Which genus contains the Venus flytrap, a carnivorous plant?

The genus containing the Venus flytrap is Dionaea. The familiar plant’s full scientific name is Dionaea muscipula, making muscipula the species name and Dionaea the genus.

Dionaea is a monotypic genus: Dionaea muscipula is its only recognized species. The Venus flytrap is native to nutrient-poor wetlands on the coastal plain of North Carolina and South Carolina in the United States. Its hinged traps are modified leaf portions, not flowers or separate jaws. Small trigger hairs inside the trap help the plant detect prey, usually insects and other small arthropods.

A trap typically closes only after suitable stimulation, such as repeated contact with its trigger hairs. This reduces the risk of wasting energy on raindrops or accidental touches. Digesting prey supplies nutrients such as nitrogen that are scarce in the plant’s wetland soil; photosynthesis still provides most of its energy.

The genus name Dionaea means “daughter of Dione,” an epithet associated with Aphrodite. North Carolina governor Arthur Dobbs described the plant in a 1759 letter, and botanist John Ellis formally named it Dionaea muscipula in 1768. Nepenthes, Sarracenia, and Drosera are different carnivorous-plant genera.