Description

TheVenus Flytrap,Dionaea muscipula, is acarnivorous plant

that catches and digests animal prey
mostlyinsectsandarachnids. Its trapping structure is formed by
the terminal portion of each of the plant's leaves and is triggered
by tiny hairs on their inner surfaces. When an insect or spider
crawling along the leaves contacts a hair, the trap closes if a
different hair is contacted within twenty seconds of the first
strike. The requirement of redundant triggering in this mechanism
serves as a safeguard against a waste of energy in trapping
objects with no nutritional value.

The Venus Flytrap is a small plant whose structure

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, depending on the time of year, longer
leaves with robust traps are usually formed after
flowering. Flytraps that have more than 7 leaves
arecoloniesformed by rosettes that have divided
beneath the ground.

Mechanism of trapping
The mechanism by which the trap snaps shut involves a
complex interaction betweenelasticity turgorand growth. In the
open, untripped state, the lobes areconvex(bent outwards), but
in the closed state, the lobes areconcave (forming a cavity). It
is the rapid flipping of thisbistablestate that closes the trap, but
the mechanism by which this occurs is still poorly understood.
When the trigger hairs are stimulated, anaction potentialis
generated, which propagates across the lobes and stimulates
cells in the lobes and in themidribbetween them

Digestion
If the prey is unable to escape, 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 whichdigestionoccurs. Digestion
iscatalvsedby enzymessecreted by glands in the lobes.
Digestion takes about ten days, after which the prey is
reduced to a husk ofchitin. The trap then reopens, and is
ready for reuse.

Habitat
The Venus Flytrap is found innitrogen-poor environments, such
asbogsand wet savannahs. Small in stature and slow growing, the
Venus flytrap tolerates fire well, and depends on periodic burning to
suppress its competition.Fire suppression threatens its future in the
wild.It survives in wet sandy and peaty soils. Although it has been
successfully transplanted and grown in many locales around the
world, it is found natively only in North and South Carolina in the
United States, specifically within a 60-mile radius ofWilmington,
North Carolina. One such place is North Carolina'sGreen Swamp.

There also appears to be a naturalized population of

Venus Flytraps in northern Florida as well as
populations in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. The
nutritional poverty of the soil is the reason that the
plant relies on such elaborate traps: insect prey
provide the nitrogen forproteinformation that the
soil cannot. The Venus Flytrap is not a tropical plant
and can tolerate mild winters. In fact, Venus Flytraps
that do not go through a period of winter dormancy
will weaken and die after a period of time.

Cultivation
Venus flytraps are popular as cultivated plants, but have a reputation for being
difficult to grow. Successfully growing these specialized plants requires
recreating a close approximation to the plant's natural habitat.
Healthy Venus flytraps will produce scapes of white flowers inspring, however,
many growers remove the flowering stem early (2-3inches), as flowering
consumes some of the plant's energy, and reduces the rate of trap production.
If healthy plants are allowed to flower, successful pollination will result in the
production of dozens of small, shiny black seeds.
Plants can be propagated by seed, although seedlings take several years to
mature. More commonly, they are propagated by division in spring or summer.