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OUR WORLD

Top 10 Fascinating Carnivorous Plants

CHRISTINE VREY JUNE 9, 2011

Out of all the strange plants in the world, who would have thought that you even get
flesh eating plants? Well, maybe not so much flesh eating, as insect eating, but
carnivorous none the less. All carnivorous plants can be found in areas where the soil
has very little nutrients. These fascinating plants are categorized as carnivorous as they
trap insects and arthropods, produce digestive juices, dissolve the prey and derive some,
or most, of their nutrients from this process. The first book on these plants was written
by Charles Darwin, in 1875, Insectivorous Plants. After further discoveries and research,
it is believed that these carnivorous properties evolved on six separate occasions, from
five different orders of flowering plants. These are now presented in over 630 different
species of flowering plant.
There are five basic trapping mechanisms found in all these plants: Pitfall traps, Fly
Paper traps, Snap traps, Bladder traps and Lobster pot traps. I would like to show you a
couple of plants, using each mechanism, so that you can also see the differences
between different genera.

10

Sarracenia

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Sarracenia, or the North American Pitcher plant, is a Genus of carnivorous plants

indigenous to the eastern seaboard, Texas, the great lakes and south eastern Canada,
with most species being found only in the southeast states. It is also the first plant with
a pitfall trap that we will look at.
The plants leaves have evolved into a funnel, with a hood like structure growing over the
opening to prevent rain water from diluting the digestive juices. Insects are attracted by
colour, smell and a nectar-like secretion on the lip of the pitcher. Slippery footings, aided
in at least one species, by a narcotic drug lacing the nectar, causes insects to fall inside
where they die and are digested by proteases and other enzymes

Nepenthes

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Nepenthes, tropical pitcher plants or monkey cups, are another genus of carnivorous
plants with pitfall traps. There are about 130 species that are wide spread, and can be
found in China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Madagascar, Seychelles, Australia, India,
Borneo and Sumatra. The nickname monkey cups comes from the fact that monkeys
have often been observed drinking rain water from them.
Most species of Nepenthes are tall creepers (10-15m), with a shallow root system. From
the stem you will often see sword like leaves growing, with a tendril (often used for
climbing) protruding from the tip of the leaf. At the end of the tendril, the pitcher forms
first as a small bulb, which then expands and forms the cup. The trap contains fluid,
produced by the plant, which may be watery ors syrupy and is used to drown and digest
the insects. The lower part of the cup contains glands that absorb and distribute
nutrients. Most of these plants are small and tend to trap only insects, but some larger
species, such as Nepenthes Rafflesiana and Nepenthes Rajah, have been documented to
catch small mammals like rats.

Genlisea

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Genlisea, better known as the corkscrew plant, is made up of 21 species and generally
grows in wet terrestrial to semi aquatic environments, and are spread across Africa,
central and South America.
Genlisea are small herbs with yellow flowers that make use of lobster pot traps (Traps
that are easy to enter but impossible to exit, like by use of small hairs growing towards
the entrance or in this case, the ever forward propelling spiral). These plants have two
distinct types of leaves photosynthetic leaves above ground, and specialized
underground leaves to attract, trap and digest minute organisms, like protozoans. These
underground leaves also perform the duties of roots, like absorbing water and
anchorage, as the plant does not have any. These underground leaves form hollow tubes
under the ground, these tubes have a forward propelling corkscrew shape, and with the
aid of constant water flow, small microbes can make their way into these tubes, but
cannot find a way out again. When they reach the correct part of the tubes, they will be
digested and absorbed.

Darlingtonia Californica

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Darlingtonia Californica, also called the California Pitcher plant or the Cobra Lilly, is the
sole member of the darlingtonia genus, and is native to Northern California and Oregon.
They grow in bogs and seeps with cold running water and, due to its rarity in the field, it
is designated as uncommon.
The leaves of the Cobra Lily are bulbous and form a hollow cavity, with a opening
situated underneath a swollen, balloon like structure and two pointed leaves hanging off
the end like fangs. Unlike most pitcher plants, the Cobra Lilly does not make use of a
pitfall trap, but rather lobster pot traps. Once inside, insects are confused by the large
light speckles allowed to shine through the plant. When they land, there are thousands
of fine dense hairs that grow inwards, they can follow the hairs deeper towards the
digestive organs, but they cannot turn around or move backwards to escape.

