Charles Darwin

Insectivorous Plants Charles Darwin

Part of a series of works by Darwin in relation to his theory of natural selection, the book is a study of carnivorous plants with special attention to the adaptations that allow them to live in difficult conditions. Illustrations by Darwin himself are included, along with drawings of his sons, George and Francis Darwin. Illustration of a Venus flytrap, one of the plants Darwin studied, from the German translationThe book is a chronicle of Darwin's experiments with various carnivorous plants, in which he carefully studies their feeding mechanisms. Darwin tries several methods to stimulate the activation of their trap mechanisms in plants, including feeding them meat or glass, blowing on them and pricking them with hairs. He discovered that only the movement of an animal could cause the plants to react, and concluded that it was an evolutionary adaptation to conserve prey energy and ignore stimuli that were probably not nutritious. He also discovered that While some plants have different similar structures like traps, others produce sticky liquids to trap their prey, and concluded that this was an example of the pressure of natural selection that results in various methods of capturing food.