Metamaterial architecture from a self-shaping carnivorous plant

Abstract

Significance Understanding how carnivorous plants actuate leaf motion to capture their preys is an intriguing problem with potential applications for bio-inspired materials. Here, we show that bending of Drosera capensis leaves is programmed into its asymmetric cellular architecture and actuated by the action of growth hormones. A similar strategy can be exploited to design shape-changing metamaterials converting homogeneous stimuli into an asymmetric response.