FOODS IN PLANTS 



53 



the trees to enable them to thrive. The European mistletoe 

 causes much damage to apple trees in northern France and in 



the Tirol. 



54. Carnivorous plants. 

 There are many kinds of 

 plants (probably more than 

 four hundred species) which 

 capture insects and other 

 small animals. In some 

 cases at least they may 

 digest the captured animals 

 as a part of their food sup- 

 ply. Some of these plants 

 entrap their prey by means 

 of hollow leaves, some by 

 means of sticky secretions, 

 and some by means of 

 quickly closing, trap-like 

 leaves. The best type of 

 carnivorous plant is the 

 sundew (fig. 36). This is 

 a low marsh 

 plant having 

 hairy leaves 

 and a slender 

 flower stalk, 

 on which are 

 borne small 

 white flowers. 

 In one widely 

 distributed spe- 

 cies the leaf 

 consists of a 



FIG. 36. The sundew, a carnivorous plant 



narrow blade tapering into a moderately long leafstalk. On 

 the inner surface and around the margin of the blade are 

 borne a number of short bristles, each terminating in a knob 



