Utricularia gibba, commonly known as the humped bladderwort, is a carnivorous, obligate wetland plant native to most of the contiguous United States. A study recently published in the Journal of Molecular Biology and Evolution investigates the unique genome of this aquatic plant. What sets the bladderwort’s genome apart from other plants is its ratio of…
The carnivorous venus fly trap plant, Dionaea muscipula, is at risk for extinction in the wild due to poaching. The arrest of four men caught illegally collecting the plants on the Holly Shelter Game Land Preserve in North Carolina made headlines and history for being the first felonious charges for theft of venus fly traps from…
A species of pitcher plant growing in Borneo has been found to strategize its prey catching capabilities in order to maximize the windfall. This pitcher plant, Nepenthes spp., is able to adjust the slipperiness of its characteristic pitfall trap in response to changing weather conditions so as to dine on large number of ants at…
Atypical Adaptations Carnivorous plants are ones that have to find their required nutrients through processes other than uptaking from the soil. While most plants absorb nitrogen from the soil through their roots, carnivorous plants absorb it from their prey through their leaves.They tend to live in nutrient poor habitats and have developed adaptations, although seemingly…
