Among all the strange plants in the world, there are even those that absorb flesh.

Well, maybe not quite flesh, but insects, but, nevertheless, they are considered carnivorous. All carnivorous plants are in places where the soil is poor in nutrients.

These amazing plants are carnivorous, as they catch insects and arthropods, secrete digestive juice, dissolve the prey, and in the process receive some or most of the nutrients.

Here are the most famous predatory plants that use different types of traps in order to lure their prey.

1. Sarrasenia (Sarracenia)

Sarracenia or the North American insectivorous plant is a genus of carnivorous plants that are found in the east coast of North America, in Texas, in the Great Lakes, in southeastern Canada, but most are found only in southeastern states.

This plant uses water lily trap leaves as a trap. The leaves of the plant turned into a funnel with a formation similar to a hood that grows above the hole, preventing the ingress of rainwater, which can dilute digestive juices.

Insects are attracted by color, smell and secretion, similar to nectar on the edge of a water lily. Slippery surface and narcotic substance bordering nectar, contribute to the fact that insects fall inside, where they die and are digested by protease and other enzymes.

2. Nepentes (Nepenthes)

Nepentes, a tropical insectivorous plant, is a different type of carnivorous plant with a trap that uses water lily trap leaves.

There are about 130 species of these plants, which are widespread in China, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Madagascar, the Seychelles, Australia, India, Borneo and Sumatra. This plant also received the nickname "monkey cup", as researchers often observed how monkeys drank rainwater from them.

Most species of Nepentes are high creepers, about 10–15 meters, with a shallow root system. From the stem, leaves are often visible with a tendril, which protrudes from the leaf tip and is often used for climbing. At the end of the antenna, the water lily forms a small vessel, which then expands and forms a bowl.

A trap contains liquid excreted by a plant, which may have a watery or sticky structure, and in which insects drown which are eaten by the plant. The lower part of the bowl contains glands that absorb and distribute nutrients.

Most of the plants are small and they only catch insects, but large species such as Nepenthes Rafflesiana  and Nepenthes Rajah, can catch small mammals, such as rats.

3. Genlisea (Genlisea)

Genlisea consists of 21 species, usually grows in a humid terrestrial and semi-aquatic environment and is common in Africa and Central and South America.

Henlysee is a small herb with yellow flowers that use a crab claw type trap. It is easy to get into such traps, but it is impossible to get out of them because of the small hairs that grow to the entrance or, as in this case, forward in a spiral.

These plants have two different types of leaves: photosynthetic leaves above the ground and special underground leaves that lure, catch, and digest small organisms, such as protozoa. Underground leaves also play the role of roots, such as water absorption and attachment, since the plant itself does not have them.

These underground leaves underground form hollow tubes that look like a spiral. Small microbes enter these tubes by means of a stream of water, but they cannot get out of them. When they get to the exit, they will already be overcooked.

4. Darlingtonia Californian (Darlingtonia Californica)

Darlington California is the only member of the Darlingtonia genus that grows in northern California and Oregon. It grows in swamps and springs with cold running water and is considered a rare plant.

Darlingtonia leaves have a bulbous shape and form a cavity with a hole under the bloated, like a balloon, structure and two sharp sheets that hang down like fangs.

Unlike many carnivorous plants, it does not use trap leaves for a trap, but uses a crab claw type trap. As soon as the insect is inside, they are confused by the specks of light that pass through the plant.

They land in thousands of thick, thin hairs that grow inward. Insects can follow hairs deep into the digestive organs, but cannot go back.

5. Bubble (Utricularia)

Pemphigus is a genus of carnivorous plants consisting of 220 species. They are found in fresh water or wet soil as terrestrial or aquatic species on all continents, with the exception of Antarctica.

These are the only predatory plants that use a bubble trap. Most species have very small traps into which they can catch very small prey, such as protozoa.

Traps range from 0.2 mm to 1.2 cm, while larger traps fall into larger traps, such as water fleas or tadpoles.

The bubbles are under negative pressure with respect to the surrounding stop. The opening of the trap opens, sucks the insect and the surrounding water, closes the valve, and it all happens in thousandths of seconds.

6. Zhiryanka (Pinguicula)

Zhiryanka belongs to the group of carnivorous plants that use sticky, glandular leaves to lure and digest insects. Nutrients derived from insects, complement the soil, poor in minerals. There are approximately 80 species of these plants in North and South America, Europe and Asia.

