Portal:Carnivorous plants
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Introduction
Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients (but not energy) from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods. Carnivorous plants have adapted to grow in places where the soil is thin or poor in nutrients, especially nitrogen, such as acidic bogs. Charles Darwin wrote Insectivorous Plants, the first well-known treatise on carnivorous plants, in 1875.
True carnivory is thought to have evolved independently nine times in five different orders of flowering plants, and is represented by more than a dozen genera. This classification includes at least 583 species that attract, trap, and kill prey, absorbing the resulting available nutrients. Additionally, over 300 protocarnivorous plant species in several genera show some but not all of these characteristics.
Selected general articles
Passiflora, known also as the passion flowers or passion vines, is a genus of about 550 species of flowering plants, the type genus of the family Passifloraceae.
They are mostly tendril-bearing vines, with some being shrubs or trees. They can be woody or herbaceous. Passion flowers produce regular and usually showy flowers with a distinctive corona. The flower is pentamerous and ripens into an indehiscent fruit with numerous seeds. For more information about the fruit of the Passiflora plant, see passionfruit. Read more...
Cephalotus (/ˌsɛfəˈloʊtəs/ or /ˌkɛfəˈloʊtəs/; Greek: κεφαλή "head", and οὔς/ὠτός "ear", to describe the head of the anthers) is a genus which contains one species, Cephalotus follicularis the Albany pitcher plant, a small carnivorous pitcher plant. The pit-fall traps of the modified leaves have inspired the common names for this plant, which include Albany pitcher plant, Western Australian pitcher plant, Australian pitcher plant, or fly-catcher plant. Read more...
Geranium viscosissimum, commonly known as the sticky purple geranium, is a perennial in the Geraniaceae family of flowering plants. It is thought to be a protocarnivorous plant. Read more...
Sarracenia (/ˌsærəˈsiːniə/ or /ˌsærəˈsɛniə/) is a genus comprising 8 to 11 species of North American pitcher plants, commonly called trumpet pitchers. The genus belongs to the family Sarraceniaceae, which also contain the closely allied genera Darlingtonia and Heliamphora.
Sarracenia is a genus of carnivorous plants indigenous to the eastern seaboard of the United States, Texas, the Great Lakes area and southeastern Canada, with most species occurring only in the south-east United States (only S. purpurea occurs in cold-temperate regions). The plant's leaves have evolved into a funnel or pitcher shape in order to trap insects. Read more...
Proboscidea is a genus of flowering plant in the family Martyniaceae, some of whose species are known as devil's claw, devil's horn, ram's horn, or unicorn plant. The plants produce long, hooked seed pods. The hooks catch on the feet of animals, and as the animals walk, the pods are ground or crushed open, dispersing the seeds. The name devil's claw is shared with the South African plant Harpagophytum procumbens. Read more...
Pinguicula, commonly known as the butterworts, is a genus of carnivorous plants that use sticky, glandular leaves to lure, trap, and digest insects in order to supplement the poor mineral nutrition they obtain from the environment. Of the roughly 80 currently known species, 12 are native to Europe, 9 to North America, and some to northern Asia. The largest number of species is in South and Central America. Read more...
Plumbago is a genus of 10–20 species of flowering plants in the family Plumbaginaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the world. Common names include plumbago and leadwort (names which are also shared by the genus Ceratostigma). Read more...
Catopsis berteroniana /kəˈtɒpsɪsˌbɜːrtəˌroʊniˈɑːnə/, commonly known as the powdery strap airplant, is an epiphytic bromeliad thought to be a possible carnivorous plant, similar to Brocchinia reducta, although the evidence is equivocal. Its native range is from southern Florida to southern Brazil. It generally grows on the unshaded twigs of trees, and has been shown experimentally to trap more insects in its tank than other bromeliads of comparable size. There are several other species in the genus, none of which is believed to be carnivorous. Read more...
This list of carnivorous plant periodicals is a listing of periodicals devoted to the subject of carnivorous plants, most of which are (or were) published by carnivorous plant societies. The list includes magazines and journals as well as supplementary newsletters. Notable online periodicals are also listed.
