Botany, unlike many other field of science, many feel quiet, peaceful and safe: gather the people are beautiful flowers and harmless plants, and then study them in a tranquil office environment. And here and there! It turns out that biologists have their nightmares. And one of them - blood-thirsty plants-killer...

Monkey death

On the Ground safely, there are over 450 species of carnivorous plants. One in 1970 met a Brazilian scientist Mariano da Silva.

At that time traveler to travel far had not. A surprise awaited him in his native country on the border of Brazil and Guyana - dense, impenetrable jungle.

The tree looked... just as a tree, hung quite attractive in appearance, but with a strange smell fruits. The results themselves Mariano did not dare to try,'but noted that they were interested in one of the monkeys in abundance galloped neighbouring branches. Frozen, biologist carefully watched monkey selected according to all closer to Mature on the fetus. Suddenly the broad leaves of the tree that were touched animal began to wrap and pack out and screaming monkey in tight cocoon. Soon all was quiet. And after some time the leaves turned around, and the feet of the astonished traveler fell what little was left of the poor monkeys...

Bloodsuckers

In 1892, one of the national Newspapers published the following scenario: you walk around the Nicaraguan lake (now the territory of the National Park Nicaragua), naturalist John Dunstan suddenly heard a desperate howl of your dog. Throwing himself on the sound, he found that the dog tightly holding the loop of a strange vine. Oddity was that Liana continued to climb a dog in the eyes of its owner, and squeezed her so much that the body of the PSA blood appeared.

With a knife to Dunstano managed to free the dog from the terrible bondage, but she died anyway. And when the naturalist managed to cut the last enlace animal stem, was horrified to find that the plant is not choked the dog, and sucked her blood...

For the sake of justice we shall note: evidence of such incidents are very few. Perhaps Mariano da Silva and sir Dunstan several FIB in order to attract the attention of the scientific community. But it is possible that they spoke the truth - trees-carnivores, able to cope with so quite a large animal, like a monkey or dog, exist even though the information about them is scarce and appear in the press is much less than, for example, on a snow man.

Jaw

And now for a change, we'll tell you about the real, that is repeatedly met researchers and described in scientific journals plants predators.

These carnivorous "buttercups-forget-me-not" live mainly in places with nutrient poor soil. But because nature has given them the opportunity to earn extra provisions unusual for flowers and grass way - hunting and eating of live prey.

The simplest and most popular in horror movies vegetable trap - Venus flytrap. Hollywood Directors who make different varieties of natural nightmares, engages in the flytrap its aggressive appearance. Imagine two fairly large jaw, demonstrating into an evil grin red mouth and lined the edges like fangs teeth. Fall plants covered with a thin high-sensitivity hairs.

The principle of flycatchers simple enough: just a careless insect hurt a couple of hairs, as in the plant produces electric impulse in fractions of a second jaw flycatchers are closed, and awkward beetle or fly only to look longingly at the world through crossed teeth, as through the prison bars and humbly wait until digest specially produced by the plant juice.

Naturally, the victim tries to escape from prison, and if she can do it (mainly small insects), the jaw of a flower newly opened and occupy the position of a charged trap. But if you got a pretty big booty, greedy jaws will be compressed up until the prisoner is in literally crushed. Sometimes the hunt and the power take many hours, but the flytrap no hurry - once successfully violated trap provides it with energy for a long time.

Death in a jar

In tropical Asia, on the island of Kalimantan, Seychelles and Madagascar, New Guinea and Northern Australia twist large trunks of the trees are long and thin vines called nepenthes. The leaves of nepenthes closer to the stem, flat, wide and green, in them there is photosynthesis. At the end of the stalk is a thin mustache, tightly surround the tree-host on which hangs a strange jug from a distance resembles a flower. But in fact, this jar is intended for hunting for living beings.

Different types of nepenthes jugs can be of different shapes, colours and sizes - there are traps length up to half a meter. There will easily fit a bird or a rat. The top edge of the jar covered with grooves, between which flows sweet sweet nectar. This nectar attracts insects from all sides.

And in the top part of the inner wall of the jug are the glands that produce wax. ^On this wax victims slip to the bottom like skating.

If the prisoners knew his future, that would put every effort to leave this place. Because the bottom attractive and fragrant outside of the jug is a real hell for insects. This is not a flower but rather the stomach of an animal at the bottom of which digestive glands secrete huge quantity of gastric juice. In large jugs and up to two liters of this sinister mix (can in a few hours to dissolve even chitin cover), which swim, decomposing, hundreds of dead insects. The fragrance on the bottom of the jug is poor.

Interestingly, still not really clarified why flying insects cannot leave jugs-traps. In fact they are nothing there does not hold. Scientists have suggested that plays its role here intoxicating scent, which literally in a matter of seconds lulls sacrifice.

Stay away from peatlands

In peat bogs can be found another carnivorous plant that has no obvious traps in the form of a jug or jaw, but it is no less dangerous for insects. This so-called rotundifolia crabgrass. The leaves are covered with fine hairs, tentacles, decorated on top with a red head. In the center of the sheet hair short, closer to the edge - longer.

This plant is abundantly allocates transparent sticky fluid and it is as if all sides are covered with dew, and where did the name - crabgrass. Ants, flies and beetles attracted bright and shining Shine droplets, fly or crawl onto the sheet and then stick to it. Once the victim starts to fuss, trying to break free from sticky captivity, she willingly or unwillingly touch the adjacent hairs, which, like flycatchers, play the role of a kind of alarm.

The hairs stuck to the insect even more, and the sheet of sundews, reporting to signal that production fell, slowly begins to collapse in the tube, until you close the victim entirely. There, under the sheet, away from prying eyes, and is unattractive the process of digestion. Fluid secreted by the hair, its composition is similar to gastric juice animals. Digested insects are the same pieces of iron absorbed inside the plant.