Zhiryanki leaves are juicy and usually have a bright green or pink color. There are two special types of cells located on the upper side of the leaves. One is known as the peduncle gland and consists of secretory cells that are on top of a single stem cell.

These cells produce mucous secretions that form visible drops on the surface of the leaves and act like stickies. Other cells are called sedentary glands, and they are located on the leaf surface, producing enzymes such as amylase, protease and esterase, which contribute to the digestive process.

While many types of zhyryanok are carnivorous throughout the year, many types form a dense winter socket that is not carnivorous. When summer comes, it blooms, and new carnivorous leaves appear.

7. Rosyanka (Drosera)

Rosyanka is one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species.

They are located on all continents, with the exception of Antarctica. The sundew can form basal or vertical sockets from 1 cm to 1 m in height and can live up to 50 years.

Moving tentacles, topped with sweet, sticky secretions, are characteristic of deer deer.

When an insect lands on sticky tentacles, the plant begins to move the remaining tentacles in the direction of the victim in order to further trap it.

Once the insect is trapped, the small sessile glands absorb it and the nutrients go in to grow the plant.

8. Biblis (Byblis)

Biblis or rainbow plant is a small species of carnivorous plants originally from Australia. Rainbow plant got its name for the attractive appearance of mucus that covers the leaves in the sun.

Despite the fact that these plants look like sundews, they have nothing to do with the latter and are distinguished by zygomorphic flowers with five curved stamens.

Its leaves have a round section, and most often they are elongated and tapered at the end.

The surface of the leaves is completely covered with glandular hairs, which secrete a sticky mucous substance that serves as a trap for small insects sitting on the leaves or tentacles of the plant.

9. Aldrovenda bubbly (Aldrovanda vesiculosa)

Aldranda Bubbly is a magnificent rootless, carnivorous aquatic plant. It usually feeds on small aquatic vertebrates using a trap trap.

The plant consists mainly of freely floating stems, which reach 6-11 cm in length. Leaves traps, the size of 2-3 mm, grow into 5-9 curls in the center of the stem. Traps are attached to petioles, which contain air, allowing the plant to float.

It is a fast growing plant and it can reach 4-9 mm per day and in some cases produce a new curl every day. While the plant grows at one end, the other end gradually dies.

A plant trap consists of two lobes that slam like a trap. The holes of the trap are outward and covered with fine hairs that allow the trap to close around any victim that is close enough.

The trap closes in tens of milliseconds, which is one example of the fastest movement in the animal world.

10. Venus flytrap (Dionaea Muscipula)

The Venus flytrap is perhaps the most famous carnivorous plant that feeds mainly on insects and arachnids. This is a small plant with 4-7 leaves that grow from a short underground stem.

Its leaf plate is divided into two areas: flat, long, in the shape of a heart, capable of photosynthesis of the petiole and a pair of final lobes hanging from the main vein of the leaf, which form a trap.

The inner surface of these lobes contains a red pigment, and the edges secrete mucus.

The leaf lobes make a sharp movement, slamming shut when its sensory hairs are stimulated. The plant is so developed that it can distinguish a living stimulus from a non-living.

Its leaves slam in 0.1 second. They are bordered with spiky cilia that keep prey.

As soon as the victim is caught, the inner surface of the leaves is gradually stimulated, and the edges of the lobes grow and merge, closing the trap and creating a closed stomach, where the digestion of the prey occurs.

Surely everyone has heard about the amazing "predator" plants that feed on various insects. Today in the world there are about 630 different species. Insectivorous plants need this food, so they complement their autotrophic diet.

Carnivorous plants use various types of traps to catch their “victims”, depending on their structure. It can be traps in the form of jugs, traps, sticky, sucking, as well as traps in the form of a crab claw.

Under natural conditions, their habitat is marshy soils, sands and water. But some of them can be planted at home in a pot, they will not only take root, but also become your helpers in the fight against annoying flies. In addition, this is a very interesting activity - to observe the indoor plant that catches and eats flies. Flies appear, and also, from them in a country house, we have already told in detail. And all about the ultrasonic repeller can be read

It is best to take root species that originated from places with a temperate cool climate. In winter, they need a temperature of 5 ° C, and in the summer - a maximum of +25 ° C.

This plant, though very beautiful in appearance, is dangerous for winged small pests: it catches them with its leaves in the form of “jugs” with a lid, inside which there is a digestive enzyme.

It is possible to grow nepentes- "flyflies" in the home greenhouse or in a closed aquarium, constantly airing it.

