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 Magnoliophyta (măg'nōlēŏf`ətə)
..... Click the link for more information. , class Magnoliopsida, order Nepenthalesniales, family Droseraceae.

Venus's-flytrap

or Venus flytrap

Venus's-flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)

(credit: Jack Dermid)

Flowering perennial plant (Dionaea muscipula), sole member of its genus, in the sundew family, notable for its unusual habit of catching and eating insects and other small animals (see carnivorous plant). Native to a small region of North and South Carolina, it is common in damp, mossy areas. Growing from a bulblike rootstock, the plant bears hinged leaves with spiny teeth along their margins and a round cluster of small white flowers at the tip of an erect stem 8–12 in. (20–30 cm) tall. When an insect alights on a leaf and stimulates its sensitive hairs, the leaf snaps shut in about half a second. Leaf glands secrete a red sap that digests the insect's body and gives the entire leaf a red, flowerlike appearance. After 10 days of digestion, the leaf reopens. The trap dies after capturing three or four insects.

Venus’s-flytrap

lures insects with sweet odor. [Flower Symbol-ism: Flora Symbolica, 178]

See : Appearances, Deceiving