What Is the Purpose of a Venus Fly Trap?
The Venus flytrap is an unique, carnivorous plant native to the coastal regions of North and South Carolina. Learn more about this popular houseplant, which is cherished by botanists all over the globe.
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Natural Range
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The Venus flytrap, Dionaea muscipula, is a native plant found in the bogs and swampland of a large region of natural wetlands that occur within a 100-mile radius of Wilmington, North Carolina. Today the flytrap is a popular house plant found far outside its original range.
Carniverous Plant
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The Venus flytrap is a carnivorous plant that traps flying insects inside a folding leaf. Once enclosed in the leaf, the plant secretes enzymes that break down the insect to protein, which the plant can absorb.
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Nutrient Sources for the Venus Fly Trap
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The carnivorous activity of the highly adaptive leaves provides only part of the nutrient intake for the flytrap. Other nutrients are absorbed by the root system, and carbohydrates are formed through photosynthesis--as in other green plants.
Slow Digestion
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The leaves of the flytrap are open except when an insect has been trapped. The time period for "digesting" the insect and then reopening the leaves is about 12 days. The leaves remain tightly closed around the insect during this period.
Fast Reflexes?
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When a flying insect lands in the open pair of leaves, closure is almost immediate (there is a delay of a few seconds). The mechanism for this rapid plant movement is not understood, but it also is not unheard of within the plant kingdom.
Carnivorous Adaption
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The carnivorous activity of the very specialized leaves allows the plant to survive in very poor soils low in natural nutrients. The proteins from the captured insects are used in addition to the those obtained by the natural plant processes. It is generally believed that the Venus flytrap could not survive in the poor soil of the lowland swamps without the extra nutrition obtained from the insects.
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References
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Steve Jurvetson
