Insect-eating plant proves Darwin’s 150-year-old theory right
Scientists have confirmed that the Saxifraga candelabrum plant is carnivorous, validating a theory proposed by Charles Darwin 150 years ago. The study used chemical and genetic analysis to prove the plant traps and digests insects to supplement its nutrient intake.
Why it matters
This discovery provides significant insight into plant evolution and confirms the long-standing scientific hypothesis regarding the carnivorous nature of certain mountain flora.
About 150 years ago, famous British naturalist Charles Darwin observed the sticky "hairs" on two plant species in the Saxifraga genus and wondered if some plants in the genus could be carnivorous. While he was unable to prove it then, more than a century later, scientists have shown that Darwin's suspicions were correct.It was in 1875 that Darwin proposed that Saxifraga rotundifolia and S. umbrosa were insect eaters. The plants' hairlike structures called glandular trichomes ooze a sticky goo and resemble hair found in other carnivorous plants.
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