Dewdrop is a predatory plant, home care
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The flora is many-sided and varied. There are beautiful flowers with a terrible smell and ugly plants that exude wonderful aromas. In the magical kingdom of trees, bushes and flowers, there are many individuals that amaze the imagination with their growth, the ability to adapt to the conditions of the external environment, the ability to survive both in the jungle and in the desert.
There is a group of plants on the globe that belong to different families, but they have a common feature - they are carnivorous. They can meet in any climatic zone and on all continents, except for the Arctic. One such plant is the sundew.
Carnivorous plant sundew
There is a mysterious flower in the group of predatory plants. Sundew is an insectivorous plant that has 164 species. Although they can be found in any part of the world, most of them grow in New Zealand and Australia. Sundew members growing in the north are much smaller than their tropical counterparts. For example, the stem of the Australian giant sundew can reach 60-100 cm.
Dewdrop is a charming predator
The South African royal sundew can eat not only insects, but even snails, mice, frogs and toads. In European countries with a temperate climate, you can find, in addition to the usual round-leaved (drosera rotundifolia), several more species of sundew. In the Northern Hemisphere, a representative of this family with oblong leaves (drosera anglica) grows in swamps. They grow on mosses, in their absence - right on the rocks.
Structure
Dewdrop is a predator plant, in its natural habitat it can have various sizes and structures. The farther south the sundew grows, the higher and thicker its peduncle. In Australia and on the Cape of Good Hope, there are individuals growing in bushes, some of them reach gigantic sizes (up to 1.5 -3 m in height). In northern latitudes with a temperate climate, this plant is inferior in size and outwardly different from the inhabitants of the tropics.
What does a sundew look like? The structural principle is the same for all members of the Droseraceae family. The leaves of the plant are collected in a root rosette. In some species, they have a rounded shape, in others they are oblong. Cilia can be green, red, or yellowish brown in color.
The pink, white or crimson flowers of the sundew are quite high, thanks to the long peduncles. Nature reasonably disposed of, giving her such a structure.
The peculiar structure of a carnivorous plant - sundew
The buds of the plant only open for one day. For insects to pollinate it and not get trapped in sticky leaves, the flower must grow taller. After pollination, capsules with small seeds are formed. The roots of the sundew are weak. Their task is to keep the flower on the ground and give it water from the soil. He will receive the necessary proteins and minerals thanks to his sacrifices.
For example, the dwarf sundew, which has ceased to produce the necessary enzymes for the extraction of salts from the soil. Not all varieties of this family have completely lost the ability to receive nutrition from the roots.
Food method
So what is a sundew? Why does she instill fear in everyone who happened to see her go hunting? The plant got the name "sundew" for the similarity of shiny droplets of a sticky mass on the villi of leaves with dew.A plant of red or green color has leaves covered with 25 cilia on the sides and on the upper part of the leaf plate.
At the end, the villi have a thickening with a gland that secretes sticky mucus with a delicate sweetish aroma. Attracted by the glitter of the droplets and the pleasant smell, insects without fear sit on the leaf and get stuck in the sticky surface. The carnivorous plant immediately responds to touch.
It folds the leaf, trying to clasp the victim with all its cilia. The more the insect resists, the tighter the cilia clasp it.
In the droplets of a viscous liquid, where the prey is completely immersed, in addition to digestive enzymes, some sundews contain paralyzing substances. Having fallen into such a trap, the victim turns into food one hundred percent. The digestion process in some species of drosera occurs in a matter of minutes, while in others it lasts several days.
After the food has been digested, the leaf will unfold, on its surface you can see only the remains of an insect or animal. The enzymes involved in digestion are able to dissolve even small animal cartilage. Only their chitinous membrane remains from insects. The leaf blade remains dry for a while. But when the drosera gets hungry, "tears" will appear on the eyelashes again. The sundew plant will "go out" to hunt again.
Rosyanka is "having dinner"
Even if midges and mosquitoes do not fly on the flower for a long time, the plant will not die. The source of protein food for her, as for any plant, will be carbon dioxide and soil rich in minerals.
Role in nature
In the wild, sundews serve as a kind of balancer that maintains a balance between flora and fauna. Nobody and nothing exists in this world just like that. Each living creature and inanimate object has its own role. This is the case with the drosera plant.
If the "orderly" of trees in the forest, eating harmful insects in the bark, is considered a woodpecker, then the sundew destroys insects in swampy places. The southern relatives of the flower also eat larger representatives of the fauna. It all depends on luck: the toad got into the trap - the sundew is lucky. Predators also need food to survive.
The structure of this flower is unusual, forming vertical rosettes, the length of which ranges from 1 cm to 1-3 m. Despite the weak root system and fragile appearance, these perennials sometimes live up to 50 years. Sundews, living in northern latitudes with a temperate climate, are dormant in winter.
Types of sundew
Of the carnivorous plants, sundews are the most numerous and widespread. Having populated the swamps of the Northern Hemisphere in America, Europe and Asia, sundews have adapted remarkably well, thanks to the abundance of insects, in a damp microclimate. The lack of phosphorus, potassium and nitrogenous salts, obtained by underdeveloped roots from swampy soils, "forced" the plant to turn its attention to a new way of feeding: eating flies, mosquitoes, dragonflies, of which there are a lot of swamps.
Thanks to the modified leaves with villi equipped with glands, sundews have learned to catch their prey and digest it using enzymes and organic acids from the cilia.
