Noted: “Darwin was fascinated by carnivorous plants in general and the Venus flytrap in particular, I think, partly because they go against type,” says Don Waller, a botanist at the University of Wisconsin, in Madison, US.
“In his time and ours, most of us feel that plants are passive, harmless, and can’t move. But the Venus flytrap acts like an animal, it moves fast and eats fresh meat.”
A DNA analysis by Ken Cameron of the University of Wisconsin confirmed that the Venus flytrap and waterwheel are indeed related, and the closest relative of both turns out to be a species called Drosera regia.