Often the unexpected discovery occurs.
Recently, when on an outing with my wife and her son, such a discovery occurred; the discovery of the perfect killing machine. What kind of machine would this be found in sub-tropical vegetation? Swamp-like land with standing water and alligators. But the alligators were not the killing machine of which I speak. Something more primitive and perhaps a more simplistic killing machine. And more stealthy.
Off the side of the path in a small area devoid of the shade of towering live oaks and underbrush they stand at attention like soldiers in a lime green army anchored to the earth.
The leaf is shaped like a Pilsner beer glass, their opening facing skyward for fourteen-plus inches and tapers to the earth. It's called a pitfall trap. (By definition a pitfall is an unexpected danger.) At the opening of approximately two inches in diameter the victim ( also known as a meal) sits on the rim of the pitcher plant. The small exoskeletal creature, a bug, a beetle, a fly, lured by the enticing environment, teeters on six legs before falling to its death, consumed by the plant. Does the plant gulp the insect down? Nope! It is more like a slurp…as the victim is dissolved by the, may I say, gastric juices.
The pitcher plant is one of the carnivourus plants of the coastal plains of South Carolina. And a very interesting plant it is. Like its fellow-killer in green,the venus-fly trap, it's unique to the plant kingdom. All plants eating animals share some traits in common. The insect is attracted by the material
inside the plant. It is a common ploy among carnivourus plants. On the pitcher plant the sloping sides of the inside of the plant don’t give the insect an opportunity to obtain any kind of traction. Therefore, the exoskeletal simply slides into the pool of toxin at the base.
Inquiring people want to know, “Why do they eat animals?” The answer is probably as old as life on earth. They do it because they are hungry! I know it is a bit strange to refer to a plant as hungry but… like all living things they need nourishment...food. However most plants get their nutrients from the soil in which they grow. Carnivorous plants can’t do that because the soil in which they grow does not supply all the nutrients they need for survival. But insects do! They provide the nutrients missing from the plant's diet.
The next time you see a carnivourus plant, remember it's not just being mean eating animals...it’s just hungry!
H-m-m...I wonder if there are vegan plants.