Utricularia

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Utricularia, or collectively known as bladderworts, is a genus of carnivorous plants

consisting of about 220 species. They occur in fresh water and wet soil as terrestrial or
aquatic species, on every continent accept Antarctica.
They are the only carnivorous plants that make use of bladder traps. Most species have
very small traps, in which they can catch only minute prey, like protozoa. Traps can range
from 0.2mm 1.2cm, with larger traps, trapping larger prey like water fleas and even
small tadpoles.
The traps have small trigger hairs attached to a trapdoor. The bladder, when set, is under
negative pressure in relationship to its surrounding area. When the trigger hairs are
tripped, the trap door opens up, sucks in the insect and surrounding water, and closes
the door again, all in a matter of 10 thousands of a second.

Pinguicula

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Pinguicula, or butterworts, are a group of carnivorous plants that use sticky, glandular
leaves to lure, trap and digest insects. The nutrients from the insects supplement the
poor mineral content of the soil. There are roughly 80 species that can be found
throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia.
The leaves of the butterwort are succulent and usually bright green or pinkish in color.
There are two special types of cells found on the top side of the butterwort leaves. One is
known as a penduncular gland, and consists of secretory cells on top of a single stalk
cell. These cells produce a mucilaginous secretion which forms visible droplets across
the leaves surface, and acts like flypaper. The other cells are called sessile glands. They
lie flat on the leaves surface and produce enzymes like amylase, esterase and protease,
which aid in the digesting process.
Where some butterwort species are carnivorous all year round, many types form a tight
winter rosette, which is not carnivorous. When summer comes, it brings with it new
blooms and a new set of carnivorous leaves.

Drosera

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Drosera, commonly known as sundews, comprises one of the largest genera of

carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. These can be found widely spread on every
continent accept for Antarctica. Sundews, (depending on what species) can form either
prostrate or upright rosettes, ranging from 1cm to 1m in height, and can live up to 50
years.
Sundews are characterized by movable glandular tentacles, topped with sweet sticky
secretions. When an insect lands on the sticky tentacles, the plant is able to move more
tentacles in the direction of the insect to trap it further. Once trapped, small sessile
glands will digest the insect and absorb the resulting nutrients, which can then be used
to aid growth.

Byblis

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Byblis, or rainbow plant, is a small genus of carnivorous plant native to Australia. The
name rainbow plant comes from the attractive appearance of their mucilage covered
leaves in the sun. Even though these plants look similar to the Drosera and
Drosophllum, they are not related in any way and can be distinguished by zygomorphic
flowers with five curved stamens.
The leaves have a round cross section, and they tend to be very elongated and tapered at
the end. The surface of the leaves are completely covered in glandular hairs that release
a sticky mucilaginous substance, which in turn traps small insects on the leaves or
tentacles as a passive flypaper trap.

Aldrovanda vesiculosa

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Aldrovanda vesiculosa, also known as the waterwheel plant, is a fascinating rootless,

carnivorous, aquatic plant. It generally feeds on small aquatic vertebrates, using a trap
mechanism called a snap trap.
This plant consists mainly of free floating stems, reaching 6 11cm in length. The 23mm trap leaves grow in whorls of 5-9, in close succession along the plants central
stem. The traps are attached to petioles, which contain air, and assists in floatation. This
is a very fast growing plant and can reach 4-9mm per day, in some instances even
producing a new whorl every day. As the plant grows from one end, the other end will
continuously die off.
The traps basically consists of two lobes which fold together to make the snap traps.
The openings of the trap point outwards, and are covered in a fine coating of trigger
hairs, which will cause the trap to snap shut around any prey that comes too close. The
trap closes in only 10 milliseconds, making it one of the fastest examples of plant
movement in the animal kingdom.

