- Sat Aug 10, 2019 9:59 pm
#342170
Proboscidea parviflora is a species of plant commonly called a Devil's Claw.
It's interesting to me because it grows stalked stalked glands like a Sundew, it attracts and kills prey like a Sundew, but it doesn't produce the enzymes to digest its captured carcasses.
It is considered to be proto-carnivorous, on its way to carnivory but who knows?
Indiscriminate insect slaughter will certainly reduce damage from leaf-chomping creepy-crawlers.
And the plant may not benefit directly from its prey but the dead bugs might help fertilize the soil and help the growth of the next generation of seeds produced by the mother-plant.
Just my 2¢ worth.
I grow it because someone gave me free seeds for it a year or two ago.
Here are a few pictures.
You can see that the plant stem is completely covered with tentacles with a glistening dew-drop of death at the end of each one.
A closer look will reveal dead insects stuck fast to the tentacles on the stalk.
The second photo shows that the leaves have tentacles all the way around their perimeter and even on their upper surface.
The plant grows in normal dirt with any water it can get, not fussy at all.
It's basically a weed.
It's interesting to me because it grows stalked stalked glands like a Sundew, it attracts and kills prey like a Sundew, but it doesn't produce the enzymes to digest its captured carcasses.
It is considered to be proto-carnivorous, on its way to carnivory but who knows?
Indiscriminate insect slaughter will certainly reduce damage from leaf-chomping creepy-crawlers.
And the plant may not benefit directly from its prey but the dead bugs might help fertilize the soil and help the growth of the next generation of seeds produced by the mother-plant.
Just my 2¢ worth.
I grow it because someone gave me free seeds for it a year or two ago.
Here are a few pictures.
You can see that the plant stem is completely covered with tentacles with a glistening dew-drop of death at the end of each one.
A closer look will reveal dead insects stuck fast to the tentacles on the stalk.
The second photo shows that the leaves have tentacles all the way around their perimeter and even on their upper surface.
The plant grows in normal dirt with any water it can get, not fussy at all.
It's basically a weed.
Shadowtski, Shadowtski liked this