Q: Should we be afraid of carnivorous plants?
Ooh...so scary!
Sarracenia oreophila
Ooh...so scary!
Drosera regia
Ooh...so scary!
Utricularia macrorhiza
A:
As long as you are larger than a small insect (and I think you probably are),
carnivorous plants are completely harmless. The digestive enzymes they produce are weak and will not sizzle your
flesh or gurgle though metal, like the splattered ichor of the monster from the "Alien" movies.
Despite the fascinating notion of
a plant which eats animals, instead of the usual other way around, carnivorous plants are not
dangerous. Even if you fell comatose onto a bed of carnivorous plants, the most that might happen
is that you would smash some lovely plants and get me mad. I might eat you, but the plants won't.
While carnivorous plants are quite harmless to people, the reverse cannot be
said. The homes of carnivorous plants are being destroyed by humans.
Carnivorous plants are being killed by pollution. Extremely rare species are
being poached by collectors. Some species have already gone extinct, or are so rare that they practically are.
Page citations: Juniper, B.E. et al. 1989; Rice, B.A. 2001a, 2006a;
Simpson, R.B. 1994; Taylor, P. 1989.