Dionaea Muscipula

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Dionaea Muscipula, more commonly known as a Venus flytrap, is probably the most
well-known carnivorous plant and it feeds mainly on insects and arachnids.
The Venus flytrap is a small plant that has 4-7 leaves that grow from a short
subterranean stem. The leaf blade is divided into two regions: a flat, long, heart shaped,
photosynthesis capable petiole, and a pair of terminal lobes, hinged at the midrib,
forming the trap which is actually the true leaf. The inner surfaces of these lobes contain
a red pigment and the edges secrete mucilage.
These lobes exhibit rapid plant movement by snapping shut when special sensory hairs
are stimulated. The plant is so advanced that it can tell the difference between live
stimulus and non-living stimulus. The lobes snap shut in about 0.1 seconds. They are
fringed by stiff thorn-like protrusions or cilia, which mesh together and prevent large
prey from escaping. Once prey is unable to escape and the inner surfaces of the lobes
are continuously being stimulated, the edges of the lobes grow or fuse together, sealing
the trap and creating an enclosed stomach in which digestion and absorption can take
place.

MORE GREAT LISTS

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124Comments

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Jointhediscussion
Nattuli 4yearsago

Number5lookstosweettokillanything!
10

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HAGEN 4yearsago

FEEDME,SEYMOUR!!!!!!!!!
9

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tigergirl789 2yearsago

AWESOME!Thankssomuch!Igot10outof10inmyhomeworkassignmentallthanks
tou!!Youtotallyrock!
7

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Apocrief 4yearsago

YouTOTALLYforgotRafflesiaArnoldii.It'sthebiggestflowerintheworld!
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ChristineVrey>Apocrief 4yearsago

RaflesiaArnoldiwasinmyprevouslist"ToptenCarrionplants"asitisnota
carnivorousplant,butacarrionplant...Meaningitsmellslikerottenfleshto
attractinsectstohelppollinateit...Itdoesnothowever"eat"insectsfornutrition.
:)
3

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JohnJuster>ChristineVrey 11daysago

DoyouknowoftheDaucusCarota?Afairlycommonflowerinnorth
america.MyselfinMontreal,Iwalkmydogalongtheshoresofthest
lawrenceriverandfindthesebigwhiteflowersopenuparoundJuneand
July.BytheendofAugust,mostofthemcloseupagainWITHBUGSIN
THEM!!!Yeah!Iabsolutelysaw(andtookphotosof)bugs,mostlynormal
householdflies,insidetheflower.Somehadmanybugsinthem,dark
bodiesshownthroughthewhitepedalscovering.
Icouldn'tbelieveit.Notsureiftheyareeaten,orthattheseflieschoseto
nestthere,butlookingonlineeverywhereshowsnomentionofthis
phenomenon.Anyidea?Thankyou!

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ArizaPutri 3yearsago

ithinkRafflesiaArnoldiiisthemostfascinatingcarnivorousplanttome.itisthebiggest
flowerontheearth.
3

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Tinshreya>ArizaPutri 2yearsago

RafflesiaArnoldiiisnotacarnivourousplant.Checkyourfacts!
2

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Qwerty123>Tinshreya 2yearsago

Actually,RafflesiaArnoldiiiscarnivorouscheckyoursourcesbeforeyou
writesomething.
1

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Qwerty123>Qwerty123 2yearsago

ImeantRafflesiaArnoldiiisacarnivorousplant.

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Treelore>Qwerty123 7monthsago

Rafflesiaarnoldiiisaparasiticcarrionplantitisn'tcarnivorousas
itdoesnotdigestanimalsorinsectsandinsteadtakesits
nutrientsfromsurroundinghostplants.
1

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YesIediT 3yearsago

Wow!Whoknewthatplantscouldbesovisciousandconiving!Actually...It'skinda
AWESOME!
3

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ChristineVrey 4yearsago

TothosethatlikedthelistIamgladthatIcouldprovideainteristingreadfortheday,
andthankyouforthenicecomments=)Iamcompletelyfacinatedbyournaturalworld,
butIdontthinkmyfacinationissharedbyallthereadersoflistverse.
Soforthosethatdidnotlikemylist,suckitandwriteyourownlist!=PIdidtakenoteof
theincreasingamountofplantlist,soIwillwriteaboutsomethingelseforawhile...=(
3

