Spergula arvensis L.
#SpergulaArvensis #CornSpurrey #WeedPlant #Caryophyllaceae #StickyPlant #Flower #Wildflower #WhiteFlowers #Nature #NatureLover #Botany #Plants #Flowerphotography #Norway

2021/07/05
@Bergen

Screen shot from Kewgardens Instagram showing a small plant with opposite, rounded leaves that are completely covered with glandular, sticky hairs. Inset photo is the leaf close up to show the sticky hairs.

Check out the new Crepidorhopalon droseroides (#Linderniaceae). Somebody has got to study this thing & find out whether it’s carnivorous. Coincidentally, Linderniaceae is sister to #Byblidaceae. Byblis is also sticky & produces enzymes in its glue. #carnivory #stickyplant #Botany #PlantScience 🌾🧪

Close up photo of a finger supporting the stems of the inflorescence. Sticky, dark bands on the stem have trapped small insects.

Silene spp. (#Caryophyllaceae) are known as “catchflies” because their inflorescence stalks are famously sticky. I posted about sticky flower stalks earlier this week, but here is a Christmas bonus shot of Silene antirrhina by Tom Norton CCBY4. #stickyplant #sticky #Botany #PlantScience 🌾🧪

Close-up photo of a woody branch with two seeds embedded in a gooey mucilage stuck to the bark.

Mistletoes (#Santalaceae & #Loranthacea) have seeds surrounded by sticky mucilage, which glues excreted seeds to branches where they germinate & parasitize their hosts. : sp. indet. Australia, Julie Burgher CCBYNCND2 #stickyplant #Botany #PlantScience 🌾🧪

Close-up photo of inflorescences, the stems of which are covered with sticky hairs. A small insect is trapped. One flower is opening.

Genlisea (#Lentibulariaceae; 30 spp) has tubular, subsurface leaves that trap soil invertebrates in convolute chambers. Above ground, they have sticky inflorescence stems that trap insects. Do they also digest them? : G. pallida, Craig Peter CCBYNC4 #stickyplant #carnivorous #Botany #PlantScience 🌾🧪

Close-up photo of a finger with five fruits sticking to it. Fruits are small, club-shaped, and green with longitudinal bands of sticky hairs.

Stickiness can be important in epizoochory = the transport of seeds or fruits on the outside of animals. Sticky secretions on the surface of Boerhavia coccinea fruits help this American plant get around. It’s now a pantropical #weed. #Nycataginacea #dispersal #stickyplant #Botany #PlantScience 🌾🧪

Close-up photo of a stem with a band of yellow sticky exudate, which is sticking to the finger supporting the stem.

Some plants have sticky inflorescences… or bands of #stickiness on the stalks. Does it protect nectar against thieving ants? Natural Tanglefoot® can be found on the stalks of Anulocaulis leiosolenus var. leiosolenus (📷: Corey Lang CCBYNC4) #Nyctaginaceae #stickyplant #Botany #PlantScience 🌾🧪

Photo of a shoot of Petunia with dozens of tiny gnats trapped on the surface of the leaves and stem.

Everyone probably knows petunias (#Solanaceae) & their stickiness. Glandular hairs on the surface of Petunia exserta secrete an exudate that is the undoing of greenhouse fungus gnats. Petunia isn’t carnivorous, but carnivory may have started this way. Function? #stickyplant #Botany #PlantScience 🌾🧪

Close-up photo of a leaf of Drosera covered with hairs, each one tipped with a glistening droplet of sticky exudate. A small insect is trapped on the leaf.

Photo of the climber with tendrils tipped in adhesive pads.

This week’s topic: Sticky plants! Yep, mucilages & glues; form & function. Lots to talk about. Some stickiness has an obvious function, e.g. insect trapping on Drosera (#Drosophyllaceae) & adhesive pads on climbing Parthenocissus quinquefolia (#Vitaceae). #stickyplant #Botany #PlantScience 🌾🧪