9/15/2015 Top 10 Fascinating Carnivorous Plants Listverse
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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.
Sarracenia 10
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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 plant’s 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 9
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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 8
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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 7
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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 6
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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 5
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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 4
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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 3
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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 2
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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 2- 3mm trap leaves grow in whorls of 5-9, in close succession along the plant’s 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 1
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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.
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Nattuli • 4 years ago Number 5 looks to sweet to kill anything! 10 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
HAGEN • 4 years ago FEED ME, SEYMOUR!!!!!!!!! 9 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
tigergirl789 • 2 years ago AWESOME! Thanks so much! I got 10 out of 10 in my homework assignment all thanks to u!! You totally rock! 7 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Apocrief • 4 years ago You TOTALLY forgot Rafflesia Arnoldii. It's the biggest flower in the world! http://listverse.com/2011/06/09/top10fascinatingcarnivorousplants/ 12/19 9/15/2015 Top 10 Fascinating Carnivorous Plants Listverse
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Christine Vrey > Apocrief • 4 years ago Raflesia Arnoldi was in my prevous list " Top ten Carrion plants" as it is not a carnivorous plant, but a carrion plant... Meaning it smells like rotten flesh to attract insects to help pollinate it... It does not however "eat" insects for nutrition. :) 3 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
John Juster > Christine Vrey • 11 days ago Do you know of the Daucus Carota? A fairly common flower in north america. Myself in Montreal, I walk my dog along the shores of the st lawrence river and find these big white flowers open up around June and July. By the end of August, most of them close up again WITH BUGS IN THEM!!! Yeah! I absolutely saw (and took photos of) bugs, mostly normal household flies, inside the flower. Some had many bugs in them, dark bodies shown through the white pedals covering.
I couldn't believe it. Not sure if they are eaten, or that these flies chose to nest there, but looking online everywhere shows no mention of this phenomenon. Any idea? Thank you! △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Ariza Putri • 3 years ago i think Rafflesia Arnoldii is the most fascinating carnivorous plant to me. it is the biggest flower on the earth. 3 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Tinshreya > Ariza Putri • 2 years ago Rafflesia Arnoldii is not a carnivourous plant. Check your facts! 2 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Qwerty123 > Tinshreya • 2 years ago Actually, Rafflesia Arnoldii is carnivorous check your sources before you write something. 1 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Qwerty123 > Qwerty123 • 2 years ago I meant Rafflesia Arnoldii is a carnivorous plant. △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Treelore > Qwerty123 • 7 months ago Rafflesia arnoldii is a parasitic carrion plant it isn't carnivorous as it does not digest animals or insects and instead takes its nutrients from surrounding host plants. 1 △ ▽ • Reply • Share › http://listverse.com/2011/06/09/top10fascinatingcarnivorousplants/ 13/19 9/15/2015 Top 10 Fascinating Carnivorous Plants Listverse
YesIediT • 3 years ago Wow! Who knew that plants could be so viscious and coniving! Actually... It's kinda AWESOME! 3 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Christine Vrey • 4 years ago To those that liked the list I am glad that I could provide a interisting read for the day, and thank you for the nice comments =) I am completely facinated by our natural world, but I dont think my facination is shared by all the readers of listverse. So for those that did not like my list, suck it and write your own list! =P I did take note of the increasing amount of plant list, so I will write about something else for a while... =( 3 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Mon • 4 years ago When you write the scientific name, the second word should not start with a capital letter.
PS. A rat eating pitcher plant was was discovered here in nthe philipppines about 5 years ago. 3 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
C • 4 years ago I don't care what the others say, I think today's list was great. Informative and interesting. No, I'm not a botanist, but I do appreciate science and I think the list writer did a great job with her selection and explaination. 2 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
b.o.b • 8 months ago hi whats up 1 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
b.o.b • 8 months ago ;jhkdb;kbsd;ubasdcuiba;kbjakejbcbae 1 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
the Illuminati > b.o.b • 8 months ago I disagree. In fact, I think dkal;kdflksjadlkflkas;kdljf. That's just my personal opinion, but I've been studying the concept in depth for months. △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
b.o.b • 8 months ago hahahahaha 1 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
the Illuminati > b.o.b • 8 months ago http://listverse.com/2011/06/09/tIonpd10eefasdc.inatingcarnivorousplants/ 14/19 9/15/2015 Top 10 Fascinating Carnivorous Plants Listverse Indeed. △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
rudraksh pal • a year ago insect eating plants 1 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
joe • a year ago i fuck these plants 1 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
YouRang? • 4 years ago I noticed some of the plants are name nepenthe. There's an old poem (by Poe, perhaps) in which the writer wants nepenthe as he's in great pain and wants to forget. And the nepenthe plants do create a narcotic. Could this be the nepenthe the writer was desiring? I had always assumed that nepenthe simply meant relief or forgetfulness, but a narcotic makes more sense. Does anyone know anything about this?
I think this article could use a little "punchingup." Does anybody have any references to scifi or horror movies? Which of these inspired Audrey? ("FEED ME!") And I think I've seen that one plant (much bigger) in Mothra where the scientists are on Mothra's Island. 1 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Carmen > YouRang? • 4 years ago It was Poe's The Raven, "Quaff, oh Quaff (which means drink) this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore" so yes I've always taken it to mean a narcotic.