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Mon 4yearsago

Whenyouwritethescientificname,thesecondwordshouldnotstartwithacapital
letter.
PS.Arateatingpitcherplantwaswasdiscoveredhereinnthephilipppinesabout5
yearsago.
3

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C 4yearsago

Idon'tcarewhattheotherssay,Ithinktoday'slistwasgreat.Informativeand
interesting.No,I'mnotabotanist,butIdoappreciatescienceandIthinkthelistwriter
didagreatjobwithherselectionandexplaination.
2

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b.o.b 8monthsago

hi
whatsup
1

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b.o.b 8monthsago

jhkdbkbsdubasdcuibakbjakejbcbae
1

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theIlluminati>b.o.b 8monthsago

Idisagree.Infact,Ithinkdkalkdflksjadlkflkaskdljf.That'sjustmypersonal
opinion,butI'vebeenstudyingtheconceptindepthformonths.

Reply Share

b.o.b 8monthsago

hahahahaha
1

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theIlluminati>b.o.b 8monthsago

Indeed.
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Indeed.

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rudrakshpal ayearago

insecteatingplants
1

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joe ayearago

ifucktheseplants
1

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YouRang? 4yearsago

Inoticedsomeoftheplantsarenamenepenthe.There'sanoldpoem(byPoe,perhaps)
inwhichthewriterwantsnepentheashe'singreatpainandwantstoforget.Andthe
nepentheplantsdocreateanarcotic.Couldthisbethenepenthethewriterwas
desiring?Ihadalwaysassumedthatnepenthesimplymeantrelieforforgetfulness,buta
narcoticmakesmoresense.Doesanyoneknowanythingaboutthis?
Ithinkthisarticlecouldusealittle"punchingup."Doesanybodyhaveanyreferencesto
scifiorhorrormovies?WhichoftheseinspiredAudrey?("FEEDME!")AndIthinkI've
seenthatoneplant(muchbigger)inMothrawherethescientistsareonMothra'sIsland.
1

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Carmen>YouRang? 4yearsago

ItwasPoe'sTheRaven,"Quaff,ohQuaff(whichmeansdrink)thiskind
nepentheandforgetthislostLenore"soyesI'vealwaystakenittomeana
narcotic.
Onasomewhatrelatednotehere'salinktoaveryspookytalethatdidthe
roundsafewyearsbackandconnectsto#1onthislist.Followitthroughtothe
end,(meaningclickthelinksinthestory,itallcomestogether,sortof)it'squite
entertaining.
http://www.dionaeahouse.com/
1

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Carmen>Carmen 4yearsago

Iforgot,don'tclicktheupdatelinkinthefirstpage,you'lljustget
confused,justgotonextandcomebacktotheupdatelater.

Reply Share

fendabenda 4yearsago

IusedtoownaCobraLilly(althoughIdidn'tknowwhatitwasexactly,someonegaveit
tomeasagift)andaVenusflytrap.TheCobraLillyhadareallystrongsmell...not
unpleasantassuch,butkindofsicklysweet.AsfortheVenusflytrap:onceitclosesits
"trap",itcannotreopenit.Thismeansthatifthere'snopreyinsidethetrapwhenit
closes,the"trap"(lobe)partoftheplantwithersanddiesandfallsoff.Myexkilledmy
Venusflytrapbyteasingittocloseallitstraps(shethoughtitlookedfunnywhenit

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Venusflytrapbyteasingittocloseallitstraps(shethoughtitlookedfunnywhenit
closedthem)withoutanynutritioninsideofthem.
1

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Magnumto 4yearsago

Excellentlist,Ilovedit!Althoughgrammerwasn'tasstrongasitcouldhavebeen,itwas
verywellwrittenforthelayman,veryunderstandable,Ithought.OnethingImissed,
though,wasthegeographicdistributionoftheAldrovandavesiculosaplantwhere
shouldIbeonthelookoutfortheseguys?Thanksforareallygreatlist,Ms.Vrey!
1

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Magnumto>Magnumto 4yearsago

*grammar",dangit!
1

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JamesWilliamsParke 4yearsago

