Butterworts

Pinguicula

At first glance Butterworts show no sign of their carnivorous nature, but touch them and you find them sticky.

If you look through a microscope you see why: The leaves are covered with millions of tiny hairs, the hairs each produce a droplet of glue.

 Small glands on the surface of the leaf produce the digestive fluids.

The usually prey are small insects which land on the leaf and immediately get caught, the plant then starts to produce the digestive acids and an anti-fungal agent.

Like Bladderworts to which they are related they are found all over the world.

 

 

Related content:

 

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From the web

Video clips

 

BBC - Bill Oddie Goes Wild butterwort

 

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