Crossword clues for drosophyllum
drosophyllum
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Drosophyllum \Drosophyllum\ n. a genus of dicotyledonous plants having only one species.
Syn: genus Drosophyllum.
Wikipedia
Drosophyllum (, rarely ) is a genus of carnivorous plants containing the single species Drosophyllum lusitanicum (Portuguese sundew or dewy pine). In appearance, it is similar to the related genus Drosera (the sundews), and to the much more distantly related Byblis (the rainbow plants).
Drosophyllum lusitanicum is native to the western Mediterranean region ( Portugal, Spain and Morocco), and is one of the few carnivorous plants to grow in dry, alkaline soils. The 20- to 40-cm (8- to 16-in) glandular leaves, which uncoil from a central rosette, lack the power of movement common to most sundews, but have the unusual characteristic of coiling 'outward' when immature (outward circinate vernation). The plant has a distinct sweet aroma, which attracts the insects upon which it preys. When insects land on the leaves, they find themselves stuck to the mucilage secreted by the stalked glands on the leaves. The more the insects struggle, the more ensnared they become, ultimately dying of suffocation or exhaustion. The plant then secretes enzymes which dissolve the insects and release the nutrients, which are then absorbed by the plant. The plant uses these nutrients to supplement the nutrient-poor soil in which it grows.
Drosophyllum lusitanicum bears bright-yellow flowers, in diameter, borne in groups of 3–15 between February and May. The translucent seedpods bear 3–10 opaque black, pear-shaped seeds, in diameter. Seed germination may be aided by scarification.
The genus had always been assumed to be closely allied to Drosera, and was previously placed in the Droseraceae. Recent molecular and biochemical studies, however, place it in the monotypic Drosophyllaceae, as recommended by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, and allied with the Dioncophyllaceae ( Triphyophyllum) and Ancistrocladaceae.
Usage examples of "drosophyllum".
Drosophyllum, neither those on the upper nor lower surface of the leaves, are capable of movement when excited, though they capture numerous insects, which serve as nutriment.
But when we consider the vast number of the tentacles on both surfaces of the leaves of Drosophyllum, and on the upper surface of the leaves of Drosera, it seems scarcely possible that each tentacle could have aboriginally existed as a prolongation of the leaf.
Darwin, Francis, on the effect of an induced galvanic current on Drosera, 37 , on the digestion of grains of chlorophyll, 126 , on Utricularia, 442 Delpino, on Aldrovanda, 321 , on Utricularia, 395 Dentine, its digestion by Drosera, 106 Digestion of various substances by Dionaea, 301 by Drosera, 85 by Drosophyllum, 339 by Pinguicula, 381 , origin of power of, 361 Digitaline, action on Drosera, 203 Dionaea muscipula, small size of roots, 286 , structure of leaves, 287 , sensitiveness of filaments, 289 , absorption by, 295 , secretion by, 295 , digestion by, 301 , effects on, of chloroform, 304 , manner of capturing insects, 305 , transmission of motor impulse, 313 , reexpansion of lobes, 318 Direction of inflected tentacles of Drosera, 243 Dohrn, Dr.
This is effected by Drosophyllum, Roridula, and Byblis, solely by the viscid fluid secreted from their glands.
The above named three genera, namely Drosophyllum, Roridula, and Byblis, which appear to have retained a primordial condition, still bear glandular hairs on both surfaces of their leaves.
From this peculiarity, when a small insect alights on a leaf of Drosophyllum, the drops adhere to its wings, feet, or body, and are drawn from the gland.
These probably sink down besmeared with the secretion and rest on the small sessile glands, which, if we may judge by the analogy of Drosophyllum, then pour forth their secretion and afterwards absorb the digested matter.