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Top 11 of the Unique Carnivorous Houseplants to Check Out

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If you are looking for extraordinary and inquisitive carnivorous houseplants, this is a must read!

A carnivorous houseplant is not your ordinary flowering or leafy plant that usually depends on soil and water. Unlike other plants, this kind of plant must obtain tiny animals or insect matter to get all the nutrients it needs for its survival.

Enticing insects with bright colors and sweet nectars are the way to captivate predators. When the victim lands on the plant, it is able to slowly digest and pull essential nutrients. However, keeping carnivorous houseplants alive needs a lot of effort.

But don’t fret as there are carnivorous plants that are not so difficult to grow inside the house. It is best to start with the easy ones first, then add a more challenging plant the next time.

Below are examples of carnivorous plants that are easy to grow.

11 Unique Carnivorous Houseplants

1. Bladderworts (Utricularia)

Unique Carnivorous Houseplants Bladderworts Utricularia

The catching instruments on bladderworts look like little bladders, which explain its name. There are some of these carnivorous houseplants indigenous to the entirety of the landmasses with the exception of Antarctica.

Most live in freshwater, while others ashore. Those that live on land generally grow small and often eat tinier prey. There are around 228 species of this, and size changes much. For a flesh-eating plant, bladderwort can hold up a lovely but marginally peculiar bloom.

2. Butterwort (Pinguicula)

Unique Carnivorous Houseplants Butterwort Pinguicula2

This plant sticks out with its very cute appearance, particularly its colorful flowers. It is very attractive to look at especially when place at the center garden but very dangerous to insects, although can be also beneficial for gardeners at the same time.

It easily catches its prey by means of its sticky leaves. Insects, such as flies and mosquitoes, are trapped and digested on the leaves. In addition, this plant is preferably grown in moist soil. Fertilizer is a big no no for it kills the plant.

3. Cobra Lilies (Darlingtonia Californica)

Unique Carnivorous Houseplants Cobra Lilies Darlingtonia Californica

Cobra lilies are one of the most unique carnivorous houseplants existing on this earth. Without a doubt, this qualifies as a strange-looking plant due to its cobra-like appearance. If you happen to like toxic snakes and everything bizarre, in which case you may discover this plant lovely.

This odd yet great looking plant is native to North America, particularly in southern Oregon and Northern California. California pitchers grow in distinctive groupings across the state’s countryside.

In the wild, a pitcher size of 39 inches in length is not unusual. The plants spread asexually through runners and infrequently flowers.

4. Purple Pitcher Plant

Unique Carnivorous Houseplants Purple Pitcher Plant

The absolute most irregular meat-eating plant is the pitcher plants. Most species of these carnivorous houseplants are delicate. They originated from the southeast part of the United States, but now some are common from other areas.

One good example is the purple pitcher plant, also known as the “Northern” pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea subsp. purpurea). It is a cool carnivorous houseplant that grows from 6 inches to 8 inches in length.

This kind of pitcher plant is best characterized by its pitcher-shaped and hairy leaves, as well as its appealing blossoms. Yes, this plant produces a single, red, nodding flower that rests atop the terminal shoot of its thick, leafless stalk.

5. Sundews (Drosera)

Unique Carnivorous Houseplants Sundews Drosera

Sundews are pretty and very unique carnivorous plants. Its name is given from the way the plant’s hairs stick out and seem to be shrouded in dewdrops.

These hairs, which in fact called “trichomes”, are clingy, and the defensive tool that catches creepy crawlies around them. The trichomes discharge compounds to separate the caught creepy crawly bodies, making the supplements more accessible. 

6. Sun Pitcher Plant (Heliamphora)

The botanical name Heliamphora is a sort of pitcher plant. In Latin, “amphora” is deciphered as a “jug”. This meat-eating plant is local to South America and there are many species worldwide. It is one of the easiest carnivorous houseplants to grow.

The pitcher length on the majority of them is from 6 inches to 16 inches in length. It’s a good plant to grow to ward off some unwanted insects. The bright red nectar spoon of this pitcher plant traps unwary preys.