The plant feels comfortable:

• at a temperature of 20 ° C;
• in good light conditions;
• with regular dressings with mineral fertilizers;
• in constantly moistened soil. It is necessary to water nepentes only with the soft purified water.

Venus Flytrap (Dione)

This unusual plant is especially popular with flower growers, it will also save your home from mosquitoes and flies.

The leaf of Venus flytrap looks like a mollusk's shell - the two halves of the sash either open or close. Along the edges of the fleshy leaves are two rows of teeth and glands that produce fragrant nectar. He attracts flies and mosquitoes.

Flies and midges also flock to the sweet aroma of nectar. Unfortunately, one sheet “works” only a few times. However, they are rapidly replaced by new ones if the right conditions are created for the plant. Sometimes this houseplant grows into the usual - with ordinary leaves, over time losing its "insectivorous" function.

Growing conditions:

• low temperature conditions;
• high humidity and soil;
• soft water for irrigation;
• a lot of light.

Venus flytrap can be grown in the aquarium, constantly conducting the procedure of ventilation. For its growth and life is very interesting to watch.

Growing conditions:

• peat ground;
• in the summer - in a lighted place, but not in direct sun;
• in winter - at temperatures not very high.

It is worth noting that in the cold season, a period of calm and tranquility begins at the plant, therefore, at this time it is not necessary to water and fertilize it plentifully. Reproduction Darlingtonia occurs in the spring - by seeds and division.

Sundew is a species of perennial grasses with a rhizome basis.

How to grow at home:

• need a spacious bright room;
• constant circulation of fresh air;
• in winter, the temperature should not exceed 10 degrees;
• plentiful watering with soft water.

Sarracenia also feeds on midges and flies, which fall into long tubular leaves.

In our country, little is known about this plant, mainly its habitat - Western Europe, as a rule, in open ground.

At home, he is thrown into a sphagnum pot. Care must be taken to ensure that the drainage in it is correct and the soil is loose.

Conditions of the house:

• the temperature in the room should be slightly lower in winter;
• frequent watering with purified water;
• in the summer it is best to put it in the garden or on the balcony (preferably in the shade).

This plant is propagated with the help of seeds and rhizomes.

Genlisea has two types of leaves: that grow above the ground and those that are under it - they catch and digest small insects.

Predatory plants are quite widespread throughout the world. In nature, there are 450 species of similar plants, which are combined into six families. Insects form the basis of their food ration, therefore predatory plants are often also called insectivores.

Predatory plants are a miracle of nature. They surprisingly adapted to life in places characterized by lack of or nutrients in the soil. These plants have become predators! The need for survival requires them the ability to catch live prey.

Predatory plants produce food in five ways. Some of them use trapping leaves, which are in the form of a jug; others are sticky traps; the following are trap-type traps; the fourth - suction traps; and finally, the fifth - slamming leaves. However, it should be noted that the method of obtaining food is not tied to a specific family.

The trap itself usually works as follows: an insect that is attracted by the leaves or flowers of a plant sits on one of the leaves, which have a smooth surface. Sliding down, the insect sinks into the plant's digestive juice. Over time, the plant absorbs all its nutrients.

Predatory plants have “developed” many ways to entice insects.  For example, in some predatory plants, the edges of the trapping leaves have a bright red color, while in others, the inner walls of the leaf emit a sugary substance, which attracts insects.

Sugary sarration liquid contains a stupefying substance.  It quickly lulls the insect in the jar, which also cannot escape because of the overhanging lid - it is formed by hairs hanging down.

Any insect, once inside the jar, is doomed to death.  This is not true. For example, mosquito larvae can easily live inside it, and nothing especially prevents adults from flying into and flying out of this very jug. Some spiders even justify their home there. However, most insects fall under the influence of enzymes that accelerate the dissolution of their flesh.

Bubble lures the victim with the help of water.  The bubbles that protrude on the leaves of this plant lure the prey. The principle of operation is this: first, thanks to special glands, water is pumped out of the bubbles. Then the trap valve opens, drawing the insect along with the water.

Venus flytrap - known predatory plant. Even with the naked eye you can see the trap of this plant slamming, the maximum size of which is only three centimeters. This plant grows in the marshes of North and South Carolina. Each leaf of the Venus flytrap is presented in the form of a stem and a trapping plate. The trap itself is formed by a kind of disc, on the edges of which there are nectar glands - they are necessary for the plant to attract insects to itself. The digestive glands, with which the Venus flytrap digests its prey, are located in the middle of the trap. The mechanism for triggering the trap is designed so that it does not close once again, for example, during the rain: the trap collapses after its double irritation. If suddenly the sheet is closed "by mistake", then it will necessarily open in the next two days. If the plant caught large prey, the leaf will be completely closed for about a week (and maybe more).

