Keeping Insects Separate. Pinguicula macroceras, Horned Butterwort, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
On a delicate stem about 15 cm above its rosette of leaves almost flat on the ground sways this pretty pink-purple flower of Pinguicula macroceras, Horned Butterworth. Its nectar lines morphing from purple-pink to white lead insects such as Bees to the nectar produced in the 'large horn' - macroceras - which you can just see peeping out from behind the top two petals. Other pollinators, too, are attracted to this sweetness. In order to be effective at their job, they, of course, need to be able to leave Flower. So Flower keeps its stemmed distance from its own leaves (see upper right inset for that rosette).
Those succulent or fatty - Pinguicula - leaves are covered with tiny stalked cells which secrete a sweet, sticky mucilage that attracts other, smaller insects for Plant's meal. These insects - obviously not pollinators - struggle against that stickiness, but to no avail. The more they struggle, the more mucilage is secreted and before long they're totally stuck. In the inset, bottom right, Olymp could just see some of those stalked, sticky-topped stems that had caught themselves a small insect. The unclear brownish blotches on leaf's surface are the so-called sessile glands that now begin to secrete a range of digestive enzymes. And soon Insect'll have been consumed. Then Pinguicula will have energy to produce its flower which will yield seed... And so on...
Keeping Insects Separate. Pinguicula macroceras, Horned Butterwort, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
On a delicate stem about 15 cm above its rosette of leaves almost flat on the ground sways this pretty pink-purple flower of Pinguicula macroceras, Horned Butterworth. Its nectar lines morphing from purple-pink to white lead insects such as Bees to the nectar produced in the 'large horn' - macroceras - which you can just see peeping out from behind the top two petals. Other pollinators, too, are attracted to this sweetness. In order to be effective at their job, they, of course, need to be able to leave Flower. So Flower keeps its stemmed distance from its own leaves (see upper right inset for that rosette).
Those succulent or fatty - Pinguicula - leaves are covered with tiny stalked cells which secrete a sweet, sticky mucilage that attracts other, smaller insects for Plant's meal. These insects - obviously not pollinators - struggle against that stickiness, but to no avail. The more they struggle, the more mucilage is secreted and before long they're totally stuck. In the inset, bottom right, Olymp could just see some of those stalked, sticky-topped stems that had caught themselves a small insect. The unclear brownish blotches on leaf's surface are the so-called sessile glands that now begin to secrete a range of digestive enzymes. And soon Insect'll have been consumed. Then Pinguicula will have energy to produce its flower which will yield seed... And so on...