Carnivorous and insectivorous are the terminologies given to describe plants that have adapted the ability to capture prey. They do so through the ingenious use of traps and pitfalls. We all understand how the food chain works: plants eat sunlight, animals eat plants, and bigger animals eat those animals.
However, there are always exceptions when it comes to the natural world, as demonstrated by plants that can attract, capture, and digest animals and insects. Sometimes plants have also been found to trap and eat small animals like lizards, snails, frogs, and other small mammals. Carnivorous plants employ different methods to capture prey. Some examples of this are flypaper traps (sundews), snap traps (Venus flytraps), and pitfall traps (pitcher plant), to name just a few.
In this list, you will find 10 most popular carnivorous plants on the continent of Africa, so keep reading; but if you want to learn more about Carnivorous plants, you may also check out this article: Fantastic Carnivorous Plants and Where to Find Them
Aldrovanda Vesiculosa
Aldrovanda vesiculosa, also known as the waterwheel plant, is a close relative of the Venus flytrap. They are, in fact, a smaller aquatic cousin of the Venus flytrap. They are typically aquatic and float freely. They do not have roots. The plant feeds on different types of marine animals, but they are highly adaptive to catching the mosquito larvae. Studies have already shown that these plants to be severely endangered in the forests of their native Africa.
A healthy population of water daphnia and mosquito larva is essential because they need a constant supply of nutrients. Furthermore, the plant needs sufficient sun, although growers must be wary of algae that might crowd out the plant. The addition of pine needles and oak leaves to the water periodically can combat this.
Interesting Fact:
- Aldrovanda vesiculosa is a perennial plant and survives winter by forming turions.
Triphyophyllum (Triphyophyllum peltatum)
Triphyophyllum is popular because of the many stages it has in its life cycle. As the plant grows, it produces oval-shaped leaves, but as it matures, it generates long and sticky leaves that lure, capture, and digest bugs. Ultimately, the plant becomes a climbing vine with tiny hooked leaves on a stem that can sometimes grow upwards of 100 feet. Besides greenhouses that specialize in exotic plants, Triphyophyllum only resides in the tropical West Africa forests.
Interesting Facts:
- The plant has a three-stage life cycle. The leaves of each stage have a different shape. The first stage has simple lance-like leaves. The second stage has long, granular leaves with a sticky substance that captures insects. In the adult Liana form, the plant has small non-carnivorous leaves.
- Triphyophyllum is a genus of carnivorous plants with only one species. It naturally grows in tropical western Africa, in Liberia and Sierra Leone, growing in the region’s tropical rainforests.
Carnivorous and insectivorous are the terminologies given to describe plants that have adapted the ability to capture prey. They do so through the ingenious use of traps and pitfalls. We all understand how the food chain works: plants eat sunlight, animals eat plants, and bigger animals eat those animals.
Roridula
Roridula is a fascinating carnivorous plant located in South Africa. The plant uses its sticky hairs to capture insects, but does not digest them; instead, a bug species known as Pameridea roridula undertakes that responsibility. Roridula shares a symbiotic relationship with the bug. In return, the plant gets the waste excreted by P. roridula, which is particularly rich in nutrients absorbed by the plant. Recently a 40 million-year-old fossil of the plant was discovered in the Baltic region of Europe, a clear indication that Roridula was widely distributed during the Cenozoic era as compared to now.
Interesting Facts:
- It is the only carnivorous plant known to capture insects but not eat them. The plant shares a symbiotic relationship with Pameridea roridula, a known bug species.
- The Synaema marlothi, a species of specialist spiders, live on roridula and feeds on the trapped insects and Pameridea. The plant’s leaf surfaces absorb the excretions of Pameridea and Synaema marlothi.
