Lentibulariaceae is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

carnivorous plant Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryot ...

s containing three genera: ''

Genlisea ''Genlisea'' ( ) is a genus of carnivorous plants also known as corkscrew plants. The 30 or so species grow in wet terrestrial to semi-aquatic environments distributed throughout Africa and Central and South America. The plants use highly modifi ...

'', the corkscrew plants; ''

Pinguicula ''Pinguicula'', commonly known as the butterworts, is a genus of carnivorous flowering plants in the family Lentibulariaceae. They use sticky, glandular leaves to lure, trap, and digest insects in order to supplement the poor mineral nutrition ...

'', the butterworts; and ''

Utricularia ''Utricularia'', commonly and collectively called the bladderworts, is a genus of carnivorous plants consisting of approximately 233 species (precise counts differ based on classification opinions; a 2001 publication lists 215 species).Salmon, Br ...

'', the bladderworts. The genera ''Polypompholyx'' (two species of pink petticoats or fairy aprons) and ''Biovularia'' used to be regarded as fourth and fifth members of this family. ''Biovularia'' has been subsumed into ''Utricularia'', and ''Polypompholyx'' has been relegated to a subgenus of ''Utricularia''. Placement of the family used to be in the

Scrophulariales The order Lamiales (also known as the mint order) are an order in the asterid group of dicotyledonous flowering plants. It includes about 23,810 species, 1,059 genera, and is divided into about 25 families. These families include Acanthaceae, Big ...

, which has been merged with

Lamiales The order Lamiales (also known as the mint order) are an order in the asterid group of dicotyledonous flowering plants. It includes about 23,810 species, 1,059 genera, and is divided into about 25 families. These families include Acanthaceae, Bi ...

in the

Angiosperm Phylogeny Group The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) is an informal international group of systematic botanists who collaborate to establish a consensus on the taxonomy of flowering plants (angiosperms) that reflects new knowledge about plant relationships disco ...

system.

Evolution

Carnivory in plants appears to have evolved independently in four major

angiosperm Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

lineages and five orders:

Poales The Poales are a large order of flowering plants in the monocotyledons, and includes families of plants such as the grasses, bromeliads, and sedges. Sixteen plant families are currently recognized by botanists to be part of Poales. Descriptio ...

Caryophyllales Caryophyllales ( ) is a diverse and heterogeneous order of flowering plants that includes the cacti, carnations, amaranths, ice plants, beets, and many carnivorous plants. Many members are succulent, having fleshy stems or leaves. The betalai ...

Oxalidales Oxalidales is an order of flowering plants, included within the rosid subgroup of eudicots. Compound leaves are common in Oxalidales and the majority of the species in this order have five or six sepals and petals. The following families are typic ...

Ericales The Ericales are a large and diverse order of dicotyledons. Species in this order have considerable commercial importance including for Camellia sinensis, tea, persimmon, blueberry, kiwifruit, Brazil nuts, Argania, argan, and azalea. The order i ...

, and

. One common trait found in several Lamiales families that may have led to carnivory is the secretion of

proteinase A protease (also called a peptidase, proteinase, or proteolytic enzyme) is an enzyme that catalysis, catalyzes (increases reaction rate or "speeds up") proteolysis, breaking down proteins into smaller polypeptides or single amino acids, and spurri ...

mucilage through leaf surfaces. This mucilage is generally used to prevent insect predation by trapping and degrading potentially harmful insects. Some research suggests these glands can quite easily shift their function from secretion to absorption. This shift may have first occurred in the

most recent common ancestor In biology and genetic genealogy, the most recent common ancestor (MRCA), also known as the last common ancestor (LCA) or concestor, of a set of organisms is the most recent individual from which all the organisms of the set are descended. The ...

(MRCA) of the Lentibulariaceae, introducing absorptive glands that provided additional

macronutrients A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excret ...

through trapped insects. The additional source of nutrients may have increased fitness of plants growing in low-nutrient habitats which eventually caused an embrace of carnivory. Further mapping of traits also suggests the MRCA was terrestrial and possessed a basal rosette composed of flat leaves and a primary root. Phylogenetics also confirmed that the Pinguicula are sister to the other two genera.

References

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External links

Carnivorous Plant database
i
L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, information retrieval.
http://delta-intkey.com {{Taxonbar, from=Q161952 Lamiales families