Carnivorous Plants - Magnolia grandiFLORA

Carnivorous Plants
What is a carnivorous plant?
• Most carnivorous plants are autotrophic
(photosynthetic) but live in nutrient-poor
habitats
• They get extra nutrients, especially nitrogen
and phosphorus, from capturing and
digesting small animals
• The leaves of carnivorous plants are
adapted for capturing animals
Leaves of carnivorous plants can be sticky, as in sundews (above
left), pitchers (above right), or snap traps, such as Venus fly trap
Mississippi is home to four types of carnivorous
plants:
•
•
•
•
Sundews
Butterworts
Pitcher plants
Bladderworts
© Project Magnolia grandiFLORA wwww.mississippiplants.org
Key to Symbols
HABIT
Herb
Simple
<5 cm long
Small
Tree/Shrub
LEAVES
Compound
<5 cm long
Large
Tree
Simple
>5 cm long
Compound
>5 cm long
FLOWERS
<1 cm
1-5 cm
>5 cm
Distribution maps for species are based on the
PLANTS Database, USDA, NRCS. 2014.
(http://plants.usda.gov) National Plant Data
Team, Greensboro, NC.
Photo Credits: M. Alford, M. Huneycutt, H.
Sullivan, L. Wallace
Sundews
Drosera spp.
Identifying Features
•
Sticky green leaves
•
The most diverse group of carnivorous
plants in North America
•
5 species in Mississippi
•
Grow in bogs of the Longleaf Pine
Ecosystem
A
B
C
A: Drosera brevifolia
flower; B: leaves; C: closeup of leaves showing
sticky hairs
Present
Absent
© Project Magnolia grandiFLORA wwww.mississippiplants.org
Questions
Grades K-2:
1. What does this plant use its leaves for?
2. How does this plant trap insects?
Grades 3-5:
1. What does this plant get from the insects it
traps in its leaves?
2. How are pollinators different from the
insects it traps in its leaves?
Grades 6-8:
1. What are the basic things this plant needs
to live and reproduce? How does it get
each of these?
2. What place in the food web would this
plant be?
Grades 9-12:
1. Carnivory has evolved independently in
different groups of angiosperms. Explain
the selective pressures necessary for
carnivory to evolve in plants.
2. What nutrients are derived from the insects
that are digested by this plant versus those
obtained through the root system?
© Project Magnolia grandiFLORA www.mississippiplants.org
Butterworts
Pinguicula spp.
Identifying Features
•
Sticky leaves
•
Unlike sundews, the leaves of butterworts
lie flat on the ground
•
4 species in Mississippi
•
Grow in bogs of the Longleaf Pine
Ecosystem
A
B
A: leaves; B: flower
Present
Absent
© Project Magnolia grandiFLORA wwww.mississippiplants.org
Questions
Grades K-2:
1. What does this plant use its leaves for?
2. How does this plant trap insects?
Grades 3-5:
1. What does this plant get from the insects it
traps in its leaves?
2. How are pollinators different from the
insects it traps in its leaves?
Grades 6-8:
1. What are the basic things this plant needs
to live and reproduce? How does it get
each of these?
2. What place in the food web would this
plant be?
Grades 9-12:
1. Carnivory has evolved independently in
different groups of angiosperms. Explain
the selective pressures necessary for
carnivory to evolve in plants.
2. What nutrients are derived from the insects
that are digested by this plant versus those
obtained through the root system?
© Project Magnolia grandiFLORA www.mississippiplants.org
Pitcher Plants
Sarracenia spp.
Identifying Features
•
Leaves are like pitchers filling with
rainwater
•
Curious animals that come for a drink or
to investigate the pitchers fall in and are
digested by the plant
•
6 species in Mississippi
•
Grow in Longleaf Pine bogs
B
A
C
A: habit; B: looking down
into a pitcher; C: pitcher
Present
Absent
© Project Magnolia grandiFLORA wwww.mississippiplants.org
Questions
Grades K-2:
1. What does this plant use its leaves for?
2. How does this plant trap insects?
Grades 3-5:
1. What does this plant get from the insects it
traps in its leaves?
2. How are pollinators different from the
insects it traps in its leaves?
Grades 6-8:
1. What are the basic things this plant needs
to live and reproduce? How does it get
each of these?
2. What place in the food web would this
plant be?
Grades 9-12:
1. Carnivory has evolved independently in
different groups of angiosperms. Explain
the selective pressures necessary for
carnivory to evolve in plants.
2. What nutrients are derived from the insects
that are digested by this plant versus those
obtained through the root system?
© Project Magnolia grandiFLORA www.mississippiplants.org
Bladderworts
Utricularia spp.
Identifying Features
•
Leaves are inflated bladders that suck in
plankton
•
11 species in Mississippi
•
Grow in roadside ditches, ponds, and
other areas with standing water
A
A: U. inflata in its natural
habitat; B: detail of the
modified leaves
B
Present
Absent
© Project Magnolia grandiFLORA wwww.mississippiplants.org
Questions
Grades K-2:
1. What does this plant use its leaves for?
2. How does this plant trap insects?
Grades 3-5:
1. What does this plant get from the insects it
traps in its leaves?
2. How are pollinators different from the
insects it traps in its leaves?
Grades 6-8:
1. What are the basic things this plant needs
to live and reproduce? How does it get
each of these?
2. What place in the food web would this
plant be?
Grades 9-12:
1. Carnivory has evolved independently in
different groups of angiosperms. Explain
the selective pressures necessary for
carnivory to evolve in plants.
2. What nutrients are derived from the insects
that are digested by this plant versus those
obtained through the root system?
© Project Magnolia grandiFLORA www.mississippiplants.org