Saxifraga candelabrum is a recently confirmed carnivorous plant. Its sticky hairs catch small insects, while its flowers attract them with their scent.
Carnivorous plants are known for their dramatic traps, but catching an insect is only part of the story. For a plant to become truly carnivorous, it must also digest animal prey and take nutrients from it, turning the captured insects into a useful food source.
Saxifrage candlestick It now meets this full test.
The flowering plant is held small Insects On sticky hair, it digests them and takes nitrogen from their bodies.
The last result of Kunming Institute of Botany Adds a new plant to the list of known carnivorous plants. It also supports an idea proposed by Charles Darwin more than 150 years ago.
Darwin’s idea is gaining new support
In 1875, Darwin proposed that two saxifrage Plants may eat insects because they have sticky hairs. These bristles form a thick liquid that can trap small insects.
Darwin tried feeding experiments, but the results were inconclusive. saxifrage It remains an interesting prospect and not a confirmed habitat for carnivorous plants.
Saxifrage candlestick Not one of the two species examined by Darwin. However, they have a similar ability to hunt insects.the hairSo the team used recent tests to examine their broader idea.
The plant grows in sunny rock crevices in southwestern China, at an altitude of about 8,200 to 10,800 feet (2,500 to 3,300 meters) above sea level.
Their alpine habitat provides few nutrients, making insects a valuable source of nitrogen.
Saxifraga plants regularly catch insects
The first clues came from plants growing in the wild.
Mature individuals had an average of 71 insects trapped, most of which were attached to the hairs covering the flowering branches.
The same pattern appeared in the herbarium, a collection of preserved plants. Insects remained associated with 43 of the 45 flowering specimens collected between 1888 and 2016.
This long record shows that trapping is not a rare event caused by a single unusual season. It seems to be a regular part of plant life.
Most of the prey were small mosquitoes. Larger flies and bees visited the flowers but rarely stuck, which may prevent the plant from catching pollen-carrying insects.
The scent of flowers helps attract insects
The team then wondered whether the insects simply bumped into the plant or whether the flowers brought them closer to it.
Some plants are housed inside clear glass that allows insects to see the flowers but blocks much of their scent.
Other plants sat behind breathable white mesh, reducing the visual signal while allowing scent to pass through.
More insects were visited when the scent remained available, suggesting that scent is an important part of attraction.
The results are promising but have limitations
The flowers release airborne chemicals, including beta myrcene and eucalyptol. Insects can detect both, although tests have not shown that either chemical alone brought prey to the plant.
This experiment used only six to 16 plants per treatment, and each plant was monitored for 10 minutes.
Because the team compared several groups without adjusting the number of tests, some differences may appear stronger by chance.
Digestive enzymes provide evidence
It is not enough to catch prey if the plant cannot break it down.
The researchers analyzed phosphatase, an enzyme that helps release beneficial nutrients from biological materials.
They used a chemical that glows when the enzyme works. Sticky hair Saxifrage candlestick Glowing, just like those found in known carnivorous plants.
Related saxifrage The plant, which rarely catches insects, did not glow. This suggests that the hairs help break down trapped insects.
Nitrogen is transported to the tissues
The most powerful test follows nitrogen from insects to plants.
The team fed the fruit flies nitrogen-15, a stable, non-radioactive and slightly heavier form of nitrogen found mostly in nature.
This difference gave the team a marker to track. The researchers placed 10 tagged flies on each treated plant, then tested the plant tissue two weeks later.
Nitrogen comes from insects
Saxifrage candlestick They showed a strong rise in labeled nitrogen, as did the well-known carnivorous sundew.
Two non-carnivorous plants showed no similar increase, arguing against simple contamination or accidental transfer.
The team also found a little nitrogen in the nearby soil.
This removed the possibility that the signal could have come from plant surfaces that the flies had come into contact with before testing.
Flowers receive most of their nitrogen from insects
The largest amount of labeled nitrogen appeared in flowers. Leaves along the flowering stem contain less, while lower leaves closer to the ground contain the least.
This pattern indicates that the plant is sending some of the captured nutrients toward reproduction. However, the experiment did not directly test whether insect meals led to more flowers or seeds.
Nutrition comparisons generally involved between five and 10 plants per treatment and lasted only a few weeks.
Tests showed that the plant absorbs nitrogen from insects, but did not show the extent to which it helped the plant grow, reproduce or survive.
Carnivorous plants share genetic patterns
The researchers also mapped the plant’s complete set of DNA. They compared it to other carnivorous plants that hunt insects in different ways.
Three unrelated plants with sticky traps carried additional transcripts in 20 related gene clusters. These groups were related to smell, digestion, and movement of nutrients.
The broader comparison found similar changes in some genes in six species of carnivores. This fits an explanation that involves convergent evolution, where separate branches of life independently arrive at similar solutions.
Similar genotypes do not prove that these genes caused carnivory.
More tests are needed to find out what the genes do and whether they help plants Capture, digest or absorb nutrients from insects.
Saxifrage candlestick It is a carnivorous plant
Together, the guides cover every major step required to confirm the plant Carnivorous.
Saxifrage candlestick It attracts small insects, traps them, secretes digestive enzymes, and absorbs nitrogen from their bodies.
The result does not prove that both saxifrage The species originally named by Darwin is carnivorous.
It shows that his suspicions about the group were correct, and that other plants with sticky hair may also be gaining nutrients from the trapped animals.
Saxifrage candlestick It now stands as a newly confirmed carnivorous plant from a high mountain environment.
The sticky hairs were easy to see, but tests were needed to show that they help the plant catch and consume insects.
The study is published in the journal Nature Communications.
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