The
Venus Flytrap, Dionaea muscipula, is a
carnivorous plantCarnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods. Carnivorous plants appear adapted to grow in places where the soil is thin or poor in nutrients, especially nitrogen, such as acidic...
that catches and digests animal prey—mostly
insectInsects are arthropods, having a hard exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet and include more than a million species that are already described. Insects represent more than half of all...
s and
arachnidArachnids are a class of joint-legged invertebrate animals in the subphylum Chelicerata. All arachnids have eight legs, although in some species the front pair may convert to a sensory function. The term is derived from the Greek word , meaning "spider".Most arachnids are terrestrial...
s. 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 comes into contact with one or more of the hairs twice in succession, the trap closes. 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 plant's common name refers to
VenusVenus was a major Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty and fertility, who played a key role in many Roman religious festivals and myths. From the third century BC, the increasing Hellenization of Roman upper classes identified her as the equivalent of the Greek goddess...
, the Roman goddess of love, whereas the genus name refers to
DioneDione, , in Greek mythology is a vague goddess presence who has her most concrete form in Book V of Homer's Iliad as the mother of Aphrodite. Aphrodite journeys to Dione's side after she has been wounded in battle while protecting her favorite son Aeneas...
.
Dionaea is a
monotypicIn biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one type. The usage differs slightly between botany and zoology:In botany, a monotypic taxon is a taxon that has only one species: Ginkgo is a monotypic genus, while Ginkgoaceae is a monotypic family...
genusIn biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...
closely related to the waterwheel plant and
sundewDrosera, commonly known as the sundews, comprise one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 188 species. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilaginous glands covering their leaf surface...
s.
Description
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 are
coloniesIn biology, a colony refers to several individual organisms of the same species living closely together, usually for mutual benefit, such as stronger defences or the ability to attack bigger prey. Some insects live only in colonies...
formed by rosettes that have divided beneath the ground.
The leaf blade is divided into two regions: a flat, heart-shaped
photosynthesisPhotosynthesis is a process that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight. Photosynthesis occurs in plants, algae, and many species of Bacteria, but not in Archaea...
-capable
petioleIn botany, the petiole is the small stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly...
, and a pair of terminal lobes hinged at the midrib, forming the trap which is the true leaf. The upper surface of these lobes contains red
anthocyaninAnthocyanins are water-soluble vacuolar pigments that may appear red, purple, or blue according to pH. They belong to a parent class of molecules called flavonoids synthesized via the phenylpropanoid pathway; they are odorless and nearly flavorless, contributing to taste as a moderately stringent...
pigments and its edges secrete
mucilageMucilage is a polar glycoprotein; an exopolysaccharide; a polymer produced by most plants and some microorganisms.It occurs in various parts of nearly all classes of plant, usually in relatively small percentages, and is frequently associated with other substances, such as tannins and...
. The lobes exhibit
rapid plant movementRapid plant movement encompasses movement in plant structures occurring over a very short period of time, usually under one second. For example, the Venus Flytrap closes its trap in about 100 milliseconds. The Dogwood Bunchberry's flower opens its petals and fires pollen in less than 0.5 milliseconds...
s, snapping shut when stimulated by prey. The trapping mechanism is tripped when prey contacts one of the three hair-like
trichomeTrichomes , are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants and certain protists. These are of diverse structure and function...
s that are found on the upper surface of each of the lobes. The trapping mechanism is so specialized that it can distinguish between living prey and non-prey stimuli such as falling raindrops; two trigger hairs must be touched in succession or one hair touched twice, whereupon the lobes of the trap will snap shut in about 0.1 seconds. The edges of the lobes are fringed by stiff hair-like protrusions or cilia, which mesh together and prevent large prey from escaping. (These protrusions, and the trigger hairs or also known as sensitive hairs, are probably
homologousIn evolutionary biology, homology refers to any similarity between characteristics of organisms that is due to their shared ancestry. The word homologous derives from the ancient Greek ομολογειν, 'to agree'. There are examples in different branches of biology...
with the tentacles found in this plant’s close relatives, the
sundewDrosera, commonly known as the sundews, comprise one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 188 species. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilaginous glands covering their leaf surface...
s.) Scientists are currently unsure about the evolutionary history of the Venus flytrap; however scientists have made hypotheses that the flytrap evolved from
Drosera (sundews).
