Venus Flytrap

The Venus Flytrap is perhaps the most iconic carnivorous plant, featuring jaw-like traps that snap shut in a fraction of a second.

The Venus Flytrap is a small perennial herb that has captured human imagination for centuries. Its modified leaves form a "mouth" with interlocking teeth along the edges. Each trap is lined with tiny trigger hairs - when an insect touches two hairs in succession (or one hair twice within 20 seconds), the trap snaps shut in about 100 milliseconds, one of the fastest movements in the plant kingdom.

The inside of each trap is bright red, which lures insects thinking they've found a flower. Once closed, the trap forms an airtight seal and releases digestive enzymes, essentially becoming a temporary stomach. The plant absorbs the nutrients over 5-12 days, then reopens to reveal the dried exoskeleton of its prey.

Interestingly, the Venus Flytrap can "count" - it only produces digestive enzymes if the trigger hairs are stimulated at least five times, preventing the plant from wasting energy on false triggers like raindrops.

Native Region: Coastal North and South Carolina, USA

Zanyengo: USDA zones 8-9

Found exclusively in nitrogen-poor wetlands and bogs within a 75-mile radius of Wilmington, North Carolina. Grows in full sun among longleaf pine savannas with acidic, nutrient-poor soil.

Kukula Kwambiri: 5-6 inches diameter

Mlingo wa Kukula: Moderate

Mtundu wa Msampha: Snap Trap

Rapid-motion snap traps that close in 100 milliseconds when trigger hairs are stimulated. Each trap can close 3-5 times before it dies and is replaced.

• The Venus Flytrap is the only species in its genus - it has no close relatives!
• It was almost named "Tipitiwitchet" or "Fly-Trap Sensitive" before "Venus Flytrap" stuck
• Charles Darwin called it "one of the most wonderful plants in the world"
• Wild populations are threatened by poaching and habitat destruction, but they're easy to cultivate
• Despite popular belief, they don't need to be fed - they can survive on photosynthesis alone, but grow faster with occasional insects
• The plant can distinguish between living prey and non-food items