Hungry Plants. April 28, 2012
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature, Love and Death.Tags: carniverous plants, northern pitcher plants, Rowe MA, sphagnum moss
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The Northern pitcher plants (Sarracenia purpurea) up in Rowe MA are doing their Spring thing, despite the freezing nights and scant bugs.
Here they’re greening up amongst the leaves of swamp irises:
They’re astonishingly colorful for what’s growing around here, showing vibrant greens and rich reds amidst the sphagnum moss:
Hungry green funnels wait for curious insects to take their sweet-smelling bait:
Once an insect crawls down to check out the sweet liquid in the funnel, fine downward-pointing hairs prevent it from climbing out, and there’s precious little room for flying, so most suitors get drowned and digested be enzymes:
Yum!!! 😉
Wow! Cool and kinda creepy at the same time. 🙂
Yeah they are. It’s kinda hard not to empathize with the insects who did nothing wrong, just wanted to bring something sweet home for the kids… 😦
You are making me swoon again…
Rgds,
Tengrain
K, good to hear from you. Swoon away, Mother had you in mind when She thunk this stuff up! 🙂
Amazing and very pretty where they are – meaning I’d rather not have one as a houseplant.
Susan, they’re totally benign, sitting placidly waiting for insects to come on in, then denying them egress by the delicate in-sloping hairs, slippery surfaces and lack of flying room in their interiors.
But yeah, they’re still just a wee-tad creepy.