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Dew & Grease Composition

jimscott

Tropical Fish Enthusiast
I sent some starter plants to a newbie and was asking how they were doing. I was told that one of the sundews was producing a new leaf, but there wasn't any dew on it. He wanted to increase the humidity to augment dew production and of course I parroted what most of us know about having adequate lighting and that the dew wasn't water, like one sees on their grass in the morning.

I'm sure that water is one component of CP dew, but what exactly is dew comprised of? And what is the mucilageonous substance that butterworts produce? What chemical compounds are identified?
 
the available literature seems rather sparce on exact composition of teh dew, but is is possibly comprised of complex proteins (???)
 
Jim, you might get a better response to your question in the Sundew forum. I can move this topic if you like.
 
Suzanne, that would be fine. Thanx.
 
I thought I read somewhere that sundew goo was mostly sugars, but I might be wrong. But it just seems like the simplest answer - sugar water is sticky and plants make sugar, so...
~Joe
 
You'll find many interesting manuscripts descriping, among other things, the composition of drosera dew on PubMed:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi

For instance, I learned that the white collar of N.albomarginata pitchers is made of fine hairs resembling the food of a tropical termite--as the termites feast on the hairs, some fall into the pitcher.  Many native N.albomarginata plants feed exclusively on termites. (This was featured in the journal Nature.)

You will definitely have access to the abstracts, but not necessarily the manuscript.  I have many of the online-available papers in .pdf format.  PM me if you're interested in a couple, and I'll send them to you if I have them.
 
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