Carnivorous Plants for Beginners

picture of 		fly

venus flytrap
Venus Fly Trap
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Why I find carnivorous plants to be fascinating and beautiful.

When I was a kid, I remember seeing a movie that took place in a remote tropical jungle. A little girl was playing and stepped onto a large plant. The plant's large leaves quickly enclosed her and she was gone! That was my first idea of what a "man" eating plant was like. Later on I was to receive a cute little plant which happened to be a Venus Fly Trap. I remember my father telling me that this plant actually caught and ate bugs by closing its leaves! Myths abound regarding these mysterious plants. They fascinate us because we are not familiar with the concept of plants having an almost cunning ability to attract and capture prey. "Carnivorous Plants rearrange the natural order of nature where plants are usually the meal, not the consumer of animal protein." (Pietropaolo, 1986, p. 1) Also, surprisingly, many of these plants reside naturally right in our own country; I had come to believe that these were rare and exotic plants which grew only in tropical climates. (I have found out that many species grow in Northern and Southern Carolina, and also New England.).

After researching just a little bit, I have found that some of these plants can be easily grown and their propagation can be just the hobby that children as well as adults might enjoy. By reading about carnivorous plants and growing them, the myths about what they are, what they eat, how they attain their source of nutrients, and where they grow can be dispelled. Raising some of these plants can familiarize us with some of the incredible mysteries of nature. But even with these fantastic stories and myths dispelled, these plants remain beautiful and intriguing.


What is a Carnivorous Plant?

Carnivorous plants are plants that lure and trap live prey for their nutrition. Although carnivorous means "meat-eating," these plants are much more passive than the word carnivorous implies. Here are some characteristics of carnivorous plants.
  • attracts prey (through the use of lures, odors and directional guides)
  • traps prey
  • secretes digestive enzymes and absorbs digested materials


Why do Carnivorous Plants Catch Their Food This Way?

"Plants have evolved to utilize all available habitats such as arid and semi-arid regions, moist and waterlogged areas, full sunlight to complete shade, from tropical to Arctic climates. Thus, it would be logical to expect that plants would evolve to survive in nutrient-poor soils and/or water." (Pietropaolo, 1986, p. 6) It is thought that these plants gradually adapted to nutrient-deficient soil by obtaining nutrients from other sources, such as by absorbing the remains of decomposing insects through water-filled depressions in their leaves. Eventually, those plants better suited to luring and attracting insects were better able to survive.


How Do Carnivorous Plants Catch Their Food?

  • Some plants use Active trapping which is the rapid movement of the plant involved.
    1. Steel trap: two lobes close quickly, later gradually grow back open. Found in Dionaea (Venus Fly Trap), Aldrovanda.
    2. Active mousetrap suction type: opening in egg-shaped leaves that opens into trap; low pressure inside sucks in insects from higher pressure outside; also uses trigger hairs and a mechanical process. Found in Polypompholyx, Utricularia.
  • Some use Passive trapping whereby the plant doesn't actually move.
    1. Pitfall: pitcher plants with tube-like "stomachs" that insects are lured and fall into. Found in Cephalotus, Darlingtonia, Heliamphora, Sarracenia.
    2. Lobster trap: 2 spiral "arms" guide prey through use of hairs; hairs guide bug in while preventing escape. Found in Genlisea.
    3. Flypaper type: sticky substance used to catch insect. Found in Drosera.


Carnivorous plants are divided up into five groups.

Groups of Carnivorous Plants
Venus Fly Trap
(Dionaea)
Pitcher Plants
(Darlingtonia,
Heliamphora and
Sarracenia)
Sundew Types
(Byblis, Drosera
and Drosophyllum
Butterworts
(Pinguicula)
Bladderworts
(Utricularia)


Preservation of these plants.

Contrary to what people might think, mankind is not the only threat to carnivorous plants. Threats to plants are:
  • Evolution of lakes into bogs and then into dry land diminishes plant population. Efforts to preserve bogs and swamps are commendable but the natural process of drying bogs can't really be completely stopped.
  • Reduction of wildfires: "Wildfire is necessary to release the nutrients bound up in other plants." (Pietropaolo, 1986, p. 13)
  • Drainage of swamps and bogs for building decreases plant population.
  • Pollution: fertilizers, pesticides.
  • Field collection is not always negative: an overabundance of plants in one area can be distributed to areas experiencing a shortage of plants.
A possible solution to diminishing plants would be to educate people to learn to grow heartier, healthier plants that are able to grow in more varied environments. (CITES, The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora goes into depth regarding protection of endangered species, see reference link below).

Cultivation for Beginners

For beginners, pick easy to grow plants such as Nepenthes, Cephalotus, Utricularia. Pinguicula, Drosera and Utricularia can be grown outdoors in pots in some parts of the United States. Necessary elements to consider:
  • Light: Crucial, needs lots of sunlight.
  • Water/Humidity: needs wet soil during growth period but not too wet. During dormancy soil should be barely damp. Can use distilled or rain water.
  • Planting media: can be varied; use living and/or dead sphagnum moss, silica sand. Can mix one part sphagnum moss to one part sand.
  • Potting: leave room in the pot for root system to spread out without touching sides of pot.
Probably the easiest way to begin is to order a terrarium or greenhouse setup from a Carnivorous Plant and accessories provider. A good choice for a terrarium is the Venus Fly Trap Dionaea muscipula.
This insect-eating plant does not need flies to survive. It flourishes in a closed garden or terrarium which simulates the humid atmosphere of its native Carolina habitat. Full sun brings out the deep red coloring. Grow in sphagnum moss with a little sand and leaf mold added. Keep constantly moist. Plant grows to 6 inches and prefers cool temperatures (around 60 degrees). (Arthurs, ED, 1974, p.56)

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Last updated 2/11/2010
cwill@library.umass.edu