The holes in the meshwork allow small prey to escape, presumably because the benefit that would be obtained from them would be less than the cost of digesting them. If the prey is too small and escapes, the trap will reopen within 12 hours. If the prey moves around in the trap, it tightens and digestion begins more quickly.
Speed of closing can vary depending on the amount of humidity, light, size of prey, and general growing conditions. The speed with which traps close can be used as an indicator of a plant's general health. Venus Flytraps are not as humidity-dependent as are some other carnivorous plants, such as
NepenthesThe Nepenthes , popularly known as tropical pitcher plants or monkey cups, are a genus of carnivorous plants in the monotypic family Nepenthaceae. The genus comprises roughly 120 species, numerous natural and many cultivated hybrids...
,
CephalotusCephalotus is a genus which contains one species, Cephalotus follicularis, a small carnivorous plant. The pit-fall traps of the modified leaves have inspired the common names for this plant, which include Albany Pitcher Plant, Western Australian Pitcher Plant, fly-catcher plant or mocassin plant.-...
, most
HeliamphoraThe genus Heliamphora contains 16 species of pitcher plants endemic to South America. The species are collectively known as sun pitchers, based on the mistaken notion that the heli of Heliamphora is from the Greek helios, meaning "sun"...
, and some
Drosera.
The Venus Flytrap exhibits variations in petiole shape and length and whether the leaf lies flat on the ground or extends up at an angle of about 40-60 degrees. The four major forms are: 'typica', the most common, with broad decumbent petioles; 'erecta', with leaves at a 45 degree angle; 'linearis', with narrow petioles and leaves at 45 degrees; and 'filiformis', with extremely narrow or linear petioles. Except for 'filiformis', all of these can be stages in leaf production of any plant depending on season (decumbent in summer versus short versus semi-erect in spring), length of photoperiod (long petioles in spring versus short in summer), and intensity of light (wide petioles in low light intensity versus narrow in brighter light).
When grown from seed, plants take around four to five years to reach maturity and will live for 20 to 30 years if cultivated in the right conditions.
Mechanism of trapping
The Venus Flytrap is one of a very small group of plants that are capable of
rapid movementRapid plant movement encompasses movement in plant structures occurring over a very short period of time, usually under one second. For example, the Venus Flytrap closes its trap in about 100 milliseconds. The Dogwood Bunchberry's flower opens its petals and fires pollen in less than 0.5 milliseconds...
, such as
MimosaMimosa is a genus of about 400 species of herbs and shrubs, in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the legume family Fabaceae. There are two species in the genus that are notable. First the Mimosa pudica because of the way it folds its leaves when touched or exposed to heat...
, the Telegraph plant,
sundewDrosera, commonly known as the sundews, comprise one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 188 species. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilaginous glands covering their leaf surface...
s and
bladderwortUtricularia, commonly and collectively called the bladderworts, is a genus of carnivorous plants consisting of approximately 225 species . They occur in fresh water and wet soil as terrestrial or aquatic species across every continent except Antarctica...
s.
The mechanism by which the trap snaps shut involves a complex interaction between
elasticityIn physics, elasticity is the physical property of a material when it returns to its original shape after the stress under which it deforms is removed. The relative amount of deformation is called the strain.- Modelling elasticity :...
, turgor and growth. In the open, untripped state, the lobes are convex (bent outwards), but in the closed state, the lobes are concave (forming a cavity). It is the rapid flipping of this
bistableBistability is a fundamental phenomenon in nature. Something that is bistable can be resting in two states. In physics, for an ensemble of particles, the bistability comes from the fact that its free energy has three critical points. Two of them are minima and the last is a maximum. By mathematical...
state that closes the trap, but the mechanism by which this occurs is still poorly understood. When the trigger hairs are stimulated, an
action potentialAn action potential is a transient alteration of the transmembrane voltage across an excitable membrane generated by the activity of voltage-gated ion channels embedded in the membrane. Action potentials play multiple roles in several types of excitable cells such as neurons, myocytes, and...
(mostly involving calcium ions — see
calcium in biologyCalcium plays a pivotal role in the physiology and biochemistry of organisms and the cell. It plays an important role in signal transduction pathways, where it acts as a second messenger, in neurotransmitter release from neurons, contraction of all muscle cell types, and fertilization...
