Feast your eyes on carnivorous plants
Carnivorous plants that drown their prey and snare insects with “sticky fingers” are among a freaky floral display that you can feast your eyes on at the Royal Botanic Garden.
Central Sydney
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CARNIVOROUS plants that drown their prey and snare insects with “sticky fingers” are among a freaky floral display that you can feast your eyes on at the Royal Botanic Garden.
As fascinating as it is horrifying, the Plants With Bite exhibition features the world’s deadliest plants including the pitcher plant which is big enough to drown a rat.
Director of horticulture Jimmy Turner said the creepy plant has a big pitcher shaped like an urn with a slippery lip which uses nectar to lure unsuspecting insects.
“The victims fall into the watery trap below which has downward facing hairs and slippery sides to stop them crawling back up,” Mr Turner said.
“Even if they happen to come back up, it holds on to them, so it’s quite a voracious little eater.”
The drosera has sticky hairs which works like fly paper to catch bugs and ants which are ensnared and dissolved in an enzyme.
There’s also the venus fly trap which has interlocking teeth which snap shut to trap its prey.
“You just don’t think of plants eating animals unless they break down in the soil but these actively hunt them,” Mr Turner said.
The hands-on exhibition showcases these fascinating plants while bringing awareness to how many species are under threat due to habitat loss.
Plants With Bite is expected to attract about 375,000 people and is targeted at all ages and is on every day from 10am to 4pm at The Calyx.
Entry via Morshead Gate, Macquarie Street.