Gale Williams, age 11, Of Willie, Tex., for her question:

What are carnivorous plants?

A carnivore is a meat eater, and We are used to the idea of carnivorous animals. Human beings, bears and the animals who eat both meat and vegetables are classed as omnivores. Rabbits and other strict vegetarians are called herbivores. The plant world depends upon the decayed remains of both plants and animals for its renewed food supplies.

We do not, however, say that plants are omnivorous like us. Yet, certain plants are called carnivorous. The reason is that the few carnivorous plants live in poor soils where the nitrogen chemicals they need are scarce. They have ways of trapping insects and dissolving the needed chemicals from their tiny bodies. Only a few members of the teeming plant world can be called carnivorous, and all of them are too small to capture creatures larger than bugs.