) is generated, which propagates across the lobes and stimulates cells in the lobes and in the midrib between them. Exactly what this stimulation does is still debated. The
acid growthAcid growth refers to the ability of plant cells and plant cell walls to elongate or expand quickly at low pH. This form of growth does not involve an increase in cell number. During acid growth, plant cells enlarge rapidly because the cell walls are made more extensible by expansin, a...
theory states that individual cells in the outer layers of the lobes and midrib rapidly move
1H+The proton is a subatomic particle with an electric charge of +1 elementary charge. It is found in the nucleus of each atom but is also stable by itself and has a second identity as the hydrogen ion, H
+...
(
hydrogen ionHydrogen ion is recommended by IUPAC as a general term for all ions of hydrogen and its isotopes. Depending on the charge of the ion, two different classes can be distinguished:-Cation :...
s) into their cell walls, lowering the
pHpH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of a solution. It is defined as the cologarithm of the activity of dissolved hydrogen ions . Hydrogen ion activity coefficients cannot be measured experimentally, so they are based on theoretical calculations...
and loosening the extracellular components, which allows them to swell rapidly by
osmosisOsmosis is the diffusion of water through a semi-permeable membrane. More specifically, it is the movement of water across a semi-permeable membrane from an area of high water potential to an area of low water potential...
, thus elongating and changing the shape of the trap lobe. Alternatively, cells in the inner layers of the lobes and midrib may rapidly secrete other
ionAn ion is an atom or molecule where the total number of electrons is not equal to the total number of protons, giving it a net positive or negative electrical charge...
s, allowing water to follow by osmosis, and the cells to collapse. Both of these mechanisms may play a role and have some experimental evidence to support them.
Digestion in Dionaea muscipula
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 which
digestionDigestion is the mechanical and chemical breaking down of food into smaller components, to a form that can be absorbed, for instance, by a blood stream. Digestion is a form of catabolism.that means break down of macro food molecules to smaller one....
occurs. Digestion is
catalysedCatalysis is the process in which the rate of a chemical reaction is either increased or decreased by means of a chemical substance known as a catalyst. Unlike other reagents that participate in the chemical reaction, a catalyst is not consumed by the reaction itself. The catalyst may participate...
by
enzymeEnzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called substrates, and the enzyme converts them into different molecules, called the products. Almost all processes in a biological cell need enzymes to occur at...
s secreted by glands in the lobes.
Oxidative protein modification is likely to be a predigestive mechanism of the
Dionaea muscipula. Aqueous leaf extracts have been found to contain
quinoneQuinones are "compounds having a fully conjugated cyclic dione structure, such as that of benzoquinones, derived from aromatic compounds by conversion of an even number of –CH= groups into –C– groups with any necessary rearrangement of double bonds ."Benzoquinone, sometimes referred to simply as...
s such as the
naphthoquinoneNaphthoquinone, or more precisely 1,4-naphthoquinone, is an organic compound. It forms yellow triclinic crystals and has an odor similar to benzoquinone. It is sparingly soluble in cold water, slightly soluble in petroleum ether, and freely soluble in most polar organic solvents. In alkaline...
plumbaginPlumbagin is a plant-derived naphthoquinone possessing a number of pharmacological activities.A yellow pigment, it has been shown to have antimicrobial activity...
that couples to different NADH-dependent
diaphoraseMethemoglobin reductase is a NADH-dependent enzyme that converts methemoglobin to hemoglobin....
s to produce
superoxideSuperoxide is an anion with the chemical formula O
2−. It is important as the product of the one-electron reduction of dioxygen O
2, which occurs widely in nature...
and
hydrogen peroxideHydrogen peroxide is a very pale blue liquid, slightly more viscous than water, that appears colorless in dilute solution. It is a weak acid, has strong oxidizing properties, and is a powerful bleaching agent. It is used as a disinfectant, antiseptic, oxidizer, and in rocketry as a propellant...
upon
autoxidationAutoxidation is any oxidation that occurs in open air or in presence of oxygen and/or UV radiation and forms peroxides and hydroperoxides. A classic example of autoxidation is that of simple ethers like diethyl ether, whose peroxides can be dangerously explosive. It can be considered to be a slow,...
