Covered in long, sticky tentacles,
the Sundew is a predatory plant that looks like it’s from another planet.
Their cute leaves and bright red stalks, which seem to capture and sweeten the morning dew,
are the perfect landing spot for an insect. To some, it will be their last.
In sundew country, no one can hear you scream.
Hi, I’m Tasha the Amazon and you’re watching Floralogic.
Sundews are the members of the genus drosera. There are about 200 species worldwide and they
live in every continent except Antarctica. They’re mostly found in Africa and in Australia, the land
that constantly wants to put you 6 feet undah. Charles Darwin was fascinated by these plants
and wrote about them extensively. He said of them, “I care more about drosera than the origin of all
other species in the world,” while trying to understand their evolutionary history. He was
even the first person to report that on average it takes drosera 15 minutes to kill its prey.
Like most other carnivorous plants, their meat-eating is an adaptation
for life in nutrient-poor soils. Their prey is consumed not for energy
but for their proteins, which get broken down into nitrogen and used to fertilize the plant.
Their roots are great at absorbing water, but pretty much useless at sucking in nutrients.
Some species don’t even have the enzymes necessary to extract nitrates from the soil.
Since there are so many species their morphology varies a lot.
Most species have flat leaves. Pink sundews,
which are abundant throughout Florida are one the most common examples of this.
They’re easy landing spots for a myriad of insects, but can also be easier to escape.
Some, like the North American thread-leaved sundew have tube-like leaves that unfurl as they grow.
The leaves are thin, but they generate enough sticky juice to
catch larger insects such as wasps. Others, such as the common sundew,
which can be found in northern latitudes throughout the world, have almost spherical
leaves. This makes it possible for them to catch prey coming from all directions.
But what they all have in common is the tentacles on their leaves.
They’re usually red, which gives the plant an alien-like appearance, and have two types of
glands on them. The first type secretes the sweet sticky nectar that attracts and snares insects.
The second type makes the digestive juices to break down its prey’s soft tissue.
Over the eons there have been several genera of carnivorous plants
that use a glue trap strategy to catch prey, but what sets the sundew apart
is that their tentacles fold in the direction of the prey in order to maximize points of contact.
Upon landing, the tentacles get activated and move towards the prey.
The insect will struggle, but soon it will get tired and drown in the sweet nectar.
In some species this can take about a quarter of an hour, but in others it will be just a
matter of seconds. Then the digestive process begins.
Some species, such as the cape sundew, take it even further by also folding the
leaves at the same time as the tentacles in order to fully envelop the insect.
Nobody knows for sure how they move their leaves and tentacles, or how they can tell whether it’s
prey or just debris. It’s suspected that the movement is caused by chain reactions inside the
cells to make them more acidic and make the cell walls more flexible, which causes cells to expand.
So, it’s a very complicated process but the results are amazing.
People have been fascinated by these plants for hundreds of years, and have used it as a way to
treat a myriad of ailments. Their leaves are used to treat coughs and ulcers and as an aphrodisiac,
though their only proven medical quality is as an expectorant.
Because of their beauty and their unadulterated awesomeness
they’re now also common in the ornamental plant business.
The most common one are cape sundews and spoon leaved sundews such as these one,
one of the hardiest droseras. They produce lots of seeds and require relatively little attention.
It’s a great beginner's drosera. This one over here is actually a hybrid called
drosera andromeda. It doesn’t move at all when fed, but it’s a great plant for cooler conditions.
Aren't they the cutest? Of course, if you decide to get a sundew, or
any other plant, make sure you do proper research. They can be very sensitive to minerals in tap
water and other external factors in your home. Or if you’d rather see them in the wild,
make sure to look for them whenever you’re in a swampy area. The North American east coast
is home to several species. Some of them, such as the English sundew and the spoonleaf sundew,
can live across the continent, from the Southern US to northern Canada.
There it is! Ah ha! Ah that's so sticky!
It's so incredibly sticky! Hey guys today we have sundews look at these little guys! So cute!
They have two different kinds of glands on them, one is for producing the sweet,
sweet nectar. The other is for producing digestive enzymes for breaking down their meals! Yum!
These little sundews are carnivorous plants so they rely on the insects that they catch
that's because their roots are great at sucking water but suck at sucking nutrients.
Watch this. It's so sticky. Oh my god. Do you see that? It's stretching like spider
silk! This is incredible ah tell me something to go to sundew! Sundews come in a variety of
different styles from tubers to epiphytes to swampers. Tell me something about a sun don't!
Swampy!
So what should I talk about next? Please let me know in the comments and don’t forget to
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