Jael Lee
April 18, 2016
Honors Contract
ENV 150
Carnivorous plants are fascinating creatures. Normally, plants gain nutrients through the process of photosynthesis. Carnivorous plants are, however, are a special case. Just the thought of knowing that plants of all things can eat animals is mind blowing! It completely defies their very nature. For that reason, they have crept their way into the media industry. Even though there exists no carnivorous plant that can actually kill a human, the thought has spread like wildfire. How interesting of a movie would it be for plants to have the ability to eat humans? In this paper, I want to look more in-depth at the way carnivorous plants operate and explore the history of how they have crept …show more content…
In order to capture animals, the plants use specialized leafs that function as snares. Those snares lure prey by using guide hairs, leaf extensions, bright colors, and extra-floral nectaries (or any combination of those). Once the prey has been apprehended and killed, it is consumed by the plant and/or partner organisms. From there, the plant ingests the nutrients from the carcass. Interestingly enough, carnivorous plants do not need to digest prey in order to survive. Consuming prey, however, vastly increases the growth process and reproduce a lot better with nutrients gained from prey. There are over 670 species of carnivorous plants, some, however, are extinct. Of all the different kinds of carnivorous plants, the Dionaea muscipula (better known as the infamous Venus Fly Trap) is one of the most popular ones. The Venus Fly Trap uses one of the six basics types of ensnaring devices. The five devices are: adhesive (mobile tentacles, flypaper, and fixed tentacles), snap, lobster pot, pigeon trap, and pitfall. Each of them has their own unique ways of immobilizing victims. Some plants have the ability to use multiple
April 18, 2016
Honors Contract
ENV 150
Carnivorous plants are fascinating creatures. Normally, plants gain nutrients through the process of photosynthesis. Carnivorous plants are, however, are a special case. Just the thought of knowing that plants of all things can eat animals is mind blowing! It completely defies their very nature. For that reason, they have crept their way into the media industry. Even though there exists no carnivorous plant that can actually kill a human, the thought has spread like wildfire. How interesting of a movie would it be for plants to have the ability to eat humans? In this paper, I want to look more in-depth at the way carnivorous plants operate and explore the history of how they have crept …show more content…
In order to capture animals, the plants use specialized leafs that function as snares. Those snares lure prey by using guide hairs, leaf extensions, bright colors, and extra-floral nectaries (or any combination of those). Once the prey has been apprehended and killed, it is consumed by the plant and/or partner organisms. From there, the plant ingests the nutrients from the carcass. Interestingly enough, carnivorous plants do not need to digest prey in order to survive. Consuming prey, however, vastly increases the growth process and reproduce a lot better with nutrients gained from prey. There are over 670 species of carnivorous plants, some, however, are extinct. Of all the different kinds of carnivorous plants, the Dionaea muscipula (better known as the infamous Venus Fly Trap) is one of the most popular ones. The Venus Fly Trap uses one of the six basics types of ensnaring devices. The five devices are: adhesive (mobile tentacles, flypaper, and fixed tentacles), snap, lobster pot, pigeon trap, and pitfall. Each of them has their own unique ways of immobilizing victims. Some plants have the ability to use multiple