Foliar Absorption of Amino Acids, Peptides, and Other Nutrients by the Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia flava

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Abstract
Early investigators generally believed that insects contribute to the general welfare of the pitcher plants, but no conclusive evidence exists that fully evaluates the extent to which foliar absorption is useful to such plants. A number of investigations have demonstrated that pitcher-plant leaves do absorb materials from the liquor solution in the sarco-phageal region of the leaf. Radioactive nutrient elements were used in the present investigation to show that absorption of essential nutrients occurs in leaves of Sarracenia flava. Radioisotopes were used also to show that certain essential nutrients move from food eaten by ants, through their exoskeleton, into the liquor, and finally into the pitcher plant. Amino acids from insect serum, hydrolyzed proteins, or mixed solutions of purified biochemicals are absorbed by the leaves. The free amino acids in both young and mature pitcher plants have been identified. Also those amino acids absorbed from sarcophaguses are described relative to accumulation in leaves, roots, rhizomes, and meristematic tissues. An age-time-intensity interrelationship occurred between amino acids in various plant parts and those absorbed. Certain amino acids accumulated in the plant quickly, while others accumulated slowly, and still others were never recovered although an abundant supply was available. Immature plants may gain more benefit from supplemental nutrients by foliar absorption than mature plants. Peptides were absorbed intact by the leaf, and hydrolysis occurred only within the leaf. Acid or alkaline microcosms in sarcophaguses had no measurable effect upon hydrolysis or absorption. A shortage of potassium in pitcher-plant habitats may be associated with accumulation of several free amino acids in the plant leaves.
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