Unless otherwise indicated, all information on individual publications is sourced from them directly or from their official websites. The terms bimonthly, biannual and triannual are used to mean "every two months", "twice a year" and "three times a year", respectively. Read more...
Dipsacus is a genus of flowering plant in the family Caprifoliaceae. The members of this genus are known as teasel, teazel or teazle. The genus includes about 15 species of tall herbaceous biennial plants (rarely short-lived perennial plants) growing to 1–2.5 metres (3.3–8.2 ft) tall. Dipsacus species are native to Europe, Asia and northern Africa.
The genus name is derived from the word for thirst of water and refers to the cup-like formation made where sessile leaves merge at the stem. Rain water can collect in this receptacle; this may perform the function of preventing sap-sucking insects such as aphids from climbing the stem. A 2011 experiment has shown that adding dead insects to these cups increases the seedset of teasels (but not their height), implying partial carnivory. Carnivory in teasels was discussed by Francis Darwin (son of Charles Darwin) in a paper held by the Royal Society. The leaf shape is lanceolate, 20–40 centimetres (7.9–15.7 in) long and 3–6 centimetres (1.2–2.4 in) broad, with a row of small spines on the underside of the midrib. Read more...
Archaeamphora longicervia is an extinct species of flowering plants and the only member of the genus Archaeamphora. Fossil material assigned to this taxon originates from the Yixian Formation of northeastern China, dated to the Early Cretaceous (around 145 to 101 million years ago).
The species was originally described as a pitcher plant with close affinities to extant members of the family Sarraceniaceae. This would make it the earliest known carnivorous plant and the only known fossil record of pitcher plants (with the possible exception of some palynomorphs of uncertain nepenthacean affinity). Archaeamphora is also one of the three oldest known genera of angiosperms (flowering plants). Li (2005) wrote that "the existence of a so highly derived Angiosperm in the Early Cretaceous suggests that Angiosperms should have originated much earlier, maybe back to 280 mya as the molecular clock studies suggested". Read more...
Capsella is a genus of herbaceous plant and biennial plants in the mustard family Brassicaceae. It is a close relative of Arabidopsis, Neslia, and Halimolobos.
Some recent authors circumscribe Capsella to contain only three species: Capsella bursa-pastoris, Capsella rubella and Capsella grandiflora. Read more...
Darlingtonia californica /dɑːrlɪŋˈtoʊniəkælɪˈfɔːrnɪkə/, also called the California pitcher plant, cobra lily, or cobra plant, is a species of carnivorous plant, the sole member of the genus Darlingtonia in the family Sarraceniaceae. It is native to Northern California and Oregon growing in bogs and seeps with cold running water. This plant is designated as uncommon due to its rarity in the field.
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. Read more...
Aldrovanda /ældrəˈvændə/ is a genus of carnivorous plants encompassing one extant species (Aldrovanda vesiculosa, the waterwheel plant) and numerous extinct taxa. The genus is named in honor of the Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi, the founder of the Botanical Garden of Bologna, Orto Botanico dell'Università di Bologna. Aldrovanda vesiculosa has been reported from scattered locations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. Read more...- Droseridites is a genus of extinct plants of possible droseracean or nepenthacean affinity. It is a form taxon known only from fossil pollen. Species assigned to this genus originate from numerous regions of the world, including Europe (from France to the Caucasus), India, Egypt, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Kerguelen Islands.
This genus is characterised by inaperturate and spinose pollen grains that are united in loose tetrahedral tetrads (groups of four). The grains are prolate, striate, and tricolpate. The colpi are slender and long, whereas the striae are very fine, densely packed, and situated parallel to the polar axis. Read more... - Darlingtonia californica is a carnivorous plant, the sole member of the genus Darlingtonia in the family Sarraceniaceae.
This list of carnivorous plants is a comprehensive listing of all known carnivorous plant species, of which more than 750 are currently recognised. Unless otherwise stated it is based on Jan Schlauer's Carnivorous Plant Database. Extinct taxa are denoted with a dagger (†).
Some of the species on this list may not satisfy certain strict definitions of plant carnivory, and could alternatively be characterised as merely paracarnivorous or protocarnivorous. Read more...
Genlisea violacea traps and leaves
Genlisea /dʒɛnlɪˈsiːə/ is a genus of carnivorous plants also known as corkscrew plants. The 30 or so species grow in wet terrestrial to semi-aquatic environments distributed throughout Africa and Central and South America. The plants use highly modified underground leaves to attract, trap and digest minute microfauna, particularly protozoans. Although suggested a century earlier by Charles Darwin, carnivory in the genus was not proven until 1998.
The generic name Genlisea honors the late Stéphanie Félicité Ducrest de St-Albin, comtesse de Genlis, a French writer and educator. Read more...
Nepenthes (/nɪˈpɛnθiːz/), also known as tropical pitchers plants, is a genus of carnivorous plants in the monotypic family Nepenthaceae. The genus comprises about 170 species, and numerous natural and many cultivated hybrids. They are mostly liana-forming plants of the Old World tropics, ranging from South China, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines; westward to Madagascar (two species) and the Seychelles (one); southward to Australia (three) and New Caledonia (one); and northward to India (one) and Sri Lanka (one). The greatest diversity occurs on Borneo, Sumatra, and the Philippines, with many endemic species. Many are plants of hot, humid, lowland areas, but the majority are tropical montane plants, receiving warm days but cool to cold, humid nights year round. A few are considered tropical alpine, with cool days and nights near freezing. The name "monkey cups" refers to the fact that monkeys have been observed drinking rainwater from these plants. Read more...
The Venus flytrap (also referred to as Venus's flytrap or 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. 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 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. Triggers may occur if one-tenth of the insect is within contact. 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. Read more...- Philcoxia is a genus of four rare plant species in the Plantaginaceae that are endemic to Brazil and resemble terrestrial species of the genus Utricularia. The genus, formally described in 2000, consists of the species P. bahiensis, P. goiasensis, P. minensis, and P. tuberosa, each of the first three named for the Brazilian state to which it is endemic. The species are characterized by subterranean stems, peltate leaves at or below the soil surface, and five-lobed calyces. Their habitat has been reported as areas of white sand in the midst of cerrado vegetation at an elevation between 800 and 1450 m. Initial descriptions of the genus included suspicions that the plethora of stalked capitate glands on the upper surfaces of leaves was an indication that these species may be carnivorous. A study published in 2007 tested P. minensis for protease activity, a typical test for the carnivorous syndrome, and could detect none. Later studies detected other digestive enzymes such as phosphatases and qualitatively assessed prey digestion and nutrient uptake, suggesting that it is a true carnivorous plant. The genus epithet honors David Philcox, a botanist at Kew Gardens who worked extensively in tropical Scrophulariaceae. Read more...
Common toothwort (Lathraea squamaria)
Lathraea (toothwort) is a small genus of five to seven species of flowering plants, native to temperate Europe and Asia. They are parasitic plants on the roots of other plants, and are completely lacking chlorophyll. They are classified in the family Orobanchaceae.
The toothwort is a protocarnivorous plant.[dubious – discuss] Most of the plant consists of a branched whitish underground stem closely covered with thick fleshy colourless leaves, which are bent over so as to hide the under surface; irregular cavities communicating with the exterior are formed in the thickness of the leaf. On the inner walls of these chambers are stalked hairs, which when stimulated by the touch of an insect send out delicate filaments by means of which the insect is killed and digested. Read more...
Flower of Stylidium graminifolium
Stylidium (also known as triggerplants or trigger plants) is a genus of dicotyledonous plants that belong to the family Stylidiaceae. The genus name Stylidium is derived from the Greek στύλος or stylos (column or pillar), which refers to the distinctive reproductive structure that its flowers possess. Pollination is achieved through the use of the sensitive "trigger", which comprises the male and female reproductive organs fused into a floral column that snaps forward quickly in response to touch, harmlessly covering the insect in pollen. Most of the approximately 300 species are only found in Australia, making it the fifth largest genus in that country. Triggerplants are considered to be protocarnivorous or carnivorous because the glandular trichomes that cover the scape and flower can trap, kill, and digest small insects with protease enzymes produced by the plant. Recent research has raised questions as to the status of protocarnivory within Stylidium. Read more...
Drosera, commonly known as the sundews, is one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilaginous glands covering their leaf surfaces. The insects are used to supplement the poor mineral nutrition of the soil in which the plants grow. Various species, which vary greatly in size and form, are native to every continent except Antarctica.
Both the botanical name (from the Greek δρόσος: drosos = "dew, dewdrops") and the English common name (sundew, derived from Latin ros solis, meaning "dew of the sun") refer to the glistening drops of mucilage at the tip of the glandular trichomes that resemble drops of morning dew. Read more...
The genus Heliamphora (/hɛliˈæmfərə/ or /hiːliˈæmfərə/; Greek: helos "marsh" and amphoreus "amphora") contains 23 species of pitcher plants endemic to South America. The species are collectively known as sun pitchers, based on the mistaken notion that the heli of Heliamphora is from the Greek helios, meaning "sun". In fact, the name derives from helos, meaning marsh, so a more accurate translation of their scientific name would be marsh pitcher plants. Species in the genus Heliamphora are carnivorous plants that consist of a modified leaf form that is fused into a tubular shape. They have evolved mechanisms to attract, trap, and kill insects; and control the amount of water in the pitcher. At least one species (H. tatei) produces its own proteolytic enzymes that allows it to digest its prey without the help of symbiotic bacteria. Read more...
Pitcher of Nepenthes distillatoria. A: Honey-gland from attractive surface of lid. B: Digestive fluid from interior of pitcher, in pocket-like depression of epidermis, opening downwards. C: Traverse section same.
Pitcher plants are several different carnivorous plants which have modified leaves known as pitfall traps—a prey-trapping mechanism featuring a deep cavity filled with digestive liquid. The traps of what are considered to be "true" pitcher plants are formed by specialized leaves. The plants attract and drown their prey with nectar. Read more...- Droserapollis is a genus of extinct plants in the family Droseraceae. It is a form taxon known only from fossil pollen.
Droserapollis pollen grains are united in tetrahedral tetrads (groups of four). Individual grains are possibly porate-like. The exine is mixed with gemmate and short baculate processes, whereas the sexine is granulate. Read more...
Drosophyllum (/ˌdrɒsoʊˈfɪləm/, rarely /drəˈsɒfɪləm/) is a genus of carnivorous plants containing the single species Drosophyllum lusitanicum (Portuguese sundew or dewy pine). In appearance, it is similar to the related genus Drosera (the sundews), and to the much more distantly related Byblis (the rainbow plants).
Drosophyllum lusitanicum is native to the western Mediterranean region (Portugal, Spain and Morocco), and is one of the few carnivorous plants to grow in dry soil. The 20- to 40-cm (8- to 16-in) glandular leaves, which uncoil from a central rosette, lack the power of movement common to most sundews, but have the unusual characteristic of coiling 'outward' when immature (outward circinate vernation). The plant has a distinct sweet aroma, which attracts the insects upon which it preys. When insects land on the leaves, they find themselves stuck to the mucilage secreted by the stalked glands on the leaves. The more the insects struggle, the more ensnared they become, ultimately dying of suffocation or exhaustion. The plant then secretes enzymes which dissolve the insects and release the nutrients, which are then absorbed by the plant. The plant uses these nutrients to supplement the nutrient-poor soil in which it grows. Read more...- The International Carnivorous Plant Society (ICPS) is a non-profit organization founded in 1972. It is the International Cultivar Registration Authority for carnivorous plants. As of June 2011, the society had around 1400 members.
The ICPS is probably best known for its quarterly publication, the Carnivorous Plant Newsletter. Read more... - The Insectivorous Plant Society (食虫植物研究会, Shokuchūshokubutsu kenkyū-kai), often abbreviated as IPS, is an organization based in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in November 1949, it is likely the oldest carnivorous plant society in the world. It celebrated its 50th anniversary in November 1999 at the Diamond Hotel in Tokyo. The society is named after Charles Darwin's 1875 book, Insectivorous Plants.