On a somewhat related note here's a link to a very spooky tale that did the rounds a few years back and connects to #1 on this list. Follow it through to the end, (meaning click the links in the story, it all comes together, sort of) it's quite entertaining.
http://www.dionaeahouse.com/ 1 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Carmen > Carmen • 4 years ago I forgot, don't click the update link in the first page, you'll just get confused, just go to next and come back to the update later. △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
fendabenda • 4 years ago I used to own a Cobra Lilly (although I didn't know what it was exactly, someone gave it to me as a gift) and a Venus flytrap. The Cobra Lilly had a really strong smell... not unpleasant as such, but kind of sickly sweet. As for the Venus flytrap: once it closes its "trap", it cannot reopen it. This means that if there's no prey inside the trap when it closes, the "trap" (lobe) part of the plant withers and dies and falls off. My ex killed my Venus flytrap by teasing it to close all its traps (she thought it looked funny when it http://listverse.com/2011/06/09/top10fascinatingcarnivorousplants/ 15/19 9/15/2015 Top 10 Fascinating Carnivorous Plants Listverse Venus flytrap by teasing it to close all its traps (she thought it looked funny when it closed them) without any nutrition inside of them. 1 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Magnumto • 4 years ago Excellent list, I loved it! Although grammer wasn't as strong as it could have been, it was very well written for the layman, very understandable, I thought. One thing I missed, though, was the geographic distribution of the Aldrovanda vesiculosa plant; where should I be on the lookout for these guys? Thanks for a really great list, Ms. Vrey! 1 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Magnumto > Magnumto • 4 years ago *grammar", dang it! 1 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
James Williams Parke • 4 years ago I use to be a great fan of List verseIts been a while (Like a month maybe) since ListVerse uploaded an interesting Top 10 List.
Top 10 worst ListVerse's Top 10s Fascinating carnivorous plants Peaceful men Wasted Oscars Rock Bands that Succumbed to Disco Fever!?!?!?! William Castle Film Gimmicks Amazing Carrion Plants People's Lives in Famous Photograph 10 More Great British Comedy Shameful Moments in Catholic History Misused English Words
I remember the cool Top 10s of mystery,sex,or modern topics that made me love this website.
You should definitely check your staff and consider hire more creative personal.
Perhaps...maybe is just a strategy to buy instead the ListVerse's book. 1 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
copperdragon > James Williams Parke • 4 years ago There is no "creative staff". the lists are submitted by patrons and readers of listverse.
If you would like more interesting lists, you are welcome to write them and submit them. 1 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Emma • 4 years ago http://listverse.com/2I0 l1o1/v06e/0d9 /ttohpis10 lfiasstc!i!n aAtinsg caa rpnivlaornout smploanltes/cular biologist, it's nice to see plants represented!! Plus, I16/19 9/15/2015 Top 10 Fascinating Carnivorous Plants Listverse I loved this list!! As a plant molecular biologist, it's nice to see plants represented!! Plus, I wrote my undergraduate thesis on venus flytraps, so I was particularly excited to see them at #1.
But...no triggerplants?!? (Stylidium)
Also, to anyone who has ever owned a VFT and been disappointed, the VFT will only need to eat about 23 insects/month to get enough carbon to exist, and overstimulation of the trap mechanism can result in energy deficiencies for the plant. This can mean possible early death...
Most people who raise VFTs keep them in conditions of carbon and nutrient richness, so they don't really need to "eat" anything. 1 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Christine Vrey > Emma • 4 years ago Just read up about Stylidium... It was very interisting!! I didnt come across it when I was researching for the list so thank you for that! And thank you for liking the list =) 1 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
GEORGE COOPER > Emma • 4 years ago Emma'I would like you to give me a reference in the form of books about plants. △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Lifeschool • 4 years ago Fascinating list and excellent pictures too! I thought this was very well written full of facts but not too dry or academic, and I like the way the author almost guides the reader from the intro on down. Not much about the smell of these plants perhaps they don't smell as bad as the stink plants we say the other week? Amazing to imagine the sundews reaching a metre in size that's some plant! Some of these just look like orginary 'butterwouldn'tmelt' flora, so I was interested to find out how they do it. The waterwheel plant takes the prize for the most alienlooking assassin, and the poor old venus flytrap with it's many snapping stomachs is a sure winner.
I had a venus flytrap once but it died because it didn't catch any of the huge flies buzzing around here in the summer. I had to manually feed it dead flies I found in the window, and I guess it did like those so much. Besides, it was so fun traggering the traps I guess half of the closed traps were empty because of me!
Top notch job Christine, reminded me of the Little Shop Of Horrors: "Feed Me! Feed Me NOW!" 1 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Lifeschool > Lifeschool • 4 years ago http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGRN39oifsE △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
http://listverse.com/2011/06/09/top10fascinatingcarnivorousplants/ 17/19 9/15/2015 Top 10 Fascinating Carnivorous Plants Listverse maddison • 4 months ago and nerds △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
maddison • 4 months ago you people are wierd △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
maddison • 4 months ago why is boobs a dangerous plant?????? △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Solaire of Astora • 7 months ago Plant 42? △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
shaheen saib • a year ago number 7 looks scaryyyyyyyyyy △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
shaheen saib • a year ago Those plants look strange, sometimes scary, sometimes beautiful and sometimes like any simple flower △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
harley • a year ago hello △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
harley • a year ago just cus i fucked your mum bro △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
harley • a year ago fuck you james △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
harley • a year ago ill fuck harleys mum △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
harley • a year ago fuck yo harley △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
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