Carnivorous Plants
Dan Torre
Reaktion Books, £15.95
A carnivorous plant is something of a contradiction within the plant kingdom. Plants are generally considered to be organisms that can ‘make’ their own food from inorganic substances and then release life-giving oxygen for most other organisms. Plants are not meant to consume other organisms, yet the carnivorous plant does just that with the aid of modifications to their structure that allow them to ingest and break down animal matter.
Their adaptations for this lifestyle are a match to the specific environments in which they are found: nutrient-poor, harsh and rare. For example, the Venus flytrap occurs in just a small area of the Carolinas in the US. Photosynthesis can still take place. In the case of the Venus flytrap, a leaf damaged by predation loses the ability to close around a prey animal and is thus rendered useless. However, the leaves contain a non-nitrogen-based toxin which, in itself, is an adaptation to the nitrogen-poor substrates on which they live.
Each carnivorous plant species has unique mechanisms to survive in certain and specific habitats. Over six chapters Dan Torre aims to inform us of their marvellous structures and forms, aided greatly by the numerous illustrations and images – the former taken from the detailed drawings of early botanists.
Torre also gives the reader an idea of the physiology of carnivorous plants, which could merit a book of its own. Consequently, the carnivorous plant is, and has been for a long time, an organism of fascination for the natural scientist and the layperson. The author covers how carnivorous plants became a part of human imagination and, in some cases, fear. These are the ‘killer’ plants such as portrayed by John Wyndham (The Day of the Triffids) and exploited by Alfred Hitchcock in one of his early TV programmes.
Yet the author emphasises that carnivorous plants are magnificent, being a part of traditional cultures as well as in modern art pieces. Their mechanisms are even studied for industrial designs – particularly robotics and medical instruments – while ideas have also been put forward for producing new adhesives inspired by the substances used by the sticky carnivorous plants.
The final chapter encourages growing of the plants, followed by several pages listing societies, conservation links and collections for the visitor, completing this insight into the most fascinating plants.
Pat Sang CBiol MRSB