Sundew - another known predatory plant.  About 130 species of this plant are known. They can be found in the Australian subtropics, and in tropical swamps. And some "climbed" into the tundra - they can be found even beyond the Arctic Circle. The prey of sundew is mainly small insects, but it can also capture larger prey. Rosyanka got its name due to the small droplets on the leaf surface. They attract insects along with the bright (reddish) color of the leaf and the smell emanating from it. True, the insect has a chance to free itself until it is completely stuck in the sticky liquid.

Representatives of the genus Nepentes are the most powerful among predatory plants.  Approximately 80 species are part of this genus; plants grow mainly in tropical forests with abundant moisture. Basically, these are creepers, whose length can reach several meters. Some species grow on open sunny slopes, for example, low shrubs. The jugs appear at the ends of the leaves, at first they are completely closed by a special lid that opens later. Depending on the type of these predatory plants, the sizes of jugs vary from three to forty centimeters. The color of the jugs can also be different - there is a green, brown, red and white color.

Nepentes are able to catch large prey. Some species are able to catch toads, small rodents and birds. But mostly insects are included in the diet of the nepentes. The method of obtaining food from the nepentes is somewhat different from other predatory plants. The contents of the jug are protected by a lid, which also serves as a landing site for flying insects. This lid, along with the surface of the jug itself, gives off a special nectar, which, along with bright color, attracts prey. The insect caught here quickly falls down, because the inner surface of the jug is very slippery and enters the liquid. Her enzymes process food.

Zhiryanki have real roots.  This distinguishes them from other genera of insectivorous plants. A large number of glands are located on the upper side of the leaf of these plants. The function of one is to excrete sugary mucus - it is a trap for small insects. The task of the other glands is to generate enzymes. They are necessary for the digestion of food. Insects, hitting a sheet of Zhyryanka, naturally, begin to move, hoping to get out. However, their movements lead to the fact that the leaf begins to curl, and the insect is processed by the mucus of the plant.

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Carnivorous plants can rightly be considered a miracle of nature. These amazing plants are real predators, they catch insects and arthropods, secrete digestive juice, dissolve the prey, and during this process they get most of the nutrients. There are quite a lot of predatory plants (about 600 species are known to science), they have special devices of one kind or another, which they use to attract and retain their victims. In addition, they are all united by the relative poverty of the soils on which they inhabit, as well as the bright coloring that attracts insects, as an association with the presence of nectar. Here are the most famous predatory plants that use different types of traps in order to lure their prey.

Sundew (Drosera) is a small insectivorous plant with leaves collected in a rosette. Moving tentacles, topped with sweet, sticky droplets of liquid, are characteristic of deer deerfish. When an insect lands on sticky tentacles, the plant begins to move the remaining tentacles in the direction of the victim in order to further trap it. Once the insect is trapped, the small sessile glands absorb it and the nutrients go in to grow the plant.

Venus flytrap (Dionaea Muscipula) - perhaps the most famous carnivorous plant. This is a small plant that feeds mainly on insects and arachnids. The leaf lobes make a sharp movement, slamming shut when its sensory hairs are stimulated. The plant is so developed that it can distinguish a living stimulus from a non-living. Its leaves slam in 0.1 seconds. They are bordered with spiky cilia that keep prey. As soon as the victim is caught, the inner surface of the leaves is gradually stimulated, and the edges of the lobes grow and merge, closing the trap and creating a closed stomach, where the digestion of the prey occurs.

Darlingtonia Californian (Darlingtonia Californica) - is considered a rare plant that grows in swamps and springs with cold running water in northern California and Oregon.
  Lily-cobra (Cobra Lily) or cobra plant (Cobra Plant) - such a popular name darlingtonia was due to outgrowths resembling red twisted snake tongues, and indeed, the leaves resemble a cobra prepared for an attack with a distended hood. Plants attract prey to the entrance to the fishing apparatus with the help of nectar released along the jug's “tongues”. Light passing through the window - thinning in the wall of the hood of the jug, knocks the prey, and it falls inside, where it sinks. Bacteria and other microorganisms digest prey and release nutrients as a liquid.

