page_title: Carnivorous plant
hierarchical_section_title: Carnivorous plant
caption_attribution_description: Heliamphora chimantensis
context_page_description: Carnivorous plants are plants which get nutrients from trapping and eating animals. They are often called insectivorous plants, because they usually trap insects. Since they get some of their food from animals, carnivorous plants can grow in places where the soil is thin, or poor in nutrients. This is true for soils with little nitrogen, such as acidic bogs and rock outcrops. Charles Darwin wrote the first well-known book on carnivorous plants in 1875.
  This ability of plants to catch animals is true carnivory. There are more than twelve genera in five families. These include about 625 species that attract and trap prey, produce digestive enzymes, and use their nutrients. In addition, there are more than 300 species in several genera that show some but not all of these characteristics. These are usually called protocarnivorous plants.
context_section_description: Carnivorous plants are plants which get nutrients from trapping and eating animals. They are often called insectivorous plants, because they usually trap insects. Since they get some of their food from animals, carnivorous plants can grow in places where the soil is thin, or poor in nutrients. This is true for soils with little nitrogen, such as acidic bogs and rock outcrops. Charles Darwin wrote the first well-known book on carnivorous plants in 1875.
  This ability of plants to catch animals is true carnivory. There are more than twelve genera in five families. These include about 625 species that attract and trap prey, produce digestive enzymes, and use their nutrients. In addition, there are more than 300 species in several genera that show some but not all of these characteristics. These are usually called protocarnivorous plants.
caption: The primitive pitchers of Heliamphora chimantensis are an example of pitfall traps.
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