Genlisea

Genlisea is a genus of carnivorous plants also known as corkscrew plants. The 30 or so species grow in wet terrestrial to semi-aquatic environments distributed throughout Africa and Central and South America. The plants use highly modified underground leaves to attract, trap and digest minute micro fauna, particularly protozoans. Although suggested a century earlier by Charles Darwin, carnivory in the genus was not proven until 1998.

Genlisea are small herbs, growing from a slender rhizome and bearing two morphologically distinct leaf types - photosynthetic foliage leaves aboveground and highly modified subterranean leaves used to trap prey below ground. The subterranean traps perform many of the functions normally performed by roots, such as anchorage and water absorption, But consume minute organisms as well.

The foliage leaves grow in a hemisphere around the growth point. Depending on species, these leaves are linear to spatulate in shape.