Saprophytic plants are part of a group of organisms foretell heterotrophs , which are plant and organism that do not make their own food . Fungi also belong to this group . Saprophytic plants are rare and are rarely seen , but they represent an important part in the ecosystems of the humankind .

Step 1

Most industrial plant create their own food through a process call photosynthesis . These plants use chlorophyl to convert light , carbon dioxide and water into energy , which they use to develop . Plants that use chlorophyll are often call " green plants " because it is this chlorophyll that yield the plants their dark-green hue . plant that do not make their own food for thought lack chlorophyll and are not gullible , but rather white , pinkish , lily-livered or even crimson .

Saprophytic Plants

Unlike green plant life , saprophytic plants miss the necessary ingredients to commute illumination , water and carbon dioxide into energy . or else , they get their food from a different germ . Two generator , in fact . The chemical group can be generally divided into two groups : Those plants that feast on a host works , which are called parasitic plants , and those that fee on fungus , which are call mycotrophic plants .

Step 2

Parasitic Plants

leechlike plant confiscate themselves to the host industrial plant with a particular structure called a haustorium , which is get on the wind of the roots of the leechlike plant . The haustorium penetrates the tissue paper of the host plant , allowing the parasitic plant to draw food from it . Conopholis americana , or squawroot , is an case of a parasitic plant . This flora is found in U.S. Department of Agriculture industrial plant hardiness geographical zone 5 and can often be found pop out from piles of leaves found on deciduous forest level . In fact , squawroot is a favorite intellectual nourishment of the brownish bears that tramp the Appalachian mountains .

Mycotrophic Plants

Mycotrophic plants also get their food from a host plant , but they do so indirectly . These plant tie themselves to a fungus that grows on the tooth root of the host plant . They withdraw the nutrients from the fungus . Mycotrophic plant life are found in many works families ; quite a few orchids are mycotrophic , as are several plants in the Ericaceae family , including the ghostly white Indian Pipe ( Monotropa uniflora ) , which is hardy in USDA zone 4 and 5 .

Carnivorous Plants

Carnivorous plants have chlorophyll and can make their own intellectual nourishment , but that food is n’t quite enough to grow on . Most carnivorous plant experience in poor soils that lack nutrients . For this reason , these plants have develop mechanisms to bewitch and bunker insects . Once pin , the worm are lento digested , and the nutrients are imbibe by the works . The Venus fly trap ( Dionaea muscipula ) is a fairly well - known carnivorous plant . It turn in USDA zone 5 through 8 and is native to the southeasterly part of the United States .

References

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