Musėkautas

Vabzdžiaėdžiai augalai ir jų aplinka – Carnivorous plants and their habitats

„Akivaro” forumiečiaų išvykos į Varnikų botaninį draustinį akimirkos:

Jogailos Mackevičiaus, Linos Deimantavičiūtės, Ingridos Bielskienės, Agnės Baltokaitės nuotraukos
2012 m. gegužės 5 diena

Atrodo, tai buvo visai nesenai, kai vieną gegužės ketvirtąją 19 val. 7 min.,  pasirodė pirmasis, neilgas įrašas šioje svetainėje „Vabzdžiaėdžiai augalai”. Nuo pirmojo įrašo pasirodymo šiandien sukanka nei daug nei mažai – dveji metai. Skaityti toliau…

LT.

Heliamphora glabra growing in the Guiana Highlands, South America

Heliamphora glabra growing in the Guiana Highlands, South America

In South America, on the summits of the vast plateaus of the Guiana Highlands, there grows a strange and little known group of carnivorous plants called the Heliamphora, or Marsh Pitcher Plants. Heliamphora was first discovered in 1838 by Robert Schomburgk, a cartographer who had been hired by the British government of the colony of British Guiana (now the independent country of Guyana). Schomburgk had undertaken a survey of the boundary between the colony of British Guiana and Venezuela and ventured to the foothills of Mount Roraima where he discovered Heliamphora growing in a rich swampland that he named the “botanical El Dorado”. Today fifteen species of Heliamphora have been formally described, many very recently owing to the ongoing exploration of their remote habitats.

The trapping process which the Heliamphora have evolved is relatively simple and essentially similar to that of other six genera of pitcher plants distributed around the world. Insects are attracted to the leaves by their vibrant colouration and profuse secretions of sweet nectar. In order to reach the nectar, a visiting insect is forced to scale the waxy, slippery interior surface of the leaf and hang vertically at the back in order to reach the nectar, however a foothold is very difficult for the insect to maintain and the slightest movement of the leaf in the wind or a falter by the insect causes the victim to fall straight down into the depths of the trap and into the digestive liquid contained within. The lower parts of the interior surface of leaves are lined with long, spine like, downwards pointing hairs which present a formidable barrier and prevent the insect from climbing up the waxy interior surface of the leaves to safety. Eventually the victim drowns within the leaf and its small body is broken down and releases nutrients that are absorbed by the plant which provides a reliable and very significant source of nutrients and enables the plant to survive in environments irrespective on the availability of nutrients in the substrate. Skaityti toliau…

LTISBN: 978-0-9558918-2-3
ISBN: 978-0-9558918-3-0

Pitcher plants include the largest and most spectacular of all carnivorous plants. So-called because they produce highly specialised foliage that takes the form of hollow, water-filled “pitchers”, these extraordinary plants lure and prey upon arthropods and other small animals. The pitcher plants of the Old World also trap the largest prey of all carnivorous plants, including on rare occasions, vertebrates as large as frogs, mice and even rats. This two volume work examines both genera of Old World pitcher plants (Nepenthes and Cephalotus) and documents the ecology and natural diversity of every known species for the first time and in unparalleled detail…

Pasaulio asoteniai 01

Skaityti toliau…

by Stewart McPherson and Victor Amoroso
LT

ISBN: 978-0-9558918-8-5

Field Guide of the Philippines FrontField Guide to the Pitcher Plants of the Philippines is a beautiful and colourful overview of the twenty seven species of Philippine pitcher plants (Nepenthes). Several species featured in this work have been discovered only in the last two years and are documented here for the very first time.

This lavishly illustrated guide book consists of a short introduction to Nepenthes, followed by an overview of the species known from the Philippines (complete with full page map). Each species is then profiled over two pages with the use of three images (most of which have never been published before) and a brief, but detailed text summary written in clear, easy-to-understand English. Concluding sections cover Nepenthes hybrids, conservation of Philippine pitcher plants, Bibliography, Index and About the Authors.

The following species documented in this work are:

  • Nepenthes alata
  • Nepenthes argentii
  • Nepenthes attenboroughii
  • Nepenthes bellii
  • Nepenthes burkei
  • Nepenthes ceciliae
  • Field Guide of the Philippines 1Nepenthes copelandii
  • Nepenthes deaniana
  • Nepenthes gantungensis
  • Nepenthes hamiguitanensis
  • Nepenthes leonardoi
  • Nepenthes mantalingajanensis
  • Nepenthes merrilliana
  • Nepenthes micramphora
  • Nepenthes mindanaoensis
  • Nepenthes mira
  • Nepenthes mirabilis
  • Nepenthes palawanensis
  • Nepenthes peltata
  • Nepenthes petiolata
  • Nepenthes philippinensis
  • Nepenthes pulchra
  • Nepenthes saranganiensis
  • Nepenthes sibuyanensis
  • Nepenthes surigaoensis
  • Nepenthes truncata
  • Nepenthes ventricosa

Stewart McPherson

More pictures: Skaityti toliau…

LTISBN: 978-0-9558918-9-2

Never have so many new tropical pitcher plants (Nepenthes) been discovered as during the three years since the publication of the first complete monograph of the genus in 2009. Among them are eighteen new species, two revised species, one new variety, and two new but incompletely diagnosed taxa from across Borneo, Indochina, New Guinea, the Philippines and Sulawesi. The newly discovered plants include many of largest, most extraordinary and colourful carnivorous plants ever found. This work documents all of the new Nepenthes, in many cases for the very first time.

The chapters in this work are arranged as regional groupings of new Nepenthes. The first is entitled New Discoveries in Borneo, and includes descriptions of two spectacular new Bornean Nepenthes, N. appendiculata and N. epiphytica.

The next chapter, entitled New Discoveries in Indochina, documents six new Indochinese Nepenthes and one new variety described since the publication of Pitcher Plants of the Old World, namely N. andamana, N. chang, N. holdenii, N. kerrii, N. suratensis, N. thai and N. mirabilis var. globosa. The recent rediscovery of Nepenthes thorelii is also published here, along with a report of its rediscovery. Finally, an account of a newly discovered population of Nepenthes holdenii in Cambodia is presented, along with observations relating to an unidentified Nepenthes in the Cardamom Mountains of southern Cambodia. Skaityti toliau…

LTISBN: 978-0-939923-74-8

Pitcher Plants of the Americas 1Pitcher plants are the largest and most beautiful of the world’s carnivorous plants and are viewed with fascination as objects of natural history and natural beauty by people of all ages, nationalities, and vocational callings. Pitcher Plants of the Americas is intended for a broad audience, and accordingly has been written in substantive yet accessible language, that is enhanced through the use of spectacular, high-quality color images and diagrams. The result is a visually beautiful yet informative study that provides the first complete, detailed overview of the systematics, biology, ecology, biogeography, conservation, and horticulture of the five genera of American pitcher plants, including three genera of true pitcher plants (Darlingtonia, Heliamphora, and Sarracenia) and two genera of carnivorous tank bromeliads (Brocchinia and Catopsis).

The introductory chapters of this work outline the taxonomic content and groupings (by trapping methods) of carnivorous plants and briefly review the taxonomy, biology, evolutionary history, and biogeography of the American pitcher plants. The following five chapters are devoted to individual genera of the American pitcher plants and examine in detail the anatomy, habitat, ecology, trapping process, and distribution of each genus and each member species as well as many naturally occurring hybrids and selected cultivars. Skaityti toliau…