Venus Flytrap: Interesting Facts About the Carnivorous Plant
The Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) is known worldwide as the most famous carnivorous plant. It possesses incredible reflexes that help it capture and digest flies, beetles, and even small frogs. The plant lures its prey with sweet-smelling nectar, although, pleasant as it may sound, the Venus Flytrap has quite a terrifying appearance.
The plant thrives in the savannas of the United States, where boggy, humid conditions are preserved. Interestingly, in the state of North Carolina, USA, the Venus Flytrap has been designated as the "state carnivorous plant".
But how does the hunting process work for insects? The trap itself is situated on a short stem and resembles an open shell of mollusks. Along the edges are teeth-like structures resembling long lashes. However, all of this is just a facade; the real weapons are the glands and trigger hairs.
The glands are located along the inner surface of the lash-like teeth and secrete a sweet-smelling nectar, enticing insects that find it difficult to resist. When the prey ventures inside the trap, trigger hairs come into play—they respond to touches. The trap doesn't snap shut immediately; only several consecutive touches to the trigger hairs (three per lobe) can close the trap.
Once caught in its trap, the Venus Flytrap begins the digestion process. The same glands that produced nectar now excrete abundant digestive juices in which the plant dissolves its meal. Digestion typically takes several days, after which the lobes reopen, revealing only the indigestible parts left of the insect to the world.
The first person to successfully cultivate Venus Flytraps at home was Thomas Jefferson, the American president, in 1804. Besides being a politician and advocate for American independence, he was also an amateur botanist.
Today, thanks to the efforts of many scientists, more specimens of the plant grow in clay pots and greenhouses than in the wild. Varieties in dark red, burgundy, and raspberry have been bred.
And finally, a few facts about the Venus Flytrap:
- The plant feeds on insects 3-4 times in its lifetime before it dies.
- Venus Flytraps "eat" insects to obtain essential nitrogen.
- The digestive juices of the Venus Flytrap can dissolve human flesh.
- Charles Darwin dedicated an entire book to this plant, which he partly illustrated himself.
- Venus Flytraps have been bred that can absorb sunlight and glow blue in the dark.
- The Venus Flytrap is listed in the Red Book.
