US and Canadian scientists have discovered a completely new type of predatory plants, which is characterized by a unique structure of traps. Flower Triantha occidentalis grows in mountain bogs in North America on the West Coast and is an independent line of carnivorous plants. The opening is reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
TRIANTHA OCCIDENTALIS is currently the only one-officer plant that has a sticky trap and can secrete phosphatase enzyme to digest production. All traps are placed in close proximity to the flowers, which are pollinated by insects, ie the plant hunt only during the flowering period. However, ferrous hairs, located on blooming stems, capture only fine mining and do not touch butterflies and bees that perform the function of pollinators and are important for the reproduction of a carnivorous plant.
Field experiments demonstrated that about 64 percent of nitrogen contained in the leaves, the plant receives from caught insects, which is comparable to the levels of a long-recognized predator plant – Rosyanki round-hearted DROSERA ROTUNDIFOLIA. The thus obtained nitrogen is conveyed from the inflorescences and developing fruit to fall into leaves, stems and other organs.
Since the monograph Darwin on carnivorous plants, scientists recognized only 11 independent lines of insectivore flowers. However, the detection of T.occidentalis indicates the existence of hidden predators, since sticky hairs are widespread among the plants and perform the function of protection against pests. It is now known 800 species of carnivorous plants, but many of them are closely related groups. Venusa Mukholovka Dionaea Muscipula relies on slamming traps, others on sticky surfaces or cameras filled with digestive juice.
Previously, a completely new type of carnivorous plants was discovered in 2012 in Brazilian savanna. He catches the tiny worms special leaves that grow under the ground.