You await animals to move , hunt , or defend themselves — but flora ? Believe it or not , some plant bear in surprisingly animal - like style . From snap shut like a Venus flytrap to “ sleeping ” at night or even mimicking insects to attract prey , these plants obnubilate the line between plant and fauna .
Here are 15 plants that act more like animals than you ever imagined .
Venus Flytrap
The Venus flytrap is an active hunter in the works world . It is renowned for its snap - trap leafage that quickly near around unsuspicious insects . This industrial plant has a unequaled ability to “ count”—it only shuts its ambush when an worm touch its trigger hairs double within about 20 secondment . This mechanism help conserve Department of Energy by avoiding false alarm like raindrops . Once immobilise , the Venus flytrap digests its target to absorb nutrients like animals .
Pitcher Plant
Pitcher plant have remarkable brute - similar predatory tactics . They lure dirt ball with their sweet nectar and vibrant colors . The target then slips into a puddle of digestive enzyme inside their pitcher - form leaves . These plants have waxy surfaces that make it difficult for dirt ball to escape . Some pitcher plants also emit scents resemble flowers or decaying matter to appeal more prey . During time of nutrient deficiency , they can adjust nectar production to increase their chance of capturing insects .
Telegraph Plant
The telegraph industrial plant , also recognise as Codariocalyx motorius , has small leaflets that move constantly , seek the best scant conditions . This plant can complete a full rotation of its leaflets in about a minute , actively adjust to trance optimum sunlight . These movements , know as nastic movements , are not random . They are responses to lighting and touch . This plant ’s power to “ seek ” for easy resembles how animate being scrounge for food .
Sundew
The sundew plant life uses sticky tentacle to attract insects seek water . When an insect lands , these tentacles curl around it , like an brute capturing quarry . The industrial plant then release enzymes , which help to digest the insect and soak up the necessary nutrients . Remarkably , sundews can differentiate between prey and non - quarry ; they stay unreactive to raindrops or Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin but respond actively to trapped insect . Their ability to signalise between stimuli is like an animal ’s sensory system .
Mimosa Pudica
Mimosa pudica ( Touch - Me - Not ) show a fascinating animate being - like defense mechanics . When refer , it chop-chop folds its leaves in less than a second to deter potential predators . This rapid , temporary reaction is standardized to a startled animal retreating . This movement is powered by changes in cell pressure and an electrochemical signaling like to animal nerve pulse . Interestingly , Mimosa pudica can “ find out ” and “ think of , ” so it adapts its responses ground on past experience .
Dodder
The dodder plant , a master of deception , exhibits predator - like conduct . It actively seeks out its fair game — other plant — using chemical signals . Once it identify a suitable horde , the dodder plant latches on and drains its lifetime military unit , an routine similar to parasitical animals . This unique strategy shows how some plants have animal - like tendencies .
Orange Jewelweed
Orange lady’s earrings has a unique seed dissemination mechanism . When its seed pod are disturb , they break open subject and establish their seeds far and wide , much like an animal scattering its offspring for survival . This fleet chemical reaction also discourages predators from hang around . The plant features quiet , succulent stem with ovate to elliptic leaves with shallow , rounded tooth . This volatile seed diffusion mechanism is a cunning adaption that ensures the endurance of the plant .
Bladderwort
Bladderworts own an fauna - alike lightning - fast trapping mechanism . These aquatic carnivorous flora have underwater bladders that create a vacuum . When bantam pee creatures relate the trigger hairs , the bunker door opens , imbibe in the prey in less than a millisecond . This rapid action touch some of the fastest animal drift . Once at bottom , the plant support the prey and absorbs its nutrients . This carnivorous strategy is quite worthful in nutrient - poor aquatic or damp environs .
Strangler Figs
While technically plant , strangler figs exhibit behaviors that mime animal depredation . Though they start as innocent aerophyte , strangler Libyan Fighting Group bit by bit gag and consume their host Tree , just like some parasitic animals . Their strategical base growth and canopy expanding upon suffocate the legion and remold the forest ecosystem . This unequalled role shows how plant interact with their surroundings , blending peaceful growth with active control .
Corpse Flower
The corpse flower utilise a cunning scheme to ensure its survival . It mimic the scent of rotting flesh to entice carrion mallet and fly front . This olfactory illusion serves as a clever ploy to attract pollinators . It highlights how the Corpse blossom ’s uncanny ability to mime brute behavior .
Wild Tobacco Plant
baccy can paralyze its predators . This dimension keeps the tobacco plant from being devoured and helps it survive . Various insects , like the hornworm caterpillar , are resistant to the paralysis get by ingest tobacco . The tobacco plant sends chemical signals when an worm attacks it . It signals nearby tobacco plant plants to alarm them of the predator . It also signal nearby worm that want to eat the insect take in the baccy plant life .
Tree of Heaven
The Tree of Heaven is territorial , just like some animal . It unloosen chemicals into the soil and inhibits the increase of contend plants , securing its dominance in the environment . This allelopathic behavior , combine with its strong defenses and adaptability , ca-ca this tree a highly invasive mintage .
Climbing Plants
Climbing plant life like English ivy and grape vine sense and respond to forcible touch like animals . This attribute is known as thigmotropism . When the tendrils of these climbers bump accompaniment , they quickly spiral around them . This . This purposeful movement enables them to climb , reach dear light conditions , and maximize photosynthesis .
Stinging Nettle
Stinging nettle own a defense mechanism similar to animal stingers or claw . Equipped with tiny , hollow whisker call in trichomes , these plant inject irritant into anything that sweep against them . These trichomes function like thin hypodermic needles that inject a chemical cocktail , causing a painful , sting sensation . This deters predator and keep launch the plant undisturbed .
Trigger Plant
The pollenation mechanism of Trigger plant life makes them unique . When an insect bring on the flower , it set off a column that click forward and coats the insect with pollen in just 15 millisecond . This bounce - loaded natural action quickly transfer pollen while galvanize the insect . After about 30 minutes , the mechanism resets , and the plant is quick for the next pollinator . This rapid and precise trend mimics the swift reflexes most predatory animals possess .
