Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 18:53:37 From: SCHLAUER@chemie.uni-wuerzburg.de To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2459$foo@default> Subject: Re: carnivorous behavior in lady slippers
Dear Eric,
> I'm not in
> a position to tell whether the plants are deriving any nutrition from the
> bugs, but I'm suspicious...
OK, then I would suggest a little experiment. How about the film
test? Stimulate secretion by a protein extract (e.g. yeast extract)
for a few hours. Place a diapositive film with the coated surface on
the (stimulated and unstimulated) glands, incubate overnight (or
longer), and inspect film for holes in the coating (it should be
holes, not only a change in colouration, which may be caused by
humidity alone). If the secretion of the glands is able to digest
holes into the film, it is probably able to hydrolyze the gelatine
(i.e. animal protein), a very good hint at an important symptom of
carnivory.
> Since these are bog plants, and there's some circumstantial evidence, I
> was wondering what people's opinions were about whether this might be
> primitive carnivory?
I am not inclined to judge in the absence of experimental data. The
list of true cps is (and remains) open.
> As far as I know, that would make them the only carnivorous
> orchids.
These would also be the first truly carnivorous monocotyledons.
Kind regards
Jan
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