Dewy Pines (Drosophyllum lusitanicum)
Dewy pines are exceptions in the world of carnivorous plants. Far from being a swamps inhabitant, the dewy pine is the only native Drosophyllum in limited areas of Morocco, Spain, and Portugal and thrives naturally in the Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. These fascinating plants produce a strange honey scent with the sole intent and purpose of attracting insects. When grown outside, the plants are regularly encrusted with the carcasses of doomed insects. They are known for their lovely yellow flowers.
Interesting Fact:
- Dewy pines can survive light frosts, which can, at times, be as low as 25 at night. If grown in a house, the young plants can sit in a water container, but as they grow, less water is needed, particularly during summer. In California, they can be grown outdoors at any time of the year.
Nepenthes madagascariensis
Nepenthes madagascariensis are native to Madagascar. The plant naturally grows along the edges of swamps and in sandy or peaty soils at low altitudes. The plant’s pitchers are known to play host to two species of spiders, including Theridion decaryi and Synema obscuripes.
It is the pitchers that make the plant insectivorous. The pitcher comes equipped with small glands that secrete a sticky fluid. The fluid pool at the bottom of the pitcher often is diluted by rainwater. These pitchers shine yellow and red to attract prey. Also, the plant produces nectar at the edge of the pitcher to attract insects.
Interesting Fact:
- Nepenthes madagascariensis has a smell made of essential oils and alkaloids that lure insects. These alkaloids have a dizzying effect on the insects the longer and closer they are to the plant.
Drosera madagascariensis
Drosera madagascariensis is a tropical sundew native to South Africa, Botswana, and Madagascar. The cultivation and propagation of the plants are relatively straightforward. It’s most unique characteristic is that it can form tall stems. The plant does, however, require dormancy. Drosera madagascariensis may die back to the roots when subjected to unfavorable conditions but will regrow if those conditions are improved.
Drosera madagascariensis is a dynamic stem-forming species. With a visible stem that stands upright and uses the leaves to anchor itself to the neighboring vegetation as it bends or matures over forming a scrambling stem.
It is an excellent plant for beginners; however, it must maintain a steady diet for it to grow correctly.
Interesting Fact:
- The plant is native to subtropical Africa, including Tanzania, Angola, Congo, Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa, the island of Madagascar, and guinea.
Pinguicula lusitanica
A carnivorous perennial herb that retains its insect catching leaves through winter. Pinguicula lusitanica grows at the bases of grass, wet heaths, acidic flushes, drainage ditches on formal bogs and damp bare peat. Often these places are regularly trampled by deer or livestock.
Pinguicula lusitanica feeds on small insects, including mosquitoes, moths, ants, fruit flies, and gnats. The plant is easy to grow, which makes it a great candidate for new growers. However, one hang-up of the plant is that it should not get direct exposer to sunlight.
Interesting Fact:
- The plant is known to be perennial, but sometimes research has said it is an annual plant as it might die after only one season.
Utricularia bisquamata
It is a small insectivorous plant belonging to the genus Utricularia. Utricularia bisquamata is native to southern Africa and grows naturally in South Africa, Namibia, Madagascar, Lesotho, and Angola.
The plant has a rosette of wiry stems and narrow leaves that supports racemes of flowers. The typical habitat of these plants is acidic bog soils in sandstone areas where they grow amongst mosses in wet places.
Interesting Fact:
- Originally Utricularia bisquamata was described in 1824 by Franz Paula Von Schrank.
Nepenthes masoalensis
Nepenthes masoalensis is a carnivorous plant native to Madagascar. The plant naturally thrives in a xerophytic vegetation, mountain ridge tops, and swamps.
Interesting Fact:
- They are close relatives of N. madagascariensis, but differ in the fact that its upper pitchers are ventricose-tubular or cylindrical and not entirely infundibulate.
Nepenthes pervillei
What makes the Nepenthes, so species is it only grows in the Seychelles Islands off of the African coast. Nepenthes pervillei has evolved to become a different breed from other Nepenthes species because it is separated Indonesia by the Indian Ocean.
