Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants whose prey-trapping mechanism features a deep cavity filled with liquid known as a pitfall trap. It is widely assumed pitfall traps evolved by epiascidiation (infolding of the leaf with the axadial or upper surface becoming the inside of the pitcher), with selection pressure favouring more deeply cupped leaves over evolutionary time. The pitcher trap evolved independently in three eudicot lineages and one monocot lineage, representing a case of convergent evolution. Some pitcher plant families (such as Nepenthaceae) are placed within clades consisting mostly of flypaper traps, indicating that some pitchers may have evolved from the common ancestors of today's flypaper traps by loss of mucilage.
Foraging, flying or crawling insects such as flies are attracted to the cavity formed by the cupped leaf, often by visual lures such asanthocyanin pigments, and nectar bribes. The rim of the pitcher (peristome) is slippery, when moistened by condensation or nectar, causing insects to fall into the trap. Pitcher plants may also contain waxy scales, protruding aldehyde crystals, cuticular folds, downward pointing hairs, or guard-cell-originating lunate cells on the inside of the pitcher to ensure that insects cannot climb out. The small bodies of liquid contained within the pitcher traps are called phytotelmata. They drown the insect, and the body of it is gradually dissolved. This may occur by bacterial action (the bacteria being washed into the pitcher by rainfall) or by enzymes secreted by the plant itself. Furthermore, some pitcher plants contain mutualistic insect larvae, which feed on trapped prey, and whose excreta the plant absorbs.Whatever the mechanism of digestion, the prey items are converted into a solution of amino acids, peptides, phosphates, ammonium andurea, from which the plant obtains its mineral nutrition (particularly nitrogen and phosphorus). Like all carnivorous plants, they grow in locations where the soil is too poor in minerals and/or too acidic for most plants to survive.For more information We may follow this video....
Pitcher plants are one of those cool carnivorous plants; they can devour insects. But don't let this amazing fact overshadow their inherent beauty. They produce fascinating pendant chartreuse or purple flowers in spring. Pitcher plants are fascinating to grow, and adapt well to containers where the plants can be observed up close. In mild regions, they can also be grown in acid bog gardens. They do not need a diet of insects -- the insects are attracted by nectar at the base of the pitchers and slide down and drown in collected liquid at the base. The tall pitchers of some species are cut and dried for indoor arrangements, but only remove a few to retain the vitality of the plants.
- Light:
- Sun,Part Sun
- Zones:
- 2-10
- Plant Type:
- Perennial,Water/Bog Plant
- Plant Height:
- 4-42 inches tall, depending on variety
- Plant Width:
- 3 feet wide
- Flower Color:
- Pink, purple red, chartreuse green flowers, depending on variety
- Bloom Time:
- Blooms in spring
- Landscape Uses:
- Containers,Beds & Borders
- Special Features:
- Flowers,Attractive Foliage,Cut Flowers,Dried Flowers,Tolerates Wet Soil,Deer Resistant.
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