PARASITIC PLANTS - INFO |
Parasitic plants derive all their nutrients from the root systems of nearby host plants, and are quite in-capable of deriving nutrients from the soil themselves. Most, if not all parasitic plants, have very specific host requirements and will only grow in the presence of a particular host. The broomrapes are like this. Thus Thyme broomrape grows only on Thyme. Greater Broomrape is able to grow on either Gorse or Broom, both of the Pea Family. This is probably how Broomrapes got their name: from the host of Greater Broomrape: Broom. Broomrapes are quite in-capable of synthesizing chlorophyll, and they have none. Chlorophyll in plants is responsible for how plants derive essential plant-building compounds like carbohydrates from carbon dioxide in the air and water from the ground with the help of sunlight. Without chlorophyll these reactions cannot happen. A plant without chlorophyll must hi-jack another plants' root system that has this ability and siphon off some of the synthesized products without killing the host (otherwise both will die).
Somewhat surprisingly, some parasitic plants are also able to parasitize themselves, a phenomenon called self-parasitization. Species of (Worldwide) Category:Parasitic_plants
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HEMI-PARASITIC PLANTS - INFO |
Hemi-parasitic (or semi-parasitic) plants derive some of their nutrients from the roots of adjacent plants. They do this by hooking into the host plants root system. If there are no nearby plants, then they will get by without nutrient supplements; they just grow as well. Not all hemi-parasites tap into the roots of hosts, some like Mistletoe or Dodder tap into the stems of hosts.
Gene-Swapping when in close-contact
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SAPROPHYTIC PLANTS - INFO |
SAPROPHYTIC (MYCO-HETEROTROPHIC) PLANTS Saprophytic plants are quite in-capable of synthesizing chlorophyll, and they have none. Chlorophyll in plants is responsible for how plants derive essential plant-building compounds like carbohydrates from carbon dioxide in the air and water from the ground with the help of sunlight. Without chlorophyll these photo-synthetic reactions cannot happen. A plant without chlorophyll must hi-jack another plants' root system that has this ability and siphon off some of the synthesized products without killing the host (otherwise both will die).
Further research has proved that, in reality, there are no saprophytic plants. The word 'saprophyte' is a misnomer - and is no longer a recommended term in botany. In it's stead is the term 'myco-heterotrophs'. Plants once considered saprophytic, such as Monotropes (for example (Worldwide) List of myco-heterotrophic genera
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CARNIVOROUS PLANTS - INFO |
Carnivorous Plants 'eat' mainly small insects (so are therefore 'insectivorous') that happen to get entrapped either in the flower, or on the slippery leaves. They have no teeth to masticate them, but rather use a cocktail of enzymes produced by the plant itself with which to digest them, and the juices are subsequently absorbed within the plant to be used as components in synthesis. (Worldwide) List of carnivorous plants [replete with blinking cursor!]
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PROTOCARNIVOROUS PLANTS - INFO |
ProtoCarnivorous Plants are borderline carnivorous plants, some are able to trap insects but are not capable of fully digesting them or are not, to various degrees, fully capable of absorbing all the nutrients from them. Carnivorous plants produce their own enzymes to digest the insect, but protocarnivorous plants may not produce an enzyme to digest the insects, but merely rely on normal decomposition when the insect dies after entrapment. Examples include the parasitic plants Toothwort (Lathraea squamaria) and Toothwort (Purple) and the non-parasitic plant Wild Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum). (Worldwide) Protocarnivorous plant
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