Tag: carnivorous plants

A new study has found a symbiotic relationship that has evolved between Darwin’s favourite carnivorous plant and a specific type of fungus which lives inside it and helps it digest its prey.
Researchers from Loughborough, Taiwan and USA have shown that Acrodontium crateriforme, a fungus that thrives in the acidic conditions on the leaves, improves the digestion of the Drosera species of carnivorous plant – otherwise known as a sundew (pictured above), and once described by Charles Darwin as, “a wonderful plant… I care more about Drosera than the origin of all the species.”
The fungus lives in a sticky secretion at the end of tentacles on the leaves. Its enzymes work with the plant’s digestive processes to help it break down the prey – small bugs and insects.
The findings show that teamwork between plants and fungi may contribute to the evolution of carnivorous plants.