CHOMP, CHOMP; MISSOURI HOME TO A VORACIOUS PLANT

Did you know we have a plant in our region that eats animals? It even puts the Venus fly trap to shame! It is more common than you may realize and a plant worth discovering. The plant is called a bladderwort and can be found all over the state!

Bladderwort (Utricularia vulgais) is an aquatic plant that lives in ponds, lakes, marshes, swamps and fens. They are a floating plant that has almost no root system. They get their nutrients by absorbing minerals directly from the water. Thin branches and leaves collect solar energy for food production.

Beautiful flowers are the most conspicuous part of the plants. Bright yellow blooms shoot up above the water in order to attract insect pollinators. Hungry insects have nothing to fear from the blooms though. If a potential pollinator were to be eaten, then the benefit of fertilization is lost to the plant.

A weird characteristic Bladderworts have are the odd pods growing from their fragile stems. Only the size of a pin head, these plants are an ominous trap for a zoo of aquatic invertebrates.

The trap function is amazing. Every pod has a hinged trap door with small hairs as a trigger. The trap is set as the plant lowers pressure inside the pod by removing fluid. This makes the water pressure higher on the outside of the trap. When an invertebrate brushes up against the hairs, the trap door opens a welcoming rush of water into the pod to equalize pressure.

Tiny hapless animals are swept in with the micro torrent of water. The trap door is shut as quickly as it opens sealing the aquatic animal's fate. This is so fast that high speed motion picture cameras cannot capture it on film. It takes an estimated 1/460th of a second. An odd trait associated with the pods is a crackling noise that can be heard as you lift the plants from the water. The noise is caused by the pods opening to let air in.

Once prey are caught, the pod secretes digestive juices to devour them. Scientists have recorded all kinds of aquatic invertebrates caught in a pod. Mosquito larvae, protozoans, rotifers, and tiny crustaceans are not the only prey. Small tadpoles and freshly hatched fish can be caught as well. Although not vegetarian in diet, duckweed and water meal (Missouri's smallest plant) have even ended up in Bladderwort traps.

Eating animals is an odd activity in the plant world and is associated with slightly acidic areas where decomposition of plant material is slow. Nitrogen is therefore not easily available so some plants have developed a method to cheat and get nitrogen on their own. They eat animals! Bladderwort can be cultivated in a home aquarium or an outdoor pond. It is Missouri's only carnivorous plant and is quite fascinating. Do not let this oddity escape your notice!