Carnivorous Plants
Growing Hobby sells three main types of carnivorous plants, characterized by how they catch prey:
1 The Snap Trap: The most recognized carnivorous plant is the Venus Fly Trap, Dionaea, with jaws that snap closed on insects when trigger hairs sense pressure.
2 Flypaper Trap: Droseras, or sundews, catch insects in their thin tentacles that are covered in a sticky substance. When the plant senses movement, the tentacles wrap around the prey.
3 Pitfall Trap: Pitcher plants, or Nepenthes, catch insects in pitcher-shaped cups holding enzymes that break down the insect into nutrients the plant can absorb.
FEED ME! That’s what we all think about carnivorous plants, but they don’t need insects to survive. Oddly enough, the plants developed these traits to digest insects because of the poor quality of soil in their native environments. They can survive just as well in regular potting soil when placed in a humid environment. These plants are more likely to die from overfeeding than from lack of insects.
Carnivorous plants can’t run and don’t have teeth, so they use special leaves and chemicals to catch and digest insects.
Carnivorous plants have the ability to attract, capture, and digest nutrients from animals or protozoans in order to gain nutrients.
