The Effects of Light on a Carnivorous Plant, Drosera capillaris.

Herbert C. Kesler¹, Loran C. Anderson¹, Sharon Hermann²

¹ Dept. Biological Sciences • Florida State University • Tallahassee, FL 32306 • USA

² Tall Timbers Research Station • Tallahassee, FL 32312 • USA

Carnivorous plants are recognized as being restricted to habitats with high light environments. However, the micro-site condition of an individual plant may change over its lifetime. Although, there are studies on how variations in light quality and quantity affect non-carnivorous plants, there has been little work done on carnivorous plants. In the current study, we manipulated photosynthetic photo flux density (PPFD) and spectral quality (reduction of R: FR ratio) under shade house conditions and documented the development and morphology of the carnivorous leaves of Drosera capillaris. The results of this study provide insight on how a carnivorous plant may maintain a balance between photosynthetic and carnivorous characters under an uncertain or varying micro-site light environmental.