How The Bladderwort Amp Drosera Catches Its Victims From A South African Perspective

Writen by Andrew Smit

Bladderwort

Early in the summer pretty little bunches of golden-yellow flowers about a centimetre across appear floating on the water of ponds and ditches. This is the Bladderwort, or Utricularia, a plant that keeps most of its body under water and looks very innocent. However underneath its leaves the Utricularia has lots of little bladders which turn into deadly traps should any unwary insect go too near them.

These bladders have a small opening surrounded by short hairs. When an insect explores the opening the plant swallows the insect and closes the opening with a special lid. The plant then digests the captured animal through millions of microscopic tubes in its tissue.

The plant grows all over the world, on land as well as on the water, but the bulk of the species are found in tropical regions and only about four occur in Europe.

Drosera

Droseros is the Greek word for 'dewy' and is the first thing that one notices about the Drosera, or sundew plant, is the sticky stem covered in soft, downy hair and scattered with glistening little bubbles that look like dewdrops. When insects see these 'dew drops' they land on the plant for a drink. As soon as they touch the stem, the insects become stuck and the plants downy hair curl around them like tentacles. The Drosera produces a liquid which breaks down the insect into food which the plant then absorbs.

The Drosera is , therefore a carnivorous plant. It grows wild in damp places in Europe and North America and is about 20cm high. One variety which occurs in Australia and South Africa reaches a height of one metre

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