A
carnivorous plant is a
plant that derives some or most of nutrient (but not energy) requirements by trapping and consuming
animals, especially
insects. Carnivorous plants usually grow in places where the soil is poor, especially in
nitrogen, such as acidic
peat bogs. Their diet provides a needed supplement to lacking soil nutrients.
Examples are:
Charles Darwin wrote the first well-known survey of the topic of carnivorous plants, it is available online:
Insectivorous Plants (http://pages.britishlibrary.net/charles.darwin3/insectivorous/insect01.htm), by Charles Darwin