Page 9 - North Haven Magazine Issue 25 Autumn 2022

Photo Credit: GardeningKnowHow.com Photo Credit: OceanInfo.com

Bladderwort lives in ponds Waterwheel plant uses a
and sucks in its prey. snap trap to capture its prey.

is known to produce pitchers as long as thirteen inch- tion of Nature (ICUN) list. Despite its fragile status,
es and can entrap small mammals, lizards, and birds. the remaining species, which lives in North America,
The Sun Pitcher plant, native to South America, may is thriving, and is even considered invasive in New
grow pitchers up to sixteen inches long. The Cobra lily, York and New Jersey. Like the Venus flytrap, the water-
also known as the California Pitcher plant, has a flower wheel uses a snap trap mechanism to capture its prey.
that resembles the head of a cobra about to strike. This This unusual plant has no root, and its 15-inch stems
plant, native to southern Oregon and Northern Cali- use two-lobed air sacs to float on the water. Tiny hair-
fornia, can grow up to thirty-nine inches tall. like sensors on the air sacs detect potential prey. The
instant the hairs contact the prey, the trap snaps shut
Sundew is a pretty plant, though it is treacherous for within 10-20 milliseconds, and the plant has captured
an insect to approach the enticing sticky secretions that its dinner.
cover the hairs protruding from the leaves. Sundew is
an active trapper that can sense the insect’s touch. It If this article has piqued your interest in carnivorous
reaches out with its hair-like tentacles and can curl its plants, a visit to the Yale Marsh Botanical Garden may
leaves up to enclose and digest its prey. The plants can an efficient way to see some of the plants discussed
be a challenge to grow, but some garden centers may here. Self-guided walking tours through the green-
offer certain species. D. aliciae (Alice sundew, zones houses and gardens are available. For more details visit:
6-8) may be available for our growing zone. https://www.ctvisit.com/listings/yale-marsh-botani-
cal-garden.
Bladderworts have terrestrial wetland and aquatic
forms and are found on every continent except Ant- Another way to learn more and see some of these car-
arctica. These carnivorous plants have the most com- nivores capture their prey, is to watch some videos on
plicated and ingenious method of trapping their prey. the Internet. This link, https://youtu.be/aladpRIVdRI,
Bladderworts have an elastic, bean-shaped bladder will connect you to a PBS video that shows live action
that snaps open when a tiny creature touches its sen- shots. Adults and children will be fascinated by how
sitive trigger hairs. The sudden opening of the emp- these killer plants catch their victims.
ty bladder sucks in water along with any unsuspect-
ing creature that is in the water. Once the prey is in
the bladder, the plant slowly squeezes the water out
through filtering membranes. The captured creature is
then digested by the plant for its meal. Though tiny,
these carnivorous plants perform a service for us – eat-
ing mosquito larvae.

The Waterwheel plant is quite interesting for many
reasons. There used to be nineteen variations distrib-
uted across five continents, but now only one species
remains, and the waterwheel plant is listed as critically
endangered on the International Union for Conserva-

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