Carnivorous-Plants.co.uk

Search Site   Advanced

General Information

What are Carnivorous Plants?

Generally speaking carnivorous plants are found in wet peatland areas, devoid of the nutrients found in soil required for normal growth.  As a result such plants have developed means of capturing and digesting insects to provide the nutrients they require.

The term carnivorous (meaning flesh eating) when applied to plants, usually conjures up images of plant like monsters devouring everything they come across.  This perception is usually the result of the imagination of science fiction writers and their portrayal of mankind being consumed by unstoppable hordes of carnivorous plants. 

This could not be further from the truth as far as human beings are concerned, but on smaller scale they are quite efficient traps capable of destroying substantial numbers of insects.  However science fiction writers have probably done more to publicise the fact that such plants do exist and consequently increase public interest in them. 

How do they work?

The means employed by various species to attract and capture the insects is varied, but they can be simply divided into one of two classifications, passive and active traps. 

Active traps use movement to aid capture and digestion of their prey, probably the most well known example is the Venus Fly Trap.  (A video clip can be downloaded and played showing a Venus Fly Trap capturing a fly from the Dionaea homepage).  This is perhaps the most dramatic example because it is so immediate and visible.  Other species of plant, notably Utricularia are just as dramatic, however because the trap is below ground level and relatively small (no greater than 5mm) it does not hold the same fascination. 

Passive traps rely on the insect being enticed within the trap from which it then finds it cannot escape, these are typically pitfall traps such as Darlingtonia and Sarracenia.  These can vary tremendously in size from the 1 metre tall Sarracenia's to the small (3 cm) slipper like trap of Cephalotus.  The tall Sarracenia's are very efficient traps capable of capturing hundreds of insects within a season, often the traps becoming so overfull that insects are able to simply to fly out of the trap. 

The trapping mechanisms of the species covered on this site both active (Dionaea) and passive (Sarracenia and Darlingtonia) are described in detail.  Care has been taken to keep technical terms to a minimum, however should you have any questions or comments regarding the site content please contact us via the contact details on the web site.