Insectivorous Plants (book)

Insectivorous Plants (English: Insectivorous Plants ), first published late in 1875 by the English naturalist Charles Darwin, is the seminal work in the study of carnivorous plants. In the work of Darwin documented experimentally the existence of carnivory in the plant kingdom.

Genesis

In the summer of 1860, Darwin was on a heath in Sussex on the road, where there was an extensive collection of round-leaved sundew. He was surprised by the large number of insects, which began the plants with their leaves and collected on twelve plants he examined closer home. He noted that of the 56 mature leaves of plants 31 insects had caught, was that it was mostly these were flying at the loot and that the largest prey was a butterfly ( Coenonympha pamphilus ).

Inspired thereof Darwin began extensive experiments on round-leaved sundew, supplemented subsequently by experiments at six other sundews, and Venus Flytrap ( Dionaea muscipula ), the water trap ( Aldrovanda vesiculosa ), the Taublatts ( Drosophyllum lusitanicum ), two fat herb species ( Pinguicula ), several water hoses ( Utricularia ) and observations and studies of plant bugs ( Roridula dentata ), rainbow plants ( Byblis gigantea ) and Reuse traps ( Genlisea ). In addition, he also studied several other plant species ( eg, the Virginian tobacco Nicotiana tabacum ), which were known as insect- catching.

It succeeded Darwin, definitely going to prove that the studied sundew plants, the Taublatt and the fat herbs were specially equipped for catching insects and their digestion and absorption of dissolved nutrients. For many other species or genera he suspected the Karnivorie also, but could not prove it because he usually had only herbarium material available especially in non-European species.

For the first time Darwin presented the results of his work, together with Joseph Dalton Hooker at a lecture in Belfast, in the autumn of 1875 they appeared then as a book with illustrations by the hand of his sons George and Francis. Francis Darwin got a second revised edition, 1888. 1876 published a German translation by Julius Victor Carus, further translations into other languages ​​quickly followed, in 1878 were a Russian, an Italian and a French edition before, other issues followed, still 1983 in the Chinese language.

Effect

After his lecture was extensively on the topic of " Carnivorous Plants " reported on July 3, 1875 in the journal Scientific American. Despite the detailed and thorough experimental approach of the botanist Eduard August designated by rule Darwin's work as " scientific Plunder " and wrote that " Darwin on the phenomena of motion in some insectivorous plants towards established theory to those theories heard just about every intelligent botanist would have laughed - if this theory does not ausginge by the celebrated Darwin ... ". Until the 1920s, there have been authors who challenged Darwin's results.

Nevertheless, the work applies to the present day as an important basis of the research literature on carnivorous plants and is still cited.