. Such oxidative modification could rupture animal cell membranes. Plumbagin is known to induce apoptosis, associated with the regulation of
Bcl-2Bcl-2 is the prototype for a family of mammalian genes and the proteins they produce. They govern mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization and can be either pro-apoptotic or anti-apoptotic . There are a total of 25 genes in the Bcl-2 family known to date...
family of proteins. When the
Dionaea extracts were preincubated with diaphorases and NADH in the presence of
serum albuminSerum albumin, often referred to simply as albumin, is the most abundant plasma protein in humans and other mammals. Albumin is essential for maintaining the osmotic pressure needed for proper distribution of body fluids between intravascular compartments and body tissues...
(SA), subsequent
trypticTrypsin is a serine protease found in the digestive system of many vertebrates, where it hydrolyses proteins. Trypsin is produced in the pancreas as the inactive proenzyme trypsinogen. Trypsin predominantly cleaves peptide chains at the carboxyl side of the amino acids lysine or arginine, except...
digestion of SA was facilitated. Since the
secretory glandExocrine glands are glands that secrete their products into ducts . They are the counterparts to endocrine glands, which secrete their products directly into the bloodstream or release hormones that affect only target cells nearby the release site.-Examples:Typical exocrine glands include sweat...
s of
DroseraceaeDroseraceae is the botanical name for a family of flowering plants. The family is also known under its common name, the sundew family.It consists of carnivorous plants: besides the sundews, the genus Drosera, it also contains the even more famous Venus fly trap, Dionaea muscipula...
contain
proteaseA protease breaks down proteins. A protease is any enzyme that conducts proteolysis, that is, begins protein catabolism by hydrolysis of the peptide bonds that link amino acids together in the polypeptide chain forming the protein...
s and possibly other degradative enzymes, it may be that the presence of oxygen-activating
redoxRedox describes all chemical reactions in which atoms have their oxidation number changed....
cofactorA cofactor is a non-protein chemical compound that is bound to a protein and is required for the protein's biological activity. These proteins are commonly enzymes and cofactors can be considered "helper molecules/ions" that assist in biochemical transformations...
s function as extracellular
predigestiveSaliva is the watery and usually frothy substance produced in the mouths of humans and most other animals. Saliva is produced in and secreted from the salivary glands...
oxidants to render membrane-bound proteins of the prey (
insectInsects are arthropods, having a hard exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet and include more than a million species that are already described. Insects represent more than half of all...
s) more susceptible to
proteolyticProteolysis is the directed degradation of proteins by cellular enzymes called proteases or by intramolecular digestion.-Purposes:Proteolysis is used by the cell for several purposes...
attacks.
Digestion takes about ten days, after which the prey is reduced to a husk of
chitinChitin n is a long-chain polymer of a N-acetylglucosamine, a derivative of glucose, and is found in many places throughout the natural world. It is the main component of the cell walls of fungi, the exoskeletons of arthropods, such as crustaceans Chitin...
. The trap then reopens, and is ready for reuse.
Habitat
The Venus Flytrap is found in
nitrogenNitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N and atomic number 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78% by volume of Earth's atmosphere.Many industrially important...
-poor environments, such as
bogA bog or mire is a wetland type that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—usually mosses, but also lichens in Arctic climates....
s and 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 of
Wilmington, North CarolinaWilmington is a city in and the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 75,838 at the 2000 Census. A July 1, 2008 United States Census Bureau estimate places the population at 100,192...
. One such place is North Carolina's
Green SwampGreen Swamp may refer to:*Florida's Green Swamp, which lies just west of Highway 27 in Polk, Lake, Sumter, Hernando and Pasco Counties. Headwaters of the Peace River, Withlacoochee River, Ocklawaha River, and Hillsborough River, are located here....
. There also appears to be a naturalized species 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 for
proteinProteins are organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and folded into a globular form. The amino acids in a polymer chain are joined together by the peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid residues...
formation 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.
http://www.carnivorousplants.org/seedbank/species/Dionaea.htm
Cultivation
Venus Flytraps are popular as cultivated plants, but have a reputation for being difficult to grow. These plants are swamp plants, and as such, most home growers are unable to replicate the plant's natural habitat. Successfully growing these specialized plants requires recreating a close approximation to the plant's natural habitat.
