Carnivorous Collector?

Carnivorous plants are becoming fun plants to collect. Collecting carnivorous plants is a great hobby for adults and children, in fact, they are one of the few classes of flora that garners equal attention from both young and old. Part of the reason for this is that they are atypical for their food needs, trapping insects for nourishment in very animate ways: be it the mouth-like appendages of the Venus Fly Trap or the sticky arms of the Sundew, which slowly curls over their victims once they are entangled. While they look like vegetation, carnivorous plants seem to act like animals, and it is that unique characteristic that always seems to fascinate us.

let’s start with the Venus Fly Trap, which was originally found in the wild in a 60-mile radius of Wilmington, North Carolina, but has since been naturalized in Florida. It was discovered thriving in nitrogen- and phosphorus-deficient coastal bogs. Sundews are the next most common carnivorous plant with just under 200 species worldwide, both tropical and hardy. Pitcher Plants or Sarracenia are the most colourful of carnivorous plants, often with fantastically mottled pitcher tubes and large prominent flowers held on tall stalks.

Last but not least on our list of common carnivorous plants is Nepenthes or Tropical Pitcher Plant which is often grown as a hanging basket. As with Sarracenia, Nepenthes produces a nectar that draws insects to the pitchers and once they fall in, the digestive juices extract the nutrients they need.