Pitcher Plants
Perhaps the Pitcher plant is the
most mysterious leaf in the whole wide universe. With its unique ability to
obtain food, it has inspired multitudes to reshape their concept on how nature
really works.
Nothing excites more awe and
suspense than seeing a Pitcher Plant with your own eyes. With its deeply folded
leaves, the cup-shaped plant stores up a sweet-smelling juice which lures an
unsuspecting insect into its mouth. Some are sweetly scented, others are
brightly colored, still others have parts that are sticky or slippery or
designed in a way that makes it hard for prey to escape. This fallen insect flails
helplessly in the fluid until it loses energy and submits to the overpowering
force of its fate.
How does
this seemingly harmless plant do such thing? the secret lies in the juice. This
liquid is no ordinary nectar. It actually contains chemicals (that are similar
to those found in the stomach) that could slowly munch and swallow the skin of
its prey until it dissolves completely—becoming the very juice that it once
tried to drink.Did you know that the larger pitchers could even trap small frog, snakes and birds inside? But even though they are
deadly traps for mosquitoes, please don’t believe in science fiction flicks
where they could gulp down a person!
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