Description

Flycatcher (Akkarapputha, also known as Adukanni and Thippullu), is an insectivorous plant. Template: Shana. It is found all over the world except in Central and South America. Perennial without branches. The leaves are long and easily identifiable from other species. It is a medicinal plant, the insects that have come to the wet surface like fat honeycomb on its elongated part like a small stalk will stick to it and the plant will eat it. Sundews are widely distributed in tropical and temperate regions, especially in Australia, and are common in bogs and fens with sandy acidic soil. Carnivory does not provide sundews with energy but rather supplies nutrients, particularly nitrogen, in poor soil conditions.

Characteristics:

The plants feature small, nodding, five-petaled white or pinkish flowers that are borne on one side of a curving stem some 10 to 25 cm (4 to 10 inches) above the basal leaves. The leaves are usually arranged in a rosette and are less than 2.5 cm (1 inch) in diameter. The upper surface is covered with flexible gland-tipped trichomes (plant hairs) that exude a sticky substance to attract and entrap insects and other small prey. Trapped prey are engulfed in a web of the sticky glands, colloquially known as tentacles, and digested by enzymes. Sundews generally grow in seasonally moist or more rarely constantly wet habitats with acidic soils and high levels of sunlight. Common habitats include bogs, fens, swamps, marshes the tepuis of Venezuela, the wallums of coastal Australia, the fynobs of South Africa, and moist streambanks. Many species grow in association with sphagnumxmoss, which absorbs much of the soil's nutrient supply and also acidifies the soil, making nutrients less available to plant life. This allows sundews, which do not rely on soil-bound nutrients, to flourish where more dominating vegetation would usually outcompete them.

Medicinal uses:

Many researchers reported that this plant has many valuable constituents which may be used in proper way in different medicinal fields. Most of the species are rich in flavonoides, ellagic acids etc, that has potent anti-oxidant activity.