Where the Flytraps Snap
The plants here in South Carolina are like something out of a fever dream. I’m not talking about the wild vines or the endless expanse of pine trees, but the smaller, often overlooked plants you can find here.
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve had time to explore the outdoors around where I live, and I have to say—I’m not disappointed. Venus flytraps, pitcher plants, sundews. Each species is unique, and mildly terrifying.
Unlike most plants, these species get their nutrients from somewhere other than soil. Because they grow in hot, humid, sandy areas where the ground can’t support them, they’ve adapted.
Flytraps, pitcher plants, and sundews look nothing alike, but they share one trait: they don’t just take nutrients from the ground—they devour anything that falls into their traps.
When a small bug touches two of the three hairs in a Venus flytrap’s “mouth,” it snaps shut, locks tight, and holds the creature until it dies and is digested. Pitcher plants are filled with sweet liquid that lures insects inside. Once a bug falls in, it drowns, and the plant slowly absorbs the nutrients. Sundews—my personal favorites—grow tiny hairs tipped with sticky droplets. When a bug touches one, it’s caught fast until it dies and is consumed.
Yes. Plants like these exist, and I can find them in the wild all around me. I didn’t know this until I moved here, but the Venus flytrap is even native to the Carolinas. It’s insane how diverse, well adapted, and unique the plant kingdom can be, and I feel incredibly fortunate to live where I can observe these species.
As a writer of fantasy fiction, these plants are often some of my greatest inspirations. I love plants, and the more I study them, the more unique and fascinating they become—and that’s true anywhere you go.
Deserts, jungles, oceans, forests—every ecosystem has its plants, each shaped over millions of years. It’s no wonder why some of my best fiction writing comes from them—no matter how miraculous my ideas, they pale in comparison to what already grows just outside my door.
