Do some Plants Eat Insects?

            Insect eating plants have always fascinated botanists. These plants cannot prepare their own protein; therefore they obtain it by eating insects and worms. These plants are called insectivorous plants. Every plant of this kind has its own unique technique of capturing insects. The leaves of these specialized plants are adapted to trap and digest insects- which supplement their food supply.

Pitcher Plant 

            One of the most well-known insectivorous plants is the pitcher plant. The upper part of its leaf resembles a small pitcher. The color of this plant is very attractive and it contains a sticky liquid. The opening of the pitcher has small fibers, which allow the insect to go inside but obstruct its coming out. On being attracted by the beautiful color, when some insect enters this pitcher, it is unable to come out. It gets entangled produces certain enzymes and digests it. The cobra plant of America, which appears like a snake, also eats insects. It also has a pitcher shaped mouth.

            Another part, which feeds on insects, is the sundew plant. The sundew plants have hair on their leaves. The tips of these hairs have droplets of a liquid, which appear very attractive. As soon as some insect is attracted towards the leaf, the hair bends with the help of their own juice. The digested flesh is absorbed through their leaves. After that, the hair returns to normal.

            There is a plant called Venus fly trap which is found in America. Its leaves have beautiful red colored elevations o both sides. Whenever an insect sits on a leaf, it closes like a fork and the plat digests the trapped insect by digestive juices. The uticularia is a water plant. It is found all over the world. The roots of this plant that are submerged in water have bulbous bladders. When some aquatic insect enters the bladder, the hair on its opening does not allow it to come out. The walls of these bladders give out a digestive juice, which suck the proteins out of the bodies of the insect.

            Similarly, a plant called Indian pipe is found in the hills of shimla. It also eats insects. In addition to these, there are many other insectivorous plants all over the world.

What are the Difference between Fruits and Vegetables?

            Have you ever wondered what separates fruits from vegetables? What is the difference between these two categories of food? Most of us tend to think that the edible fleshy-part with seeds, which develop from the flowers of any plant, is called a fruit, whereas trunks, leaves and flowers of herbaceous plants used as food are called vegetables. But scientifically speaking, this belief is not quite correct.

Fruits and Vegetables

          According to botanists, the part of the plant containing the seed, which is produced by the ovary, is called the fruit. Whereas, the rest of the part used for food is called vegetable. Scientists have divided fruits into three basic categories: 1. Fruits with pulp and seed such as apple, orange, watermelon etc., 2. Fruits with stones, such as plum, cherry, peach, etc, 3. Dry fruits, such as corn and wheat.

          The horticulturists have adopted a simpler method of classifying fruits- temperate fruits, tropical fruits and subtropical fruits. Temperate fruits like apples, apricots are raised in temperate climates, subtropical fruits such s grapefruit, lemon and olives need warm or mild temperature throughout the year, while tropical fruits like mango, papaya, banana and litchis, are those that can stand frost.

          Surprisingly a botanist categorizes beans, peas, cucumbers and marrows as fruits. Whereas cabbage, turnip, radish, cauliflower, onions, potatoes- all are vegetables. Quite a confusing classification!

          Well, we are not the only ones confused- it baffles the entire world. The tomato was the centre of a controversy for a long time in USA until the US. Supreme Court declared in 1893 that tomato is a vegetable from a commercial point of view and scientifically a fruit.