Carnivorous plant discovery validates theory proposed by Darwin 150 years ago

Scientists have confirmed the discovery of the first carnivorous plant in the Saxifragales order — a group of non-woody flowering plants widely spread across temperate and cold mountain regions. The breakthrough validates a prediction made by British naturalist Charles Darwin in 1875.

The findings were published in the international journal Nature Communications on Aug 4. The study was conducted by a joint team of researchers from the Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Yunnan province, the CAS Wuhan Botanical Garden in Hubei province, Jishou University in Hunan province, and the University of Florida in the United States.

The plant, Saxifraga candelabrum, grows in rock crevices between 2,500 and 3,300 meters above sea level across the Hengduan Mountains on the southeastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Its entire body is covered in dense, sticky hair-like structures called glandular hairs that trap small insects.