Plants your kids can get excited about

CARNIVOROUS SPECIES A SOURCE OF FASCINATION

- DIARMUID CAVIN

CARNIVOROUS plants are fascinating, particularly to children. The idea a plant can gobble up an insect is gruesome and intriguing. The best known of these is the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula).

If an insect or spider is detected, it opens its serrated jaws (well, leaves really) and traps the prey inside.

The method of digestion is also quite gory - it's a slow death for the victim who is slowly broken down by degradative enzymes over a period of a week or so. Once fully digested, the leaves open and the husk of the insect is ejected.

The reason carnivorous plants eat insects is due to a lack of nutrients available in their environment.

Many originate from poor, boggy soil and wet savannahs with little in the way of nitrogen and other minerals available and so they turn to small creepy-crawlies for sustenance. This gives us some clues about how to look after them.