What Plants Can Count?

Carnivorous plants, including the Pitcher Plant and the Sundew plant, are endlessly fascinating in their own right. However, the Venus Flytrap deserves special attention in this round-up of the best nature facts. Why is that? Well, it turns out that Venus Flytraps can actually count.

As Sir David Attenborough demonstrates, the Venus Flytrap needs to avoid false alarms. This is because snapping its jaws shut on a raindrop or falling twig would be a waste of energy.

Instead, it conserves precious energy by counting. It will only close its jaws once something has brushed against tiny hairs found inside the leaves twice in twenty seconds.

Once it closes its jaws, it doesn’t start eating or stop counting. To avoid false alarms, it waits until it has received five separate touches to those hairs. Only once has it had five separate touches, will it then start to digest the unfortunate insect.