Re: What is a carnivorous plant?

R5M@aol.com
Thu, 15 Jun 1995 11:40:38 -0400

In a message dated 95-06-14 19:23:44 EDT, you write:
(I'd guess
most algae fits the bill as non-cp also.)
Geez, you've never heard of an algae bloom that used up all the oxygen and
killed off all the fish?
There's also a study out of Berkeley that says that oak trees control
squirrel populations by NOT producing acorns one year.(Honest, I didn't make
that up, but have forgotten where I saw it.) Since squirrels live in oak
trees, you don't suppose that they do that on purpose for some nutritional
suppliment? Nah, it's probably some sort of land lord action.
So, maybe termites don't eat wood either. They all contain celulose
digesting bacteria and never do that work for themselves. (Isn't this a
chicken and egg thing, a paradox? Which evolved first?)

> Perhaps there's a holocarnivore out there waiting to be found -
> (now that I'd like to see!) Though I dread to think of the
> environmental conditions necessary to promote such a thing
>unless
> it could arise from albino mutations or somesuch.
)
I would make a case for the fungi, except that they are no longer considered
plants. You know, those mushroom that would drop you in your place is you
were to sample them in the wild instead of taking them home where your dead
body would piss your wife off and scare the children.
Becky