Rare plant turns carnivorous when it is low on a key nutrient
Sticky glands on leaves of the liana Triphyophyllum peltatum that emerge when the plant turns carnivorous
Traud Winkelmann/Leibniz College Hannover
A uncommon species of climbing vine from West Africa can flip right into a carnivore when it doesn’t get sufficient diet from the soil.
The liana Triphyophyllum peltatum grows in moist, forested hillsides in coastal areas of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ivory Coast.
Whereas some vegetation are totally carnivorous, T. peltatum is the one one recognized to be a part-time carnivore. It may unfurl particular leaves with glands oozing sticky droplets that lure beetles …
