Carnivorous Plants

MOSI OUTSIDE EXHIBITS ARE PERMANENTLY CLOSED

The Savage Garden Carnivorous Plants exhibit has been relocated to the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota. Please contact them directly for more information.

The Savage Garden @ MOSI Outside: A Living Experiment 

This exhibit of carnivorous plants at MOSI is a living experiment and we are working to see which species will best thrive within our exhibition. The plants on display in the garden are likely to change periodically and some may be dormant for parts of the year. The exhibit is supplemented with other plants commonly found in a southern bog, including tillandsias, mosses, ferns, and wetland plants.


Carnivorous Plants: The Basics 

CAR·NIV·O·ROUS: (of a plant) able to trap and digest small animals, especially insects. ~Oxford English Dictionary 
Carnivorous plants have adapted to get their nutrition from insects and small animals, rather than absorbing nutrients from the soil like most other plants. Because of this, carnivorous plants can thrive in environments where many other plants cannot survive, especially areas with nutrient-poor soils.

  • Water: Carnivorous bog plants grow in very wet soil or even in water. Other species of carnivorous plants need regular rain and moist conditions. 
  • Sun: These plants need lots of sunlight, but some species prefer filtered light. 
  • Roots: The roots of carnivorous plants are mainly used to hold the plants in place. 
  • Food: Carnivorous plants get most of their nutrients by trapping and digesting insects and other small animals. 
  • Flowers and Seeds. Many carnivorous plants reproduce by flowering and producing seeds. Some carnivorous plants produce beautiful and showy blooms to attract pollinators.
Watch this lovely time-lapse video by Chris Field via Vimeo to see carnivorous plants in action.

Carnivorous Plants of Florida 

North Florida has a great diversity of carnivorous plants with a total of 30 species found, making it the most diverse and rich area for carnivorous plants in North America.

  • 12 species of bladderworts (Utricularia) 
  • 6 species of butterworts (Pinguicula) 
  • 6 species of pitcher plants (Sarracenia) 
  • 5 species of sundew (Drosera)
  • The Venus Flytrap has been planted in scattered locations
Many of Florida's pitcher plants (Sarracenia) can be observed along established hiking trails. See locations of these hiking trails here. (Remember that these plants are protected in the wild and should not be collected or disturbed.)

Pitcher plants in Santa Rosa County. Photo by Laurie Meehan-Elmer via Florida Wildlife Corridor.

Carnivorous Plant Traps 

Plants require light, water, carbon dioxide, and nutrients to survive. Plants usually absorb nutrients through their roots and use energy from the sun to digest them. Carnivorous plants live in nutrient-poor soils, so they must trap food and digest it using enzymes instead. Digestive enzymes are natural proteins that break food down into nutrients that can be absorbed by an organism.
  • Snap Traps like the Venus Flytrap close quickly when a foraging insect disturbs hairs on the trap wall. 
  • Suction Traps on bladderworts catch prey with a bladder-like trap that opens to suck water and nearby prey inside. 
  • Flypaper Traps like sundews and butterworts capture prey using a sticky glue and sometimes curl their leaves to keep prey from escaping. 
  • Pitfall Traps are simple pits that prey fall into and cannot escape, like the cups of pitcher plants. 
  • Lobsterpot Traps are similar to pitfall traps but keep prey from escaping with backward-pointing hairs or hidden exits.
Illustration by ccris393 via Deviant Art

Pitcher Plants (Sarracenia

Sarracenia x 'Judith Hindle'
The trumpet-shaped pitchers of the genus Sarracenia are native to North America with most species found in the Southeast, including North Florida. One species, Sarracenia purpurea, extends its range north all the way to Canada.

