Date: Thu, 03 Jun 1999 15:35:00 -0400 From: "Walter Greenwood" <walter@radserv.arad.upmc.edu> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg1981$foo@default> Subject: Re: passiflora,proboscidea,dianthus?
> I have heard people hint at the carnivorous nature of passiflora. Is it a
> carnivore? What part of the plant is carnivorous? It grows here in
> Eastern Okalhoma in late summer. I grows common here, it has lovely
> flowers, and yummy fruits. We call it Passion flower.
Don and other interested list members,
The species in question is Passiflora foetida, which has sticky bracts
that do catch and hold small insects. More research is needed to
establish whether or not the plant really can be considered carnivorous.
There are a few other species of Passiflora with similar bracts, but I
have not heard any speculation about carnivory with regard to them. P.
foetida occurs naturally in South and Central America and the West
Indies, but not in the Continental U.S. as far as I know. The species
you have in Oklahoma is most likely P. incarnata, although there are a
few other possibilities.
- Walter Greenwood
University of Pittsburgh
--- Quidquid Latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
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