What is Photosynthesis? Photosynthesis is a process carried out by all green plants. The plants use carbon dioxide and water to make oxygen and a sugar called glucose. The glucose might be used by the plant for energy, or stored in the form of starch. Glucose and starch are carbohydrates – food sources that animals (like us) need to eat as a source of energy, as, unlike plants, we cannot make our own food. The process of photosynthesis removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and releases oxygen into the atmosphere – oxygen that animals (like us) need to breathe.  Whilst [...]

Skunk cabbage, Stinking iris, dead horse flower...the names of these plants certainly don’t make you want to buy a bunch of them and inhale deeply. Some plants produce an unpleasant smell, often of rotting flesh, to attract insects that would normally feed on dead animals. Insects landing on the plant then get covered in the plants seeds or pollen, and then spread the seeds or pollen as they move around.  The species that earns the title of ‘World’s Stinkiest Plant’ is the Titan Arum, or ‘corpse flower’. This plant is native to Indonesia and can grow to an enormous height [...]

Did you know that some plants eat animals? Carnivorous plants get some of their nutrition by trapping, digesting and absorbing animals, usually insects and other arthropods. There are over 600 species of carnivorous plant, but by far the most famous one is the Venus Fly Trap. The ‘trap’ is made from the end of a leaf and consists of two halves that are hinged in the middle. It looks like a clam shell, albeit one with fearsome spikes around the edges that lock together when the trap closes. An insect walking across the trap will touch tiny surface hairs that [...]