IusetobeagreatfanofListverseItsbeenawhile(Likeamonthmaybe)since
ListVerseuploadedaninterestingTop10List.
Top10worstListVerse'sTop10s
Fascinatingcarnivorousplants
Peacefulmen
WastedOscars
RockBandsthatSuccumbedtoDiscoFever!?!?!?!
WilliamCastleFilmGimmicks
AmazingCarrionPlants
People'sLivesinFamousPhotograph
10MoreGreatBritishComedy
ShamefulMomentsinCatholicHistory
MisusedEnglishWords
IrememberthecoolTop10sofmystery,sex,ormoderntopicsthatmademelovethis
website.
Youshoulddefinitelycheckyourstaffandconsiderhiremorecreativepersonal.
Perhaps...maybeisjustastrategytobuyinsteadtheListVerse'sbook.
1

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copperdragon>JamesWilliamsParke 4yearsago

Thereisno"creativestaff".thelistsaresubmittedbypatronsandreadersof
listverse.
Ifyouwouldlikemoreinterestinglists,youarewelcometowritethemandsubmit
them.
1

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Emma 4yearsago

Ilovedthislist!!Asaplantmolecularbiologist,it'snicetoseeplantsrepresented!!Plus,I 16/19

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Ilovedthislist!!Asaplantmolecularbiologist,it'snicetoseeplantsrepresented!!Plus,I
wrotemyundergraduatethesisonvenusflytraps,soIwasparticularlyexcitedtosee
themat#1.
But...notriggerplants?!?(Stylidium)
Also,toanyonewhohaseverownedaVFTandbeendisappointed,theVFTwillonly
needtoeatabout23insects/monthtogetenoughcarbontoexist,andoverstimulation
ofthetrapmechanismcanresultinenergydeficienciesfortheplant.Thiscanmean
possibleearlydeath...
MostpeoplewhoraiseVFTskeeptheminconditionsofcarbonandnutrientrichness,so
theydon'treallyneedto"eat"anything.
1

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ChristineVrey>Emma 4yearsago

JustreadupaboutStylidium...Itwasveryinteristing!!Ididntcomeacrossit
whenIwasresearchingforthelistsothankyouforthat!Andthankyouforliking
thelist=)
1

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GEORGECOOPER>Emma 4yearsago

Emma'Iwouldlikeyoutogivemeareferenceintheformofbooksaboutplants.

Reply Share

Lifeschool 4yearsago

Fascinatinglistandexcellentpicturestoo!Ithoughtthiswasverywellwrittenfullof
factsbutnottoodryoracademic,andIlikethewaytheauthoralmostguidesthereader
fromtheintroondown.Notmuchaboutthesmelloftheseplantsperhapstheydon't
smellasbadasthestinkplantswesaytheotherweek?Amazingtoimaginethe
sundewsreachingametreinsizethat'ssomeplant!Someofthesejustlooklike
orginary'butterwouldn'tmelt'flora,soIwasinterestedtofindouthowtheydoit.The
waterwheelplanttakestheprizeforthemostalienlookingassassin,andthepoorold
venusflytrapwithit'smanysnappingstomachsisasurewinner.
Ihadavenusflytraponcebutitdiedbecauseitdidn'tcatchanyofthehugefliesbuzzing
aroundhereinthesummer.IhadtomanuallyfeeditdeadfliesIfoundinthewindow,and
Iguessitdidlikethosesomuch.Besides,itwassofuntraggeringthetrapsIguesshalf
oftheclosedtrapswereemptybecauseofme!
TopnotchjobChristine,remindedmeoftheLittleShopOfHorrors:"FeedMe!FeedMe
NOW!"
1

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Lifeschool>Lifeschool 4yearsago

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGRN39oifsE

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maddison 4monthsago

andnerds

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maddison 4monthsago

youpeoplearewierd

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maddison 4monthsago

whyisboobsadangerousplant??????

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SolaireofAstora 7monthsago

Plant42?

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shaheensaib ayearago

number7looksscaryyyyyyyyyy

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shaheensaib ayearago

Thoseplantslookstrange,sometimesscary,sometimesbeautifulandsometimeslike
anysimpleflower

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harley ayearago

hello

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harley ayearago

justcusifuckedyourmumbro

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harley ayearago

fuckyoujames

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harley ayearago

illfuckharleysmum

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harley ayearago

fuckyoharley

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