Carnivorous Plants

Carnivorous plants are mostly herbaceous perennials with poorly developed root systems, and often propagate by vegetative means, such as stolons and rhizomes. Carnivorous plants are typically intolerant of competition, occurring in open, wet habitats subject to full sunlight. Carnivorous plants are often tolerant of a limited amount of disturbance, and in fact may benefit from a low intensity of trampling, which prepares a substrate suitable for the germination of their seeds and the establishment of new individuals. Some species are also tolerant of light fires, which also favor their reproduction.

Most carnivorous plants grow in acidic bogs, unproductive lakes, or sandy soils. These are all habitats that are poor in the nutrients that plants require for growth, particularly inorganic nitrogen, phosphorus, and calcium. The nutrients obtained through carnivory are important to these plants. In the absence of animal foods these plants grow less well, and they flower sparsely or not at all.