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Insectivorous Plants

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insectivorous plants: see bladderwort bladderwort , any plant of the genus Utricularia, insectivorous or carnivorous aquatic plants, many native to North America. Small animals are caught and digested in bladderlike organs of the finely divided submerged leaves.
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; pitcher plant pitcher plant, any of several insectivorous plants with leaves adapted for trapping insects. Each leaf forms a "pitcher," a somewhat trumpet-shaped enclosure, usually containing a liquid.
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; Venus's-flytrap Venus's-flytrap, insectivorous or carnivorous bog plant (Dionaea muscipula) native to the Carolina savannas and now widely cultivated as a novelty. The leaves, borne in a low rosette, resemble bear traps.
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Insectivorous Plants 

perennial herbaceous plants that trap insects (or, rarely, other small animals) and use them as a supplementary source of nourishment, primarily for nitrogen.

Insectivorous plants are found throughout the world. There are 500 species distributed in six different families, including Droseraceae, Lentibulariaceae, Nepenthaceae, Sarraceniaceae, and Cephalotaceae. In the USSR there are approximately 18 species, representing four genera distributed in the families Droseraceae (Drosera and Aldrovanda) and Lentibulariaceae (Utricularia and Pinguicula). Insectivorous plants grow in fresh-waters, marshy ponds, and swamps—that is, on soils with low nitrogen content. Nitrogen starvation is unavoidable in such circumstances, as are deficiencies in phosphorus, potash, and other substances.

The plants obtain supplementary minerals from insects, which they capture by means of specially modified leaves. The surfaces of such leaves have glands, which excrete digestive enzymes of the pepsin type and such organic acids as formic acid and benzoic acid. The enzymes break down the proteins in the bodies into simpler compounds, which are readily assimilated by the plants.

The root systems of terrestrial insectivorous plants are poorly developed; those of aquatic species have atrophied. Nevertheless, the plants are able to survive on substances obtained from the soil or the water. Supplementary nourishment from animal substances accelerates plant development and the transition to flowering and fruiting.

Some insectivorous species (sundews, butterworts, Drosophyllum) have leaves covered with numerous capitate glandular hairs that excrete a sticky transparent liquid to attract and snare insects. When an insect is caught, the plant’s gland secretion increases; the glandular hairs bend toward the insect (in sundews) or the edges of the entrapping leaf fold around the insect (butterworts). Other insectivorous plants have pitfall traps (Nepenthes, Sarracenia, Darlingtonia) or mechanical traps (Dionaea, Aldrovanda, Utricularia).

REFERENCES

Darwin, C. “Nasekomoiadnye rasteniia.” Soch., vol 7. Moscow-Leningrad, 1948.
Kholodnyi, N. G. “Charlz Darvin i sovremennye znaniia o nasekomoiadnykh rasteniiakh.” Soch., vol. 7. Moscow-Leningrad, 1948.
Went, F. Vmire rastenii. Moscow, 1972. Pages 149–50. (Translated from English.)

S. S. MORSHCHIKHINA



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On the coast of North Carolina, the Green Swamp region is the country's finest example of longleaf pine savannas with a diverse herb layer, many orchids and insectivorous plants.
COMPOST Insectivorous plants need a special compost consisting of clean, nutrient-free peat and chopped sphagnum moss.
No way to give clues to the identity of Butterwort,one of only two insectivorous plants hereabouts.
 
 
 
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