A Venus Flytrap With Black Leaves

Healthy Venus flytraps have green leaves.

Venus flytraps are carnivorous plants whose natural habitat is bogs and swamps. They have two leaves with tiny hairs on the edges. When an insect lands inside a leaf, it snaps shut and digests the insect for its nutrients. Those leaves frequently turn black and fall off, but it's a natural process and not necessarily reason for alarm.

Leaves

Venus flytrap leaves will close as many as seven times before they turn black and fall off, making room for new leaves.

Insects

Trapped insects too large for digestion can cause the leaf to turn black and fall off. Insects must be the size of flies and slugs. Biting insects such as ants can cause the leaf to turn black and die.

Misuse

Feeding the Venus flytrap foreign foods, particularly hamburger meat, can cause leaves to turn black and be fatal. Objects such as a finger or stick can trigger the trap to close. After a few false alarms, the plant will have expended what little energy it has without feeding, resulting in black leaves and death.

References

• Botanical Society Of America: Dionaea Muscipula-The Venus Flytrap
• Sarracenia Northwest Carnivorous Plant Nursery: Venus Flytrap