The Hidden Histories of House Plants: Fascinating Stories of Our Most-Loved Houseplants by Maddie Bailey & Alice Bailey

Author:Maddie Bailey & Alice Bailey [Bailey, Maddie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hardie Grant Publishing
Published: 2020-09-17T00:00:00+00:00

CARNIVOROUS BROMELIADS?

One species of bromeliad (Puya chilensis) has been accused of ensnaring sheep and self-fertilising with the remains, in a kind of protocarnivorous act. The carnivorous Venus flytrap, when its trap is activated, snaps shut and hermetically seals all escape routes before producing a soup of digestive secretions within its leaves, allowing the plant to digest its prey and reabsorb the nutrient-rich fluid. Since Venus flytraps grow in nutrient-poor soil, this process is essential in keeping them well fed, making sure they are able to grow and reproduce. Protocarnivorous plants, on the other hand, may be able to trap insects and animals, but don’t have the physiological means of directly absorbing nutrients from their carcasses. They do benefit from their decomposition, and the nutritional value they provide to the plant, but it isn’t essential to the continued survival of their species.

Puya chilensis are among the largest species of bromeliad in the world. With long, strap-like barbed leaves and flowers often reaching over 6 metres (20 feet) in height, these terrestrial bromeliads can be found growing in large clusters on the dry hillsides of Chile, where a number of animals graze on the surrounding grass. In such a dry and unforgiving climate, being a large plant comes with a great number of disadvantages; the bigger the plant, the more nutrients necessary to keep it alive and thriving. And in these circumstances, the potential for protocarnivory could be extremely useful.

Using the only tools they have – their barbed leaves and large size – Puya chilensis, growing side by side and en masse, ensnare the peacefully grazing sheep (among other unfortunate animals). The sheep’s wool gets caught in the barbed leaves and, as they fight to escape, they tangle themselves into an increasingly worse position until they become well and truly stuck. Utterly unable to free themselves, they slowly suffer from dehydration or malnutrition, and eventually die. The resulting decomposition of the sheep provides the soil surrounding the bromeliads with a rich fertiliser, which they absorb through their far-reaching roots.

The ensnarement of the sheep is massively beneficial and perhaps even crucial to the life of these bromeliads. Puya chilensis could be the perfect example of protocarnivory, provided it can be proven that the plant traps the sheep on purpose.

Whether this was a conscious evolutionary adaptation is up for debate, however, and scientists aren’t wholly in agreement. Some who have studied the plant and its unusual relationship with Chilean sheep, don’t count this as protocarnivorous behaviour, while others say it is a prime example. To us, whether or not the plants do it on purpose, the concept is exciting, and we like to think of it as an enthusiastic lust for survival in a less than sympathetic habitat.

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