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Roridula dentata is a very strange South African carnivorous plant.
During the spring I raised a seedling but it rotted off as soon as autumn arrived - I was keeping it too wet, so
I have learnt from the mistake. PlantzAfrica says: "Roridula dentata is a shrub up to 2 m high. The leaves are lanceolate having margins with teeth and tentacles, and are covered with numerous sticky hairs of different lengths and covered with a gummy glue-like substance. The flowers are pink and are borne on the ends of hairy pedicles in the axils of the upper leaves. Flowering time is in spring and early summer (September to October) in the southern hemisphere. Plants do not live long and bush fires initiate seedling germination. The most devastating threat to R. dentata populations is farming, specifically of rooibos, which is one of the only crops that can be grown in the mountains of the Cape, in the same habitat as this species. Due to the unique relationship of R. dentata with the insect, Pameridea marlothii, both species are rare or threatened: Pameridea marlothii occurs only on R. dentata, a leggy insect that may hold the key to the growth and pollination of this perennial shrub. Although the sticky sap on the leaves of R. dentata traps insects, the sap lacks enzymes to digest them, unlike the sundews, Drosera. Instead, R. dentata has a unique species-specific symbiotic relationship with the assasin bug, Pameridea marlothii. This insect, with its specially adapted feet, is able to live on the R. dentata plant and run freely over the sticky sap. On finding a trapped insect, the assasin bug probes the hapless victim with its proboscis, injecting venom until the prey succumbs and dies. The nitrogen-rich excretory waste products of the assasin bug provide fertilizer for the R. dentata plant. |
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| 22nd July 2007 | ||
