About The Waterwheel Plant (Aldrovanda vesiculosa) Danube Delta
The Waterwheel Plant (Aldrovanda vesiculosa)can be found in the Danube Delta, in the Ceamurlia area. In this area the waters are filtered and allow the plant to vegetate in optimum conditions.
This plant has no roots and it does not attach to anything. It simply floats in the water and it is carried away by water currents.
The Waterwheel does not bloom and it divides by turions. Turions are a kind of buds which form at the end of the waterwheel's stems and then detach and create a new plant.
The little branches of a waterwheel plant are placed on the main stem of the plant and they resemble the spokes of a bicycle's wheel. This fact is the reason why the Aldrovanda vesiculosa is commonly known as the waterwheel plant, a relatively new name for the plant.
The waterwheel is a special plant, due to the fact that it has developed a way of supplementing its necessary of azote and phosphorus through a process additional to photosynthesis.
On its tiny branches are placed vesicles, like traps, in which are captured microorganisms. Then, the plant secretes a digestive juice, which helps it to digest the microorganisms in order to assimilate azote and phosphorus.
The waterwheel plant prefers places with cleaner water and dammed areas, where the water is sedimented.