We are making some availability changes to our flytrap inventory this winter due to low stock, seasonal dormancy, and decreased wintertime demand. We will continue to display any items we have in stock, regardless of their availability status, for our customers to browse. We will remove items from visibility that we do not have to make your search easier. If you see any item you are interested in, please inquire about it, as we may be able to accommodate select requests.

Venus Flytraps Information

Discover the fascinating origins and unique characteristics of Venus flytraps on our informative about page.

Venus Flytraps

macro photography of Venus flytrap plant

Discover the fascinating history and unique characteristics of the Venus flytrap on our 'about' page. Learn about this carnivorous plant's natural habitat and where you can see them in the wild. From their evolution to their predatory behavior, our page is filled with interesting information about these intriguing plants.

Discover the Venus Flytrap

The Venus flytrap is a herbaceous perennial plant native to the southeastern United States and is limited to a 100-mile-long area in the wet pine savannas of northern South Carolina and southern North Carolina. They are only found on the edges of Carolina Bays and in a few other coastal wetland ecosystems where there is sandy, nutrient-poor, well draining soil, plenty of sunlight, and abrupt changes from wet to dry conditions. According to the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, there are fewer than 150,000 Venus flytrap plants in the wild, distributed across roughly 100 known sites.

The soil's lack of nutrients is the primary reason it depends on complex traps to catch insects. These insects are essential for providing the nitrogen needed for protein formation, which the soil is unable to produce on its own. Additionally, the Venus flytrap is able to withstand mild winter conditions, but it needs a period of winter dormancy in order to survive freezing temperatures and low levels of sunlight. This strategy allows the plant to adapt and thrive in its environment, despite the challenging conditions it faces.

a woman standing on a rocky beach next to the ocean

The Venus Flytrap Story:

The Venus Flytrap was first introduced to western science in 1759 by North Carolina's Colonial Governor Arthur Dobbs. he wrote in his diary, “The greatest wonder of the vegetable kingdom is a very curious unknown species. Upon touching the leaves, they instantly close like a spring trap. It bears a white flower. To this surprising plant, I have given the name Fly Trap.”

The name "Venus flytrap," also known by its scientific name Dionaea muscipula, has its origins in both ancient Greek and Roman mythology. The scientific name Dionaea refers to the Greek goddess Aphrodite and muscipula means fly or mouse trap. The origins of the plant's scientific and common names are somewhat confusing, but experts do agree that it is linked to Aphrodite's equivalent; the Roman goddess of love and beauty, Venus. However, 18th-century naturalists did not name the plant for its opulence. Instead, they chose the name Venus because the trap portion of the plant resembles a specific part of the female anatomy.

A more polite explanation suggests that, like the goddess Venus who lured men with her feminine charm, the plant entices flies into its reddish mouth to consume them for lunch.

By the mid-1850s, Carolina's Venus Flytrap was known worldwide.

Venus Flytrap Status: updated July 2023

The most famous of them all:

The Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) is one of the most widely recognized plants on Earth due to its unique snap traps. The “trap” located at the tip of the leaf is about an inch across and consists of two hinged lobes. Each lobe has 3 to 5 hair-like projections that when tickled, cause the two lobes to snap shut, trapping insects. The trap will only snap shut if the hairs are touched 2 or more times within 20 seconds so the plant does not waste energy on false alarms (at higher temperatures, it often only takes a single touch to trip the trap). Bristles along the edge of each lobe interlock when the trap is closed so prey can’t escape. Charles Darwin called them, "one of the most wonderful [plants] in the world."

They evolved from simpler carnivorous plants about 65 million years ago; the snap mechanism enables them to catch larger prey relative to their body size.