Essay - Venus Flytrap Abstract: Even Before Darwin's Time, Scientists Were Intrigued...

Venus Flytrap

Abstract: Even before Darwin's time, scientists were intrigued with the Venus ***** (Dionaea muscipula). Since then, much has been learned about this rare carnivorous plant that feeds on living matter rather than through the process of photosynthesis such as other plants. Researchers continue to study specific aspects ***** the plant ***** as its closing mechanism and evolutionary tree, ***** well as newer issues such as the value ***** pharmaceuticals and healthcare ***** its adaptation to other geographical areas ***** as the bottom of the sea.

When a nonscientist hears ***** words "Venus flytrap," what comes to mind is a strange-looking ***** or the play and movie "Little Shop of Horrors" with the giant man-eating vegetation Audrey II crying "Feed Me. Feed *****!" Yet, say *****se words ***** a scient*****t such as a bot*****nist or biologist, and a whole different set of thoughts arise. The Venus flytrap is the fascinating insectivorous/***** plant Dionaea muscipula. Thomas Jefferson was intrigued by the plant and Charles Darwin called it "One of the most wonderful *****s in the world." Although the Venus ***** has been studied seriously for decades, ***** life form still reta*****s some of its secrets. For example, scientist are still studying how the plant closes. It does not have a nervous system or *****ny muscles or tendons. Scientists the*****ize ***** it moves from some type of fluid pressure activated ***** an actual electrical current that runs through each lobe. Research continues about such anatomical facts as well ***** the *****'s health benefits such as a means for counteracting cancer and AIDs.

***** fact, it is becoming increasingly difficult to learn ***** the Venus flytrap in the wild due to decreasing numbers. According to Stiefel in "Meat-Eating Plants" in Science World, ***** plants are solely found in the Savannah's ***** North and South Carolina in an approximate radius of only 60 to 75 miles. Measur*****g just 4 to 12 inches in height, they are ********** stolen by human predators to sell on the market for a couple of dollars. ***** heavy fines do not dissuade them: North Carolina now levies tickets of up to $2,000 for poaching the plant! Venus ********** are a feder*****l species of concern (FSC)--a species that may or ***** not be listed in the future. They are not endangered or threatened, but entitled to regulatory protection *****cause their exploitation could get them to the endangered-***** stage. In addition, around the world the natural wetland habitats of the all ***** carnivore ***** have ***** systematically dra*****ed to erect shopping malls and housing developments. Almost 90 percent of carnivorous *****s indigenous to the U.S. have been eradicated because only 3 to 5 percent of their swampy habitat still remains (*****).

***** Venus flytrap has a confused family history, notes Pennisi in the Science article "Plant Evolution: Elaborate Carnivorous Plants Prove to be K*****." Evolutionary biologists ***** long speculated about how the carniverous features of such plants have evolved. In ***** late 1800s, Darwin saw the similarities in ***** reproductive