Note From “The Hoe.” Insect-Eating Plants

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 94, 15 January 1935, Page 7

Note From “The Hoe.” Insect-Eating Plants

Few indeed are the members of the plant kingdom which do not provide food for man, beast or insect. There are, however, a few plant families which have turned the tables on the insect fraternity, the most notable of which are the pitcher plants. They have derived their name from the fact that the leaves are shaped somewhat like pitchers, each of which has a lid. Attracted by the promise of sweet-smelling nuectar, insects alight on the lid and enter through the lip. which is so constructed that once an insect passes through it, escape becomes impossible. The inner surface of the pitcher exudes a fluid which digests and assimilates its captives. An interesting link between the lower animal and higher plant orders was discovered by scientists on analysing this digestive fluid. They found that it is an many respects almost’ identical with that of an animal's stomach. When the accumulation of digested insects in the pitcher becomes sufficiently liquified, it passes to the roots of the plant, providing rich food when most needed by the plant.