Venus Flytrap

Dionaea muscipula

Venus Flytrap is one of the most iconic carnivorous plants in the world, native only to a small area of the Carolinas in the United States — within roughly 75 miles of Wilmington, NC. The snap-trap leaves close in about one-tenth of a second when trigger hairs are touched twice, trapping insects and spiders that are then slowly digested. It grows in nutrient-poor, waterlogged, fire-maintained longleaf pine savannas. Venus Flytrap is vulnerable in the wild due to habitat loss and illegal poaching, despite being legally protected in North Carolina.

Habitat

Grows exclusively in humid, nutrient-poor, acidic sandy bogs and pine savannas of the Carolinas.

Diet

Carnivorous — traps and digests insects, spiders, and other small arthropods to supplement nutrient-poor soils.

How common

Rare