Utricularia Dichotoma: The Flower That Bites Back
By: Stella S
Age: 16
Atlanta, Georgia USA
By: Stella S
Age: 16
Atlanta, Georgia USA
In boggy areas throughout Australia and New Zealand you can find a whimsical plant known as the fairy apron. With the scientific name Utricularia dichotoma, this plant is a lot more than the purple flower it presents itself to be. A part of the Utricularia -or bladderwort- family, the fairy apron is a carnivorous plant. A carnivorous plant is a plant that is adapted to attract, capture, and digest live prey to get the nutrients necessary for life. The simple stem can grow a height of 30 cm, holding one small purple flower per stem. The name fairy apron comes from the fact that the plant looks like something a fairy may wear while baking, with a purple bell shaped petal, a small yellow lip, and a wine colored stem. It grows in moderately aquatic areas, where the flower can reach out of the water but the roots are submerged. Upon closer inspection at the root system, small, clear, bubble-like things can be seen, which is where the species gets the bladder part of its name. Similar to most carnivorous plants, dichotoma is native to boggy areas, and has adapted in an interesting way to this odd environment.
Flowering Stem of theUtricularia dichotoma
Photo Credit: Don Wood |
Root of the Utricularia dichotoma
Photo Credit: Stella S |
If you are a protozoa I would stop reading at this point, otherwise you might get a bit too sucked in. That's because the size of the traps of this plant in the Bladderwort species vary, and can devour anything from microscopic single celled prey called protozoa, to larger prey such as tadpoles. (“Protozoa: Structure, Classification, Growth, and Development - Medical Microbiology.” NCBI). Utricularia dichotoma has two kinds of hair that grow on the outside of these bladders, long and short hair. The long hair functions as more of a guide hair, directing prey to the center trapdoor. The short hairs act as a trigger, telling the trap to open similar to a tripwire waiting to set off an alarm. The unlucky protozoa that stumbles upon this hair will begin the activation of one of the most highly evolved mechanisms in the plant kingdom. (Fefferman, David. “Bladderwort.”) The trap door will open in 1/10000 of a second, instantly sucking the prey into the bladder. This process makes the bladderwort species the fastest moving plant species, and aids the plant a lot in the process of catching its prey (source) Once the prey has reached the inside of the bladder, the glands in the walls will begin to secrete a digestive enzyme. This enzyme will begin to break down the prey, until it is reduced to a soup of nutritional goodness, that the walls will then re-absorb. This broken down stew is composed of nitrogen and other crucial components for the plant to create more proteins for different functions.
The bladder is kept watertight by a sealant made of mucilage, and once the digestion has begun the trap will pump out the water and reseal itself. This full process can take as few as 20 minutes, leaving the plant ready for its next meal. (Fefferman, David. “Bladderwort.”) That’s faster than most episodes of TV shows, which is important because the plant needs this energy. For the sad prey that manages to get partially stuck in the trap, death will be quick but not painless, as the bottom half of its body is slowly digested.
As people we tend to only see aesthetic things, and this sometimes causes us to miss crucial details. Upon first glance the fairy apron looks like a flower, a weed even, until you are encouraged to look closer. This closer look reveals the meat consuming, fast moving, hardcore plant that I have helped you come to love.
The bladder is kept watertight by a sealant made of mucilage, and once the digestion has begun the trap will pump out the water and reseal itself. This full process can take as few as 20 minutes, leaving the plant ready for its next meal. (Fefferman, David. “Bladderwort.”) That’s faster than most episodes of TV shows, which is important because the plant needs this energy. For the sad prey that manages to get partially stuck in the trap, death will be quick but not painless, as the bottom half of its body is slowly digested.
As people we tend to only see aesthetic things, and this sometimes causes us to miss crucial details. Upon first glance the fairy apron looks like a flower, a weed even, until you are encouraged to look closer. This closer look reveals the meat consuming, fast moving, hardcore plant that I have helped you come to love.
Bibliography
PlantNet, http://plantnet.nsw.gov. Accessed 12 July 2022.
Fefferman, David. “Bladderwort.” Carnivorous Plant Resource, 23 March 2017, https://carnivorousplantresource.com/the-plants/bladderwort/. Accessed 12 July 2022.
Petruzzello, Melissa. “bladderwort | plant | Britannica.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 June 2022, https://www.britannica.com/plant/bladderwort. Accessed 14 July 2022.
“Protozoa: Structure, Classification, Growth, and Development - Medical Microbiology.” NCBI, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK8325/. Accessed 12 July 2022.
“UCSB Science Line.” UCSB Science Line, 29 April 2015, http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=4884. Accessed 12 July 2022.
“utricularia Archives.” Fierce Flora, https://www.fierceflora.com/tag/utricularia/. Accessed 12 July 2022.
“Utricularia dichotoma.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utricularia_dichotoma. Accessed 14 July 2022.
PlantNet, http://plantnet.nsw.gov. Accessed 12 July 2022.
Fefferman, David. “Bladderwort.” Carnivorous Plant Resource, 23 March 2017, https://carnivorousplantresource.com/the-plants/bladderwort/. Accessed 12 July 2022.
Petruzzello, Melissa. “bladderwort | plant | Britannica.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 June 2022, https://www.britannica.com/plant/bladderwort. Accessed 14 July 2022.
“Protozoa: Structure, Classification, Growth, and Development - Medical Microbiology.” NCBI, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK8325/. Accessed 12 July 2022.
“UCSB Science Line.” UCSB Science Line, 29 April 2015, http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=4884. Accessed 12 July 2022.
“utricularia Archives.” Fierce Flora, https://www.fierceflora.com/tag/utricularia/. Accessed 12 July 2022.
“Utricularia dichotoma.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utricularia_dichotoma. Accessed 14 July 2022.
Editor's note
Wildlife In Spotlight collaborated with ten students who attended the Summer High School Leadership Summit at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. As part of Stella's seven-week program, she had to research, write and present on a plant of her choice. She met with horticulturists, conservationists and other experts to explore the Garden's collections and gather information to write her article. Students were encouraged to select plants that not only interested them, but also had ecological, ethnobotanical, or economic value.
Many thanks to Lorin Boren, School Program Assistant Manager, Atlanta Botanical Garden for coordinating and facilitating this partnership!
Wildlife In Spotlight collaborated with ten students who attended the Summer High School Leadership Summit at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. As part of Stella's seven-week program, she had to research, write and present on a plant of her choice. She met with horticulturists, conservationists and other experts to explore the Garden's collections and gather information to write her article. Students were encouraged to select plants that not only interested them, but also had ecological, ethnobotanical, or economic value.
Many thanks to Lorin Boren, School Program Assistant Manager, Atlanta Botanical Garden for coordinating and facilitating this partnership!