Genlisea is a sneaky little carnivorous plant that hides its traps underground. Instead of snappy jaws or sticky leaves, it has weird Y-shaped roots that twist into spirals like corkscrews. Tiny soil-dwelling protozoa and microscopic worms swim in through openings along the spiral, lured by chemical attractants.
Once inside, they’re funnelled down toward a central digestion chamber. Backward-pointing hairs line the path, so the prey can only swim one way - deeper. They eventually end up in a tiny stomach where enzymes dissolve them. Scientists nickname these traps “eel traps” because of the trick.
Genlisea is also strange in another way. It has one of the smallest genomes of any flowering plant ever measured - roughly 60 times less DNA than a wheat plant. So this microbe-hunting weirdo is genetically minimalist too.
