Venus Flytap, Mysterious Carnivore Plant

Venus Flytrap

The Venus Flytrap, Dionaea muscipula is a very unique plant. It catches its prey-chiefly insects or aracnids-with a trapping structure formed by the terminal portion of each of the plant's leaves, which is triggered by tiny hairs on their inner surfaces. When an insect or spider crawling along the leaves contacts a hair, the trap closes if a different hair is contacted within twenty seconds of the first strike. A long ago, the world is overpowered by this high-intelligence plant.

The plant's common name refers to Venus, the Roman goddess of love. The genus name, Dionaea ("daughter of Dione"), refers to the Greek goddess Aphrodite, while the species name, muscipula, is Latin for "mousetrap". Historically, the plant was also known by the slang term "tipitiwitchet" or "tippity twitchet", possibly an oblique reference to the plant's resemblance to human female genitalia

The leaf blade is divided into two regions: a flat, heart-shaped photosynthesis-capable petiole, and a pair of terminal lobes hinged at the midrib, forming the trap which is the true leaf. So the trap of the venus flytrap actually is its leaf which is undergo process differential. That process happened to on the other plant especially on the root. The meristem part of the root continously replicate the cell. After the cell being mature, the differential process make the cell grow a root hairs.

The stem is pretty long compared to the whole size of its body. The flower stem can reach until 30 centimeter long. It depends on  the climate, variety, nutrition, and the environmetal condition.

The flower of the plant has five floral parts. Showing that the plant is classified as dycotiledon.  It is a complete flower. Which means the flower has a pistil and a stamen on each flower. So the fertilization process can be happen in the flower itself. The flower appears on its maturity, taking four or five years to reach the maturity. 

The species produce a small, shiny black seeds. The size of the seed just as big as a little marble. If the pollen from the stemen contact with  the pistil. The fertilization pricess will be happen. The floral parts will fall and the sheath will furls. After the pollen reach the pre-seed on the bottom of the flower, the seed will form. 

Venus flytrap is learned first on the 17 or 18 century. There is a manuscryp which describe this plant in particular. 

The mechanism by which the trap snaps shut involves a complex interaction between elasticity, turgor and growth. The trap only shuts when the trigger hair is stimulated twice; this is to avoid inadvertent triggering of the mechanism by dust and other wind-borne debris. 

The holes in the meshwork allow small prey to escape, presumably because the benefit that would be obtained from them would be less than the cost of digesting them. If the prey is too small and escapes, the trap will usually reopen within 12 hours. If the prey moves around in the trap, it tightens and digestion begins more quickly.

Speed of closing can vary depending on the amount of humidity, light, size of prey, and general growing conditions. The speed with which traps close can be used as an indicator of a plant's general health. Venus flytraps are not as humidity-dependent as are some other carnivorous plants, such as Nepenthes, Cephalotus, most Heliamphora, and some Drosera.

The Venus flytrap is found in nitrogen- and phosphorus-poor environments, such as bogs and wet savannahs. Because of that, it adaptated to become a carnivorous plant. To collect nitrogen from the insects. The Venus flytrap tolerates fire well, and depends on periodic burning to suppress its competition. It survives in wet sandy and peaty soils. Although it has been successfully transplanted and grown in many locales around the world, it is native only to the coastal bogs of North and South Carolina in the United States, specifically within a 60-mile radius of Wilmington, North Carolina. 

Venus flytraps are popular as cultivated plants, but have a reputation for being difficult to grow.  Successfully growing these specialized plants requires recreating a close approximation to the plant's natural habitat. Regardless of the propagation method used, the plants will live for 20 to 30 years if cultivated in the right conditions.