![Top 5 fascinating carnivorous [ insectivorous ] plants](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpsXLEjKWsArkhWoqw95tJOAsr15dYujPH5pqRW4035I7PentN319x9Gv-ZeGwHtYBr3xgOM-3WGWSKxT6e-xER5XKkO9b-y_PUWbVPCbh2AhyyRn7IUDYIDKNMnWx1fL3KHmijY30GOk/s1600/1.png "Top 5 fascinating carnivorous [ insectivorous ] plants")
You must have read the title “5 carnivores plants” but let’s look at some of the statistics first before diving into the actual post.
About 80 percent of human population across world is non vegetarian.
30% are estimated to be exclusively carnivorous species in animals, but what about plants.
Yeah it may seem a little weird. How can plants be eating other creatures but there are certain plant species that are carnivorous in nature. Let’s take brief look at some of these species.
#1 Venus flytrap
The plant's common name refers to Venus, the Roman goddess of love. The Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) is a carnivorous plant native to subtropical wetlands on the East Coast of the United States in North Carolina and South Carolina.
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It catches its prey chiefly insects and arachnids with a trapping structure formed by the terminal portion of each of the plant's leaves, which is triggered by tiny hairs (called "trigger hairs" or "sensitive hairs") on their inner surfaces.
When an insect or spider crawling along the leaves contacts a hair, the trap prepares to close, snapping shut only if another contact occurs within approximately twenty seconds of the first strike.
The requirement of redundant triggering in this mechanism serves as a safeguard against wasting energy by trapping objects with no nutritional value, and the plant will only begin digestion after five more stimuli to ensure it has caught a live bug worthy of consumption.
The leaf blade is divided into two regions: a flat, heart-shaped photosynthesis-capable petiole, and a pair of terminal lobes hinged at the midrib, forming the trap which is the true leaf.
The lobes exhibit rapid plant movements, snapping shut when stimulated by prey. The trapping mechanism is tripped when prey contacts one of the three hair-like trichrome that are found on the upper surface of each of the lobes.
The mechanism is so highly specialized that it can distinguish between living prey and non-prey stimuli, such as falling raindrops.
The holes in the meshwork allow small prey to escape, presumably because the benefit that would be obtained from them would be less than the cost of digesting them.
#2 Heliamphora chimantensis
Heliamphora chimantensis is a species of marsh pitcher plant endemic to the Chimantá Massif in Venezuela. Specifically, it has been recorded from Apacará and Chimantá Tepuis.
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Most Heliamphora live on the plateaus of the table-top mountains (tepuis) in Guyana, Venezuela and Brazil.
The leaves (pitchers) of most species are green, while a few species have predominately red leaves. Even the green-leafed species usually have prominent red veining, leaf margins and other leaf parts.
These pitcher shaped leaves grow each from the inner-most portion of the leaf, where they are all attached to each other by very short (or in some species longer) stems.
Other leaves sometimes grow from the axial joints of older leaves, and new plants will offshoot from older ones, giving rise to dense clumps of Heliamphora.
This native environment of Heliamphora is both tropical, being near the Equator, and uncharacteristically cool (for a tropical region), being at a relatively high altitude.
The flat-topped mountains or tepuis themselves rise another several thousand feet above these grassy plains, and in fact are above the usual level of the heavy clouds typical of tropical regions.
These clouds are diverted upward by the sheer rock walls of the tepuis, causing the top surface of these mountains to be bathed in mists and rains.
Heliamphora pitchers are stiff and hold their shape well against the strong winds at the summits of the tepuis, but they are also brittle and therefore somewhat fragile and easy to tear, break or bruise.
#3 Darlingtonia californica
Darlingtonia californica, also called the California pitcher plant, cobra lily, or cobra plant, is a species of carnivorous plant. It is native to Northern California and Oregon growing in bogs and seeps with cold running water.
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The name "cobra lily" stems from the resemblance of its tubular leaves to a rearing cobra, complete with a forked leaf – ranging from yellow to purplish-green – that resemble fangs or a serpent's tongue.
The cobra plant is not just restricted to nutrient-poor acidic bogs and seepage slopes, but many colonies actually thrive in ultramafic soils, which are in fact basic soils, within its range.
In common with most carnivorous plants, the cobra lily is adapted to supplementing its nitrogen requirements through carnivory, which helps to compensate for the lack of available nitrogen in such habitats.
The cobra lily is able to survive fire by regenerating from its roots. While the temperatures in much of the species's range can exceed 25 °C, their roots die back after exposure to temperatures not much higher than 10 °C.
The cobra lily is unique among the three genera of American pitcher plants. It does not trap rainwater in its pitcher. Instead, it regulates the level of water inside physiologically by releasing or absorbing water into the trap that has been pumped up from the roots.
#4 Brocchinia reducta
Brocchinia reducta is one of few carnivorous bromeliads.
It is native to southern Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, and Guyana, and is found in nutrient-poor soil. Brocchinia reducta adapts to different environments, when growing on rocks it uses its roots as anchors.
Brocchinia reducta, like many other bromeliads, forms a water-storing cup with its tightly-overlapping leaves.
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The leaves surrounding the cup of Brocchinia reducta are coated with loose, waxy scales. These scales are highly reflective of ultraviolet light. Since many insects are attracted to ultraviolet (it is also reflected by many flowers), this is an efficient lure.
The water in the cup also emits a sweet odor, which may serve to attract ants and other insects. Brocchinia reducta absorbs its nutrients from the outer cell wall, which is covered in trichrome that can transport molecules as small as 6.6 nm.
The loose scales provide a poor foothold for landing insects, causing them to slip into the water-filled cup and eventually drown.
It has been argued that B. reducta is not actually carnivorous because the production of digestive enzymes could not be found.
However, in 2005 it was shown that the plant produces at least phosphatase and is thus considered a carnivorous plant in sensu stricto. The enzymes and bacteria digest the trapped insects and thus release the nutrients for absorption by the leaves.
#5 Pinguicula conzattii
Pinguicula conzattii is an insectivorous plant of the genus Pinguicula native to the Mexican state of Oaxaca, a member of the section Heterophyllum. Closely related to Pinguicula mirandae, it is notable for being pubescent on both sides of its winter leaves.
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Pinguicula conzattii is a perennial rosetted herb bearing stiff, ground-hugging rotund 28–50 mm. (1-2 in.) long leaves borne on 10–20 mm. (⅜–⅞ in) petioles.
These are densely covered with stalked mucilaginous and sessile digestive glands, which serve to trap and digest insect prey and absorb the resulting nutrient mixture to supplement their nitrate-low environment.
During dryer winter conditions when food is scarce, Pinguicula conzattii forms winter rosettes of short, non-carnivorous leaves to decrease the loss of energy used on carnivorous mechanisms, showing clearly the cost of carnivory.
The flowers are white to violet, and appear at the onset of succulent non-carnivorous winter rosette in November.
Pinguicula conzattii is known only from its type location near Santiago Nuyoo in the district of Tlaxiaco in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Here it grows on well-shaded vertical rock walls at around 2700 m. in altitude.
Although it appears to have an extremely restricted distribution, little is yet known about this species.
So there you have it. Hope you enjoyed and learned something new from the aforementioned topic. We would love to hear from you about some suggestions and feel free to comment what 5 things you would love to read about in next post.
We appreciate everyone’s work that made this post possible.
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