Carnivorous Plants

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Carnivorous Plants

Carnivorous plants grow in acid bogs where nitrogen compounds and other nutrients are leached away by water. To supplement their nutrition, these plants have structures that trap insects. The trap mechanism is formed from modified leaves containing nectar glands that give off substances that attract insects. The leaf hairs also are modified to aid in capturing prey. Once an insect is trapped, the leaves produce digestive enzymes. Insects provide the plant with nutrients such as protein, a good source of nitrogen. Once the insect has been trapped and digested, the nutrients are absorbed across the surfaces of the leaves. Like most other plants, carnivorous plants manufacture carbohydrates through photosynthesis. The roots of these plants are small and serve mainly to anchor the plant and absorb water.

Three different trap structures are utilized by different carnivorous plants. The Venus’s flytrap is an example of an active trap. This endangered carnivorous plant native only to North and South Carolina has colorful red-lined leaves that are hinged in the middle. When an insect lands and touches the sensitive hairs on the inner surface of the leaf, the leaf folds. Spines along the leaf’s edges interlock to keep the insect from escaping. Glands on the trap’s inner surface secrete enzymes that digest the insect’s soft parts. When the insect is digested, the leaf reopens, allowing the undigestable parts to blow away.

The largest of the carnivorous plants are the pitcher plants, which have pitfall traps. The leaves of these plants form a slender tube with a hood that prevents rain from entering. Nectar glands on the lip of the tube attract insects, which land on a slick area of the tube and fall into a pool of digestive juices at the bottom of the tube. Hairs inside the plant prevent the insect from crawling out.

The sundew is a flypaper trap. The attractive leaves of this plant are covered with hairs that secrete sticky droplets. The odor produced by this liquid lures insects to the plant. The insect then becomes entangled in the hairs of the leaf, where enzymes digest the soft parts of the insect.

Many of these plants grow in the marshes, swamps, and bogs of the southeastern United States. Many of these plants are becoming endangered or threatened species as wetlands are drained for commercial or residential development.

Venus flytrap Pitcher plant Sundew

1. What are three characteristics of all carnivorous plants?

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2. Why do carnivorous plants trap and digest insects?______

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3. List the three types of trap structures and give an example of a plant that uses each structure.

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4. What is the function of the roots of carnivorous plants? ______

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5. Where do carnivorous plants grow?

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6. How are carnivorous plants similar to other plants? How are they different?

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7. Another name for carnivorous plants is insectivorous plants. Why are these names both appropriate?

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8. Why are many carnivorous plants become endangered or threatened?

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