(Photo: marilynnm63/Flickr

New review on carnivorous flora suggests that a number of plants previously thought innocent may actually be murderous.

“We may be surrounded by many more murderous plants than we think,” said botanist Mark Chase, Keeper of the Jodrell Laboratory at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in England.

That’s according to a new review on carnivorous plants which suggests that a number of commonplace, garden-variety plants like petunias and potatoes deserve to be classified as meat-eaters just like the Venus flytrap and pitcher plants.

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Source: Bryan Nelson, MNN – Mother Nature Network

By Brandon Keim, Wired.com

After decades of seeing plants as passive recipients of fate, scientists have found them capable of behaviors once thought unique to animals. Some plants even appear to be social, favoring family while pushing strangers from the neighborhood.

Research into plant sociality is still young, with many questions unanswered. But it may change how people conceive of the floral world, and provide new ways of raising productivity on Earth’s maxed-out farmlands.

“When I was in school, researchers assumed that some plants were better or worse than others at getting resources, but they were blind to the whole social situation,” said Susan Dudley, a McMaster University biologist. “I went looking for it, and to my shock, found it. And we’ve found more of it since.”

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Source: Wired.com