CARNIVOROUS_PLANTS

// What Type of Plant Is It? // There are many kinds of carnivorous plants. Some types of these are: · Pitcher Plants · Venus Fly Traps · Sundews A carnivorous plant is a plant that eats meat (e.g. small animals and insects)
 * Carnivorous Plants **



// **What Does It Look Like? (Appearance)** // __**Pitcher Plants** __ ‘Pitcher’is an old word for a jug or a container. There are many kinds. __Description __ **Leaves** The leaves of these plants are shaped like jugs, with smooth, steep sides and a pool of liquid at the bottom. But, this is not a pool of water, it is a pool of digestive enzymes. Around the top of each leaf-pitcher are tiny glands that make nectar. This nectar is sweet and attracts insects who are looking for food. The flowers of the Trumpet Pitcher Plants look harmless and pretty. They are __not__ flowers, they are leaves that are especially designed to trap insects. __Types of Pitcher Plants __ **Tropical Pitcher Plant** This is found in Australia. It is a straggly climber that supports itself on taller plants. It grows in hot, humid areas in the far north of Australia, it is also found in Papua New Guinea and on other nearby islands. __The Pitcher Trap __  An insect lands on the rim of the leaf to eat the nectar. It loses it’s balance on the slippery surface, slides down the steep sides of the pitcher, and falls into the pool at the bottom. It can’t climb out because the sides of the pitcher have hairs pointing downwards. So, it’s trapped in the pool until it dies and is digested. End of the insect. []
 * Trumpet Pitcher Plant** These are found in America.

The deadly Venus Flytrap is probably the best known of all carnivorous plants. It is certainly the most active. __Description<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">  __ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;"> **Leaves** The Venus Flytrap has hinges leaves with spiky edges that act like a cruel trap. It snaps shut on small animals. Although the flytrap’s leaves move fast for a plant, the movement is actually sneakily slow, so that the fly isn’t frightened away. Flies and other insects are attracted by the bright colour at the centre of the trap, or by the smell. __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;">The Venus Trap __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;"> When an insect lands to look for a meal, it touches some of the hairs on the leaf. The pressure on these hairs triggers the leaf to close - slowly, but surely. (A drop of rain on a hair is not enough to close the leaf.) The leaf stays shut for several days, while it digests the soft parts of the insect. [] []
 * __<span style="color: #00b050; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;">Venus Fly Trap __**

Sundews attract insects by offering them a drink. Many tall sundews are particularly attractive to flies. When a fly gets stuck it struggles for a while, but this only makes things worse. It can’t escape, so it eventually dies. __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;">Description __ [] [] **<span style="font-size: 20pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Venus Fly Traps **<span style="font-size: 20pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> are found in North Carolina, in the south east of the United States. Sundews grow from Alaska in the north to New Zealand in the south. They can be found in Australia, South America and southern Africa. A few types are also found in large parts of Eurasia and North America. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;"> ** Venus Flytraps ** Healthy Venus flytraps will produce white flowers in spring. Successful pollination will result in the production of dozens of small, shiny black seeds. Venus flytraps have a necessary winter dormancy period, triggered by nighttime temperatures below 10 °C (50 °F) and reduced day length. Plants can be grown from seed, although seedlings will take several years to mature. More commonly, they may be grown by division in spring or summer. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">During winter ** Pitcher Plants ** will go into their dormancy period. They will slow down in growth. The plant must go through this period in order to stay alive. In spring the plants will send up their new leaves/pitcher Then the pitcher plant goes into its transition stage and starts to grow its vine, it will have a time gap before it starts to grow upper pitchers. They will only flower once they start to produce upper pitchers. Pitcher plants are either male or female, so cannot be self-pollinated. ** Sundews ** Many species of sundews are self-fertile and flowers will often self-pollinate upon closing. Often lots of seeds are produced. The tiny black seeds germinate in response to moisture and light. **// What Are the Uses? //****// (What do people and animals use it for?) //** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Sundews may be used as a medicinal plant. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">They were used as medicinal herbs as early as the 12th century, when an Italian doctor found that the plant could be used as an herbal remedy for coughs. Sundew tea was especially recommended by herbalists for dry coughs, bronchitis, whooping cough, asthma and "bronchial cramps.” Sundews have also been used to strengthen the heart, as well as to treat sunburn, toothache and to prevent freckles. Today //Drosera// (sundew) is usually used to treat ailments such as asthma, coughs, lung infections, and stomach ulcers. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> === <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Sundews <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">are also used as <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> ornamental plants. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Because <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">of their carnivorous nature and the beauty of their glistening traps, sundews have become favorite ornamental plants. === === <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Other uses <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> === The corms of the tuberous sundews native to Australia are considered a delicacy by the Australian Aborigines. Some of these corms were also used to dye textiles, while another purple or yellow dye was traditionally prepared in the Scottish Highlands. A sundew liqueur is also still produced using a recipe that has its roots in the 14th century.
 * __<span style="color: #00b050; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;">Sundews __** [[image:sundew5.jpg width="129" height="86"]] [[image:sundew4..jpg width="136" height="82"]]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;">Leaves **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;">Sundews are covered in sticky droplets of liquid. The droplets contain digestive enzymes. These enzymes slowly break down the soft parts of the insect’s body and turn them into liquid. The leaf absorbs the liquid, and so the plant gets the food it needs for growing.
 * //<span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 20pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msoansilanguage: EN; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt;">Where Is It Found? (Environment) //**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;">Tropical Pitcher Plant **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;"> This is found in Australia. It grows in hot, humid areas in the far north of Australia, it is also found in Papua New Guinea and on other nearby islands.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;">Trumpet Pitcher Plant **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;"> These are found in America.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;">Sundews **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;"> There are many types of sundews. They are different <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> sizes and types. They can be found growing as native on every continent except Antarctica.
 * //<span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 20pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msoansilanguage: EN; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt;">What Are The Lifecycle and Needs of the Plant? //**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Venus Flytraps **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> are, by far, the most commonly recognized and grown carnivorous plant. They are sold as houseplants and are often found at florists, hardware stores and supermarkets.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Pitcher Plants **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> are also commonly recognized and grown as carnivorous plant. They are sold as houseplants and are often found at florists, hardware stores and supermarkets.