Blog - nutrient poor

Moorlands, peat and bogs.

Moorlands, peat and bogs.

by The blog at woodlands.co.uk, 9 April, 2021, 1 comments

Scottish moorlands often stretch uninterrupted towards the horizon, a mosaic of greens and browns. The tallest plants growing only ankle high. but even so, walking may require careful attention. There are hummocks covered in heather (Calluna vulgaris) and / or cotton grass (Eriophorum spp.) but inbetween, there may be somewhat soggy patches of sphagnum moss. Lying beneath the moss, heather and sedge is peat – this is a nutrient-poor, but carbon rich mass of partly decayed organic matter. Plants growing in the bogs are rooted in the peat, but are also contributing to ‘new peat’ as they grow. As their leaves wither and die, they drop into the acidic and watery surroundings – a process that has been going on for possibly for millennia . Read more...

Foliar feeding - the Venus Flytrap

Foliar feeding – the Venus Flytrap

by Lewis, 13 July, 2017, 1 comments

The Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula ) is a carnivorous plant found in the wetlands of North and South Carolina in the United States. The Venus flytrap is also popular as a cultivated plant and an 'object of interest' and can be found in many a garden centre. In the wild, the fly trap is found in areas with nutrient-deficient soils (often low in nitrate and phosphate). The plant makes up for the ‘edaphic* limitations’ by trapping and digesting insects (and spiders) in their specialised leaf traps. By doing so, they are able to extract nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen which are in limited supply in the soil - from the bodies of their prey. The ‘Dionaea diet’ is, in fact, 33% ants, 30% spiders (which are arachnids - not insects), 10% beetles and 10% grasshoppers - only a small percentage are actually flying insects. Read more...

'Flesh eaters' - carnivorous plants

‘Flesh eaters’ – carnivorous plants

by Chris, 27 February, 2016, 3 comments

Generally, speaking plants obtain the nutrients that they need from the soil - through their root systems. However, some soils are low in particular nutrients (especially nitrate - the source of nitrogen needed for organic compounds like amino acids and proteins). Some plants have ‘solved’ this problem by being carnivorous - feeding on / digesting small arthropods, such as spiders (arachnids), beetles, ants, flies etc (insects). Some carnivorous plants, such as the sundews (Drosera sp.) catch insects with the sticky glands on their modified leaves. Their name refers to the glistening drops of sticky mucilage on the tip of each gland (see featured image). Read more...

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Read our guide to wild flowers of woodland and hedgerow

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