Dionaea muscipula, also known as Venus flytrap, is an interesting carnivorous plant. Simply put, this curious plant is more of a living death trap for unsuspecting insects. This species is one of nature’s most puzzling creations, showing us just how amazing it is.
These plants have been a source of mystery and legend for centuries, so now that we have them available at ROOTS GARDENwe want to share with you five fun facts about them:
View this post on Instagram
- Dionaea muscipula is native to North America. The only place in the world where Venus flytraps grow naturally is in the southern United States, specifically in North and South Carolina. The species lives in coastal swamp-like areas with 80% humidity. The plant requires poor, low-quality soil to grow properly. They are therefore a carnivorous species. Their lives depend on nutrients provided by insects.
- Scientists have created flytrap robots. Robotic plants and animals seem to be taking a particular interest with scientists in today’s growing society. Technicians in the states and in South Korea have built robotic replicas of the dionaea muscipula, which can trap and digest its meals as fuel.
- Larger insects take more than a week to digest. When prey is captured, the flytrap secretes a liquid in a way that a human stomach works. The digestive system of a Dionaea muscipula is slow, taking up to 10 days to fully digest insects and reopen its trap. However, Venus flytraps cannot digest exoskeletons. Instead, when its trap reopens, it spits out insect bones.
- Hamburgers cause dionaea muscipula to rot. Although Venus flytraps are carnivorous plants, they cannot eat the same types of meat as a human. If you feed a Venus flytrap a fast food hamburger, the plant will turn black, rot and die!
- They only have limited lives. The plant trap has only a limited number of lives. After each capture, the dionaea muscipula remains closed for about a week and a half, preventing it from receiving additional nutrients. The plant trap can only be opened and closed about a half dozen times before it closes permanently. The trap will continue to photosynthesize to provide nutrients to the plant, but it will not be able to catch unsuspecting insects.
In ROOTS GARDEN we have this natural fly trap, so we invite you to visit us to look for your specimen. Also, since you are interested in knowing what are the most common houseplants in Tenerife, we invite you to subscribe to the newsletter specialized in healthy products on healthy products, plant care, gardening tips, home decorating ideas and much more from ROOTS. We also invite you to know the 29 best air purifying plants.