OK, I wrote my theory, and then read the article: same.
But I will add that a commercial grower of venus flytraps once got curious, and took a few thousand cloned plantings, growing them in a variety of conditions. As soon as the soil became nourishing, the plants would die. Post mortem seemed to indicate their roots were fungally attacked.
So: plant adapts to living in a food desert (not an actual one, of course; it has to be wet for the carnivory to work, as the article points out). Plant gains weirdo digestion abilities, but at the same time, it no longer needs expensive anti-fungal defences - because the ground isn't rich enough to support parasitic fungi.
Then: human adds the nutrients back in. Boom! The ordinary fungus in the air, which has a tough time invading grass or tree or tobacco or pepper roots (because they have extensive defences, like capsaicin), lands in the rich soil of pretty-much helpless flytrap roots, and has a buffet.
NegativeLatency · 8h ago
Sorta similar with a lot of plants I imagine, we planted a Madrone tree and it's very tempting to want to water a small & new tree but they can also get root issues if the ground is too wet or doesn't drain well enough. They're highly adapted to living on the sides of cliffs.
ge96 · 7h ago
I've been trying to grow a mango from a seed for so long. The roots always get hit by black fungus and it dies off. Tallest I got one to grow was about 10"
thatcat · 1h ago
Try adding some natto innoculant to the seed
Nevermark · 1h ago
I would have thought that plants which ate neighboring plants, for their easily accessed nutrients and to protect their own access to sunlight, water and forest nutrients, would be pervasive.
I have heard of chemical/strangling/parasitical type competition. The banyan tree is territorial, for instance.
But we would need another name, other than territorial, carnivorous or vegetarian, to describe plant predators which overtly, actively fed on the physical structure or leaves of fellow plants.
Falling coconuts can not only kill people, but probably kill far more small animals, again benefiting from them as fertilizer,
ethbr1 · 7h ago
Came to HN for tech news, left with a disturbing realization that coconut trees might be low-key carnivorous.
username135 · 5h ago
Right?!
doesnt_know · 19m ago
Going down that line of thought... Cocunuts naturally selected for harder shells because those killed, creating more fertilizer ...
Affric · 5h ago
If plants moved faster we would be absolutely terrified of them.
athenot · 4h ago
Let's not be too hasty...
musicale · 20m ago
I guess there are still some things that we can be grateful for.
chrisco255 · 1h ago
> Some large carnivorous plants are alive out there, but none is big enough to make a meal out of you.
Clearly these researchers have never been to the Mushroom Kingdom.
leoedin · 9h ago
Larger animals tend to more intelligent - presumably there’s a natural limit to the size of prey a carnivorous plant can reliably catch from a static location.
IAmBroom · 9h ago
Counterpoint: mice and at least one monkey baby have died in pitcher plants in the wild.
jonplackett · 8h ago
Isn’t this still just the original point though, mice ain’t that big!
almosthere · 9h ago
We haven't had an unscheduled total eclipse of the sun with people singing in the background yet.
colecut · 8h ago
have they tried feeding them alllll niiight loooong
bilsbie · 5h ago
A related question is why plants in general can thrive on such tiny amounts of protein. (Nitrogen)
Sevii · 7h ago
Plants not being able to chew or tear their prey is a big disadvantage.
mlinhares · 3h ago
Not if you're prey. i'd rather not have more stuff trying to eat me :P
bell-cot · 8h ago
As soon as a carnivorous plant gets big enough to be eating young mammals, it hits the Mama Bear barrier. With motivation, even a tiny mammal can do an enormous amount of damage to a plant.
hirvi74 · 6h ago
Some carnivorous plants do eat mammals. Though not primarily, some pitcher plant species have been known to eat mice, for example.
nyeah · 8h ago
tl;dr Basically a lot of sorry excuses.
If you're a plant, don't buy into the negativity. Work your way up the food chain. If you eat it, then it's your food.
But I will add that a commercial grower of venus flytraps once got curious, and took a few thousand cloned plantings, growing them in a variety of conditions. As soon as the soil became nourishing, the plants would die. Post mortem seemed to indicate their roots were fungally attacked.
So: plant adapts to living in a food desert (not an actual one, of course; it has to be wet for the carnivory to work, as the article points out). Plant gains weirdo digestion abilities, but at the same time, it no longer needs expensive anti-fungal defences - because the ground isn't rich enough to support parasitic fungi.
Then: human adds the nutrients back in. Boom! The ordinary fungus in the air, which has a tough time invading grass or tree or tobacco or pepper roots (because they have extensive defences, like capsaicin), lands in the rich soil of pretty-much helpless flytrap roots, and has a buffet.
I have heard of chemical/strangling/parasitical type competition. The banyan tree is territorial, for instance.
But we would need another name, other than territorial, carnivorous or vegetarian, to describe plant predators which overtly, actively fed on the physical structure or leaves of fellow plants.
Brambles can trap sheep, benefiting from the sheep as fertilizer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrGobnZq83g
Falling coconuts can not only kill people, but probably kill far more small animals, again benefiting from them as fertilizer,
Clearly these researchers have never been to the Mushroom Kingdom.
If you're a plant, don't buy into the negativity. Work your way up the food chain. If you eat it, then it's your food.