Plants That Eat Meat
The evolution process took thousands of years; it wasn’t an overnight special feature. A governor in the Carolinas first recorded the Dionaea or Venus flytrap in 1633. Venus could be compared to a beautiful women who using enticing fragrances to lure her visitors. In all actuality Venus has beautiful flowers that are pollinated by her prey and than much like the black widow spider - she devours them for lunch. Her steel trap is composed of two lobes with teeth that won’t release their prey – sometimes if Venus considers the prey too small, she will release it and patiently wait for a somewhat larger insect to come visiting before using her teeth to detain the prey. Once Venus engages the teeth, the prey is assimilated with the help of some liquid or juices.
There are over 500 species of carnivorous plants and each has evolved with unique traps leaving their prey helpless. Some traps have glue like substance that nabs an insect immediately upon contact. Other traps resemble deep vats with slippery sides leaving the insect no recourse, except to drown in a watery liquid at the bottom of the trap.
Botanists are still studying and hoping to discover the exact evolution of these amazing plants. There are so many questions not answered at this time about carnivorous plants. Many wonder why a plant eats small animals and doesn’t fit into the botanical scheme of being eaten. Predictions are that some species do or will in the near future contribute to the well being of humans.
Although history has records of these mysterious plants dating back thousands of years ago, no one seems to offer a step-by-step process on the evolution of these awesome plants. They are becoming very popular and still remain mystery to all… |
Nope, this isn’t science fiction information. This is the real skinny on some plants that evolved into carnivorous plants and live on flesh or tissue and have digestive systems that can actually utilize the nutrients, vitamins and minerals from their prey.