast majority of them are delicate looking (or have beautiful, dainty flowers). I absolutely love these and cannot believe the sheer variety out there! If you have any photographs of carnivorous plants please do share them! Below are just a few of the photos I've taken over the last two years. I have misplaced a large quantity of my photographs so these ones will have to do while I look around for the others. There are at least twelve genera of carnivorous plants including:
Dionaea muscipula
The most widely known carnivorous plant, the Dionaea muscipula (or Venus fly trap), is a unique plant that lures insects to it and traps them by snapping its mouths shut and sealing the insect inside. These incredible creations time when to close their traps to stop false triggering through the use of hairs on the inside of the traps; if an insect triggers three hairs within around fifteen seconds, the trap closes, if not then that timer is "reset". It takes a great amount of energy for the traps to close and so they have been gifted this ability to seemingly reduce the chance of them wasting vital energy. There is only one species of Dionaea muscpiula, it is the only plant of its genus, but there are dozens of varieties ("clones" or "cultivars") on the market.
Pinguicula
The Pinguicula is my favourite genus of carnivorous plant. There are three groups: cold temperate, warm temperate and Mexican; the photograph is of a Pinguicula grandiflora, a cold temperate species native to the UK. These plants get their common name, butterwort, from the buttery-like mucus they exude on their leaves. This mucus attracts and traps insects and then digests them. Cold temperate species often die back in winter to a bud known as a hibernacula to protect themselves from frost, whereas most Mexican species have two growth states: carnivorous and succulent. Their carnivorous state means they can digest bugs whereas their succulent state is designed to protect them in the cold winter.
Heliamphora
The Heliamphora (or sun pitcher) is a carnivorous plant native to the tepuis (table-topped mountains) of Venezuela, Guyana and Brazil. They attract and catch insects that fall into their traps (known as pitchers) which are then digested by a combination of enzymes.
Utricularia
Utricularia are also known as bladderworts due to how they catch their prey; the roots of the plant are covered in tiny bladders that use a trapdoor system to suck prey inside. The leaves of this vastly varying plant are harmless and they have beautiful flowers that appear with gusto. It was hoped that the glass cube pictured above would allow me to observe the roots of my two Utricularia species (U. sandersonii and U. calycifida) but it would seem that the plants had other ideas! Due to how the sun heats the soil through the glass, the environment beneath the soil has proven to be ideal for the U. calycifida (which is from a warm, humid climate). There are three groups of Utricularia: terrestrial, aquatic and epiphytic.
Views: 796
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by feet breath on
-
How many different types are there?
-
-
Permalink Reply by Ricprimus on
-
Feet Trees:
According to the current taxonomic system based on morphology (*) there are overall, 630 species of more than a dozen genra in 5 orders plus 300 species of proto-carnivorous plants. (*)= Taxonomy has been in a state of flux and undergoing major changes since genetic mapping began in the last decade as opposed to the older morphological ("by shape") system, so this will soon be an obsolete list),
(2nd note: I see syntax errors for many of the families, example: "Droseraceae (sundew family)" In taxononomy, the ending "aceae" denotes superfamily rank, and ending of "idea" denotes family rank; such as for man, Homo sapiens belongs to the family Homonidae, which belongs to the superfamily Homoniacea. (Yes, I am very nitpicky.)
Dicots
Asterales (sunflower and daisy order)
Stylidiaceae
Stylidium (trigger plants, a borderline carnivore)
Caryophyllales, (carnation order)
Dioncophyllaceae
Triphyophyllum (a tropical liana)
Drosophyllaceae
Drosophyllum (Portuguese dewy pine)
Droseraceae (sundew family)
Aldrovanda (waterwheel plant)
Dionaea (Venus Flytrap)
Drosera (sundews)
Droserapollis
Droserapites
Droseridites
Fischeripollis
Palaeoaldrovanda
Saxonipollis
Nepenthaceae (tropical pitcher-plant family)
Nepenthes (tropical pitcher plants or monkey-cups, including Anurosperma)
Ericales (heather order)
Roridulaceae
Roridula (a borderline carnivore)
Sarraceniaceae (trumpet pitcher family)
Archaeamphora
Sarracenia (North American trumpet pitchers)
Darlingtonia (cobra plant/lily)
Heliamphora (sun or marsh pitchers)
Lamiales (mint order)
Byblidaceae
Byblis (rainbow plants)
Lentibulariaceae (bladderwort family)
Pinguicula (butterworts)
Genlisea (corkscrew plant)
Utricularia (bladderworts, including Polypompholyx, the fairy aprons or pink petticoats and Biovularia an obsolete genus)
Martyniaceae (all borderline carnivores, related to the sesame plant)
Ibicella
Oxalidales (wood sorrel order)
Cephalotus (Albany pitcher plant)
Monocots
Poales (grass order)
Bromeliaceae (bromeliad or pineapple family)
Brocchinia (a terrestrial bromeliad)
Catopsis (a borderline carnivore)
Eriocaulaceae (pipewort family)
Paepalanthus bromelioides (a borderline carnivore(More information than you wanted, but Rachel may find it interesting)
-
-
-
Wow,that's a lot!
-
- ‹ Previous
- 1
- 2
- Next ›
Welcome to
All About GOD
The Good News
Meet Face-to-Face & Collaborate
© 2024 Created by AllAboutGOD.com.
Powered by
