The strict definition requires that a plant must possess morphological adaptations that attract prey through scent or visual cues, capture and retain prey (e.g., the waxy scales of Brocchinia reducta or downward facing hairs of Heliamphora prevent escape), digest the dead prey through enzymes produced by the plant, and absorb the products of digestion through specialized structures. (wikipedia.org)
By this definition, many sun pitcher plants (Heliamphora) and the cobra lily (Darlingtonia californica) would not be included on a roster of carnivorous plants because they rely on symbiotic bacteria and other organisms to produce the necessary proteolytic enzymes. (wikipedia.org)
The broader definition differs mainly in including plants that do not produce their own digestive enzymes but rely on internal food webs or microbes to digest prey, such as Darlingtonia and some species of Heliamphora. (wikipedia.org)
The pitchers of Heliamphora chimantensis are an example of pitfall traps. (cloudfront.net)
The simplest pitcher plants are probably those of Heliamphora , the marsh pitcher plant . (cloudfront.net)
Carnivorous plants9
The morphological adaptations such as sticky trichomes or pitfall traps of protocarnivorous plants parallel the trap structures of confirmed carnivorous plants. (wikipedia.org)
Donald Schnell, author of the book Carnivorous Plants of the United States and Canada, prefers the term "paracarnivorous" for a less rigid definition of carnivory that can include many of the possible carnivorous plants. (wikipedia.org)
Many examples of protocarnivorous plants exist, some of which are counted among the ranks of true carnivorous plants as a matter of historical preference. (wikipedia.org)
In one of the earlier publications on carnivorous plants, Charles Darwin had suggested many plants that have developed adhesive glands, such as Erica tetralix, Mirabilis longifolia, Pelargonium zonale, Primula sinesis, and Saxifraga umbrosa, may indeed be carnivorous but little research has been done on them. (wikipedia.org)
Adding to the small but growing list, Francis Lloyd provided his own list of species suspected of carnivory in his 1942 book on carnivorous plants, though these species and their potential were only mentioned in the introduction. (wikipedia.org)
Simons was surprised to find these articles lacking in the literature cited sections of many modern books and articles on carnivorous plants, suggesting that academic research has treated Lloyd's 1942 book as the authoritative and comprehensive source on pre-1942 research on the carnivorous syndrome. (wikipedia.org)
One prevailing idea is that carnivory in plants is not a black and white duality, but rather a spectrum from strict non-carnivorous photoautotrophs (a rose, for example) to fully carnivorous plants with active trapping mechanisms like those of Dionaea or Aldrovanda. (wikipedia.org)
Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans , typically insects and other arthropods , and occasionally small mammals and birds . (cloudfront.net)
Five basic trapping mechanisms are found in carnivorous plants. (cloudfront.net)
Dionaea2
Historical observations of the carnivorous syndrome in plant species have been restricted to the more obvious examples of carnivory, such as the active trapping mechanisms of Drosera (the sundews) and Dionaea (Venus flytrap), though authors have often noted speculation about other species that may not be so obviously carnivorous. (wikipedia.org)
[13] [14] Venus flytrap ( Dionaea muscipula ), pitcher plant ( Cephalotus follicularis ), and bladderwort ( Utricularia gibba ) can be seen as exemplars of key traits genetically associated with carnivory: trap leaf development, prey digestion, and nutrient absorption. (cloudfront.net)
Carnivory2
Some authors prefer the term "protocarnivorous" because it implies that these plants are on the evolutionary path to true carnivory, whereas others oppose the term for the same reason. (wikipedia.org)
[5] In 1875, Charles Darwin published Insectivorous Plants , the first treatise to recognize the significance of carnivory in plants, describing years of painstaking research. (cloudfront.net)
Digestive enzymes2
Pitfall traps ( pitcher plants ) trap prey in a rolled leaf that contains a pool of digestive enzymes or bacteria . (cloudfront.net)
Once within the pitcher structure, digestive enzymes or mutualistic species break down the prey into an absorbable form for the plant. (cloudfront.net)
Pitfall2
[13] Because these families do not share a common ancestor who also had pitfall trap morphology, carnivorous pitchers are an example of convergent evolution . (cloudfront.net)
A passive trap, pitfall traps attract prey with nectar bribes secreted by the peristome and bright flower-like anthocyanin patterning within the pitcher. (cloudfront.net)
Protocarnivorous plant2
A protocarnivorous plant (sometimes also paracarnivorous, subcarnivorous, or borderline carnivore), according to some definitions, traps and kills insects or other animals but lacks the ability to either directly digest or absorb nutrients from its prey like a carnivorous plant. (wikipedia.org)
[15] Additionally, over 300 protocarnivorous plant species in several genera show some but not all of these characteristics. (cloudfront.net)
1984), required a plant to exhibit an adaptation of some trait specifically for the attraction, capture, or digestion of prey while gaining a fitness advantage through the absorption of nutrients derived from said prey. (wikipedia.org)
that is, the plant must display some increase in fitness because of the nutrients obtained from its carnivorous adaptations. (wikipedia.org)
Definition1
Further research into these plants' carnivorous adaptations may reveal that a few protocarnivorous plants do meet the more rigid definition of a carnivorous plant. (wikipedia.org)
Prey1
For example, Triphyophyllum is a passive flypaper that secretes mucilage, but whose leaves do not grow or move in response to prey capture. (cloudfront.net)