Carnivorous Plants

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1) Unlike the majority of plants that create their nourishment from sunlight, such as the flowering hyacinth or the leafy coleus or the garden-variety dandelion, a limited number of plants are able to enhance their diet by fortifying it with insects and other small animals to supplement the food that they have produced from sunlight. These carnivorous plants can be categorized as those without moving traps that lure their intended victims and then trap them on a sticky surface or drown them in a pool of fluid and those with active traps— moving parts that ensnare prey—such as the sundew.

2) Butterworts are harmless-looking plants with circles of flat and sticky leaves. If an insect is unfortunate enough to land on one of the seemingly inviting leaves, it sticks to the surface of the leaf and eventually dies and is digested by the plant.

3) The pitcher plant is a plant that is shaped like a pitcher and has fluid at the bottom. Insects are attracted to the pitcher plant by a nectar around the rim of the pitcher opening; when an insect lands on the rim, it cannot maintain its balance on the slippery surface of the rim and falls into the opening and drowns in the fluid.

4) Bladderworts are water plants with traps on their leaves that resemble tiny bubbles. A small animal may swim by the plant, totally oblivious to the danger posed by the harmless-looking bladderwort. If the small animal comes too close to the plant, the bubbles open without warning and the animal is pulled inside the plant and digested.

5) Probably the best known of the carnivorous plants is the Venus flytrap. This plant features unusual leaf tips that look like an inviting place for an insect to rest and offers the enticement of promised food. If an unwary ladybug or dragonfly settles on the leaves of the Venus flytrap, the two leaves suddenly snap shut, trapping the insect and creating a delicious meal for the plant.