| Abstract: | How carnivorous plants outsmart their prey The non‐muscular movements of plants, especially the fast traps of carnivorous plants, might appear as natural “wonders”, but they are all evoked by the interplay of functional morphological structures developed during evolution with well‐described biophysical and chemical processes. Hydraulic “motors”, which are based on water displacement in the respective cells and tissues, entail rather slow motions. Large and fast structures, as e.g., the snap‐traps of the carnivorous Venus flytrap, often depend on the release of stored elastic energy (relaxation) which acts as a speed boost and significantly speeds up the motion. The fast traps presented here and the deformation principles involved, including some mechanical “tricks”, can be rebuild in simple and low‐cost physical models which are especially useful for an application in teaching. |
