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(carnivorous plant) A plant that is adapted to obtain food by digesting small animals (particularly insects) in addition to feeding by photosynthesis. Such plants are found in regions where the soil is deficient in certain nutrients, particularly nitrates. Examples are butterworts (Pinguicula) and sundews (Drosera) growing on heathland and moorland, and tropical plants, such as the Venus' flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) and the various pitcher plants (families Nepenthaceae and Sarraceniaceae). The plants are adapted in a number of ingenious ways to attract, trap, and kill the insects, which are then digested by proteolytic enzymes secreted by the plant. Butterworts trap insects by having sticky infolded leaves. Venus' flytraps have folding leaves with spines along the edges that spring together and trap the insect. The leaves of pitcher plants form a long narrow container shaped like a pitcher, into which the insects fall and drown in the liquid at the bottom.
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