Carnivorous plants use enzymes to digest their prey. Most of them, including Venus flytraps, butterworts, sundews, and many types of pitcher plants, all make their own digestive enzymes. These enzymes help them digest their prey. After their insects have been digested, all that remains is a mass of dead insect parts. Other carnivorous plants do not make their own digestive juices. Instead, they rely on bacteria to produce their enzymes. Once captured, the insect rots, and the carnivorous plants absorb the decomposed molecules. Many plants, such as sarracenia, use both their own enzymes and bacteria-generated enzymes. This is called a symbiotic relationship because both organisms benefit from this unique feature: The plant enjoys the bug-soup digested by the bacteria, while the bacteria get a comfortable place to grow. Bacterial digestion is no stranger to the animal kingdom: termites have bacteria inside them that help them digest wood, for example; and humans have Escherichia coli (E. coli) in their intestines to help them digest food.

• What are carnivorous plants?
• What is an asteroid?
• Are all flowers fragrant?
• Which flowering plant can you float on?
• Which is the smallest flower in the world?
• What it the largest flower in the world?
• Can you eat flowers?
• Do all flowers close up at night?
• What makes a plant bloom at the right time of year?
• Why are so many flowers brightly colored?
• What is the difference between annual, perennial, and biennial flowers?
• When did the first flowers bloom?
• What are comets?
• What is the difference between a bulb, a corm, and a tuber?
• Are there plants that do not grow from seeds?
• What is the difference between self pollination and cross pollination?
• Does the expression “Open sesame!” have anything to do with sesame seeds?
• How do flowering plants make their seeds?
• Which plant spreads its seeds with the help of children at play?
• Do animals ever carry seeds?