Biology · Biological Classification · NEET
It means the plant is mostly autotrophic (it has chlorophyll and does photosynthesis) but also takes SOME food from another living source. It is not fully heterotrophic like a fungus. NCERT says: 'A few members are partially heterotrophic such as the insectivorous plants or parasites.' So they are still true plants placed in Kingdom Plantae, just with a partly extra food habit.
NCERT names exactly two: Bladderwort and Venus flytrap. Learn these two names by heart — NEET usually asks 'which is an example of an insectivorous plant'. Pitcher plant is another real-world example, but the two NCERT-named ones for this line are Bladderwort and Venus flytrap.
Cuscuta is a PARASITE, not insectivorous. It grows on a host plant and takes food from it. Do not mix it with Venus flytrap or Bladderwort. Easy split: insectivorous plants (Venus flytrap, Bladderwort) trap insects; the parasite (Cuscuta) sucks food from another plant.
They live in soil that is poor in nitrogen (like boggy or marshy soil). Photosynthesis gives them sugar (carbon food), but not enough nitrogen for proteins. So they trap and digest insects to get nitrogen. That is why they are only PARTIALLY heterotrophic — carbon from photosynthesis, nitrogen from insects.
Both belong to Kingdom Plantae. Even though they get some food from outside, they have eukaryotic cells with chloroplasts and a cellulose cell wall, so Whittaker's five-kingdom system keeps them in Plantae. Being partially heterotrophic does not move them to Fungi or Animalia.
No. It is a plant. It has chlorophyll, chloroplasts, and a cellulose cell wall, and it still does photosynthesis. Trapping an insect is just an extra way to get nitrogen. Movement or 'eating' does not make it an animal — cell structure and photosynthesis keep it in Kingdom Plantae.
Try the real previous-year questions from this chapter — each with the answer and a full solution.
Yes, mainly. They keep chlorophyll and do photosynthesis, so they are basically autotrophic. They only add a small heterotrophic habit — trapping insects or living on a host — which is why the word is 'partially'.
An insectivorous plant (Venus flytrap, Bladderwort) traps and digests insects to get nitrogen. A parasitic plant (Cuscuta) grows on another plant and draws food from that host. Both are partially heterotrophic members of Kingdom Plantae.
Cuscuta has very little or no chlorophyll and depends heavily on its host for food, which is why NCERT lists it as a parasite. For NEET, just remember Cuscuta = parasite example under partially heterotrophic plants in Plantae.
NEET Biological Classification asks factual 'example' questions. Knowing that Venus flytrap and Bladderwort are insectivorous, and Cuscuta is a parasite, all inside Kingdom Plantae, helps you answer statement-based and match-the-column questions correctly.
