Venus Flytrap Essay

The Dionaea muscipula (J.Ellis,1768), is a species occupying habitats in the southeastern United States of America (North Carolina, South Carolina). Unlike other plants, the flytrap requires a specific climate to sustain off of. However, the venus flytrap has adapted to its ecological situation through centuries of evolution thus setting apart the flytrap from other basic plant organisms.
The capture and digestion systems which are equipped carnivorous plants represent a remarkable and singular aptitude in the plant world. The reasons for this mode of nutrition and its origin have been many theories. The most commonly accepted is the adaptation to the environment. It was noted that all the settings where Venus flytrap are nutritionally poor

It is intriguing to think an inanimate plant has evolved to the point that it can quickly react to the stimulation of touch. The most common explanation among environmentalists and ecologists is that is a quick alteration in the turgidity of the plant cells. That means there is a change in the pressure of water located inside of the cells. These cells are located in the lower part of the midrib. Although it is not as simple as stated, it is true that the lower midrib cells consume more water. It only requires half a second for the teeth to close and trap its prey. Acid growth is the term explained by Salisbury and Ross that portrays this phenomena (Salisbury-Ross,

That is the reason why the flytrap is only able to re-open approximately seven times during its lifetime. However, many may ask why it goes through this rigorous process? That is because its environment, the boggy peat moss habitat, has very limited nutrients. The Dionaea requires an organic form of nitrogen however it cannot use the nitrogen from the atmosphere. Experiments that have been conducted by scientists Robert and Oosting conveys that phosphorous is important for insectivorous plants such as the Dionaea. And the Dionaea’s prey gives it just that (Robert-Oosting, 1958).
It is in the art of capturing prey by traps very fast movements that the Venus flytrap differs most from the idea that it is usually plants, whose immobility is a membership criterion the vegetable kingdom. Nevertheless one second originality of this plant lies in its role of animal predators. Both mysterious and fascinating, the Venus flytrap is a plant that has acquired during the evolution remarkable abilities to attract, capture and digest living animal prey. This is sort of a "just reward", as the plant world is also a food source for many