NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Nepenthales

The Nepenthales are an order of dicotyledons, including several kinds of carnivorous plants. Under the older Cronquist system, three families were placed here:

Family Droseraceae (sundew family)
Family Nepenthaceae
Family Sarraceniaceae

Newer systems abandon the order, treating the Sarraceniaceae in the Ericales and the other families in the Caryophyllales. Although all these plants are carnivorous, their methods of capturing food differ. Among the Droseraceae, the sundews catch insects with adhesive droplets and the Venus Flytrap captures them interlocking teeth. The other families include pitcher plants, which drown their prey.

Categories: Magnoliopsida

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Nepenthales Page (356 words)
	However, the group is not well defined from a structural point of view and the three families are treated in various ways in other classification systems.
	Most angiosperms secure this fundamental element from the soil and, if it is not available, the niche is not occupied.
	Taxa of the Nepenthales have evolved ways around the nitrogen problem, i.e., extracting it from animals - mostly arthropods - via clever structural and biochemcial innovations.

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