RE: Request of help on some australian plants
- To: "'B*@monterey.edu'" <B*@monterey.edu>
- Subject: RE: Request of help on some australian plants
- From: "* R* <R*@sp.agric.wa.gov.au>
- Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 11:08:19 +0800
Drosera's have a somewhat less dramatic approach to catching their food than
Venus fly traps. The leaves are covered in tiny hairs each tipped with a
globule of sticky secretion. When an insect lands on the leaf these little
hairs roll over onto the insect trapping it and allowing the plant to
extract the nutrients, especially nitrogen which is indeed sparse in
Australian soils.
The proof that these plants are so successfull is to find mats completely
covering the ground with just 1000's of plants all glistening away. But
their prey are very small in general, tiny gnats and mosquitoes, etc. No
match for bugs like our bushflys unfortunately.
rod
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Rod Randall
Weed Risk Assessment
Weed Science Group, Agriculture Western Australia
"I weed..."
Weed Risk Assessment Home Page:
http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/progserv/plants/weeds/weedsci2.htm
Weed List Page:
http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/progserv/plants/weeds/weeds/weedlist.htm
Weed Activity Calender:
http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/progserv/plants/weeds/calendar.htm
WeedBusters Home page:
http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/progserv/plants/weeds/buster/buster.htm
Weed Science Group Home Page:
http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/progserv/plants/weeds/
Plant Protection Society & Western Weeds Homepage:
http://www.wantree.com.au/~weeds/
ph: 08 9368 3443
fax: 08 9474 3814
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> ----------
> From: Barry_Garcia@monterey.edu
> Sent: Monday, 1 February 1999 10:46 AM
> To: RPRandall@sp.agric.wa.gov.au
> Cc: puglisi@librs6k.vatlib.it; medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
> Subject: Re: RE: Request of help on some australian plants
>
> RPRandall@sp.agric.wa.gov.au writes:
> >I like the claim that the sundews 'find their food in the air', almost
> >true
> >I guess, in that it usually flys in in the form of tiny insects... but
> >yes
> >Drosera spp.
> >are commonly called sundews and can be either flat teardrop shaped leaves
> >in
> >a rosette or long climbing tendrils, with tiny cup shaped leaves edged
> >with
> >sticky drops, twining through the grasses or low herbs and intermediate
> >types as well.
> >Very attractive little plants with papery pink, white or yellow flowers
> in
> >little clusters. They look stunning in early morning with the sun
> shining
> >through 1000's of sticky droplets of hundreds of twining sundews, a
> >rainbow
> >of golds and yellows shimmering in the breeze.
>
> Also i heard they're related to the venus flytraps (which i saw at a local
> nursery). The reason they eat insects is because the soils they grow in
> lack nitrogen.
>
> On a related note, i like how Darlingtonia californicas look. Theyre
> sometimes called california pitcher plant or cobra lily, because their
> leaves look somewhat like a snake rearing up with its tongue sticking out
> (they have a forked appendage on the hood)
>
