A carnivorous plant that traps prey underground | Hacker News Reader

A carnivorous plant that traps prey underground

cnn.com

104 pointsFeaturelessBug16 comments

On a tangentially related note, there are some carnivorous plants that have evolved away from carnivory:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepenthes_ampullaria

> Nepenthes ampullaria has largely moved away from carnivory and acquires a substantial portion of its nutrients from digesting leaf matter that falls to the forest floor. It is thus partially detritivorous.

On a similar note in subterranean carnivory, there are fungi that specialize in snaring nematodes:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nematophagous_fungus

I was thinking of that exact same thing. I remember learning about that in fourth grade and excitedly describing it to my teacher at the time who gave me a hug¹ in imitation of the fungus.

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1. This was in 1978 during the era in which it was not only allowed for schools to administer corporal punishment, but expected, so this sort of teacher-student contact wasn’t outside the bounds of unexpected behavior. (As for the fact that I remember it, I think I’ve realized as my kids have been going through grade school that I have a remarkably detailed memory of my own K-8 years even though they’re 40+ years in the past).

this is so sadly that you think you need to explain this ...

My neighbor recently found that a young raccoon had gotten stuck in the bamboo next to their house and died. He pulled it out and buried it but we were joking that the bamboo had turned carnivorous. Now, I’m wondering…

That sounds like good old natural selection to me

I've heard someone describe brambles as partially carnivorous because they trap animals (typically sheep) by entanglement, which then die and fertilise the area

Does seeing this headline also trigger memories of that one X-Files episode for anyone else too??

Spoilers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_Trip_(The_X-Files)

The title is be misleading. I had visions of entering a cave and a plant preventing me from leaving.

It should read “A carnivorous plant that traps underground prey”.

I’d say that the title is a bit ambiguous, but I wouldn’t call it misleading, I’m almost certain that there wasn’t any attempt to mislead here.

And just to add a datapoint, for me it was perfectly clear what the article would be about.

Off topic:

I posted the exact same URL two days ago[1].

If I post the same URL again, it gets marked as a dupe.

@dang is there an expiry on dupes?

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31952639

I want one of these, but my lame country has super strict quarantine laws. Does anyone know of some excellent resources for; SEAsian/Australasian/Oceanian carnivorous plants?

And we still look for aliens on other planets…

The pitcher mechanism is a miracle of evolution. The plant deploying it below the soil line perhaps not so much.

Something disturbing about those pitchers, definite 'invasion of the bodysnatchers' vibes.

Netflix PR really going the extra mile with this subliminal ad for Stranger Things.

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