The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Venus’s-flytrap
insectivorous or carnivorous bog plant (Dionaea muscipula) native to the Carolina savannas and now widely cultivated as a novelty. The leaves, borne in a low rosette, resemble bear traps. They are hinged at the midrib, each half bearing sensitive bristles; when a bristle is touched—as by an insect—the halves snap shut and the marginal teeth interlock to imprison the insect until it has been digested. Related genera of insectivorous bog plants, notably the widespread sundews (genus Drosera), are found in many other parts of the world. Venus’s-flytrap is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Nepenthalesniales, family Droseraceae.
