Nutrition in Plants

Nutrition in Plants
 The components of food which are necessary
for our body are called nutrients

 All living organisms require food.

 Only green plants can make their food

themselves. All other plants and animals
including human beings are dependent on
plants for their food.
 Modes of Nutrition in Plants
PLANTS

AUTOTROPHIC
HETEROTROPHIC

PARASITI SAPROTROPHIC
C SYMBIOTI
C
INSECTIVOROUS PLANTS
 Autotrophic Mode of
Nutrition
 Green plants can make their own food with
the help of Carbon dioxide, Water, Sunlight
and Chlorophyll. The process is called
PHOTOSYNTHESIS.

 Leaves are the food factories of plants. Water

and minerals present in the soil are absorbed
by the roots and transported to the leaves.
 CO2 from air is taken through the tiny pores
present on the surface of leaves. They are
called STOMATA. Stomata is surrounded by
“Guard cells”.

 The leaves have a green pigment called

Chlorophyll. It helps leaves to capture the
energy of the Sunlight. The energy is used
to synthesize food.
 So, we can say that SUN is the ultimate
source of energy for all living things.

 The leaves other than green also have

chlorophyll. The large amount of red,
brown and other pigments mask the green
colour.
STOMATA
STOMATA
STOMATA
 Heterotrophic Mode of Nutrition
1.PARASITIC PLANTS
 The mode of nutrition where an organism absorb
food from other growing green plant (called the
host) is called Parasitic.

 Parasitic plants develop special roots called

HAUSTORIA which penetrate into the tissues of
the host plant.
e.g. CUSCUTA (DODDER), MISTLETOES
and APODANTHES.

 Parasitic plants do cause harm to the host plant.

MISTLETOES
MISTLETOES
CASCUT
A
 INSECTIVOROUS PLANTS

 They are the plants that derive some or most

of its nutrients by trapping and consuming
animals, mainly insects.
e.g. PITCHER PLANT
 PITCHER PLANT
The pitcher like structure is the modified part
of the leaf. The apex of the leaf forms a lid
which can open and close the mouth of the
pitcher.

Inside the pitcher there are hair which are

directed downwards. When an insects land in
the pitcher, the lid closes and the trapped
insect gets entangled into the hair. The insect
is digested by the digestive juices secreted in
the pitcher.
Tropical Pitcher
Plant
Western Australian Pitcher
Plant
PITCHER PLANT
Sun
Pitcher
Pitcher
Plant
CALIFORNIA PITCHER PLANT
(COBRA LILY)
 Traps work in a variety of ways.
Pitfall traps of pitcher plants are leaves folded into
deep, slippery pools filled with digestive enzymes.

Flypaper (or sticky or adhesive traps) of sundews and

butterworts
are leaves covered in stalked glands that exude sticky
mucilage.

Snap traps (or steel traps) of the Venus flytrap and

waterwheel plant are hinged leaves that snap shut when
trigger hairs are touched.

Suction traps, unique to bladderworts, are highly modified

leaves in the shape of a bladder with a hinged door lined
with trigger hairs.

Lobster-pot traps of corkscrew plants are twisted tubular

channels lined with hairs and glands.
 VENUS FLY
TRAP
 The trap of the Venus fly trap is highly
modified leaf. On the inner surface, there are
short, stiff hair called trigger or sensitive hair.
When anything touches these hair enough to
bend them, the two lobes of the leaves snap
shut in less than a second.
Venus
Flytrap
Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)
Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)
Venus Flytrap With
Fly
Drosera
Anglica
Wilson Wong Pitcher
Plant
 SAPROTROPH
S
 In this mode of nutrition, organism take in
nutrients in the solution form from dead
and decaying matter.

e.g. Mushroom, Bread moulds, Indian Pipe.

 symbiotic relationship

 Some plants live with other plants and

share their food resources. Both the types
mutually gain from each other. Such a
relation is called Symbiotic.
 LICHENS are an association between a
fungus and a green algea.

 The fungus obtains nutrients from the algea,

and the fungal tissue in turn provides shelter
for the algea, allowing it to grow in harsh
conditions such as rock surfaces where it
would otherwise be destroyed.
LICHENS
LICHENS
LICHENS
LICHENS
 Certain plants such as peas have a Symbiotic
association with bacteria such as Rhizobium.
Rhizobium coverts atmospheric nitrogen into
plant usable forms e.g. ammonia. The plant in
turn provide nutrients for the bacterium
growth.
RHIZOBIUM
RHIZOBIUM
RHIZOBIUM