Venus flytraps are usually grown outside on a deck, window sill, or in the garden that receives two to four hours of sunlight. Stagnant water is dangerous for the plant, so some growers use pebbles to elevate them from the water. Many growers grow the plant in a greenhouse which often leads to healthy, vigorous and colourful plants. The colour of the trap leaves may be used as an indicator of sufficient light; in appropriate conditions the inside of each trap is usually bright red in colour for most varieties. Insufficient light leads to the inside of the trap turning light green, although studies have shown other factors can contribute to the lack of red pigmentation. Low light also causes
etiolationEtiolation occurs when plants are grown in either partial or complete absence of light, and is characterized by long, weak stems; smaller, sparser leaves due to longer internodes; and a pale yellow color . This is a mechanism to increase the likeliness that a plant will reach a light source, often...
and makes plants more susceptible to diseases.
Venus flytraps are grown in mixtures of
sphagnumSphagnum is a genus of between 151-350 species of mosses commonly called peat moss, due to its prevalence in peat bogs and mires. A distinction is made between sphagnum moss, the live moss growing on top of a peat bog, and sphagnum peat moss, the decaying matter underneath...
peat moss and/or
peatPeat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter. Peat forms in wetlandbogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests...
by growers, often with the addition of sand, perlite or other inert salt free material. Soil
pHpH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of a solution. It is defined as the cologarithm of the activity of dissolved hydrogen ions . Hydrogen ion activity coefficients cannot be measured experimentally, so they are based on theoretical calculations...
should be in the range of 3.9 to 4.8.
Venus Flytraps are not watered with tap water as accumulated salts in tap water may kill carnivorous plants, so they are best watered with collected rain or distilled/deionized water. Venus flytraps also can survive over-watering as they can survive short periods of immersion underwater.
Some
horticulturistsHorticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation. Some would say that horticulture is the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant...
have experimented with giving small amounts of fertiliser to Venus flytraps, usually applying diluted solutions of products formulated for
epiphyteAn epiphyte is:Epiphyte is one of the subdivisions of the Raunkiær system. The term most commonly refers to higher plants, but epiphytic bacteria, fungi , algae, lichens, mosses, and ferns exist as well. The term epiphytic derives from the Greek epi- and phyton...
s, using cotton swabs, to the plant's foliage. Another method of fertilizer application is a spray bottle or pump.
Venus flytraps are entirely capable of catching their own food. Algal growth near the plant is an indicator of overfeeding, as is an abundance of dead, black traps.
Healthy Venus flytraps will produce scapes of white flowers in
springSpring is one of the four temperate seasons, the transition period between winter and summer. Its days are close to twelve hours long with increasing day length, as it occurs near the time of an equinox. In the Northern Hemisphere, spring runs from March into May, and in the Southern Hemisphere it...
, however, many growers remove the flowering stem early (2~3 inches), 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.
Venus flytraps have a necessary winter dormancy period, triggered by nighttime temperatures below 10 °
CCelsius is a temperature scale that is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death...
(50 °
FFahrenheit is the temperature scale proposed in 1724 by, and named after, the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit . Today, the scale has been replaced by the Celsius scale in most countries; it is still in use for non-scientific purposes in the United States and a few other nations, such as...
) and reduced day length.
Plants can be propagated by seed, although seedlings will take several years to mature. More commonly, they may be propagated by division in spring or summer.
Cultivars
Venus Flytraps are, by far, the most commonly recognized and cultivated carnivorous plant. They are sold as houseplants and are often found at florists, hardware stores and supermarkets. During the past ten years or so large quantities of cultivars have come into the market through
tissue culturePlant tissue culture is a practice used to propagate plants under sterile conditions, often to produce clones of a plant. Different techniques in plant tissue culture may offer certain advantages over traditional methods of propagation, including:...
of select genetic mutations. It is through tissue culture that great quantities of plants are raised for commercial markets.
