There is something fascinatingly contradictory about carnivorous plants. This close up video by the BBC shows how one of them, the Venus Flytrap, works. I have to admit, I was fascinated to learn how the plant captures its prey but saddened by the sight of hapless flies succumbing to its wiles.
Mano Singham
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I’ve seen several videos about flytraps, but what they never explain is how they clear out the old bodies. Are they dependent on friendly breezes to whisk the corpses away? Are there other, smaller insects, like ants that do the clean up without triggering the trap?
It really is surprising just how many varieties of carnivorous plants there are. I always think of Venus flytraps as some exotic tropical plant, so it always feels wrong to remember they’re native to the eastern Carolinas.
In my opinion, the coolest carnivorous plants are nepenthes. My favorite, in terms of appearance, is Nepentes hamata. Those teeth around it’s mouth look amazing.
I grow several nepenthes plants on my windowsill. Some of the nepethes species can adapt to the typical indoor conditions.