Genlisea aurea
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| Genlisea aurea St.Hil. |
Genlisea aurea is a plant in the genus Genlisea. It has pale bundles of root-like organs up to about 15 cm long under the ground. These organs are subterranean leaves, which lack chlorophyll.
Writing in Nature, botanist Wilhelm Barthlott and coworkers showed that G. aurea is carnivorous (demonstration of this had been previously lacking).
To test this hypothesis, Barthlott cultivated Genlisea in a greenhouse. The root-like subterranean organs of Genlisea proved attractive to protozoa: numerous ciliate protozoa entered the traps within a few minutes of the experiment starting. Barthlott noted that living roots from other species of plant occurring in the same habitats failed to attract ciliates.
Barthlott established the existence of an attractant and showed that Genlisea attracts protozoa chemotactically and then traps them in its subterranean leaves.
[edit] Reference
- Barthlott, W., Porembski, S., Fischer, E. & Gemmel, B. (1998). First protozoa-trapping plant found. Nature 392: 447-447.
