CBS Sunday Morning recently ran a story about saving Venus flytraps from development in North and South Carolina.
Most everyone has heard of that interesting carnivorous plant, but I could not help but think of the round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia), a carnivorous plant which in North Dakota is known only from a single Sphagnum bog in the Turtle Mountain aspen forest.
Round-leaved sundew is a small plant. It produces a basal rosette of rounded leaves, around a quarter of an inch in diameter. The upper surface of the leaves is covered with red glandular hairs with a sticky-sugary secretion on the tips which attracts and traps insects. It is sometimes described as nature’s flypaper! When an insect is stuck in the hairs, the leaf folds over to further trap the insect. The leaves then secrete an enzyme that digests the insect and the plant absorbs the nutrients.
As with other carnivorous plants, sundew does carry out photosynthesis. So, they do not require a carnivorous diet. The insects and other invertebrates serve as nutrient supplements, particularly for nitrogen and phosphorus. This is particularly advantageous because carnivorous plants grow in nutrient poor soils such as that found in bogs.
Bogs, more specifically Sphagnum bogs may be found in the coniferous forests of northern Minnesota, adjacent Canada, and other areas. In areas of quiet water, the Sphagnum may form a floating mat. And Sphagnum is unique in that it can make the water as acidic as vinegar. There is virtually no decomposition or oxygen, and a dearth of available nutrients. As a result, few organisms can live on or under the Sphagnum mat.
Some of the more common plants found on Sphagnum bogs include members of the heath family (Ericaceae) such as Labrador tea and cranberry, pitcher plant and sundew, black spruce, and tamarack. It should be noted that there are other sites in the state that are called bogs, such as Denbeigh bog and Pettibone bog. However, they are actually fens which differ from, bogs in many significant ways, including that water moves through fens.
