Saxifraga candelabrum has been scientifically confirmed as a carnivorous plant

Saxifraga candelabrum has been scientifically confirmed as a carnivorous plant

¨     Saxifraga candelabrum has been scientifically confirmed as a carnivorous plant.

¨     It is an alpine flowering plant native to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Hengduan Mountains of China.

¨     The finding was published in Nature Communications on 4 August 2026.

¨     The discovery provides evidence supporting Charles Darwin’s 1875 hypothesis that some Saxifraga species may trap and digest insects.

¨     Carnivorous plants are flowering plants that capture, digest, and absorb nutrients from animals, mainly insects.

¨     They generally grow in nutrient-poor habitats where nitrogen and phosphorus are limited.

¨     Saxifraga candelabrum grows at elevations above 2,500 metres.

¨     It traps insects using reddish, sticky glandular hairs present on its stems and branches.

¨     Mature plants were found to capture an average of about 70 small insects.

¨     The insects were mainly gnats, while larger pollinating flies were not trapped in the same manner.

¨     Researchers used fluorescence tagging for phosphatase activity and nitrogen isotope tracking.

¨     These methods confirmed that the plant digests captured insects and absorbs nitrogen from them.

¨     The study was conducted by researchers from the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Florida Museum of Natural History.