Question

Plants are autotrophic. Can you think of some partially heterotrophic plants?

Answer 1

Some plants are called insectivores and they are partially heterotrophic. The examples include the pitcher plant (Nepenthes), Venus flytrap, and sundew plant (Drosera).

Complete answer:

Organisms that can produce their food using supplies from inorganic resources are called Autotrophs. The word “autotroph” comes from the two root words “auto” for “self” and “trophy” for “food.”

Plants are the autotrophs as they can manufacture their food by the activity of photosynthesis due to the occurrence of green pigments (chlorophyll). Throughout the process, they consume carbon dioxide and water with the help of sunlight.

A heterotroph is an organism that is not able to manufacture its food by carbon fixation and thus receives its consumption of nutrition from additional suppliers of organic carbon, mostly plant or animal matter.

But some plants partially depend upon other organisms for their food supplies. These plants are partially heterotrophic and are called insectivorous plants.

The insectivorous plants have numerous ways of catching insects to add-on to their diet by nitrogen obtained from insects, as they exist in nitrogen-deficient soil.

The examples include the pitcher plant (Nepenthes) , Venus flytrap, and sundew plant (Drosera).

Note: Some plants are also partially heterotrophic and have specific and adapted organs that enter the host plant to take in solutes and water. Such plants are called parasitic plants. Example: Cuscuta