Venus Fly Trap

The Venus flytrap, a small perennial herbaceous plant, is one of the most widely recognized carnivorous plant species on Earth. It occupies distinct longleaf pine habitats in the Coastal Plain and Sandhills of North Carolina and South Carolina. In the late 1800s, Charles Darwin conducted research on the plant, calling it “one of the most wonderful plants in the world.” In 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that the species does not meet the definition of threatened or endangered, and listing is not warranted under the Endangered Species Act. 

Threats 

The main threat to the species is habitat loss, especially in the form of fire suppression, conversion to agriculture and silviculture and development. Fire suppression is also an important threat, leading to shrub and tree encroachment and a gradual decline in the quality of Venus flytrap habitat. Agriculture and silviculture often include clear-cutting trees and bedding the soil in order to grow crops or trees.  Development may include cutting trees, ditching, and draining wetlands and building structures in suitable habitat. Roadside occurrences of Venus flytraps are threatened by road maintenance, vegetation management and road expansions. Poaching is another threat to Venus flytraps. Over the years, Venus flytrap plants have been taken from the wild for the horticulture trade and use in pharmaceuticals. Poaching Venus flytrap plants became a felony in North Carolina in 2014. 

Status assessment

In October 2016, the Service was petitioned to list Venus flytrap as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. Updated information on Venus flytrap’s status was published in the Federal Register in December 2017, along with a “warranted” 90-day finding and notice initiating a Species Status Assessment. A “warranted” finding indicates the petition contained substantial information indicating listing may be warranted for the species. The Service funded a status survey of the species conducted in 2021 and 2022 which informed decision makers about the status of the species.

In 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that the species does not meet the definition of threatened or endangered, and listing is not warranted under the Endangered Species Act. 

How you can help 

• Protect distinct habitats where the Venus flytrap is known to occur and monitor all known populations. 
• Reverse declines in the species due to fire suppression (the elimination/reduction of fire in fire-maintained habitats) by encouraging more prescribed burning in Venus flytrap habitat. 
• Continue to survey and monitor for the species, particularly on public lands where poaching continues to be a threat to the persistence of the species. 
• Only purchase Venus flytrap plants that have been grown from tissue culture and not collected from the wild.
  • Look for reputable garden centers and nurseries and follow these simple steps: 
    • Examine the entire tray. Look for uniformity of size among the plants as an indication that plants are tissue cultured or nursery propagated. Plants which vary in size may have been poached. 
    • Look at the soil and determine if it looks like soil from nature or from a nursery. Uniform, sterile peat moss is a good indication of plants grown in a nursery. Soil mixed with sand may have come from the wild. 
    • Finally, look for other species growing in the same pot. If a pot looks “weedy,” that is an indication that the plants were wild harvested.