Venus Flytrap

(Dionaea muscipula)

             Venus flytrap is a carnivorous plant native to subtropical wetlands on the East Coast of the United States. Its common name refers to Venus, the Roman goddess of love. The genus name, Dionaea, (daughter of Dione) refers to the Greek goddess Aphrodite while the species name, muscipula, is Latin for mousetrap. Historically, the plant was also known by the slang term “tipitiwitchet” or “tippity twichet” which is a possibly oblique reference to the plant’s resemblance to human female genitalia.

            Dionaea muscipula is one of the very small groups of plants capable of rapid movement such as Mimosa, the Telegraph plant, sundews and bladderworts. It is small in stature and slow growing. It has a structure that can be described as a rosette of four to seven leaves which arise from a short subterranean stem that is actually a bulb-like object. Each stem reaches a maximum size of about three to ten centimeters. It has also longer leaves with robust traps which are usually formed after flowering. Its leaf blades were divided into two regions, the flat heart-shaped photosynthesis capable petiole and a pair of terminal lobes hinged at the midrib forming the trap which is the true leaf. Its lobes exhibit rapid plant movement snapping shut in about one tenth of a second when stimulated by a prey. The upper surface of its lobes contains red anthocyanin pigments and its edges secrete mucilage.

            Nutritional poverty of the soil is the reason that a plant relies on such elaborate traps where insect prey provides the nitrogen for protein formation that the soil cannot. The Venus flytrap which is a carnivorous plant is fed on specific prey which is limited to beetles, spiders and other crawling arthropods. Its diet is 33% ants, 30% spiders, 10% beetles, 10% grasshoppers and 5% flying insects. It uses its leaves that have three hairs for each lobe to trap the insect. If these hairs were touched by its prey spontaneously, these hairs give a signal that triggers the trap to close and locked its prey. If the prey is unable to scape, it will continue to stimulate the inner surface of the lobes and this causes a further growth response that forces the edges of the lobes together eventually sealing the trap hermetically and forming a stomach in which digestion occurs. Digestion takes about ten days, after which the prey is reduced to a husk of chitin. The trap then reopens and is ready for reuse. However, each trap is only good for four to six catches. After that, the trap withers, turn brown and falls off.

            The Venus flytrap has unique characteristics inspite of being a carnivorous plant. It produces scapes of white flowers in spring indicating its good and healthy condition. However, growers remove the flowering stem early as flowering consumes some of the plant’s energy and reduces the rate of trap production. Its trapping mechanism can distinguish between living prey and non-living stimuli such as falling raindrops. The speed of closing of its trap varies depending on the amount of humidity, light, size of prey and general growing conditions. Venus flytrap can tolerate fire well and mild winters even if it is not a tropical plant. In fact, Venus flytrap that do not go through a period of winter dormancy will weaken and die after a period of time.