How do carnivorous plants obtain nutrients?

Plants obtain energy from the sun (photosynthesis) and nutrients from the ground through root uptake. However, some plants have developed an alternative method of obtaining nutrients - carnivory. This adaptation allows these plants to survive in very poor, nutrient-deficient soils. 

Carnivorous plants have developed mechanisms for luring and trapping insects. This usually involves secreting an attractive substance that lures the insect into a trap, such as a smelly nectar. The trap might be a sticky substance (flypaper trap), a chamber or pot that cannot be escaped, or leaves that actually move and pin the insect. 

The plant secretes digestive enzymes which breakdown the insect bodies into smaller components. Carnivorous plants then absorb some of these compounds. Amino acids and some ions are the most commonly absorbed substances. In this way, carnivorous plants obtain some of their nutrients by eating insects.