Venus Flytrap

Description:

A small carnivorous plant with four to seven leaves, which arise from a short subterranean stem, each stem reaches a maximum size of about three to ten centimeters.

Habitat:

Spotted at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Dionaea muscipula is a carnivorous plant native to subtropical wetlands on the East Coast of the United States in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Notes:

It catches its prey—chiefly insects and arachnids—with a trapping structure formed by the terminal portion of each of the plant's leaves, which is triggered by tiny hairs (called "trigger hairs" or "sensitive hairs") on their inner surfaces. The species is currently under Endangered Species Act review by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.