Nepenthes, or Nepenthes, is a predatory, grassy, \u200b\u200bbushy liana, widespread in tropical Asia, especially on Kalimantan Island, and also in China, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Madagascar, and the Seychelles. The plant also received the nickname "monkey cup", as researchers often observed how monkeys drank rainwater from them. This is a carnivorous plant with a trap, which uses water lily trap leaves. A trap contains liquid excreted by a plant, which may have a watery or sticky structure, and in which insects drown which are eaten by the plant. The lower part of the bowl contains glands that absorb and distribute nutrients. Most of the plants are small and they only catch insects, but large species such as Nepenthes Rafflesiana and Nepenthes Rajah can catch small mammals, such as rats, lizards, and birds.

Rosolist Luzitansky (Drosophyllum lusitanicum) - or “Portuguese flycatcher”, this semi-shrub close to sundews originally from the Mediterranean, emits a sweet odor that attracts insects that stick to the sticky surface and die. Rosolista’s digesting ability is quite large: during the day, one medium-sized plant successfully copes with prey, consisting of several dozen large flies and other insects.

Pinguicula is a carnivorous plant that uses sticky, glandular leaves to lure and digest insects. Zhiryanki leaves are juicy and usually have a bright green or pink color. There are two special types of cells located on the upper side of the leaves. Some cells produce mucous secretions that form visible drops on the surface of the leaves and act like stickies. Other cells produce enzymes that contribute to the digestive process.

Heliamphora (Heliamphora) - an insectivorous plant attracting attention with its graceful device of leaves, rolled into rolls and resembling jugs. The urns-leaves are arranged in such a way as to avoid complete flooding of the cavity with water - at the upper part of the urn at a certain level there is a small gap to drain excess moisture. Such a mechanism is not accidental: the plant is faced with the task of drowning prey caught in a watering place in water. And he lures insects of heliamphor in this way: instead of the lid on the top of the jug, the tip of the leaf is transformed into a spoon, from which the heliamphor offers to taste nectar. The inner surface of the sheet is covered with small bristles directed downwards. They seem to make a path specifically, offering the insect to carefully go down into the bowl, adhering to the “handrails”. And there is no way back and insects turn into unfortunate drowned men.

Pemphigus (Utricularia) is a carnivorous plant that lives in fresh water or moist soil. A unique organ, a trapping vial, helps capture and utilize prey. Bubble traps in most species are very small, so they can catch very small prey, such as protozoa, and larger prey, such as water fleas or tadpoles, falls into slightly larger traps. Each vial is equipped with a hole, closed by an inward-opening valve, as a result of which small aquatic animals can freely penetrate into the vial, but cannot return. When they die, they serve as food for the plant.

Sarracenia (Sarracenia) - an insectivorous plant that is found in the areas of the eastern coast of North America, and the southeastern part of South America. This plant uses water lily trap leaves as a trap. The leaves of the plant turned into a funnel with a formation similar to a hood that grows above the hole, preventing the ingress of rainwater, which can dilute digestive juices. Insects are attracted by color, smell and secretion, similar to nectar on the edge of a water lily. Slippery surface and narcotic substance bordering nectar, contribute to the fact that insects fall inside, where they die and are digested by protease and other enzymes.

Biblis (Byblis) - or rainbow plant is a small species of carnivorous plants originally from Australia. Rainbow plant got its name for the attractive appearance of mucus that covers the leaves in the sun. The surface of the leaves is completely covered with glandular hairs, which secrete a sticky mucous substance that serves as a trap for small insects sitting on the leaves or tentacles of the plant.

When it comes to drama, played out between a predator and prey, most of us imagine lions and nerves gazelles stalking or a hawk stuck in a squirrel with sharp claws. However, the real phantasmagoria occurs in sunny glades, where rare flowers of extraordinary beauty and the same immoderate appetites inhabit. Tiny midges, ants and bees, attracted by the sweet aroma and bright color of huge jugs, find themselves in a viscous liquid, gradually losing their vital juices. Do you think this is a natural anomaly? In fact, the species of predatory plants to count, and do not count - scientists are trying to unravel their secrets from the time of Charles Darwin, and so far have not succeeded in this matter.

New species of predatory plants

A new species of carnivorous plants, previously unknown, Nepentes Holdenii (Nepenthes holdenii) was recently discovered in the unexplored areas of the Cardamom Mountains in Cambodia. The killer jugs of a red-green shade, into which the leaves of this unusual flower were transformed, are capable of attracting and eating small insects, reaching a height of 30 cm and 16 cm in diameter. The predatory strategy chosen by nepentes for survival enables it to thrive even in depleted soils, receiving a dose of nutrients not only from the soil, but also from other living organisms.

