Common butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris) compensates for poor soil by digesting insects held on sticky leaves. SCO 9920.
Like all members of the family Lentibulariaceae, butterworts are carnivorous. In order to catch and digest insects, the leaf of a butterwort uses two specialized glands which are scattered across the leaf surface (usually only on the upper surface, with the exception of P. gigantea and P. longifolia ssp. longifolia). One is termed a peduncular gland, and consists of a few secretory cells on top of a single stalk cell. These cells produce a mucilagenous secretion which forms visible droplets across the leaf surface. This wet appearance probably helps lure prey in search of water (a similar phenomenon is observed in the sundews). The droplets secrete limited amounts of digestive enzymes, and serve mainly to entrap insects. On contact with an insect, the peduncular glands release additional mucilage from special reservoir cells located at the base of their stalks. The insect will begin to struggle, triggering more glands and encasing itself in mucilage. Some species can bend their leaf edges slightly by thigmotropism, bringing additional glands into contact with the trapped insect. The second type of gland found on butterwort leaves are sessile glands which lie flat on the leaf surface. Once the prey is entrapped by the peduncular glands and digestion begins, the initial flow of nitrogen triggers enzyme release by the sessile glands. These enzymes, which include amylase, esterase, phosphatase, protease, and ribonuclease break down the digestible components of the insect body.
Size: 4150px × 5894px
Location: Inchnadamph, Lochinver. Sutherland. Highland Region Scotland. UK.
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., 15, 3–16, acid, acidic, albida, alpicola, bicolor, bog, bogs, bud, butterwort, canada, carniverous, carnivorous, circumboreal, cm, cold, common, country, damp, distribution, elevations., environments, environs, europe, europe:, exposed, family., fens, flower, flowers., forms, funnel., generally, grows, heath, height, insects, large, leaves, lentibulariaceae, longer, lure, mm, moorland, native, nutrient, occasionally, originating, perennial, petals, pinguicula, plant, poor, produce, purple, russia, shaped, soil, states., sticky, subalpine, swamps, topped, trap, united, unusually, vegetation, vulgaris, wet, white, wild, windswept, winter-resting, winter., winters