Sundew in nature
Drosera lives not only in the northern hemisphere. Not a single continent, except for the Arctic, has been deprived of its attention by the sundew.It can be found in the Australian deserts and sands of Africa, in the Mexican prairies and on the mountainous slopes of the Caucasus. Since ancient times, poets and writers, musicians and artists have dedicated their works to this "charming killer", endowing her with unprecedented fantastic qualities.
The English poetically called the round-leaved sundew "sunny dew"; among the people it is called a flycatcher. The name "Drosera" ("Dew") was first given to the plant by the Swedish naturalist Karl Linnaeus. Indeed, the sheen of the sticky droplets of this plant from a distance can be mistaken for dewdrops. The spectacle is as beautiful and bewitching as it is dangerous.
English sundew
The English sundew (Drosera anglica) was brought from Hawaii. She found a new home in the Caucasus, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, Siberia and Central Asian countries. Often this type of droser can be found in Canada, the USA, the Far East, Europe and Japan.
English long-leaved sundew
It settles quite often next to the round-leaved and intermediate sundew. The favorite places of Drosera anglica are sphagnum bogs with sandy moist soil. In some habitats, the plant is endangered, so it was included in the Red Book of Rare Plants of Russia.
In the description of the English sundew, one can note the fact that it grows from 9 to 24 cm, has rather long leaves (9-11 cm) and white flowers. The seeds form in a capsule and disperse when fully ripe.
Cape sundew
Cape Rosyanka (Drosera capensis) is one of the most beautiful representatives of the Rosyankov family. Grown at home. The Cape sundew has a small stem and long leaves. The plant is unpretentious, with good room conditions for breeding, it can bloom with white flowers all year round. Despite his small stature, only 13 cm, he has excellent dexterity.
Cape sundew is one of the most beautiful species
Capturing an insect trapped in sticky red-white cilia, the long leaf quickly coils.
Round-leaved sundew
This plant is the most abundant of all carnivores in the world. The round-leaved sundew (drosera rotundifolia) grows on almost all continents. Most often it can be seen in peat bogs. Rounded leaves with tentacle villi are located almost at the very roots. Flowering occurs in July.
The round-leaved sundew is the most common species of the Rosyanokov family on the globe.
White flowers appear on 19-centimeter stems; after ripening in late summer, seeds form in capsules. Strange, but this predatory plant has so many affectionate names: "God" or "Sunny Dew", "Rosichka", "Tsarevy Eyes".
Dewdrop of Alicia
South Africa is home to Alicia's sundew. The structure of the flower leaves resembles mini-plates, only with an abundance of sticky cilia. Flowers of pink shades in Alicia's sundew grow in the form of cluster-like inflorescences. An interesting way to hunt plants for insects.
Alicia's dewdrop is from Africa
As soon as the victim hits the cilia, they instantly move the prey to the center of the leaf. Curling up like a roll, he begins to digest food. After completing the meal, the leaf unfolds and after a while is again covered with fragrant sticky tentacles.
Dewdrop Binata two-syllable
The habitat of the sundew binata (Drosera binata) is the coastal and insular zones of Australia. It is famous for being the largest predator plant, growing up to 60 cm in height. A two-syllable flower is called for bifurcated narrow shoots with cilia, which is uncharacteristic for sundews of the Lopastny genus.
Marsh sundew
Where the marsh sundew grows, you can find out from its name. In nature, there are several varieties of swamp dwellers. The most common are the round-leaved, English and intermediate sundew. They settle on swampy soils lacking nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium.
Binata's two-syllable sundew is the largest species of Rosyankovs
Hunting insects and eating them, they make up for the deficiency of minerals, perfectly tolerate frosty winters. Their buds can be stored in formed bags of sphagnum moss for up to five months. With the appearance of the first rays of the sun, the first shoots break through.
Sundew nutrition
As natives of the subtropics, many varieties of sundews take root well and reproduce in captivity, that is, at home. Care for these plants requires special. The most interesting thing in this situation is the issue of nutrition. Droser can not be fed, hoping to replenish the necessary products from the soil. But then it will grow more slowly. Therefore, 2-3 flies should be given to the sundew per week, but not very large ones.
Growing from seed at home
If you want to grow a sundew or flycatcher at home, you must first get acquainted with this type of plant. After receiving the information, you can buy seeds in a special store, nursery, or order them online. The following actions will be as follows:
- put sphagnum moss or a mixture of 70% peat, 30% sand or expanded clay into a flower pot 10 cm high, moisten well;
- make grooves in the ground and place seeds in them (the more, the better);
- it is better to water the seeds in a tray;
- wait for shoots and watch the growth daily.
Sundew nutrition
In a month the seeds of the sundew will sprout and grow.
Plant care at home
Domestic dewdrop does not require a lot of time and attention. This is a very light-loving plant, although it lives well in the shade. In the sun, its leaves are colored bright yellow or red, in the shade they remain green.
Watering and nutrition should be carried out based on the nature of the flower. If these are Australian varieties that form tubers, then they can do without water for a long time. Most varieties prefer moist soil. The first sign of a lack of moisture is the absence of droplets on the eyelashes. In this case, you need to immerse the flower pot in a wide container of water.
Growing a hygrophyte plant and then caring for it is a very interesting activity. Doubly fascinating if this plant is also a predator. Caring for a sundew at home is not very difficult, although every plant requires attention and care. Therefore, any work must be done with interest, love and soul.
