Q: Can I collect Venus flytraps from the wild?

A: Absolutely not.

• Study site
• Do not take!

Venus flytraps are endangered in the wild, and field collection is completely wrong. Plants are easily available from numerous nurseries on and off the web.

There is a special place in Hell for plant collectors who field collect. I imagine the collectors cowering in miserably drafty caves while mighty redwood-sized plants stride about in the sunlight, occasionally bending down to tear the shrieking field-collectors from their burrows. The field collectors are then taken to fake little plastic houses where they die from diseases or the broken bones and tremendous wounds inflicted upon them by the careless redwood tree demons (only they don't die, because it is Hell, so this just goes on forever!).

Actually, if you are planning on collecting plants from the wild, prepare to fork out lots of money for fines, because it is illegal. The following information (and not my previous ranting!) was sent to me by Marj Boyer, who was a botanist employed by the North Carolina Plant Conservation Program. She has since retired, alas, and we miss her.

(Marj was good enough to review the Dionaea chapter of my book prior to publication, bless her soul.)

North Carolina Regulations on Rare Carnivorous Plants
(as of April 2000---updates appreciated)

Sarracenia oreophila, S. jonesii (S. rubra subsp. jonesii), Dionaea muscipula (Venus flytrap), and Utricularia olivacea are legally protected species under the North Carolina Plant Protection and Conservation Act. The Act is administered through the Plant Conservation Program in the NC Department of Agriculture. The Act states that it is unlawful "to possess any protected plant, or part thereof, which was obtained in violation of this Article or any rule adopted thereunder."

Convicted violators are fined $100-$500 for a first offense, $500-$1000 for subsequent convictions. "Each illegal movement or distribution of a protected plant shall constitute a separate violation," says the Act, and for continued violations the court may determine that each day in violation constitutes a separate violation. Also, for second or subsequent violations, the Plant Conservation Board may levy a civil fine of up to $2,000.

Venus flytrap is listed under the Act as "Special Concern" (i.e. not endangered or threatened, but entitled to regulatory protection because their exploitation could get them to the endangered-threatened stage). Regulations define Venus flytrap as "Any plant of the species Dionaea muscipula INCLUDING CUTTINGS, ROOTS, FRUITS, SEEDS, PROPAGULES OR ANY OTHER PLANT PART" [emphasis added] and state,

Besides the requirement of landowner's permission, anyone selling or exporting VFT's needs a Collected Plant Certificate and/or a Nursery Dealer Certificate from the NC Dept. of Ag. Plant Protection Section, in accordance with our Plant Pest Law.

Enforcement in the field is usually handled by local law enforcement agents, wildlife officers and park rangers. NC wildlife officers have the power to enforce the plant laws on and off state lands, and have been enthusiastic in their pursuit of Venus flytrap poachers, since poaching has severely reduced or even eliminated some flytrap populations.

Sarracenia oreophila & S. rubra subsp. jonesii are listed as "Endangered-Special Concern" (E-SC) in NC. The two species are extremely rare and vulnerable in the state, and a number of conservation agencies are working together right now to save and manage the habitats and the wild populations. Utricularia olivacea is listed in North Carolina as "Threatened." As a general rule it is unlawful to take ANY part (including seeds) of any endangered or threatened (E or T) plant from the wild. We have a permit system that allows people to hold these plants under certain circumstances. There are two kinds of permits, one for conservation and one for propagation.

We can issue a Protected Plant Conservation Permit for collection from wild populations for purposes that will enhance the survival of the species: for scientific studies, for propagation for specific conservation projects, and for plant rescues (a last-ditch measure when the habitat is to be destroyed). The applicant for the permit states where, what, how many and reasons for collection, and what the ultimate disposition of the plants will be. We also issue the conservation permits to home gardeners and the like who receive E or T plants from a legitimate, non-wild source; the permit documents that the permittees are holding the plants lawfully.

For E-SC (like the two Sarracenia) and T-SC species, we can issue Protected Plant Propagation Permits. The plants can be lawfully propagated and sold under this permit, but ONLY when the stock or propagules come from a legitimate, non-wild source. Permittees record all their sales and attach Protected Plant Commerce Tags, provided by us, to the plants they sell. This makes a paper trail for the recipients of the plants to document that they, in turn, are holding the plants legitimately.

Another NC law, entitled "Taking, etc., of certain wild plants from land of another," includes Sarracenia (all species) in a long list of plants for which "no person...shall dig up, pull up or take from the land of another or from any public domain, the whole or any part of... without having in his possession a permit to dig up, pull up or take such plants, signed by the owner or such land, or by his duly authorized agent." Fines for violation are $10-$50 for each offense.

For more information on North Carolina regulations, permits, or list of Endangered, Threatened, or Special Concern plants, see our web page at http://www.ncplant.com

Plant Conservation Program
NCDA & CS Plant Industry Division
P.O. Box 27611
Raleigh, NC 27611
Phone (919) 733-3610


Page citations: Rice, B.A. 2006a; reader contributions, personal observation.