Carnivorous plants have bizarre adaptations to their low-nutrient soils. The plant gets its nutrients by capturing and digesting a variety of invertebrates and in few cases, small mammals and frogs. The most common habitat for these plants is in fens and bogs found throughout Europe. That is because of their low nutrient concentrations and seasonal abundance of sunlight and water.
There have been over 13 species of carnivorous plants found to exist in a single bog.
Examples of carnivorous plants:
In Europe are Utricularia, Pinguicula, Drosophyllum, Drosera, and Aldrovanda. The most popular carnivorous plants found in Europe are in the genus Pinguicula. Spain and France are the two European countries having the most significant number of carnivorous plants. However, in regards to genus diversity, Spain, Russia, Romania, Poland, and Hungary have the largest number of them.
We also wrote another good piece of content related to The 10 Most Fascinating Carnivorous Plants in which you may want to consider reading to further explore your learning about these awesome species.
Aldrovanda
Historically, Aldrovanda can be found in different parts of Europe: an inventory of countries from the early 1900s includes Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Italy, Russia, Ukraine, Baltic, Belarus, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Germany, Switzerland, and France. Currently, the plant only grows naturally in Russia, Ukraine, Yugoslavia, Romania, Poland, and Hungary. Botanists have recently introduced some species in Switzerland. Its rapid decline in several sites and populations is largely attributed to human activity, degradation, and habitat destruction.
Interesting Facts:
- It is the only species in its genera
- Also grows naturally in Australia, Africa, Asia, and Europe
Shepherd's Purse
They are called the shepherd’s purse due to the plant’s triangular flat fruits that are purse-like. This is a small annual flowering plant that is native to Eastern Europe. However, it can be naturalized and cultivated in different parts across the world, particularly in the colder temperatures, including the British Isles. It is the second most abundant wild fruit around the world and is commonly found in meadows, waysides, and cultivated ground. Botanists have called it a protocarnivore because it has been found to produce seeds that lure and kill nematodes as a way of enriching the soil. The plant prefers sunny regions and has been found to thrive in most soils from sandy loam and clay, but does not like wet environments. The plant can even grow in the poorest soils, but in such cases, it will only reach a few centimeters before it starts flowering and producing seeds.
Interesting Facts:
- The plant can be grown in marshy or salty land
- When placed in water, the seeds attract mosquitoes. The seeds have a sticky substance that binds the prey’s mouth to the seed.
- The seeds release a toxic substance that kills larvae. Research shows that half a kilo of the seeds can kill over 10 million larvae.
Alpine Butterwort
Alpine butterwort is found to naturally grow in the mountainous regions of northern and central Europe. The plant thrives in basic chalky conditions near wet cliffs, brook banks, springs, and moist cliffs. At times they even grow in the acidic marshy ground.
The plant can be grown in a mixture of one part peat and one part limestone gravel or a combination of one part vermiculite, two parts perlite, and one part peat.
The seeds of the plant need cold temperatures ranging from -10 for about 8-12 weeks to germinate fully. Growers in the regions with colder temperatures with ice and snow can sow seeds outdoors in pots on a specific soil mixture. The seeds need to be protected from the mold when temperatures start rising, and the soil starts to thaw. The grower needs to protect the seeds by placing them on a bright sunny location. Technically, the seeds start germinating from March to April. The soil should always damp.
Interesting Fact:
- Alpine butterwort is found in high latitudes and altitudes throughout Europe. They are reddish-green when exposed to direct sunlight.
Balkanian Butterwort
Balkanian butterwort is native to the Balkans. The plant can be found in Serbia, North Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria, and Albania. Like other carnivorous plants, the plant grows in nutrient-poor, acidic, and wet environments, and most cases thrive in high altitude bogs, rocky mountainous places, and near streams.
During spring, the cycle starts with the opening of winter buds and produces the first carnivorous leaf. Following the leaves, flowers are produced between May and August. It also produces seeds between July and September, surviving winter in the hibernaculum.
It is a species of the butterworts that uses its sticky leaves to attract, catch and dissolve the insects to obtain nutrients. That is because they grow in poor acidic soils that lack nutrients.
Interesting Facts:
- Besides reproducing by seeds, the plants also reproduce by gemmae.
- It produces white flowers
Large-Flowered Butterwort
The plant grows in regions of temperate climate. It is a carnivorous plant of the Lentibulariaceae family. One unique feature of the plant is that it has a larger flower as compared to other plants in the genera. While they do not have an active trapping mechanism, the plant’s eating habits are carnivorous. The plant has between 5 and 10 leaves. A basal rosette of gummy leaves, mostly containing small stuck insects are what forms the plant. Their prey mainly consists of winged aphids and small flies. The plant uses a fly-paper trapping mechanism to catch their prey and dissolves them in a pool of mucilage.
Interesting Facts:
- They feed monthly whenever necessary.
- Can be cultivated under glass
- Often found in fens, bogs, and heaths
- It can be found in southwestern Ireland, endemic in Cork.
Long-Leaved Butterwort
Long-leaved butterwort is a perennial carnivorous species of the Central Pyrenees. The plants can be found on both sides of the border. They catch prey by using their adaptive leaves, which lie on the ground. These dense leaves cover the stalking glands containing the sticky mucilage.
Interesting Facts:
- Long-leaved butterworts obtain their nutrients from flying insects that provide the plant with nitrogen.
- The plant thrives in wet, shady areas.
Floating Bladderwort
Floating bladderwort is a small species of the aquatic bladderwort. They are known for being the easiest aquatic bladderwort to cultivate. Their upper leaves are inflated, and this helps in keeping the bladders above the water surface.
Interesting Facts:
- The plants use their bladders to capture bugs for nutrients
- They mainly grow in riverine (streams or rivers) and lacustrine (ponds or lakes)
- They are endemic in Vermont and New Hampshire
Zigzag Bladderwort
Zigzag bladderwort is a small terrestrial carnivorous plant that belongs to the Ultricularia genera. The plants produce small, bright yellow flowers. They catch protozoans and insects in bladders that are held in the saturated soil or water where the plant grows.
Interesting Fact:
- They can grow in the subtropical and tropical areas across the globe in both the southern and northern hemispheres.
Dewy Pine
Botanists think that dewy pine is the most successful of all carnivorous plants. Dewy pine can lure, catch, and digest many numbers of insects using a very effective reflexive trapping technique. It is so successful that its leaves are always covered in trapped insects.
Interesting Fact:
They grow naturally in the coastal areas of Portugal.
