Premium
Food or sex; pollinator–prey conflict in carnivorous plants
Author(s) -
Anderson B.,
Midgley J.J.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
ecology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.852
H-Index - 265
eISSN - 1461-0248
pISSN - 1461-023X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1461-0248.2001.00258.x
Subject(s) - pollinator , biology , pollination , carnivorous plant , predation , ecology , botany , competition (biology) , pollen
Carnivorous plants potentially trap their own pollinators and it has been argued that considerable spatial separation of flowers and traps has evolved to protect pollinators. We investigated flower‐trap separation of Drosera and Utricularia . Short Drosera had a greater element of floral–trap separation than tall Drosera . Such a relationship is unexpected for plants whose peduncles were evolved to protect their pollinators. Utricularia can not trap pollinators but this genus still produces exceptionally long peduncles. We propose that flower‐trap separation evolved because carnivorous plants are often short and need to project their flowers well above ground level to make them more attractive to pollinators.