Is Bramble (blackberry bush) carnivorous? I have come across this video which put forth the hypothesis that bramble actually qualifies as a carnivorous plant. The observations that have led to the hypothesis are: 1\. Sheep getting caught frequently in bramble 2\. Sheep will die without human intervention. 3\. The rotting corpse of the sheep will nourish the plant for many days. 4\. The thorns angle inward -- supposedly evidence for adaptation that helps trap prey animal. I agree , on the surface it looks plain silly but that is a reflexive reaction, not an argument. Is this a plausible hypothesis? If not , please give reasons.

**Even if the adaptations to tangle were well supported, brambles would still not be carnivorous.**

Carnivorous plants release digestive enzymes to digest their prey or have other adaptations specifically to pull nutrients from the things they kill. Brambles would have to rely on something else to rot the carcass and pick up whatever trace nutrients that get released into the soil like any other plant. Brambles tendency to tangle could just as easily be a defensive adaptation meant to encourage herbivores to avoid it. Without any specific adaptations to uptake the nutrients from killed animals, classifying them as carnivorous would be premature.