Editorial: Special Issue on International Women’s Day 2015

Dear Plant-lovers,

We are extremely happy to bring to you the special issue of Indian Botanists on the eve of International Women’s Day. We take this opportunity to highlight some of the most significant contributions of Indian women botanists.

Gender issues are prevalent in science and India is no exception. For instance, women scientists are fewer in number than men, they occupy fewer positions of power, and face distinct issues by virtue of their gender and the accompanying societal pressures. Indian Botanists has been working to achieve its goal of creating awareness about plant science in our society. International Women’s Day would be the best time for publishing articles highlighting the contributions of some great women botanists of India.

Nepenthes- The Deadly Pitcher

(Submitted for World Wildlife Day contest organised by Indian Botanists Blog-o-Journal)
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-Gauri Nerkar, Coimbatore, India.

Nepenthes goettingensis
 Photographed at Botanischer Garten, Berlin (Germany)

Carnivory in plants is a relatively rare phenomenon. There are about 600 species, the majority of which belong to the Orders Caryophyllales and Lamiales (Ellison et al., 2009). Nepenthaceae (Caryophyllales) contains >100 species, making it the largest Family of pitcher plants. Nepenthes are the largest genus of pitcher plants, with its center of diversity in South-east Asia. The plants grow in substrates that are deficient in nitrogen and offset this deficiency by trapping animal prey, primarily arthropods. Nepenthes use combinations of wettable peristomes, wax layers and viscoelastic fluid to trap and retain prey (Moran and Clarke, 2010).