Underground leaves of Philcoxia trap and digest nematodes.
The recently described genus Philcoxia comprises three species restricted to well lit and low-nutrient soils in the Brazilian Cerrado. The morphological and habitat similarities of Philcoxia to those of some carnivorous plants, along with recent observations of nematodes over its subterranean leaves, prompted the suggestion that the genus is carnivorous. Here we report compelling evidence of carnivory in Philcoxia of the Plantaginaceae, a family in which no carnivorous members are otherwise known. We also document both a unique capturing strategy for carnivorous plants and a case of a plant that traps and digests nematodes with underground adhesive leaves. Our findings illustrate how much can still be discovered about the origin, distribution, and frequency of the carnivorous syndrome in angiosperms and, more generally, about the diversity of nutrient-acquisition mechanisms that have evolved in plants growing in severely nutrient-impoverished environments such as the Brazilian Cerrado, one of the world's 34 biodiversity hotspots.
Plant Functional Ecology Laboratory, Plant Biology Department Institute of Biology  Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas 13083-970, São Paulo,  Brazil.
Caio G
CG
Pereira
Daniela P
DP
Almenara
Carlos E
CE
Winter
Peter W
PW
Fritsch
Hans
H
Lambers
Rafael S
RS
Oliveira
D000268:Adhesiveness; D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D009348:Nematoda; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes / Q000378:metabolism; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010943:Plantago / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes