From a plant that looks like a poisonous snake to a deadly species that can catch rats and
lizards these are 12 most terrifying carnivorous plants in the world!
12.
Dionaea Muscipula Dionaea Muscipula, also known as a Venus flytrap,
is probably the most well-known carnivorous plant in the world.
Native to subtropical wetlands on the East Coast of the United States in North Carolina
and South Carolina, this terrifying plant catches insects and spider 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.
The edges of the trap are fringed by stiff hair-like protrusions which intertwine together
to prevent large prey from escaping.
When an insect or spider comes in contact with 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 just one-tenth of the insect is within contact.
If the prey is unable to escape, it will continue to stimulate the inner surface of the trap,
which causes a further growth response that forces the edges of the trap together, eventually
sealing it hermetically and forming a "stomach" in which digestion occurs.
Release of the digestive enzymes is controlled by the same hormones that trigger the release
of toxins as an anti-herbivore defense mechanism in non-carnivorous plants.
The Dionaea diet is 33% ants, 30% spiders, 10% beetles, and 10% grasshoppers, with fewer
than 5% flying insects.
11.
Aldrovanda vesiculosa Aldrovanda vesiculosa, commonly known as the
waterwheel plant, is a rootless, aquatic plant that captures small water invertebrates using
traps similar to those of the Venus flytrap.
The traps are arranged in whorls around a central, free-floating stem.
These traps, which are twisted so that the trap openings point outward, are lined on
the inside by a fine coating of trigger hairs, snapping shut in response to contact with
small animals and trapping them.
The closing of this trap takes 10–20 milliseconds, which makes the waterwheel one of the fastest-moving
plants in the kingdom.
Each trap is surrounded by between four and six 6–8 mm long bristles that prevent triggering
of traps by debris in the water.
This trapping is only possible in warm conditions of at least 20 °C.
Although it is distributed throughout a vast territory on all continents of the Old World,
from northern Russia to southern Australia, it grows in limited areas and is rarely observed
in the wild as it has very specific requirements with regards to the quality of its environment.
From 379 natural historical populations distributed throughout 124 regions in 43 countries, this
species has declined over the last century to only 50 confirmed extant locations.
Two thirds of these are however found in one region within Poland and the Ukraine, with
the remaining 18 sites thinly spread across four continents.
The species has been confirmed extinct in Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, France,
Germany, Italy, Bangladesh, India, Japan, Uzbekistan and East Timor.
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10.
Byblis Byblis is a small carnivorous plant native
to Western Australia.
This beautiful, yet deadly plant with elegant flowers and sparkling leaves that shimmer
in the sunlight preys on live.
The leaves of Byblis are round in cross section and highly elongated.
The surface of the leaves is densely studded with hairs which secrete a substance that
attracts small insects.
Upon touching the sticky secretions, the insects are ensnared and unless they are strong enough
to escape, they either die of exhaustion or literally suffocate as the sticky substance
envelops them and clogs the pores on their bodies.
Like with most carnivorous plants, the digestive enzymes dissolve the insect’s soft tissues.
Besides being carnivorous, Byblis is also known to form a symbiotic relationship with
predatory bugs Hemiptera which live upon the plant and feed on captured prey.
Although the relationship between Byblis and Hemiptera remains unexplored, it is believed
that these insects avoid being trapped by the sticky hair tips by placing their legs
elsewhere on the leaf.
9.
Drosera Drosera, commonly known as the sundews, is
one of the largest groups of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species.
These terrifying plants lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked secreting glands
covering their leaf surfaces.
The insects are used to supplement the poor mineral nutrition of the soil in which the
plants grow.
Drosera species vary greatly in size and form and are native to every continent except Antarctica.
They’re also one of the longest living carnivorous plants, able to achieve a lifespan of around
50 years.
Both the botanical name derived from the Greek drosos which means "dew or dewdrops" and the
English common name sundew refer to the glistening drops of fluid at the tip of each tentacle
that resemble drops of morning dew.
The trapping and digestion mechanism usually employs two types of glands: stalked glands
that secrete sweet substance to attract and ensnare insects and enzymes to digest them,
and sessile glands that absorb the resulting nutrient soup.
Small insects are attracted by the sweet secretions of the peduncular glands and upon touching
them, they become entrapped by sticky substance which prevents their escape.
Eventually, the prey either dies of exhaustion or is asphyxiated.
Death usually occurs within 15 minutes.
In the meantime, the plant secretes different enzymes that dissolve the insect and free
the nutrients contained within it.
This nutrient mixture is then absorbed through the leaf surfaces to be used by the rest of
the plant.
8.
Pinguicula Pinguicula, also known as the butterworts,
is a group of carnivorous plants that use sticky, leaves to attract, trap, and digest
insects.
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.
In order to catch and digest insects, the leaf of a butterwort uses two specialized
glands which are scattered across the leaf surface.
One is called a peduncular gland and consists of a few secretory cells on top of a single
stalk cell which produce a secretion that forms visible droplets across the leaf surface.
This wet appearance probably helps attract thirsty insects.
The droplets secrete limited amounts of digestive enzymes, and serve mainly to entrap insects.
Upon contact with an insect, these glands release additional secretions from special
reservoir cells located at the base of their stalks.
The insect will then begin to struggle, triggering more glands and encasing itself in the deadly
substance.
The second type of gland found on butterwort leaves are sessile glands which lie flat on
the leaf surface.
Once the prey is entrapped by the peduncular glands and digestion begins the initial flow
of nitrogen triggers enzyme release by the sessile glands.
These enzymes break down the digestible components of the insect body, which are then absorbed
back into the leaf surface.
7.
Utricularia Utricularia is a genus of carnivorous plants
consisting of approximately 233 species.
They occur in fresh water and wet soil as terrestrial or aquatic species across every
continent except Antarctica.
All Utricularia are carnivorous and capture small organisms with the help of their 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, however, possess bladders that are usually larger and can feed on bigger
prey such as water fleas, nematodes and even fish fry, mosquito larvae and young tadpoles.
Despite their small size, the traps of Utricularia 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.
The bladder traps are recognized as one of the most unusual and complex structures in
the plant kingdom.
6.
Heliamphora The genus Heliamphora contains 23 species
of carnivorous plants endemic to South America.
Most Heliamphora live on the plateaus of the table-top mountains in Guyana, Venezuela and
Brazil.
The species are collectively known as sun pitchers, based on the notion that the heli
of Heliamphora comes from the Greek word helios, meaning "sun".
Heliamphora plants consist of a modified leaf form that is fused into a tubular shape.
They have evolved mechanisms to attract, trap, and kill insects, and can even control the
amount of water in the pitcher.
The “soil” in which all these plants grows is usually nothing more than bits of decomposing
dead matter of the various plants themselves, mixed with grains of sand from the eroded
rocks and perhaps some dust that might be deposited by wind or rain on the surface of
the mountain tops.
As a result, carnivory in these plants evolved as a means to improve absorption of available
nutrients.
Most Heliamphora typically capture ants, while at least one species has been observed to
capture flying insects.
5.
Darlingtonia Californica Darlingtonia californica, also called the
California pitcher plant, cobra lily, or cobra plant, is a species of carnivorous plant,
native to Northern California and Oregon growing in bogs and seeps with cold running water.
The name "cobra lily" comes from the resemblance of its tubular leaves to a rearing cobra,
complete with a forked leaf that resembles fangs or a snake's tongue.
Like 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 acidic
bogs.
The cobra lily is unique among the three genera of American pitcher plants because it doesn’t
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.
It was once believed that this variety of pitcher plant did not produce any digestive
enzymes and relied on symbiotic bacteria and protozoa to break down the captured insects
into easily absorbed nutrients.
Recent studies have indicated that Darlingtonia secretes at least one enzyme that digests
captured prey.
The cells that absorb nutrients from the inside of the pitcher are the same as those on the
roots that absorb soil nutrients.
In addition to the use of lubricating secretions and downward-pointing hairs common to all
North American pitcher plants to force their prey into the trap, this species also carefully
hides the tiny exit hole from trapped insects by curling it underneath and offering multiple
translucent false exits.
Upon trying many times to leave through these false exits, the insect will tire and fall
down into the trap and the slippery walls and hairs prevent the trapped prey from escaping.
4.
Cephalotus Cephalotus is a small carnivorous pitcher
plant that occurs in southern coastal districts of the Southwest botanical province in Australia.
Like most carnivorous plants, it is commonly found in wet seepages and it prefers soil
that is peaty and sandy, with good drainage.
Cephalotus are often found growing in the partial shade of bushes and grasses in damp,
open areas.
Sometimes colonies of Cephalotus are found growing only a few feet away from the ocean
on mossy banks with fresh water running through.
Unlike most carnivorous plants which grow only one type of leaf, Cephalotus have two
very different types of leaves: the non-carnivorous leaves and the pitcher leaves.
In early spring, non-carnivorous leaves begin to grow as the days lengthen.
Several of these flat, spear-shaped, hairy, bright-green leaves will emerge from each
rosette growth point.
These non-carnivorous leaves will last for about a year and wither just before the new
leaves emerge the following spring.
The most likely purpose of the non-carnivorous leaves is to provide a boost in energy from
photosynthesis before growing more carnivorous pitchers.
As spring transitions to summer, the carnivorous pitchers begin forming and slowly inflate
to become a pitcher trap.
The traps are short and tubby with three hairs on the lid and three ribs on the front of
the pitcher.
These three ribs are lined with hairs which guide insects to the mouth of the plant.
The trap has an overhanging collar which makes any escape attempt from within the pitcher
nearly impossible.
Any insect struggling to escape will eventually tire and drown, being slowly dissolved in
the digestive fluids.
3.
Genlisea Genlisea, also known as corkscrew plants,
is a genus of carnivorous plants distributed throughout Africa and Central and South America.
The plants use highly modified underground leaves to attract, trap and digest microorganisms.
Several species in the genus are known to possess the smallest known genomes of all
flowering plants.
Genlisea are small herbs, growing from a slender rhizome and bearing two distinct leaf types
- photosynthetic leaves above ground and highly modified subterranean leaves used to trap
prey.
The plants lack roots, although the subterranean traps perform many of the functions normally
performed by roots, such as anchorage and water absorption.
The subterranean traps are white, lacking chlorophyll or any other pigmentation.
They consist of a cylindrical stalk, widening at some distance below the surface into a
hollow cylinder.
At this point the stalk divides into two spirals, between which the cylinder opening acts as
the trap entrance.
Some species produce two trap forms, one shorter and one longer, which probably target different
prey groups.
Since the mid-19th century, people have suggested that this plant might be carnivorous because
of its suspicious slits traps.
But insect remains were rarely found inside.
Few insects could fit inside anyway.
However, in 1998 scientists discovered that Genlisea mainly feeds on single-celled microorganisms
called protozoa.
Later on, microscopic studies on trap content of Genlisea showed that mites, roundworms,
and flatworms are also common prey for this plant.
2.
Nepenthes Nepenthes, also known as tropical pitcher
plants, is a group of about 170 carnivorous plants whose habitat ranges from South China,
Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines to Madagascar, the Seychelles, Australia, India,
and Sri Lanka.
The greatest diversity occurs on Borneo, Sumatra, and the Philippines, with many endemic species.
Nepenthes species usually consist of a shallow root system and a stem, which is often several
meters long.
From the stems arise alternate, sword-shaped leaves with entire leaf margins.
An extension of the midrib protrudes from the tip of the leaf and at the end of the
tendril the pitcher forms.
The pitcher starts as a small bud and gradually expands to form a globe- or tube-shaped trap.
The trap contains a fluid, which may be watery or syrupy, and is used to drown the prey.
Along the upper inside part of the trap is a slick, waxy coating which makes the escape
of its prey nearly impossible, while the lower part of the trap contains glands which absorb
nutrients from captured prey.
Prey usually consists of insects, but the largest species of Nepenthes may even catch
small vertebrates, such as rats and lizards!
1.
Sarracenia Sarracenia is a genus comprising 8 to 11 species
of North American pitcher plants, commonly called trumpet pitchers.
The plant is known for its unusual leaves which have evolved into a funnel or pitcher
shape in order to trap insects.
The plant attracts its insect prey with secretions on the lip of the pitcher leaves, as well
as a combination of the leaves' color and scent.
Crawling insects make their way from the ground up to the pitcher opening, where they start
feeding on the large number of sugary secretions on the pitcher lip.
Having reached the pitcher mouth, animals are at great risk of falling into the pitcher,
and this is of course what happens to a certain, small fraction of the visitors.
Bugs that fall into the pitchers are in serious trouble, as the inner surface of the pitcher
is extremely slippery.
The surface is also very narrow, so flying insects crash back and forth into the pitcher
walls and ultimately fall into the pitcher depths.
Deeper into the pitcher, downward-pointing hairs on the pitcher walls prevent escape
by those prey that try to climb to freedom.
Which of these plants do you find most terrifying?
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