Plants that trap and eat animals have inspired awe since before the days of Darwin. Lured into the danger zone by optical, tactile, and olfactory strategies, the preys succumb to ingenious traps and face their doom. But unlike plants that temporarily catch insects for pollination, the true carnivores go considerably further: they digest them for the nutrients they need to survive in extremely inhospitable sites on land and in water. This exquisite, thoroughly up-to-date book, copiously illustrated with closeup photography, provides the first comprehensive listing of some 630 known carnivorous plant species, described in fascinating detail, with identification history, physiology, ecology, and an extensive bibliography. It is an essential reference for hobbyist, naturalist, and collector alike.

Wilhelm Barthlott Ph.D. is director of the botanical gardens and head of the Nees Institute of Plant Biodiversity at the University of Bonn. He has studied carnivorous plants for three decades and at the botanical gardens of the University of Bonn has developed one of the world's largest carnivorous plant collections. Dr. Barthlott's research includes global mapping of biodiversity based on vascular plant patterns, systematics and ecology of flowering plants; investigation of biological boundary layers and the self-cleaning properties of certain biological surfaces; and in cooperation with industry, development of biomimetic self-cleaning surface technologies. Stefan Porembski Ph.D. is director of the botanical garden and botanical institute at the University of Rostock where he studies the ecology of tropical carnivorous plants. Rudiger Seine Ph.D. is an astronaut trainer at the European Astronaut Center in Cologne. His doctorate focused on tropical ecology and the systematics of the sundews. Inge Theisen Ph.D. works as a research scientist at the Nees Institute of the University of Bonn where she studies the molecular genetics and evolution of the largest carnivorous plant family, the bladderworts.