“During the summer of 1860, I was surprised by finding how large a number of insects were caught by the leaves of the common sun-dew (Drosera rotundifolia) on a heath in Sussex. I had heard that insects were thus caught, but knew nothing further on the subject.”
So begins Charles Darwin’s book “Insectivorous Plants,” published in 1875, following fifteen years of work and study; a book that from its very first lines to its last testifies to the inexhaustible patience and curiosity of one of the world’s greatest naturalists. It is also a book, I am embarrassed to write, the existence of which I was wholly unaware until rather recently.