Some of the registered
cultivarA cultivar is a cultivated plant that has been selected and given a unique name because of desired characteristics; it is usually distinct from similar plants and when propagated it retains those characteristics....
s (cultivated varieties) include (name of originator in brackets):
- Dionaea muscipula 'Akai Ryu' {R.Gagliardo}
- Dionaea muscipula 'Big Mouth' {T.Camilleri}
- Dionaea muscipula 'Bohemian Garnet'
Dionaea muscipula 'Bohemian Garnet is a cultivar of Dionaea muscipula, the Venus flytrap. It is an F2 cross between Dionaea 'Royal Red' and Dionaea 'Sawtooth' that was published in the September 2007 issue of the Carnivorous Plant Newsletter...
{M.Srba}
- Dionaea muscipula 'Clayton's Red Sunset' {C.Clayton}
- Dionaea muscipula 'Clumping Cultivar' {D'Amato}
- Dionaea muscipula 'Dentate' {D'Amato}
- Dionaea muscipula 'Dentate Traps' {B.Meyers-Rice}
- Dionaea muscipula 'Dente' {D'Amato}
- Dionaea muscipula 'Fused Tooth' {D'Amato}
- Dionaea muscipula 'Jaws' {L.Song}
- Dionaea muscipula 'Kinchyaku' {K.Kondo}
- Dionaea muscipula 'Red Piranha' {E.Read}
- Dionaea muscipula 'Red Rosetted' {D'Amato}
- Dionaea muscipula 'Royal Red' {AUPBR 464}
- Dionaea muscipula 'Sawtooth' {B.Meyers-Rice}
An unofficial list includes many more names, with more added annually. None of these "variation names" are officially recognized unless the name is properly documented, registered and accepted by the International Registration Authority for carnivorous plant
cultivarA cultivar is a cultivated plant that has been selected and given a unique name because of desired characteristics; it is usually distinct from similar plants and when propagated it retains those characteristics....
s, the
International Carnivorous Plant SocietyThe International Carnivorous Plant Society is a non-profit organization founded in 1972. It is the International Registration Authority for carnivorous plant cultivars....
.
Conservation
The general consensus of most professional plant conservationists is that the best means to ensure survival of the Venus Flytrap is to protect a number of populations in their native and natural habitats, preferably as large areas of managed preserves. Although it may be possible to perpetuate the species indefinitely in cultivation, this is no substitute for protecting wild populations in their natural habitats. For example, cultivation by its very nature exerts strong
artificial selectionArtificial selection describes intentional breeding for certain traits, or combination of traits. The term was utilized by Charles Darwin in contrast to natural selection, in which the differential reproduction of organisms with certain traits is attributed to improved survival or reproductive...
pressures that will change the species, possibly in unintended or unexpected ways. Such
ex-situ conservationEx-situ conservation means literally, "off-site conservation". It is the process of protecting an endangered species of plant or animal by removing part of the population from a threatened habitat and placing it in a new location, which may be a wild area or within the care of humans...
is severely limited also because plants become diseased or eaten and because there are unavoidable random events ranging from the greenhouse heat failing in winter to full scale wars. In essence, the safest place for the Venus flytrap is in nature. The natural beauty of the wild populations of flytraps has been marred by decades of field-collection by and for plant collectors and has taken a heavy toll. Many wet pine savannas, once inhabited by thousands of flytraps, are now pock-marked with holes where plants were dug for sale. Many of these plants end up on window sills as novelty items that die in a few short weeks or months.
Efforts should be made most vigorously, therefore, to preserve wild populations. Conservation of the flytrap means buying up and protecting lands on which it naturally grows, which then can be preserved, managed, and restored. This effort costs considerable money. One solution to the problem is to place a surcharge on each plant sold to generate funds to save wild populations (see
Save the Venus Flytrap below).
Currently, there are estimated to be more than 3-6 million plants in cultivation compared to only 35,800 plants remaining in nature. Several prominent plant conservationists suggest the plant be labeled as Vulnerable. Precise data on the distribution of population sizes in 1992 from the Office of Plant Protection suggests a more dire state for the species (see Fig. 3
Save the Venus Flytrap). Every size class in red is slated for eventual extinction with the green ones persisting longer. In essence, all smaller populations may go extinct for stochastic reasons and, since small population are more numerous in nature now and contribute more to the total number of plants remaining in the species, most of this unique and remarkable carnivorous plant species may be going extinct soon. Note that the figure of 35,800 plants in 1992 is over 15 years old and undoubtedly, therefore, underestimates the current situation.
External links