Are Carnivorous Plants Harmful to People?

The Venus Flytrap

• The most famous carnivorous plant is the Venus flytrap, whose native habitat is a 1,000-square-mile area bordering North and South Carolina. When a fly or other insect steps onto one of the trigger hairs on its interior, its hinged leaves snap shut. The insect is trapped inside this pocket-like feature, and the plant secretes enzymes to digest it. While a small insect can be trapped in this fashion, Venus flytraps are not strong enough to trap any part of a human--even a finger.

Pitcher Plants

• Pitcher plants are prolific carnivorous plants. They can be found in North America, Asia and Northern Australia. The largest is the Nepenthes attenboroughii, or Rat-Eating pitcher plant, which was discovered in 2007 in the Philippines. This species is the largest carnivorous plant known to the modern world, and is large enough to conceivably hold a rodent that falls into it and digest it slowly with its acidic enzymes, but this has not been observed in nature. Like all pitcher plants, it captures prey, mainly insects, in deep, vase-shaped receptacles with smooth sides. This plant, although impressive, is still far too small to entrap a child or adult.

Carnivorous Aquatic Plants

• The Bladderwort is an aquatic plant that captures very small insects in hundreds of balloon-shaped traps that float just beneath the surface of the water. These traps are only about 2 millimeters across, so they can catch only small creatures. They suck in their prey through small, one-way doors that open under the weight of an insect and swing only one direction, meaning entrapped prey cannot escape. The Genlisea family of plants are also aquatic. These attract animals inside tubular appendages, where hairs smooth their passage toward the digestion chamber but restrict them from escaping. The plant then uses its enzymes to digest the animals. Both of these plants are too small to pose a risk to humans.

The Corpse Flower

• The Amorphophallus titanium, or Corpse Flower, is popularly thought to be responsible for the origin of the concept of man-eating plants. Though the corpse flower does not ingest insects or mammals, it reaches up to 6 feet in height when in full bloom, and its petals can reach a diameter of 3-4 feet--an imposing specimen. It only blooms once every several years, its blossom lasts only about 2 days, and it emits a strong smell reminiscent of decay, hence its name. The corpse flower closes its large blossom over the course of about two days--fairly rapidly, spurring imaginations about whether it is entrapping prey. However, the Corpse Flower derives its nutrition from the sun, soil and rain and only blossoms to become receptive to pollination.