Insectivorous plants

(botany) A plant that captures and digests insects as a source of nutrients by using specialized leaves. Also known as carnivorous plant.

Plants having variously modified, highly specialized leaves which capture and digest insects. The proteins of the digested insect bodies supply nitrogen, which otherwise may be unavailable to these plants in the places where they grow. Sometimes they are also called carnivorous (flesh-eating) plants. See also Nepenthales; Pitcher plant; Secretory structures (plant); Sundew.