Aldrovanda vesiculosa, also known as the waterwheel plant, is a fascinating rootless, carnivorous, aquatic plant. It generally feeds on small aquatic vertebrates, using a trap mechanism called a snap trap.
This plant consists mainly of free floating stems, reaching 6 – 11cm in length. The 2-3mm trap leaves grow in whorls of 5-9, in close succession along the plant’s central stem. The traps are attached to petioles, which contain air, and assists in floatation. This is a very fast growing plant and can reach 4-9mm per day, in some instances even producing a new whorl every day. As the plant grows from one end, the other end will continuously die off.
The traps basically consists of two lobes which fold together to make the snap traps. The openings of the trap point outwards, and are covered in a fine coating of trigger hairs, which will cause the trap to snap shut around any prey that comes too close. The trap closes in only 10 milliseconds, making it one of the fastest examples of plant movement in the animal kingdom. --
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