The winner of THE fastest plant on earth is the aquatic (in water) Bladderwort plant. (There’s also Bladderwort plants found on land, but they aren’t that fast. They have a different mechanism which we will not be discussing.) Now, anyone looking into this plant, will see AMAZING plan and wisdom that no accident could EVER dream of making. First, I will give a brief description of what happens, and then we will delve into it in more detail. The Bladderwort as you can see in the picture is a round, balloon shaped structure. It has a trap door, that when triggered open, it lets in the small prey that triggered it off. In the inside of the Bladderwort are again, digestive enzymes that digest the prey and then absorb the nutrients. That’s the story in a nutshell. Now we shall begin a much more detailed explanation to the great plan and strategies that this plant has. Wait, do plants have plans and strategies? Of course not! It’s Hashems great strategies that are in the plant and they are quite different in each type of carnivorous plants as we have been writing about and will continue a couple of more articles about them.
Many of the mechanics of the plants are still not understood, but we can discuss what happens, even if we don’t know exactly how it happens.
Firstly, there’s the “trap door”. This door is going to open up at a speed of 2 milliseconds! One millisecond is one second divided into a thousand parts! It’s so fast that your eye can’t see it happen. It’s way too fast for the human eye to catch it. Now, as you see from the picture, the Bladderwort is sort of a sack / bladder. It is full of water and digestive fluids. The first thing that the plant needs to “know” is that it needs to make a very tight, watertight, seal for the system to work, otherwise the water will leak out. That alone is amazing. How could the plant “know” that for the system to work it needs to make it watertight? Then, even more amazing, is how it knows HOW to make the door water (and air) tight. So, there’s a special groove (indentation) at the bottom of the door (called the threshold) that keeps the door tightly in place on the bottom of the door. These are “live” grooves made up of live cells that can move when needed, so it can allow the door to open up when needed. Then to make it watertight, lo and behold, they “luckily” have special glands that secrete a gluey substance, and together with a second substance called Velum, which is a thin membrane (like a very thin skin), they seal the door completely watertight. Where did these glands and membranes come from?
Then comes a very amazing plan. There are special glands called bifid glands that are near the trap door which pumps water out of this sealed bladder chamber. (I have not seen a good explanation as to how this is accomplished, but it somehow works. A chemical water pump! This removal of water causes a vacuum (negative pressure) to be created. Picture a thin plastic bottle which is being sucked in. The walls of the bottle get sucked inwards. So too, the walls of the bladder get sucked in with the vacuum sucking procedure. We’ll get back to this soon. Typically, the bladderwort can only eat very small water organisms like water fleas and tiny baby fish and baby mosquitos that are able to fit into their door. (Bladderworts are quite small.) Therefore, Hashem put relatively large antennas near the trap door to keep away and block prey that are too large to fit into the trap door. If they get too close to the door, they will set off the triggers by the door and open the door for nothing. That will use up a lot of unnecessary chemical energy and it’s not healthy for the plant to need to do this too often. Ah, speaking of the triggers, yes, there’s special trigger hairs right by the trap door. When triggered, the trap door opens. Now back to the vacuum. The pump “knows” exactly how much water to pump out of the bladder to create just enough of a vacuum. Not too much and not too little. How does it know this? How does it “know” ANYTHING about vacuums and how to create a vacuum??? Ok. So, what does the vacuum do? As the door is being opened, (Oh, I forgot to tell you that there’s a special hinge on the top part of the door that it swings on when it opens. Who put that there?) the vacuum that was created is then triggered and at lightning speed (in as quick as …. you’re ready? ONE thousandth of one second!!) it swings in the door, and the prey that triggered off the special trigger hairs, and the water around it, is sucked into the bladder. The door then closes immediately afterwards by some type of mechanism. Now that the prey is captured, in the bladder are many glands called Quadrifid’s that emit special enzymes that digest the prey and other enzymes that take the digested prey’s nutrients and transports them to be absorbed into the Bladderwort’s system, providing it the vital nutrition that it needs. When the water came crashing in to the bladder, the sucked in walls regain their original round shape. After a short while, depending on the prey that was captured, the whole process starts all over again, with the water being pumped out just enough to recreate that perfect vacuum.
We see here a tremendous plan with all the necessary mechanics to carry out that plan, all working in perfect harmony!
Here again is another masterpiece from Hashems bag of tricks of Carnivorous plants that He put into His wonderful world!!
Hashem loves to make lots of variety to help us recognize His Awesomeness, so that we can learn to respect and fear Him, which is so important for our spiritual growth. There’s a couple of more plants to discuss before moving on to other wonders of Hashem, like the Bat and Seahorses.
About the Author
Rabbi Shmuel Waldman is a distinguished educator and Torah scholar with over five decades of dedication to the study and teaching of Judaism. His early years were spent at the prestigious Mirrer Yeshiva, where he established a solid foundation in Torah learning. Greatly influenced by the profound teachings of Rabbi Avigdor Miller ZTL and guided by his close association with Rav Don Segal, shlit”a, Rabbi Waldman has emerged as a leading voice in Jewish education and thought.
As the Mashgiach of Yeshiva Mercaz Hatorah of Belle Harbor, Rabbi Waldman offered spiritual guidance and mentorship to generations of students. His book, “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: Convincing Evidence to the Truths of Judaism,” published in 2002, is a cornerstone in the world of kiruv. This highly acclaimed work has sold tens of thousands of copies, providing readers with a clear and compelling understanding of Judaism’s core beliefs.
Rabbi Waldman has also imparted his knowledge as a teacher at Yeshiva Tiferes Moshe and has inspired countless students through his involvement in Jewish summer camps. Currently, he is focused on writing an in-depth Sefer on the transformative power of prayer, emphasizing its significance in daily life. Additionally, he has broadened his educational efforts through a blog and YouTube channel, where he addresses topics such as Intelligent Design and critiques of the Theory of Evolution.
Rabbi Samuel Waldman’s lifelong dedication to teaching and inspiring others has left an indelible mark on the Jewish community, enriching the lives of students and readers worldwide. His work continues to guide individuals on their spiritual journeys and deepen their connection to Judaism.