Plants Avengers

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

There are too many eaters on Earth, destroying the fruits of plant life. These are people, herbivores, small rodents, fungi, bacteria and insects of all stripes. Plants decided to respond to their freeloaders and invented trap leaves for insects. So far only for insects

Venus flytrap

The Atlantic coast of the American state of North Carolina is characterized by many wetlands. Everyone knows that swamps breed clouds of mosquitoes, flies and other insects, and therefore a plant called “

Venus flytrap"Has chosen a very" lucrative "place of residence for herself. After all, the plant feeds on annoying insects.

The leaves of the Venus flytrap are more like the leaves of an oyster than the flat, familiar to the sight of leaves of plants swaying on their petioles under the gusts of wind. The valves are two oval leaf blades armed with sharp teeth along the edge.

In the center of the trap discs are harmless, but very sensitive, three bristles. As soon as an insect, admiring the beautiful green color of the shutters, touches the reddish belly of the trap and touches one or a pair of bristles twice in a row, the shutters instantly slam shut, leaving the victim no chance of salvation.

Interestingly, one touch of the bristles is not enough to trigger the trap. The smart plant freed itself of unnecessary work. Indeed, a grain of sand, a drop of water, which are not of interest as food, can fly into the leaf. They will touch the bristles once and freeze at the bottom. And only restless insects with their movements are able to disturb the rest of the bristles several times.

After a couple of weeks, having digested the caught insect, the leaf opens its arms for a new victim. Of course, the plant's revenge for its "brothers and sisters" has nothing to do with it. The reason is the lack, if not the complete absence, of nitrogen in the swampy soil. So the plant has adapted to make up for its deficiency by catching and digesting insects.

Zhiryanka

Perennial herb"

Zhiryanka ”- a resident of the marshy valleys of the Pyrenees and Alps, also extracts nitrogen from insects such as aphids and aphids that take care of aphids, which greatly annoy our gardeners. Take, yes, plant such a Zhiryanka in the garden and forget about the fight against annoying insects.

Her way of hunting is different from that of the Venus flytrap. The shiny leaves of the plant, as if generously greased by someone, have acquired glands that secrete a sticky substance that envelops the living creatures that have settled on the leaf. The insect's attempts to escape from the trap only exacerbate the situation. The leaf is rolled into a tube and, with the help of a special enzyme, slowly digests the victim.

Sundew

For this insectivorous plant, you do not need to go to distant lands. You just need to simply find the swamp where the Sfagnum moss grows. And there are still plenty of such swamps in Mother Russia.

Sundew much more productive than the Venus flytrap and Zhiryanka, and therefore, by planting a plant near your small reservoir, you can enjoy its water surface without fear that your contemplation will be interrupted by an annoying mosquito.

A mosquito heading in your direction will not be able to resist the temptation not to touch the sparkling dewdrops on the plant, which will immediately attract it to itself. The mosquito's attempts to extricate itself from the unusual dew only excite the Rosyanka more, and its sticky hairs, which cover the leaf, stick the victim to the plant even more firmly.

Having completely taken possession of the victim, the sheet folds in half and proceeds to the meal. The mosquito will last for a few days. To digest such food, the plant secretes a special digestive juice. Having finished "lunch", the leaf straightens up and prepares to catch another dew lover.

The main thing is not to feed the plant with cheese, egg white or raw meat, as Charles Darwin did, who concluded that with such a menu, Rosyanka grows much faster. It's better to let it grow slower than one day decides to bite off the breastfeeding finger. After all, as they say, appetite comes with eating:).