Can a Pitcher Plant Make Its Own Food?

Caring for a pitcher plant takes a new meaning when it comes to feeding.

The pitcher plant is a carnivorous plant that grows in bogs and swamps throughout the world. The pitcher plant can be raised indoors, or outdoors in warmer climates when the feeding conditions are right.

Feeding

Because the pitcher plant is native to bogs and swamps that have poor soil conditions and very little, if any, sunlight, the pitcher plant needs another way to get food. Unlike green plants that make their own food from soil, water, air, fertilizer and sunlight, the carnivorous pitcher plant obtains it food from insects.

Passive or Active Trapping

The pitcher plant is a passive trapping carnivorous plant that eats meat. Passive means that it has no moving parts such as the Venus fly trap, which is an active trapping plant because of lips that close and trap insects. The pitcher plant lures its prey with appealing smell of sweet nectar. When the insect drops inside the pouch of the pitcher plant, it is trapped and slowly digested.

Misconceptions

Although the pitcher plant is a meat-eating plant, it does not eat hamburger, mice or other small mammals.

References

• Wild South: Protecting: Meat Eating Plants
• Carnivorous Plants: Introduction to Carnivorous Plants