The parts of a carnivorous plant

Plants, like any living organism, need food to live. A particular case is that of carnivorous plants that, in addition to using photosynthesis to survive, supplement their diet with other living organisms, in this case animals. Next, in this lesson from unPROFESOR.com we are going to study the parts of a carnivorous plant and its different types so that you know better what this surprising and fascinating plant species is like.

Index

1. Characteristics of a carnivorous plant
2. The parts of a carnivorous plant with an active trap
3. The parts of a carnivorous plant with a passive trap

As usual, carnivorous plants are characterized because attract, trap and digest to their prey. They usually feed on the liquid in which they drown their victims in the cavity formed by their own leaves. It is usually defined as carnivorous to that plant that is capable of assimilating nitrogenous substances thanks to enzymes or bacteria.

As we have pointed out, these plants also feed on soil and photosynthesis but to survive in poor lands in nutritive substances they have evolved to find new sources of food, subsisting where most plants do not take root.

In many cases, the traps are evolutions of their leaves that specialize for hunting. Its structural changes have been produced by emerging traps in the center of its leaves. In other species, deep fluid-filled cavities or jaw traps appear. Others secrete viscous substances.

Carnivorous plants generally they feed on insects, although they can also capture other types of prey, such as little animals aquatic animals, frogs, tadpoles and even mice, fish and birds. Those that trap insects also have flowers that in many cases are pollinated by those same insects. The evolution of these is such that they have specialized so as not to catch pollinating insects.

There are more than fifty species of carnivorous plants spread all over the planet. Next, we are going to study and differentiate two groups based on their main characteristics: with active traps and with passive traps.

Image: More types of things

We are going to analyze which are the parts of a carnivorous plant taking into account those species that have an active trap. You have to know that there are 3 different types:

1) Jaw traps or stocks

Highlights the dionea, and among its main parts its trap, which is a kind of trap. This plant acts in two phases: a first in which the long hairs or thorns located around the leaves fold, forming a cage; and a second, slower one, where the leaf closes completely. Therefore, it is necessary to highlight several areas in this mechanism:

• Thin spines that imprison the insect after closure.
• Six sensitive hairs, located in the center of the leaf, which direct the closure of the trap and give great mobility to the plant, closing in a thirtieth of a second thanks to an electrochemical phenomenon.
• Nectarean gland zone, that secrete digestive enzymes that act on the prey.
• Digestive areas, where the assimilating glands are.

2) Suction traps

We find them especially in utricularias, which are plants that usually grow in acidic waters and have small swollen bladders, which are traps. In these different parts are different:

• Outer hairs, that they are sensitive as soon as they touch an aquatic animal.
• Valve, that opens and sucks the water and the animal.
• Gallbladder, in which the internal pressure is lower than the external one, so when an animal touches a sensitive hair, the valve opens and the water is sucked in, taking it with it. It will be digested and the water will come out through the walls, due to the effect of osmosis.

3) Semi-active viscous traps

We can distinguish between these:

• Sundew. They are plants where the upper part of the leaf blade is covered by green or red hairs that end in a gland that releases a sticky fluid that traps insects. The blade of the leaf bends little by little and digestion begins.
• Greases or fleshy plants. The slimy glands are found on the surface of the leaves and when the insect is captured the leaf folds slightly to facilitate digestion. It has large, slimy, pin-shaped glands, which hold insects, and small, digestive glands, which digest the animal.

Image: The Herald

To know the parts of a carnivorous plant of those species that have a passive trap, you have to know that there are also 3 types:

1) Passive viscous traps

They are characterized by their slimy tentacles, although they do not move after the insect is captured. Highlights the Drosophyllum lusitanicum, whose high-gloss droplets attract insects, along with its intense honey smell, and the Byblis Uniflor.

2) Ascidian traps

There are two types:

• Conical ascidians. They have narrow cone-shaped leaves, sometimes up to 90 cm tall, with a colored opening and leaves that secrete nectar that attracts insects. These fall into the trap being trapped inside by the smooth walls and the existing rigid tentacles.
• Sea squirts in which insects drown. They have urn-shaped leaves, brightly colored edges, and glands that attract insects. His trap has three zones: one of attraction, with sweet secretions and bright colors; a slippery one, with hairs facing downward for insects to fall; and another digestive, with liquid where the insects are digested.

3) Traps in the shape of a pot

They exist mainly in plants of the genus Genlisa, They are provided with a spiral tube with a thicker area at its end, shaped like a jar.

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