I thought I posted this last night, but apparently something went wrong! Oops…
For this week’s Well-Nigh Wordless Wednesday, I give you the humble sundew:
That lovely little plant is a fierce eater of insects. They lure insects in with the promise of sweet nectar, but those droplets aren’t sweet at all! Instead, they act like glue, trapping the insect so that the plant can slowly digest it. What a crazy thing to witness!
Isn’t nature grand?
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We have sundews in our garden too, they are just wonderful aren’t they. :D
They really are! Lucky that you have them in your garden. I wish I did!
I once found a sundew that had an Eastern forktail damselfly by the tips of the abdomen and wings. I confess to releasing the damselfly. After I photographed it.
Awesome! I would have loved to see that. I might not have let the damselfly go though… Does that make me a horrible person? The plant’s gotta eat too!
Maybe the inspiration for Wyndham’s triffids ?
I always shudder a little when I consider the insectivorous plants, but they are real marvels of evolution aren’t they?
They’re wonderful plants! We’ve got several species in North Carolina and I’ll admit it makes me really happy to have a chance to see any of them growing out in the wild. They’re just fabulous!
Grand natire and marvels of evolution indeed! Not to mention the South American and SE Asian pitcher plants, and the humble British teazel in it’s own peculiar fashion! http://abugblog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/bug-eating-plant-in-garden.html (Not my blog, no shameless plugs here).
We’ve got a few species of pitcher plants and the venus flytraps here in North Carolina too! I feel really lucky to be able to see them so close to where I live.
I love sundews. I first saw them on a nature walk and the teacher hadn’t heard of carnivorous plants other than Venus Flytraps. We rushed to the library to find out what these little insect-eating marvels were. Very fond childhood memories there.
What a great story Michael! I wonder how many kids would rush to the library to make a new discovery like that – and what an awesome thing to learn about in the first place. They’re marvelous!
Neato!
Thanks!