Interesting Facts
Common Names
Common Names in English:
Venus Flytrap
Description
Family Droseraceae
Herbs perennial
or annual
, mostly terrestrial
or rarely aquatic
, carnivorous
. Stem with much reduced leaf blades
that function as rhizoids below ground
, with or without tubers or rhizomes. Leaves basal and rosulate, or alternate, rarely whorled
, stipulate
or exstipulate
; leaf blade with sticky, glandular
hairs
, or with sensitive
hairs that trigger
closing of blade to trap small animals, juvenile leaf blade circinate
. Flowers axillary
, lateral
or terminal
, usually borne in a cincinnus, rarely in a raceme
or solitary, bisexual
, actinomorphic
, 4- or 5-merous. Sepals 4 or 5(or 6-8), persistent
. Petals as many as sepals or more. Stamens 4 or 5, hypogynous, free
, alternate with petals; anthers
2-loculed, dehiscing by longitudinal
slits. Ovary superior or nearly so, globose
or ovoid
, 2-5-carpellate, 1-3-loculed; placentation parietal
or basal; styles (2 or ) 3-5(or 6), simple
or branched; stigma simple or multifid
. Fruit a capsule, dehiscent
or indehiscent. Seeds few to numerous
; endosperm fleshy
; embryo straight.
Four genera and more than 100 species: temperate
and tropical regions
of both hemispheres; two genera and seven species (one endemic) in China.[1]
Physical Description
Habit: Evergreen .
Flowers: Bloom Period: January, February, March, April, May. • Flower Color: near white, white
Size/Age/Growth
Size: 12-18" tall.
Biology
Growth
Culture: Space 9-12" apart.
Soil: Minimum pH: 4.5 • Maximum pH: 5.5
Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Sun to Partial Shade.
Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b. (map)
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
()
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
()
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
()
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
()
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
()
- Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
()
- Brongniart, 1843
- Dicotyledons
- Subclass:
Dilleniidae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Nepenthanae
()
- Takhtajan Ex Reveal, 1996
- Order:
Caryophyllales
()
- Perleb, 1826
- Family:
Droseraceae
()
- R.A. Salisbury, 1808
- Sundew Family
- Genus:
Dionaea
()
- J. Ellis, 1773
- Specific epithet:
muscipula
- J. Ellis
- Cultivar:
Big Jaws
- Botanical name: - Dionaea muscipula 'Big Jaws' J. Ellis
- Cultivar:
Big Jaws
- Specific epithet:
muscipula
- J. Ellis
- Genus:
Dionaea
(
- Family:
Droseraceae
(
- Order:
Caryophyllales
(
- Superorder:
Nepenthanae
(
- Subclass:
Dilleniidae
(
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Similar Species
Members of the genus Dionaea
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 17 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
D. muscipula (Venus Flytrap) · D. muscipula 'All Green' (Venus Flytrap) · D. muscipula 'All Red' (Venus Flytrap) · D. muscipula 'All Red Giant' (Venus Flytrap) · D. muscipula 'All Red Trap' (Venus Flytrap) · D. muscipula 'Atlanta' (Venus Flytrap) · D. muscipula 'Australian Red Rosette' (Venus Flytrap) · D. muscipula 'Banded' (Venus Flytrap) · D. muscipula 'Bart Simpson' (Venus Flytrap) · D. muscipula 'Bigmouth' (Venus Flytrap) · D. muscipula 'Big Jaws' (Venus Flytrap) · D. muscipula 'Dente' (Venus Flytrap) · D. muscipula 'Fused Tooth' (Fused Toot Flytrap) · D. muscipula 'Green Dragon' (Flytrap) · D. muscipula 'Red Dragon' (Venus Flytrap) · D. muscipula 'Sawtooth' (Venus Flytrap) · D. muscipula 'South West Giant' (Venus Flytrap)
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Ruan Yun-zhen. 1984. Droseraceae. In: Fu Shu-hsia & Fu Kun-tsun, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 34(1): 14-30.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 11, 2012.
Identifiers
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 972757
Footnotes
- Lianli Lu & Katsuhiko Kondo "Droseraceae". in Flora of China Vol. 8 Page 199. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
