Pitcher Plant Family.
by Chris Kusik
Title
Pitcher Plant Family.
Artist
Chris Kusik
Medium
Photograph - Digital
Description
It's fall on the Florida Prairie. One of my favorite places to go at this time of year is the Triple N Ranch in Osceola County, Florida. The management area has just opened its gates for hunting season. I greet the gatekeeper and we talk about days gone by. He knows that I only hunt with a camera, and allows me to enter. I know just where to go and what I'm looking for. The pitcher plants are in bloom and are near the end of their life cycle. Their hoods are turning bright red. They have had a prosperous year. Although the acidic soil here is poor in nutrients, the insects provide the additional fodder that the plant needs for survival. Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants whose prey-trapping mechanism features a deep cavity filled with liquid known as a pitfall trap. Foraging, flying or crawling insects such as flies are attracted to the cavity formed by the cupped leaf, often by visual lures such as bright colors, and nectar. The rim of the pitcher is slippery, when moistened by condensation or nectar, causing insects to fall into the trap. The small bodies of liquid contained within the pitcher traps drown the insect, and the body of it is gradually dissolved. Like all carnivorous plants, they grow in locations where the soil is too poor in minerals and/or too acidic for most plants to survive.
Uploaded
August 18th, 2013
Statistics
Viewed 591 Times - Last Visitor from Wilmington, DE on 04/05/2024 at 6:10 AM
Embed
Share
Sales Sheet
Comments
There are no comments for Pitcher Plant Family.. Click here to post the first comment.