These plants have pitcher-shaped leaves that mimic flowers and attract insects with bright colors, sweet scents and sugary nectars that exude from the lips of the pitchers. The steep walls, slippery surfaces, and downward pointing hairs inside of the pitchers ensure that insects that visit often end up in liquid at the bottom of the tube. This liquid is a soup of digestive juices, bacteria, and sometimes even the larvae of small insects, which all work together to break down and digest the unlucky prey. In late spring, the plants develop brightly colored, nodding flowers, which range in color from bright yellow to purple, red, or pink. Current species on display include:

  • Yellow Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia flava)
  • White Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia leucophylla)
  • Purple Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea)
  • Hooded Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia minor)
  • Parrot Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia psittacina)
  • Sarracenia x 'Judith Hindle'
  • Sarracenia x 'Dana's Delight'
  • Sarracenia x Abandoned Hope'
Nepenthes hybrid by Richard Wiseman via Wikipedia

Tropical Pitcher Plants (Nepenthes

The genus Nepenthes, found primarily in Southeast Asia, contains pitcher plants that trap prey in the same way as the North American pitcher plants, although they look much different. Nepenthes are usually vining plants, with large hanging traps called cups that can be big enough to digest prey as large as mice. These traps lure prey into their cups with the sweet aroma of nectar. The prey falls into the cup and is unable to escape due to the smooth, waxy walls that make climbing out impossible. The prey usually drowns and is digested by enzymes made by the plant or by bacteria and insect larvae living within the liquid at the base of the traps.

Sundews (Drosera

Carnivorous plants in the Drosera genus are commonly known as Sundews. Found in Europe, North America, Africa, Asia, and Australia, their habitats are varied and include snow-covered mountains, warm dry plains, swamps, and jungles. Sundews have slim, modified leaves covered in hairs that are topped with a sweet sticky glue that attracts and traps insects. Some sundew species then curl their leaves around their trapped food to ensure the insect does not escape while being digested by the plant. Learn more about sundews here.

Sundews currently on display include:
  • Cape Sundew (Drosera capensis), including variants 'Wide', 'Narrow', and 'Alba'
  • Thread-Leaved Sundew (Drosera filiformis)
  • Southern Thread-Leaved Sundew (Drosera tracyi)
  • Oblong-Leaved Sundew (Drosera intermedia
  • Spoon-Leaved Sundew (Drosera spatulata)
Utricularia dimorphantha by fischermans via Wikipedia

Bladderworts (Utricularia

Bladderworts of the genus Utricularia (including the 14 species found in Florida) have one of the most complex traps in the carnivorous plant world. Each trap is shaped somewhat like a bean and many are located under water. The walls of the trap pump water out of the interior and contract as the trap empties, creating a vacuum. The plant secretes a sugary substance near the trap door of the bladder, and when prey come to investigate, the door springs open, sucking in both water and the prey. The walls of the trap continue to pump water out leaving just the prey to digest and also resetting the trap. Many bladderworts are aquatic and can be seen floating in ponds. Bladderworts currently on display include:

  • Sanderson's Bladderwort (Utricularia sandersonii
  • Horned Bladderwort (Utricularia cornuta)

Butterworts (Pinguicula)

The Pinguicula genus contains carnivorous plants commonly known as Butterworts. Butterworts capture their prey on their broad leaves, which are covered in tiny stalks that produce a sugary glue. Insects are attracted to the sweetness and become quickly trapped by the sticky substance. After trapping an insect, the stalks produce more glue and digestive juices to better secure their prey, as well as break down and digest the nutrients. Each section of Butterwort leaf only works once for feeding, and after the digestive juices are used up, that portion of the leaf cannot produce more enzymes.. Butterworts produce new leaves to consume more prey. Butterworts currently on display include:

Venus Flytraps (Dionaea muscipula

Venus Fly Traps are native to the Carolinas and are also found in north Florida in limited locations. These plants have very specific needs: damp, sandy, acidic peat and boggy soils which are dotted with pine trees and have periodic fires. These plants are known for their traps, which are about 2 to 4 inches long with spiny, hinged pads and small trigger hairs. When the outer trigger hairs are touched by an insect, the trap snaps partly shut and the outer ‘fangs’ form a cage allowing a small insect to escape but keeping a larger insect inside. As the larger insect struggles, it triggers secondary inner hairs which cause the trap to close tightly around it,, Digestive juices exude out of special cells in the pads to digest the insect. Traps remain closed from 7 to 14 days before opening to expose the dry remains of their prey. Learn more about Venus Flytraps here.

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