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Carnivorous Plants of the World

© Diana Pederson

Insect eating plants have fascinated children and other gardeners for years. Children greatly enjoy feeding insects to these fascinating plants. They can be tricky to grow either outdoors in the bog garden or as houseplants.

James and Patricia Pietropaolo's book, Carnivorous Plants of the World, published by Timber Press in 1986 is one of the few books available on this topic.

This book is divided into two sections. The first has six chapters. Chapter one provides a thorough discussion of carnivory in the plant world along with a discussion on carnivorous plant classification and the different insect trapping mechanisms employed by plants. The following 6 chapters are dedicated to: Venus flytraps, Pitcher plants, Sundews, Butterworts, and Bladderworts. Within each chapter you will find detailed descriptions, habitats preferred, trapping mechanisms used, culture, and finally, propagation methods for each genus discussed. The chapters are illustrated with detailed line drawings to illustrate the accompanying text. The cultivation information includes a discussion of growing medium preferred temperature ranges, dormancy requirements (if any), water and/or humidity needs, light levels, pests and feeding considerations when growing these plants in our gardens or homes. These chapters include representative species in each genus from around the world.

Section two consists of three chapters. Chapter 7 discusses all aspects of cultivating carnivorous plants in general. It also includes some excellent suggestions for beginning a collection of these fascinating plants. I've seen far too many of these plants purchased to grow in conditions that only guarantee their rapid deaths, thus giving them the reputation for being difficult plants to cultivate. Therefore, may I encourage readers to listen to the following advice carefully before beginning to purchase plants?

Another way to start a successful carnivorous plant collection is to grow species that are easy to cultivate. By "easy" we mean those plants that do not have definite dormancy requirements and can survive in a typical home the year around if placed near a bright window or illuminated with artificial light and grown in a container that will insure a high humidity [page 149]

Pests and Diseases are covered in Chapter 8. This chapter encourages preventative measures to limit the possibility of having problems to begin with. Pests such as mice, molds, molds, slugs or snails, and insects are discussed. Then some general suggestions for using insecticides or fungicides are presented. The advice in this chapter could easily be applied to most plant species.

Generally, this is a well-written and illustrated book. I was disappointed that only a few colored photographs were included in the center of the book. It would be nice to see colored illustrations of all the species mentioned, however book-publishing costs too often prevent this.

The copyright of the article Carnivorous Plants of the World in Gardening Techniques is owned by Diana Pederson. Permission to republish Carnivorous Plants of the World in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.