How did venus fly traps get their name? "fly trap" is obvious, but "venus"?

Question

How did venus fly traps get their name? "fly trap" is obvious, but "venus"?

Answer 1

It is a shame that I can not rate as there are many answers here that I would thumbs down.

Mareeclara would get a thumbs up for being the most accurate and though it would give me slight pain because of the perpetuation of sensationalism in his last paragraph I would also give one to madhav.

Answer 2

what?

Answer 3

Isn't there the famous painting of venus emerging out of a clam shell

....which is a similar structrue to that of the venus flytrap..maybe the fly in the trap looked like venus in the clam shell!

Answer 4

Try putting your d**k in one and find out for yourself.

(Yes, everyone, that was just a joke. Do not try this!)

Answer 5

venus because they look like humonguous dangling venuses!

Answer 6

Of course Venus is the symbol of Beauty.Flowers are charming &secreting chemicals which attracts the insects.

Answer 7

They are imported.

Answer 8

The Venus flytrap gets the "Venus" part of its name because its flowers are really pretty (like the goddess Venus) and are white, like the planet Venus in the sky. The plant is not from Venus. this is, however A "comfortable fallacy." You often see this story maintained in books about carnivorous plants, but this is because of an article that John Ellis wrote in 1768. This is what you would call a cover story:

"...and from the beautiful Appearance of its Milk-white Flowers, and the Elegance of its Leaves, thought it well deserved one of the Names of the Goddess of Beauty, and therefore called it Dionaea."

The true reason that Venus is part of this plant's name due to the dirty minds of the kooky naturalists and nuserymen .When they looked at the plant, they saw in its amazing behavior and attractive form (two red, glistening lobes, surrounded by hairs, sensitive to the touch), something that reminded them of female genitalia of their own species.

Answer 9

It's an allusion to women, and how they'll TRAP ya! :P

Answer 10

Venus, goddess of love and symbol of "all things woman". Probably because the traps look like vaginas. Same principle as veneral desease. Forgive the spelling.