How the Venus flytrap snaps

Yoël Forterre, Jan M. Skotheim, Jacques Dumais and L. Mahadevan ()
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Yoël Forterre: IUSTI CNRS, Université de Provence
Jan M. Skotheim: Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of , Cambridge
Jacques Dumais: Harvard University Biological Laboratories
L. Mahadevan: Harvard University Biological Laboratories

Nature, 2005, vol. 433, issue 7024, 421-425

Abstract: Plant movements: a touch of Venus The Venus flytrap takes just 100 milliseconds to snap up its prey, one of the fastest movements in the plant kingdom. The biochemical response of the trigger hairs to stimuli and the way that an action potential propagates across the leaves are well known. Less well understood is the mechanism of post-stimulation closure of the trap. Using highspeed video, microscopy and force measurements, the rapid closure mechanism is now shown to result from a mechanical buckling instability. The geometry of the doubly-curved leaf provides a mechanism that can first store, then release elastic energy.

Date: 2005
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DOI: 10.1038/nature03185

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