The Guardian ·
Plantwatch: The insect-eating alpine plant that proves Darwin was right
Study shows alpine plant traps and digests midges – just as the evolutionary biologist predicted back in 1875
In 1875, Charles Darwin predicted that Saxifraga candelabrum, a small alpine plant, could eat insects.
Its leaves, petals and stems are smothered in tiny, sticky hairs and – just as the evolutionary biologist suspected – the sweet glue on the hairs can lure and trap midges before digesting them with an enzyme.
The nitrogen from their remains is absorbed into the plant, which is essential for it to survive in the nutrient-poor soils of the Hengduan mountains in south-west China. The plant was also found to have genes related to those found in carnivorous plants.
