Chapter 1
The math-loving monster
Chapter 2
The Carolina homebody
Chapter 3
Keeping love and lunch separate
Chapter 4
The dirty-minded botanists
Chapter 5
The underground botanical heist
YOUR GOAL
Master of Inside the secret jaws of the Venus flytrap
Ch 4 · The dirty-minded botanists
alicecooks Venus Flytrap Naming History
Dirty minds! (Dirty minds!) / They named her for the goddess of love!
alicecooks Beautiful white flowers and glistening red traps inspired the scientific name Dionaea muscipula, honoring Dione, the mother of
Fun Fact
Darwin's obsession: Charles Darwin fed his flytraps raw meat and wrote a 400-page book about carnivorous plants in 1875.
Glossary
tipitiwitchet (noun)
An archaic and dialectal name for the Venus flytrap. In 1762, botanist John Bartram used this humorous slang term in a letter to Peter Collinson.
An archaic and dialectal name for the Venus flytrap. In 1762, botanist John Bartram used this humorous slang term in a letter to Peter Collinson.
Quiz
Which famous scientist called the Venus flytrap 'one of the most wonderful plants'?
Quiz
In which 1875 book did Charles Darwin publish his research on carnivorous plants?