Why Is It Called a Venus Flytrap?

Mythical Plant

• Prior to a letter written by Governor John Ellis of North Carolina, the Venus flytrap was unknown outside of a small group of American-based explorers and botanists. Most Europeans referred to the plant as if it were a mythical creation, which is not surprising since the native range of the Venus flytrap is extremely small, limited to boggy areas of southeastern North Carolina and eastern South Carolina. No European had ever seen one.

Ellis' Letter

• John Ellis was a member of the East India Company, whose best-known work was with plant shipping. Ellis wrote a letter to a good friend and one of the premier botanists of the time, Carl Linnaeus, after discovering the unusual plant that he named Dionaea muscipula, Venus flytrap. This 1769 letter was the earliest documentation of the plant. Ellis gives credit for the earliest discovery to Peter Collinson, who sent the first dried specimen in 1765.

What's in a Name?

• Dionaea muscipula was named for the Greek goddess Diana, known as Venus to the Romans. Muscipula refers to the trap-like action of the plant's modified leaves. Ellis was so taken with the plant that the locals referred to as meadow clam, that he gave it its distinctive name.

Growing Venus Flytrap

• Ellis speculated, and was correct in thinking, that Venus flytrap require mild winters and hot summers to do their best. They are perennial plants that grow 6 to 12 inches tall in the wild and sport showy white flowers on long, stiff stems. Venus flytrap flower in spring and prefer wet, sandy soil.