Don’t be fooled by this pretty flower! It’s called the western false asphodel (AS-fuh-del), and it’s found in North America. It looks harmless, right? But it actually has an appetite for meat—bug meat, that is.
Scientists recently discovered that the wildflower feeds on small insects that land on its sticky, hairy stem. The flowers grow in soil that isn’t that healthy, so they need the nutrients from the bugs. Those nutrients help the
flowers survive.
“Their hairs capture only small insects,” says Qianshi Lin, who studied the hungry flowers.
Qianshi explains that the stem is just sticky enough to capture small insects. But it doesn’t catch pollinators like bees and butterflies. Those larger insects carry pollen that the wildflowers need to bloom. Somehow the plants seem to know that it’s better not to bite the hand—or insect—that feeds you!