Who wrote the 1875 book Insectivorous Plants?

Charles Darwin wrote the 1875 book Insectivorous Plants. Published in London by John Murray on 2 July 1875, it presented Darwin’s detailed investigations into plants that capture and digest animal prey.

Darwin’s work grew from observations of the common sundew, Drosera rotundifolia, beginning in 1860. He tested how plants responded to meat, glass, hair, blowing, and other stimuli. These experiments showed that traps could distinguish useful prey-like stimulation from events such as wind or rainfall, helping the plant avoid wasting energy.

The book also compared different feeding strategies, including sticky leaves and specialized traps. Darwin argued that carnivory helped plants living in nitrogen-poor soils obtain nutrients, connecting plant behavior and digestion to natural selection.

The first edition reportedly printed 3,000 copies and sold strongly. Asa Gray and Joseph Dalton Hooker corresponded with Darwin and assisted scientific work, but neither wrote the book; Alfred Russel Wallace was also not its author.