7. Tropical Pitcher Plant (Nepenthes)

Unique Carnivorous Houseplants Tropical Pitcher Plant Nepenthes

The tropical pitcher plants hail for the most part from lands that outskirt the Indian Ocean. This might be the most irregular of the meat-eating or carnivorous houseplants.

This plant is a highly complex and refined bug catcher. Leaves grow out from the center of the plant. Each leaf is comprised of a thin tendril at the end with its base as a pitcher-trap.

The traps vary greatly in color, shape, and size depending on the species. Some traps can grow really large, such as the Raja Nepenthes, which has been known to grow immense traps in the wild catching small mammals and in very rare cases, small monkeys.

8. Venus Flytrap (Dionaea Muscipula)

Unique Carnivorous Houseplants Venus Flytrap Dionaea Muscipula

Not exclusively generally sold as carnivorous houseplants, Venus flytrap is a popular meat-eating plant and has additionally shown up in various sci-fi and horror movies.

It has that fictional look and “alien-like” or creature’s ability to devour its prey. But these are all truth and facts.

Any creepy crawlies fall into the middle of this plant have a zero chance to free themselves. They will remain trap in between the leaf, after which the absorption procedure starts. Thanks to its nectar and hairs that deceive insects, most especially flies.

Venus flytraps used to be a local to only one little territory in the Carolinas. With the advancement and flexibility of gardening, this can be featured at home gardens. The regular size of this plant measures around 6 inches high and wide, with a snare of an inch long.

9. Western Australian Pitcher (Cephalotus Follicularis)

Unique Carnivorous Houseplants Western Australian Pitcher Cephalotus Follicularis

Western Australian pitcher is a minuscule and among the carnivorous plants you can add to keep off unwanted insects. Coming out as an underwater sea plant, the stripes on the pitchers make them lovely and more unique. This pitcher plant has a length of only an inch or 1.5 inches. 

10. White Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia leucophylla)

Unique Carnivorous Houseplants White Pitcher Plant Sarracenia leucophylla

Many discover white pitcher plants among carnivorous plants as the prettiest with its ombre lily-like flowers. The pitchers have dazzling, dim veins that stands apart pleasantly against its pure white top part. Its length ranges from 20 inches to 36 inches.

Similarly as with other American pitcher plants, this is probably the best and easiest plant that you can develop just with a minimal amount of water.

The plant attracts insects as prey with its combination of scent, gravity and a waxy substance that disables the feet of any moving creepers forcing them to slip into the pitcher.

Farther down, the downward-pointing hairs make escape impossible. The lowest part of the pitcher contains a pool of liquid that drowns and digests the prey, leaving the exoskeletons to pile up inside.

11. Yellow Pitcher Plant

Unique Carnivorous Houseplants Yellow Pitcher Plant

This pitcher plant is distinctive in light of the fact that its altered leaf structures hold water like the regular drinking pitcher. The changed leaf structures serve as creepy crawly traps, too.

At times, creepy crawlies caught suffocate which in the end processed by the plant. The plant holds onto its prey by trapping it in the pitcher.

The inside walls of the pitcher are lined with stiff hairs that point downward so that insects can fall in but they cannot escape. Once prey is captured, the plant digests the organism using digestive enzymes and absorbs the nutrients into its fleshy walls.

The Yellow Pitcher Plant has bright yellow flowers and a light green, trumpet-shaped leaf with a lid. The leaf-lid of the plant acts as a covering to prevent rain from falling in. Each leaf can grow as a meter tall. 


Conclusion

Are you wondering if carnivorous plants survive indoors? The answer is absolutely, yes! They are just more challenging than the usual houseplants.

They just need to be provided with slightly or barely wet soil that is highly acidic. Well-absorbed yet clammy soil is an absolute necessity.

Rock at the base of the pot can help keep the plant get drained quickly. High mist would be another best option if you give a moist domain by putting the plant within an open terrarium to allow wind or air for additional survival.

For those who are looking for not only unique looking but also beneficial plants, the list of carnivorous houseplants given above is what you’re searching for. You may add these cool plants to your collection, whether placed in your garden or indoors.

Which ones of these carnivorous houseplants you most likely would grow?