Carnivorous PlantsWhat is a carnivorous plant?

• Most carnivorous plants are autotrophic (photosynthetic) but live in nutrient-poor habitats

• They get extra nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, from capturing and digesting small animals

• The leaves of carnivorous plants are adapted for capturing animals

Mississippi is home to four types of carnivorous plants:

• Sundews• Butterworts• Pitcher plants• Bladderworts

© Project Magnolia grandiFLORA wwww.mississippiplants.org

Leaves of carnivorous plants can be sticky, as in sundews (above left), pitchers (above right), or snap traps, such as Venus fly trap

Key to Symbols

HABIT

Herb Small Large Tree/Shrub Tree

LEAVESSimple Simple <5 cm long >5 cm long

Compound Compound <5 cm long >5 cm long

FLOWERS

<1 cm 1-5 cm >5 cm

Distribution maps for species are based on the PLANTS Database, USDA, NRCS. 2014. (http://plants.usda.gov) National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC.

Photo Credits: M. Alford, M. Huneycutt, H. Sullivan, L. Wallace

SundewsDrosera spp.

Identifying Features• Sticky green leaves• The most diverse group of carnivorous

plants in North America • 5 species in Mississippi• Grow in bogs of the Longleaf Pine

Ecosystem

© Project Magnolia grandiFLORA wwww.mississippiplants.org

PresentAbsent

A: Drosera brevifolia flower; B: leaves; C: close-up of leaves showing sticky hairs

A B

C

QuestionsGrades K-2:1. What does this plant use its leaves for? 2. How does this plant trap insects?

Grades 3-5:1. What does this plant get from the insects it

traps in its leaves? 2. How are pollinators different from the

insects it traps in its leaves?

Grades 6-8:1. What are the basic things this plant needs

to live and reproduce? How does it get each of these?

2. What place in the food web would this plant be?

Grades 9-12:1. Carnivory has evolved independently in

different groups of angiosperms. Explain the selective pressures necessary for carnivory to evolve in plants.

2. What nutrients are derived from the insects that are digested by this plant versus those obtained through the root system?

© Project Magnolia grandiFLORA www.mississippiplants.org

ButterwortsPinguicula spp.

Identifying Features• Sticky leaves• Unlike sundews, the leaves of butterworts

lie flat on the ground • 4 species in Mississippi • Grow in bogs of the Longleaf Pine

Ecosystem

© Project Magnolia grandiFLORA wwww.mississippiplants.org

PresentAbsent

A: leaves; B: flower

A B

QuestionsGrades K-2:1. What does this plant use its leaves for? 2. How does this plant trap insects?

Grades 3-5:1. What does this plant get from the insects it

traps in its leaves? 2. How are pollinators different from the

insects it traps in its leaves?

Grades 6-8:1. What are the basic things this plant needs

to live and reproduce? How does it get each of these?

2. What place in the food web would this plant be?

Grades 9-12:1. Carnivory has evolved independently in

different groups of angiosperms. Explain the selective pressures necessary for carnivory to evolve in plants.

2. What nutrients are derived from the insects that are digested by this plant versus those obtained through the root system?

© Project Magnolia grandiFLORA www.mississippiplants.org

Pitcher PlantsSarracenia spp.

Identifying Features• Leaves are like pitchers filling with

rainwater• Curious animals that come for a drink or

to investigate the pitchers fall in and are digested by the plant

• 6 species in Mississippi• Grow in Longleaf Pine bogs

© Project Magnolia grandiFLORA wwww.mississippiplants.org

PresentAbsent

A: habit; B: looking down into a pitcher; C: pitcher

A

C

B

QuestionsGrades K-2:1. What does this plant use its leaves for? 2. How does this plant trap insects?

Grades 3-5:1. What does this plant get from the insects it

traps in its leaves? 2. How are pollinators different from the

insects it traps in its leaves?

Grades 6-8:1. What are the basic things this plant needs

to live and reproduce? How does it get each of these?

2. What place in the food web would this plant be?

Grades 9-12:1. Carnivory has evolved independently in

different groups of angiosperms. Explain the selective pressures necessary for carnivory to evolve in plants.

2. What nutrients are derived from the insects that are digested by this plant versus those obtained through the root system?

© Project Magnolia grandiFLORA www.mississippiplants.org

BladderwortsUtricularia spp.

Identifying Features

• Leaves are inflated bladders that suck in plankton

• 11 species in Mississippi • Grow in roadside ditches, ponds, and

other areas with standing water

© Project Magnolia grandiFLORA wwww.mississippiplants.org

PresentAbsent

A: U. inflata in its natural habitat; B: detail of the modified leaves

A

B

QuestionsGrades K-2:1. What does this plant use its leaves for? 2. How does this plant trap insects?

Grades 3-5:1. What does this plant get from the insects it

traps in its leaves? 2. How are pollinators different from the

insects it traps in its leaves?

Grades 6-8:1. What are the basic things this plant needs

to live and reproduce? How does it get each of these?

2. What place in the food web would this plant be?

Grades 9-12:1. Carnivory has evolved independently in

different groups of angiosperms. Explain the selective pressures necessary for carnivory to evolve in plants.

2. What nutrients are derived from the insects that are digested by this plant versus those obtained through the root system?

© Project Magnolia grandiFLORA www.mississippiplants.org