This is not dew which tips each leaf. It is glue! When a fly lands on the leaf, wings and feet stick together, trapping the insect. Then in a miracle of the plant kingdom, the tentacles begin to move! Sensing a meal, tentacles bend and the leaf curls. As if controlled by magic, one after another, each tentacle reaches over and adds one more dab of sticky glue, until the insect is embalmed in the clear liquid. 

The liquid contains powerful digestive enzymes and acids. Extraction of nutrients is quick – only 24-48 hours! The digestive power of the Octopus Plant is unusually fast when compared with other carnivorous plants. 

When finished, the tentacles release the carcass and are ready for another meal. While your octopus plant eats gnats and flies, some of its larger cousins have been known to devour rats and small birds in briars of sticky leaves.  Seeing this, many people let their imaginations run wild. They made up fantastic stories of plants with long arms and tentacles that could capture humans! 

Octopus Plants grow many places around the world. Some have long strap-like leaves, while others have leaves which end in circular paddles. All have glue tipped tentacles which hold and digest their prey.