Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Caryophyllales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (5/21/15):
Dionaea muscipula
FAMILY
Droseraceae
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may enjoy viewing this 3-minute video, Venus Flytraps: Jaws of Death - BBC
Read more from the South Carolina Plant Conservation Alliance.
Each plant has a rosette of a handful of leaves, each leaf 1-2 inches long, with the outer half being greatly expanded into dime-sized folded "traps", with a hinge down the middle. Read more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Dionaea's mechanism of closing (in as little as a half second!) has fascinated biologists for many years. Read more at the Botanical Society of America.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Dionaea muscipula
FAMILY
Droseraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 093-01-001:
Dionaea muscipula
FAMILY
Dionaeaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Dionaea muscipula
COMMON NAME:
Venus Flytrap, Meadow Clam
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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Preston Montague www_north_carolina_tag
NC
Purchase of this tag supports native plant conservation & restoration in NC, per North Carolina Botanical Garden.
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JK Marlow jkm060603_101
May Pickens County SC
Pickens County Museum
The plant's Latin name translates as "mousetrap", per Orchids, Carnivorous Plants, and Other Wildflowers of the Green Swamp, NC.
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Kevin Adams kcadionaeamuscipula_29
May Brunswick County NC
Green Swamp
This plant's unique leaves capture and absorb insects, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers.
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Jerry Bright jeb_greenswamp062808_31
June Brunswick County NC
Green Swamp
The hinged clamshell-like leaf blades are on relatively long winged stalks, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers.
)
JK Marlow jkm070609_051
June Pickens County SC
Pickens County Museum
)
JK Marlow jkm070609_053
June Pickens County SC
Pickens County Museum
The leaves are borne in a conspicuous 4-6" cluster at the base of the plant, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers.
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JK Marlow jkm070609_057
June Pickens County SC
Pickens County Museum
Flowers are about 5/8" wide and are borne on 1-12" scapes, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers.
)
JK Marlow jkm080607_029
June Pickens County SC
Pickens County Museum
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmdionaea_muscipula
Month Unknown
Traps vary in size, averaging ~ 2.5cm, and can shut in less than 1 second, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (5/21/15):
Dionaea muscipula
FAMILY
Droseraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Dionaea muscipula
FAMILY
Droseraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 093-01-001:
Dionaea muscipula
FAMILY
Dionaeaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Dionaea muscipula
471
Forb
Perennial
Native to the Carolinas
Documented growing wild in - NC SC
Rare (an endemic)
Look for it in wet savannas, sandhill seepages, per Weakley's Flora
Click here to see a more detailed map from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium,
or click here to see a map from SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
...Wet
LEAVES:
Simple
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
White
5-merous
5 sepals
5 petals
15 stamens (approximately)
Superior ovary
Inflorescence an umbelliform cyme
FRUIT:
Summer
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers p127
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC p261
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast p140
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry p178
- Wild Flowers of NC, 1st edition p083
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition p101