Welcome

Dennis has grown Carnivorous plants for 35 years, travelling to Europe and further afield to Singapore, Borneo, USA and Australia to see them in their natural habitat. He`s exhibited at Chelsea and other RHS shows, and together with Royal Botanic gardens at Kew organised a world conference for his favourite species. His celebrity claim to fame is that he has met David Attenborough, who is patron of the International Carnivorous Plant Society, when Dennis was Chair.

In 1875, Charles Darwin had a book published entitled ‘Insectivorous Plants’ which concentrated on one plant. However, there are about 600/700 species that have been discovered and are located around the world. Usually, they like swamps or damp land although a few varieties do grow in sandy desert conditions. They all produce an acid enzyme which kills their prey – attracting them with sticky nectar.

He started with the smaller varieties which he called Fly Paper traps – the Sundews of which there are about 200 species, some of which are native the British Isles. The leaves of the Sundews have tentacles with a blob of nectar at the end which insects are fatally attracted to. When the insect is trapped the plant curls that leaf around the body of the insect to squash it and then dissolve it with the acid enzyme. He had live action footage to demonstrate how the plant managed to do this.

Butterworts have leaves that are coated with a butter-like substance to attract its prey. There are 3 native to Britain and Southwest Ireland including Exmoor and Bodmin Moor nearby.

Most people know what a Venus Fly Trap looks like as they fascinate children and adults alike. Dennis informed us that each hinged leaf has 3 trigger points which have to be activated twice within 20 seconds before the leaf partly closes, it only fully closes when further movement is detected inside the leaf, then the insect is crushed.

There are 240 species of Bladderworts also known as the Waterwheel plant an aquatic fly trap which lives in water, they have evolved a system where the plant has a trapdoor so when an insect or tadpole perhaps enters the bladder that triggers a vacuum, so the water is expunged, and the insect is suffocated.

Nepenthes – the Tropical Pitcher Plant – is native to S.E. Asia, a climbing vine which starts on the forest floor. The 190 species vary in size and colour, red, green and yellow, the lip of the plant is slippery so easy for any unsuspecting insect to fall in and be consumed by the acid enzyme. Other insects are beneficial or gain benefit from the pitcher – for instance Ants leave a pheromone trail which lead other insects into doom, Tree Frogs lay their eggs in the acid, Bats sometimes lodge in there during the day excreting their droppings into the pitcher. We saw film of the Tree Shrew licking the nectar from around the rim of the plant. The nectar on the lid and throat of the pitcher has a narcotic which affects insects but not mammals.

Exotic Bromeliads from North and South America have a waxy leaf, they use bacteria to dissolve the insects which is an exception.

All these plants produce flowers on very tall stems so that beneficial pollinators don`t get caught up and die so the plant can set seed and reproduce. They are all promiscuous too, some self-pollinate, and cross breeding produces hundreds of hybrids. However, they are easy to propagate, hardy in our winter – even under a blanket of snow. Sow seed in moss or compost with grit, lightly cover and you`ll see seedlings appear in spring. Although it may take 6 years to grow to a decent size. Some varieties have rhizomes, so plants can be split carefully to produce more of the same. They prefer a peaty compost with sphagnum moss but there are ongoing experiments with other media such as coir. All plants would be happy in a container or in a group together to make a mini bog garden.