If you’re a new gardening enthusiast who wants to take up gardening with plants that eat meat, then you may be overwhelmed with the sheer number of names for carnivorous plants. You may even have heard of plants like ladybugs, crickets and grasshoppers, which are commonly known as “meat eaters.” While these may be cute in a children’s garden, you’ll find that they’re not exactly easy on the eyes.
Fortunately, there are plenty of other names for carnivorous plants, including composite ones that include carnivorous and non-vegetarian members. There are even words that can describe plants that aren’t really meat eaters, such as awning, bush, bushel or hornwort. Some of these will probably sound familiar, but you may not know what they mean. Here’s a list of some of the more common names for carnivorous plants:
Bearberry is one of the many names for carnivorous plants that sound appealing at first. The word ‘bearberry’ is derived from the Latin ‘beara’, which means ‘scales around the trunk.’ These kinds of carnivorous plants grow in large numbers in the southern U.S. and Canada. Bearberries do well with the addition of some marigolds, chives and other vegetables.
Bells are small, rounded tubers. They’re named because of the flowers that appear, bell-like, on the undersides of the leaves. These flowers, which are also called ‘bells’, are used to scent the ground. They’re a good choice for a border or along a fence. Bells can be planted to attract bees.
Another name for carnivorous plants is ‘wolfberry’. This is a strong, dry herb that has a strong bitter taste. While this herb is often used for cooking, it’s also useful as a landscape feature. A strong, hardy vine that covers soil along the border of hills or borders of fields; it’s used to discourage grazing.
Cattails come in a long, tubular stem and are similar in appearance to a cat’s tail. In the garden they serve as a strong support for ground cover like clover. In the wild, the common cattail grows up to three feet tall. They grow well in shaded areas, but prefer somewhat shady areas, especially where there are trees around. The colorful purple flowers look best when they’re trained with the use of netting or a trellis.
Dogwood is a Latin name that refers to the dark-colored foliage of the plant. It has a fern-like texture and an upright arch. Some call it dog’s Tooth due to the tendency of the leaves to curl when touching, forming a false fern.
There are many more common names for carnivorous plants and you can probably come up with some of your own. The ones listed above are only some of the most popular and common. If you can’t find the name you’re looking for online, visit your local botanical gardens and look for the plant that suits your needs. If you’re not sure what kind of carnivorous plant you should use, check with someone at your local gardening store to get suggestions.
A nice name for a carnivorous plant is Bearberry. This is a spore-forming bearberry that produces small white, pink or red berries. It comes from a bushy plant with large, furry leaves and flowers that look like the fur of a bear. When bears want to get somewhere, they tear off their furry coat to expose their roots.
The name for a carnivorous plant that comes from the flesh of animals isothillaria. It’s actually a member of the cactus family. The plant grows on the ground and grows as long as the root system. Like most cacti, it doesn’t have flowers. It usually blooms in the spring.
The carnivorous plant Tectar Vine comes from the dried up roots of the sugar cane. It produces small red, sticky flowers. The flowers look like little mouthfuls of candy when they’re in bloom. When the plant is stressed by low light or poor water, it sends out spines to seek out moisture.
Another good name for a carnivorous plant is Bearberry. This spore-forming shrub comes from the Bearberry bush, a native to the southern United States. The barberry bush was introduced to Australia and now grows there. It was named after the poet Coleridge who loved the Australian plant called the bearberry.