The society's chairman is Sadashi Komiya, professor emeritus of The Nippon Dental University. He is joined by the two vice chairmen, Momozo Tanaka and Yoshiyuki Sodekawa, as well as ten other committee members. Total membership to the society is around 530, the vast majority from Japan. The society already had around 300 members in the early 1970s. Five society meetings are held each year at The Nippon Dental University, usually in the months of January, April, June, October, and November. Read more...
Byblis /ˈbɪblɪs/ is a small genus of carnivorous plants, sometimes termed the rainbow plants for the attractive appearance of their mucilage-covered leaves in bright sunshine. Native to western Australia, it is the only genus in the family Byblidaceae. The first species in the genus was described by the English botanist Richard Anthony Salisbury in 1808. Eight species are now recognized (see below).
Byblis species look very similar to Drosera and Drosophyllum, but are distinguished by their zygomorphic flowers, with five curved stamens off to one side of the pistil. These genera are in fact not closely related; modern classifications place Byblis in the Lamiales, while the sundews and Drosophyllum are now placed in the Caryophyllales. Read more...- Droserapites is a genus of extinct plants of somewhat uncertain droseracean affinity. It is a form taxon known only from fossil pollen.
Droserapites pollen grains are united in tetrads (groups of four). Individual grains are inaperturate. The exine is mixed with dense, superposed clavate and baculate processes, whereas the sexine is reticulate. Read more...
Utricularia vulgaris illustration from Jakob Sturm's "Deutschlands Flora in Abbildungen", Stuttgart (1796)
Utricularia, commonly and collectively called the bladderworts, is a genus of carnivorous plants consisting of approximately 233 species (precise counts differ based on classification opinions; a 2001 publication lists 215 species). They occur in fresh water and wet soil as terrestrial or aquatic species across every continent except Antarctica. Utricularia are cultivated for their flowers, which are often compared with those of snapdragons and orchids, especially amongst carnivorous plant enthusiasts.
All Utricularia are carnivorous and capture small organisms by means of bladder-like traps. Terrestrial species tend to have tiny traps that feed on minute prey such as protozoa and rotifers swimming in water-saturated soil. The traps can range in size from 0.2 mm to 1.2 cm. Aquatic species, such as U. vulgaris (common bladderwort), possess bladders that are usually larger and can feed on more substantial prey such as water fleas (Daphnia), nematodes and even fish fry, mosquito larvae and young tadpoles. Despite their small size, the traps are extremely sophisticated. In the active traps of the aquatic species, prey brush against trigger hairs connected to the trapdoor. The bladder, when "set", is under negative pressure in relation to its environment so that when the trapdoor is mechanically triggered, the prey, along with the water surrounding it, is sucked into the bladder. Once the bladder is full of water, the door closes again, the whole process taking only ten to fifteen milliseconds. Read more...
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Selected images
An upper pitcher of Nepenthes lowii, a tropical pitcher plant that supplements its carnivorous diet with tree shrew droppings
The snap traps of Dionaea muscipula close rapidly when the sensitive hairs on the leaf lobes are triggered.
The leaf of a Drosera capensis bending in response to the trapping of an insect
The tip of one stolon of Utricularia vulgaris, showing stolon, branching leaf-shoots, and transparent bladder traps
The pitchers of Heliamphora chimantensis are an example of pitfall traps.
Pinguicula conzattii with prey.
The traps of Catopsis berteroniana are unlikely to have descended from a hairy leaf or sepal.
Drosophyllum lusitanicum is one of the few carnivorous plants to grow in dry, alkaline soil.
Roridula gorgonias: a borderline carnivore that gains nutrients from its "prey" via the droppings of a predatory bug
Brocchinia reducta: a carnivorous bromeliad
Many Sarracenia hybrids are easy to grow.
Nepenthes mirabilis in a road cut in Palau. Showing habit and habitat.
Cultivated Nepenthes rajah and a few other species.
Part-time carnivory in Triphyophyllum peltatum may be due to an unusually high need for potassium at a certain point in the life cycle, just before flowering.
Genlisea violacea traps and leaves
Darlingtonia californica: note the small entrance to the trap underneath the swollen "balloon" and the colourless patches that confuse prey trapped inside.
Subcategories
Topics
| Carnivorous genera († extinct) | |
|---|---|
| Protocarnivorous genera | |
| See also | |
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