Byblis (plant) - Carnivorous or Protocarnivorous

Carnivorous or Protocarnivorous

The status of the genus as a truly carnivorous plant has been repeatedly put into question. In their natural habitat, all species have been observed playing host to live bugs of the genus Setocoris, which nourished themselves by eating prey caught by the plants. Following this discovery it was assumed that, as with the genus Roridula, the plants don't actually digest their prey themselves, rather relying on the bugs to do that. The plants, it was reasoned, benefited by absorbing nutrients from the excrements of the bugs, either through their leaves or through the ground. An indirect digestion of these nutrients by a chitinase producing fungus was even proposed. It wasn't until 2005 that direct digestion of insect prey by enzymes secreted by the sessile glands of B. filifolia was proven. Soon thereafter similar results were found with B. liniflora. These results clearly place this genus among the true carnivorous plants.