Sundews are some of the most beautiful but tricky plants on Earth! Their leaves are covered in dozens of tiny red hairs, and each hair has a sparkly drop of “dew” on the tip that glistens in the sunlight like a little jewel. But that shiny dew is not water at all. It is actually super sticky glue that the plant makes to catch its dinner! There are almost 200 different kinds of sundews growing all around the world, from steamy tropical jungles to chilly mountain bogs. Some sundews are as small as a penny, and others can grow long trailing leaves.
When a bug sees those glittering drops and lands on a sundew leaf, it gets stuck right away and cannot escape! The more the bug wiggles, the more sticky drops it touches, making it even more trapped. Then the sundew slowly curls its leaf around the bug over the next few hours, like a tiny hand closing into a fist. The plant uses special juices to break down the bug and soak up all the nutrients it needs to grow strong. After about a day or two, the leaf uncurls and the sticky drops appear again, ready to catch the next unlucky visitor!
