Post by Dave Evans on Feb 8, 2013 3:34:01 GMT
There are several different, competing views of what makes a Carnivorous Plant so. Some folks feel that any flow of nutrient from dead animal to plant tissue can be interpetted as "carnivorous". However, there are plenty of examples of plants getting those nutrients from dead animals with out eating them! Decay is constantly re-releasing previously bound nutrients and those nutrient can be absorbed by some leaves and if not the leaves, the roots. Carnivorous Plants perform several further adaptions to enhance upon to this, and they all use their leaves as mouths with a digestive zone at the bottom. Even Drosophyllum works this way with regards to how the "glue" positions the prey on the plant surface against the sessile digestive glands. Drosera leaves deform and cup what they catch forming a "temporary stomach" where the digestion takes place, same of Pinguicula. Snap and vacuum traps are mouths and stomachs in one.
In the case of Roridula it is the two species joined together as one system. So I think it is accurate to say Pameridea/Roridula is carnivorous but the combination of course is not all plant, but they need to be linked together as Roridula by itself cannot eat or digest anything as far as we know.
The main issue is we don't have a word that describes a sticky plant that hosts endemic predator insects as it is just so rare! There probably aren't many kinds of these plants. Pameridea/Roridula is something very special. I count about 430 species of CP, not counting Utricularia. There is only one known example of what Pameridea/Roridula is.
In the case of Roridula it is the two species joined together as one system. So I think it is accurate to say Pameridea/Roridula is carnivorous but the combination of course is not all plant, but they need to be linked together as Roridula by itself cannot eat or digest anything as far as we know.
The main issue is we don't have a word that describes a sticky plant that hosts endemic predator insects as it is just so rare! There probably aren't many kinds of these plants. Pameridea/Roridula is something very special. I count about 430 species of CP, not counting Utricularia. There is only one known example of what Pameridea/Roridula is.
