by Rich Leighton | Sep 10, 2019 | Carnivorous Plants, Florida Nature Facts, Florida Nature Photography, Natural History, Nature & Wildlife
Often described as “living flypaper”, the sundew has tentacle-like leaves which are covered in sticky, glandular hairs. The plant’s tacky secretion gives off a sweet scent, which attracts insects. Once an insect is stuck to its leaf, the sundew will curl...
by Rich Leighton | Aug 29, 2019 | Carnivorous Plants, Florida Nature Facts, Florida Nature Photography, Nature & Wildlife
Mostly found living in lakes and rivers, the carnivorous bladderwort has a floating stem with tiny sack-like traps growing along it. These traps, or ‘bladders’, have clever door-like valves that open and shut within thousandths of a second when triggered. The...
by Rich Leighton | Aug 24, 2019 | Carnivorous Plants, Florida Nature Facts, Florida Nature Photography, Nature & Wildlife
Butterworts have flat, sticky leaves that function like a cross between flypaper and a stomach. When insects land on a butterwort’s leaves, they get stuck in goo that’s excreted by sticky glands. The plant releases digestive enzymes and absorbs those tasty bug...
by Rich Leighton | Aug 4, 2019 | Florida Nature Facts, Florida Nature Photography, Natural History, Nature & Wildlife, Orchids
Our native orchids have a symbiotic relationship with certain fungi called a mycorrhizal association. The fungus provides nutrients to the orchid plant, and the orchid is a home to the fungus. Orchid seeds are so tiny they do not have enough food to nourish a...
by Rich Leighton | Jul 11, 2019 | Birds, Florida Nature Facts, Florida Nature Photography, Natural History, Nature & Wildlife
Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backwards and their wings can beat at up to 80 times per second. Also a hummingbird’s heart beats at over a 1,000 times a minute! MORE PHOTOS OF BIRDS MORE FLORIDA NATURE FACTS Florida Nature Facts is a series about...
by Rich Leighton | Jul 6, 2019 | Birds, Florida Nature Facts, Florida Nature Photography, Natural History, Nature & Wildlife
The killdeer has a clever strategy to keep intruders and unwanted predators away from its nest. It will mimic an injured bird while sounding like it is in distress and hopping clumsily to lure potential threats away from its hidden nest that it builds on the ground....
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