When I signed up for the 2014 Wildflower Pilgrimage to the
Okefenokee Swamp, I did it partly because I was interested in seeing pitcherplants, a type of carnivorous plant. I did not expect to see so many
other types – including plants with cute names like butterworts, bladderworts,
and sundews.
 |
| Do I look carnivorous? (Pinguicula lutea) |
This is part 3 of my trip with the Georgia Botanical Society
in late March 2014. You can read about
part 1 and
part 2 by clicking on the hot
links.
Here is a bit of general information on carnivorous
plants that I learned. First, the nutrition these plants get from insects is
only part of their intake of nutrients. Second, these plants tend to grow in
nutrient-poor soils that don’t provide enough nitrogen (such as in boggy places
like swamps). Third, insects are trapped or gathered through the use of
modified leaves, not with their flower.
 |
| Drosera capillaris with flower stalk emerging |
Tiny, sparkling red sundews (
Drosera capillaris) grow on roadsides near the swamp. We saw them
on several roadside field trips, nickel- to quarter-sized plants tucked in
between other low-growing vegetation. We unwittingly tromped all over them in
search of more showy flowering plants, but once we discovered them we were thoroughly
charmed.
 |
| Snagged a bug? |
In the types of carnivorous plants, sundews are known as
“sticky flypaper” plants. The leaves contain both nectar and adhesive compounds
to attract and retain prey. Digestive enzymes are there as well to process the
catch. These plants do flower as well but we were too early for that.
We saw three kinds of butterwort on our roadside trips: the
yellow butterwort (
Pinguicula lutea)
, the blue one (
P. caerulea), and the
dwarf one (
P. pumila).
 |
| Pinguicula caerulea |
The
butterworts were all in flower and I did not realize at first that they were a
type of carnivorous plant. The flowers were held high above the sticky leaves
that formed a rosette on the ground.
 |
| Pinguicula foliage |
As another type of sticky flypaper plant, the leaves are
poised to capture small insects via tiny hairs which are covered
in sticky
mucilage. Once prey is caught, the leaf edge rolls inward to complete
the process but never completely closes.
 |
| The terrestrial Utricularia subulata |
We found bladderworts (a type of bladder trap) both on land and in the water. The
tiny yellow
Utricularia subulata was
on the wet roadsides.
I can only imagine
the tiny bugs that must be snagged by its bladder-like traps when the soil is
saturated. I expect we would need a microscope to see them.
The aquatic bladderworts like
Utricularia inflata were in the swamp and in the ditches, their
bright yellow flowers like a flag on a ship (or at least on a bobbing life raft).
The wheel-like arrangement of this bladderwort show some of the tiny bladder
structures but there are more below. The bladders have tiny hairs attached to
them that small creatures bump into.
According to botany.org, “When they are
stimulated, these hairs cause the flattened bladder to suddenly inflate,
sucking in water and the passing animal and closing a trap door after it.”
 |
| Utricularia inflata |
Finally we get to the pitcherplants (
Sarracenia sp.) a type of carnivorous plants known as "pitfall traps." On land, we saw a few plants that were not yet
flowering: parrot pitcherplant (
S. psittacina
) and hooded pitcherplant (
S. minor).
Once we got into the swamp on a canoe, we were able to see the flowering yellow
pitcherplant (
S. flava). The flowers
and tall pitchers were dramatically beautiful. The modified leaves that form
the pitcher contain a bit of nectar to attract insects and then an illuminated
funnel to trick the insect into thinking that going further into the funnel is
the way out.
 |
| Sarracenia flava |
Bottom line: plants are interesting. Like us, they have evolved over many years to adapt and thrive in the conditions that they have. Eating bugs to supplement their diet is just one of many ways. Cool stuff!
