Date: Fri, 05 Feb 99 22:52 EST From: Dave <T442119@RUTADMIN.RUTGERS.EDU> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg334$foo@default> Subject: Re: drosera morphology
Dear David,
> I'm growing several Drosera montana v tomentosa (gawd, I hope I spelled it
> right) via Fernando (thanks) and noticed that the flower stalk has dew on
> the flower bracts and for a short distance just below the flowers. No dew
> is present on the lower portion of the stalk. The fascinating part of this
> is that the dew on the flower bracts has managed to catch some gnats.
> Hopefully the same would not happen to the insect pollinator of choice in
> its native Brazil. Would anyone like to offer an evolutionary explanation
> for why this would evolve. A nearby Drosera brevifolia, which produces dew
> on the entire flower stalk, has not caught any insects on the flower stalk.
Well, I have seen bugs getting caught on some flower stem of
D. brevifolia. But they did not appear to have been digest, just
stuck. I suppose that your question could be answered like this:
The pollinator of this plant, D. montana v. tomentosa knows better
than to get caught on the flower stalk, while insects with whom the
plant doesn't have such an intimate relationship (like pests) don't
know and therefore get caught.
Dave E
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