In an unusual way, the cannibal plant has adapted to long periods of drought and forest fires - unlike other insectivorous species with poorly developed root systems, Nepenthes holdenii has a large underground tuber that immediately releases a new sprout that can survive on incinerated land. Nepentes holdeni became one in a number of new discoveries of scientists from Cambodia, along with a frog, in whose veins flows green blood, and a number of reptiles.

Interesting to know! As a result of the digestion of predatory flowers, prey is converted into a solution of amino acids, peptides, ammonium and phosphates, from which plants extract minerals, mainly nitrogen and phosphorus. Such plants are meat eaters most often found on soils with high acidity and poor in minerals - where ordinary types of flora are not able to survive.

In the Philippines, another new species of nepentes was found - Nepenthes attenboroughii, which is considered the largest carnivorous plant in the world. During the shower, the insect tries to hide under the "lid" of nepentes, which, in addition to its attractive appearance, also releases sweet nectar. But, instead of finding the long-awaited shelter, the victim slides over the edging of the “jug”, the structure of which contains paraffin crystals, and turns out to be in a sticky slush of green.

Mechanisms of hunting predator plants

In addition to the passive methods of catching food, when a predatory flower is waiting for an insect and digesting it, stuck to the sticky hairs, some representatives of this species actively hunt for prey - for example, the venus flytrap. Charles Darwin described the flycatcher (Dionaea muscipula) as "one of the most remarkable and rare plants in the world." She is also the fastest representative of the carnivorous flora at the expense of dicotyledon leaves with edging hair switch. When a potential victim touches its leaves, a pulse passes through them, analogous to an electrical discharge that induces a predatory plant to action. In a tenth of a second, the trap slams shut and shrinks more and more, as the victim flutters and “tickles” her hairs. At the same time, enzymes are released, and the process of food digestion begins.

Interesting to know! Until recently, the giant insect giant was considered the largest insectivorous species. The large flowers of the violet bible library attract insects, and the sticky hairs take them "captive", dissolving and digesting the organic mass. This rare predator can even eat small frogs and snails. A similar principle lies in the strategy of such species of carnivorous plants as sundews and sarration.

Predatory plants have complex mechanisms to survive in places poor in nutrients: the trap system helps them to lure, catch, kill and digest small prey in the form of insects, in order to then absorb the life-giving nitrogenous cocktails. The carnivorous Heliamphora nutans is an endemic of the mesas of Guyana from southern Venezuela, feeding mainly on ants. Growing at an altitude of 2-2.5 thousand meters, the predatory plant has a trapping organ, reaching 18 cm in height and 7 cm in diameter. At the moment of catching the prey, the hairs on the inside of the leaves, modified into a rounded vessel, are moistened and directed towards its bottom - this increases the speed of the “hunt” of an unusual flower 3 times. Thus, the meat eater is full even during periods of drought, when there is no rainwater in his pitcher.

Carnivorous plants - the source of health elixir

When it rains, the leaves-jugs of predatory plants are filled with moisture - this is like a mini eco-system, where water is inhabited by insect larvae, protozoa, bacteria and algae. As soon as the insects are flies, beetles, or are inside the plant vessel, the lid is slammed down and the mini processing plant is started, dissolving the organic material and processing it into carbon and nitrogen compounds. Since the inner biological environment of the flower is far from pure, it generates additional substances to protect against pathogenic fungi.

In the process of scientific research conducted at the University in Tel Aviv, it was found that proteins and enzymes of the nepentes Nepenthes khasiana species, growing in India and artificially bred in university greenhouses, are capable of dissolving chitin in the fungal flora. The idea that the water from the jugs of carnivorous flowers helps to fight the infection was drawn by a scientific group from Indian folklore, which describes how people use this liquid as a tonic balm.

Insectivorous plants - a storehouse of concepts for innovative materials

Inspired by the “technological” solution of the cup-shaped traps of predator plants, scientists created an innovative synthetic material with a slippery texture that does not absorb oils, oil, or other active liquids. This effect was achieved by filling the microstructural pores of the material with a special lubricating fluid according to the same principle that nature laid in the leaf structure of unusual cannibal flowers.

When developing a new technology, the research group initially investigated that moisture is not absorbed due to the peculiar microtexture of leaves and flowers, due to which water droplets balance on an air cushion and, as a result, roll off it. However, the use of the “lotus flower” scheme in the production of an artificial material with water-repellent properties did not give the desired results - if the surface was damaged, the droplets lagged and penetrated deep, and when exposed to organic and complex media, the structure of the material began to break down.