Venus's-flytrap

/vee"neuh siz fluy"trap'/, n.

a carnivorous plant, Dionaea muscipula, native to bogs of North and South Carolina, having roundish leaves with two lobes that close like a trap when certain delicate hairs on them are irritated, as by a fly: the range is now reduced, though the plants are still locally abundant. Also called Venus flytrap.

[1760-70, Amer.]

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or Venus flytrap

Flowering perennial plant (Dionaea muscipula), sole member of its genus, in the sundew family, notable for its unusual habit of catching and eating insects and other small animals (see carnivorous plant).

Native to a small region of North and South Carolina, it is common in damp, mossy areas. Growing from a bulblike rootstock, the plant bears hinged leaves with spiny teeth along their margins and a round cluster of small white flowers at the tip of an erect stem 8–12 in. (20–30 cm) tall. When an insect alights on a leaf and stimulates its sensitive hairs, the leaf snaps shut in about half a second. Leaf glands secrete a red sap that digests the insect's body and gives the entire leaf a red, flowerlike appearance. After 10 days of digestion, the leaf reopens. The trap dies after capturing three or four insects.

Venus's-flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)

Jack Dermid

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▪ plant

 (species Dionaea muscipula), flowering perennial plant of the sundew family (Droseraceae), notable for its unusual habit of catching and digesting insects and other small animals. The only member of its genus, the plant is native to a small region of North and South Carolina, where it is common in damp, mossy areas.

      The plant, which grows from a bulblike rootstock, bears a group of small white flowers at the tip of an erect stem 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12 inches) tall. The leaves are 8 to 15 cm (3 to 6 inches) long and have blades that are hinged along the midline so that the two nearly circular lobes, with spiny teeth along their margins, can fold together and enclose an insect alighting on them. This action is triggered by pressure on six sensitive hairs, three on each lobe. In normal daytime temperatures the lobes, when stimulated by prey, snap shut in about half a second. Glands on the leaf surface then secrete a red sap that digests the insect's body and gives the entire leaf a red, flowerlike appearance. About 10 days are required for digestion, after which the leaf reopens. The trap dies after capturing three or four insects.

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