Plants

Venus Flytrap

Dionaea muscipula

The world's most famous carnivorous plant grows wild only within about a 75-mile radius of Wilmington, North Carolina.

Illustration of a Venus flytrap ambassador — a low rosette of green leaves ending in hinged traps with red inner surfaces and interlocking teeth — in wet sandy soil in a sunlit pine savanna. — Illustrated Species Ambassador — original artwork, not a photograph

Illustrated Species Ambassador

Kindle — Venus Flytrap

I'm Kindle, an illustrated ambassador for the Venus flytrap. Everyone knows me from a windowsill, but in the wild I grow in only one small region.

One fact worth knowing: The Venus flytrap grows wild only within roughly a 75-mile radius of Wilmington, North Carolina, in wet longleaf pine savanna kept open by frequent fire.
What I depend on: I depend on fire roughly every one to three years, on permanently saturated but nutrient-poor acidic soil, and on full sun — shrubs shade me out quickly.
My greatest threat: My greatest threat is habitat loss, fire suppression, and poaching.
One way you can help: Buy flytraps only from nurseries that propagate them, never take a wild plant — in North Carolina it is a felony — and support prescribed fire programs that keep the savanna open.

Habitat and restoration →

This ambassador is an original illustration created for this project. It is an educational character, not a documentary image, and its statements follow the sourced record on this page. Artwork and rights record

Why this species matters

The Venus flytrap is known worldwide and grows wild in one small corner of the Carolinas. Its survival depends on regular fire — a management practice that is difficult near neighborhoods and easy for the public to oppose.

If it disappears: One of the most recognizable plants on earth would exist only in cultivation, and the wet pine savanna that supports it would lose its clearest indicator of health.

Conservation status

IUCN Red List: VulnerableLast verified 2026-09-08
U.S. Endangered Species Act: Not listedUSFWS has evaluated the species for listing; verify the current status of any petition or finding before publication.Last verified 2026-09-08
North Carolina: Species of Special Concern; poaching from the wild is a felonyLast verified 2026-09-08
CITES: Appendix IILast verified 2026-09-08

Population

Roughly 300,000 plants are estimated to remain in the wild, across a small number of documented sites within a limited coastal plain area.

Trend: Decreasing

As reported: North Carolina Natural Heritage Program and USFWS assessments

Source: North Carolina Natural Heritage Program; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; IUCN Red List

Uncertainty: Site-level counts are used; the total is an aggregate estimate rather than a census.

Historical: Historic populations were far larger and more widespread across the Carolina coastal plain before development and fire suppression.

Fragmentation: Populations are isolated in small habitat remnants, many surrounded by development.

Range and distribution

Historic range: Wet pine savannas and pocosin edges within roughly 75 miles of Wilmington, North Carolina, extending into South Carolina.

Current range: The same area at greatly reduced extent, plus naturalized populations established elsewhere from plantings.

Range contraction: Estimated loss of the large majority of historic sites.

Regions occupied

Southeastern North Carolina
Northeastern South Carolina

Habitat

Primary habitat: Wet longleaf pine savanna and sandy pocosin edges with saturated, nutrient-poor, acidic soil and full sun.

Breeding habitat: Produces white flowers on a tall stalk held well above the traps, so pollinators are not eaten.

Feeding habitat: Captures insects and spiders to obtain nitrogen the soil cannot supply.

Critical habitat: Not applicable — not federally listed.

Habitat dependencies

Frequent fire, roughly every one to three years, to keep the savanna open and sunlit
Permanently saturated but not flooded, nutrient-poor soil
Full sun — the plant is quickly shaded out by encroaching shrubs

Biology and ecology

A specialist of nutrient-poor fire-maintained savanna, and an indicator that the fire regime is intact.

Important adaptations: Each trap has trigger hairs and closes only when two hairs are touched, or one hair twice within about twenty seconds — a simple counting mechanism that prevents wasting energy on raindrops and debris. A trap can only open and close a limited number of times before it dies.

Size: Rosettes typically 4 to 6 inches across; traps roughly an inch long.
Lifespan: Perennial, potentially living decades.
Diet: Photosynthesis for energy, plus insects and spiders for nitrogen and phosphorus.
Reproduction: Insect-pollinated flowers producing small black seeds; also spreads by rhizome division.
Offspring: Modest seed production per flowering stalk.
Breeding frequency: Flowers in spring.

Primary threats

Fire suppression
Without frequent low-intensity fire, shrubs and trees close in and shade out the flytrap. This is the leading cause of decline at otherwise intact sites.
Habitat loss
Coastal development, drainage, and conversion have eliminated the great majority of wet pine savanna.
Illegal collection
Poachers dig thousands of plants from the wild for sale. North Carolina made flytrap poaching a felony in 2014 in response.
Altered hydrology
Ditching and drainage dry the saturated soils the plant requires.
Invasive species
Invasive shrubs and grasses displace native savanna vegetation.
Sea level rise
Saltwater intrusion threatens low-lying coastal savanna habitat.
Small range
A global range of a few dozen miles offers no buffer against any regional event.

Conservation and recovery

Programs and efforts

Prescribed fire programs on state, federal, and Nature Conservancy lands in the Carolina coastal plain
North Carolina felony poaching statute and enforcement
Land acquisition and conservation easements protecting wet pine savanna
Nursery propagation making inexpensive plants widely available, reducing poaching incentive
Population monitoring by the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program

Protected areas

Green Swamp Preserve, North Carolina
Carolina Beach State Park
Holly Shelter Game Land
Croatan National Forest

Legal protections

North Carolina felony statute for wild collection
CITES Appendix II
State species of special concern designation

Measurable progress

Making poaching a felony substantially raised the deterrent
Prescribed fire programs have restored savanna condition at protected sites
Widespread nursery propagation means no one needs a wild plant

Continuing challenges

Prescribed fire near residential areas is difficult
Habitat continues to be lost to development
Poaching still occurs

How people can help

What individuals can do

Buy flytraps only from nurseries that propagate them — they are inexpensive and widely available, so there is never a reason to take a wild one
Never collect a wild plant; in North Carolina it is a felony
Support prescribed fire programs, which neighbors often oppose without understanding why they are needed

What communities can do