Plants digest food???

[sahil]

I have heard some 1 say that plants digest food using some enzymes

[frostbite]

yes, they do. think about the carnivorous plants, venus-flytrap and the pitcher plant from Amazon (err.. was it from the amazon?).

[sahil]

im not talking about insectivorous plants.

[sahil]

there was this guy who told me plants have a digestive system or smthing like that

[Mokele]

Then he's a moron. Carnivorous plants either use enzymes to digest their food, or rely upon bacterial action or the digestive systems of symbiotic insects. No other plant has been of such systems. Normal plants produce 'food' from sunlight via photosynthesis, and absorb nutrients from the ground via their roots. These are distributed through the plant via the xylem and phloem (analagous to a circulatory system), but all breakdown and use of food and nutrients occurs within individual cells. There's no 'digestive system' in any non-carnivorous plant.

 

Mokele

[insane_alien]

i knoiw some plants have bacteria in little nodules on their roots that make nitrogen compounds from the nitrogen in the air. its the closest thing i can think of other than the insectovorus plants.

[sahil]

thnx and i noe wat xylem n phloem r

[Dr. Dalek]

yes, they do. think about the carnivorous plants, venus-flytrap and the pitcher plant from Amazon (err.. was it from the amazon?).

They are found in other parts of the world.

Including Austrailia, North, and South America.

[Forensicmad]

thnx and i noe wat xylem n phloem r

 

*Off topic

 

Woah, did you just have a lobotomy?

Strange how writing can change so drastically - especially to something like that.

Sorry. I just have a thing about being able to read words easily - i prefer it that way.

 

*On topic

Nearly all plants (except from carnivorous e.g. venus fly trap) produce food via photosynthesis. I imagine that the venus fly trap also does photosynthesis because mine turned vegetarian and still survived! However, I am almost certain that no plant, anywhere, has a digestive tract.

[Mokele]

think about the carnivorous plants, venus-flytrap and the pitcher plant from Amazon (err.. was it from the amazon?)

They are found in other parts of the world.

Including Austrailia' date=' North, and South America.[/quote']

 

The breakdown:

Venus flytraps - native to North Carolina in the US, introduced to New Jersey

Cobra plants - Oregon / North California only

American pitcher plants - Eastern north america, from FL into southern Canada

Sundews, butterworts, bladderworts - All coninents except Antarctica, from swamps to deserts

Sun pitchers - South America

Asian pitcher plants - Asia, Australia, Indonesia, one species in madagascar.

There's assorted others, but I'll no go into all of those.

 

I imagine that the venus fly trap also does photosynthesis because mine turned vegetarian and still survived!

 

Correct, they get energy from sunlight like most plants. They capture insects for minerals and nutrients they can't get from the soil (carnivorous plants evolved carnivory to deal with very low nutrient soils). They need insects, but not more than a few a year.

 

Of course, more bugs are good; my flytraps are all outdoors, eat like gluttons, and as a result last year I was able to divide my one flytrap into 4 plants, all of which are thriving.

 

Mokele

[frostbite]

The breakdown:

Venus flytraps - native to North Carolina in the US' date=' introduced to New Jersey

Cobra plants - Oregon / North California only

American pitcher plants - Eastern north america, from FL into southern Canada

Sundews, butterworts, bladderworts - All coninents except Antarctica, from swamps to deserts

Sun pitchers - South America

Asian pitcher plants - Asia, Australia, Indonesia, one species in madagascar.

There's assorted others, but I'll no go into all of those.

 

 

 

Correct, they get energy from sunlight like most plants. They capture insects for minerals and nutrients they can't get from the soil (carnivorous plants evolved carnivory to deal with very low nutrient soils). They need insects, but not more than a few a year.

 

Of course, more bugs are good; my flytraps are all outdoors, eat like gluttons, and as a result last year I was able to divide my one flytrap into 4 plants, all of which are thriving.

 

Mokele[/quote']

soo.. they do digest their food right( i mean like offcourse, how do they absord the nutrients)? but without the help of a digestive system. that's how i deduce the replies above.

 

oooohhh!!! i want a venus-fly trap tooo!!! judging from your statements i can see its very cooooollll!!! seeing it catch a fly or any insect for the matter is soo outstanding (i have n't actually seen a flytrap in front of me all my life -except for the books and the television- i want one!! hehe!!)

[Mokele]

soo.. they do digest their food right( i mean like offcourse, how do they absord the nutrients)? but without the help of a digestive system. that's how i deduce the replies above

 

Nothing that could properly be called one, no. Sundews and butterworts have sticky glands all over their leaves, and they just digest anything that lands and sticks. The pitchers of pitcher plants are just modified leaves that secrete enzymes and digest anything that falls in. Flytraps and bladderworts have active traps that mechanically capture the insect, but after that it's the same as a pitcher, with glands inside digesting it.

 

oooohhh!!! i want a venus-fly trap tooo!!! judging from your statements i can see its very cooooollll!!! seeing it catch a fly or any insect for the matter is soo outstanding (i have n't actually seen a flytrap in front of me all my life -except for the books and the television- i want one!! hehe!!)

 

If you're from the US, I recommend http://www.petflytrap.com http://www.californiacarnivores.com or http://www.cobraplant.com for some flytraps.

 

In most places (just about anywhere except the desert) they can be kept outside. I'm in southern Ohio, and mine are thriving outdoors. Just keep them in full sun and keep them in a tray of standing *distilled* water, and they'll do great. Chemicals (chlorinated water and fertilizer) kill them. Other than that, just stuff them in the refrigerator from november through march for their dormancy period, cut off flower stalks (seedlings are very difficult to raise), and that's it. Most CPs are very low-maintenance plants. Flytraps and american pitcher plants are the easiest, and my favorites. Tropical pitcher plants are more impressive, but much harder to grow.

 

Mokele