Question

You have heard about several insectivorous plants that feed on insects. Nepenthes or the pitcher plant is one such example, which usually gorws in shallow water or in marsh lands. What part of the plant is modified into a pitcher ? How does this modification help the plant for food even through it can photosynthesise like any other green plant ?

Answer 1

In insectivorous plant e.g., Nepenthes, the leaf lamina gets modified in the form of pitcher and anterior part of petiole coils like tendril which keeps the pitcher in a vertical direction. Posterior part of the petiole remains flattened like a leaf. The apex of lamina forms a lid. Pitcher contains digestive enzyme which the trapped insects .
All these modifications and adaptation are developed to make up the nitrogen deficiency in the plant because these plants are found in `N_(2)` deficient soil, (marshy/swamp soils)