On Monday 8 September Dr Lauren Baker, Secondary Education Officer at Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum (and SGC committee member), talked to us about carnivorous plants.
Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming typically insects, and occasionally small mammals or birds. They have adapted to grow in waterlogged sunny places where the soil is thin or poor in nutrients, especially nitrogen, such as acidic bogs. They can be found on all continents except Antarctica, as well as many Pacific islands.
With beautifully illustrated slides she took us through the wide variety of carnivorous plants (pitcher plants, sundews, bladderworts, and butterworts) that can be found across the world, some in the UK.
The talk ended with tips on how to grow and the opportunity to look at some specimens that Lauren had brought with her.