New England Carnivorous Plant Society

The next meeting of the NECPS will be held on January 19 at 12:30 PM at the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center, Providence, RI (Directions).

This month's meeting will feature our annual, and highly anticipated, Nepenthes Cutting & Propagation Workshop led by NECPS President Dave Sackett

Members are encouraged to bring in an overgrown Nepenthes or two that need cutting back. The success of the Cutting Workshop depends on having our members bring in their overgrown plants!

First there will be a class on taking vine cuttings of Nepenthes and on the "how and why" of cutting propagation. Afterwards, using the plants supplied by members and materials supplied by the NECPS, we will take multiple cuttings of plants for each member to take home and grow! We hope that we can all expand our collections, and make sure that plants are always available to society members.

Click here to see a video of last year's show!
All members will get FREE Nepenthes cuttings to take home!

The NECPS is looking for a new design for the tee shirts. January 19th meeting would be the deadline for any submission(s). The design can be labeled with artist signature but should not be copy-written. We plan to vote on our favorite by the January meeting and will plan to roll out on tee shirts for April 2019. For Submissions contact Shaun Montminy.

If you or someone you know has lymphoma, you may have encountered products containing Venus Flytrap extract that claim to have anticancer properties. While this marvel of creation certainly deserves attention, there is no evidence that Venus flytrap extracts can be used to treat cancer, and side effects have been reported with its use, so buyer beware.

Where Does Venus Flytrap Grow?

Children and adults, alike, can't help but be fascinated by this perennial plant that traps insects, then consumes them for their rich source of nitrogen. Seemingly exotic, the Venus flytrap, or Dionaea muscipula, is actually a North American plant native to low-lying swampy areas of the southeastern United States.

Closeup on the Plant Itself

It is an herbaceous perennial that grows up to 17 inches high, with leaves about three to five inches long, with two layers modified at the end to form the trap.

The leaf sides have 15 to 20 bristles on the very edge, and three of the sensing bristles on the surface - the sensitive bristles, when stimulated by a hapless insect or the tip of a pencil, snap shut with the bristles locking closed.

The trapped insect is digested over about 6 days, after which the trap slowly re-opens.

Is it Helpful in Cancer?

Multiple sources indicate a lack of evidence in support of the use of Venus flytrap extract for treating cancer.

The American Cancer Society states, "Available scientific evidence does not support claims that extract from the Venus flytrap plant is effective in treating skin cancer or any other type of cancer. Some side effects have been reported with its use."

The cancer society states, "Most of the studies done on the herbal extract were conducted by the physician who patented the drug Carnivora, who also has a large financial stake in a clinic that administers the drug and in the company that manufactures the drug." They also note that supporters also claim that Carnivora is effective for treating colitis, Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, neurodermatitis, chronic fatigue syndrome, HIV, and certain types of herpes.

The bottom line, for now, appears to be that, although animal and laboratory studies show promise, further studies are necessary to determine whether the results of existing studies apply to humans. If such benefits exist, the active compounds may be produced using biotechnology. A recent review of compounds isolated from natural plants or plant in vitro cultures included plumbagin, a compound found in venus flytraps, among potential anti-cancer agents that could be produced in laboratory cultures.

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PORTLAND, OREGON: Venus flytraps have a well-known way of dispatching their victims: They snare inquisitive insects that brush up against trigger hairs in their fly-trapping pods. But now, physicists have discovered that the triggering process may involve the release of a cascade of exotic chemicals similar to the whiff of ozone that tingles your nose after a lightning bolt.

To study this process, scientists used an electrical generator to ionize air into a "cold plasma," which they then gently blew toward a flytrap in their lab.

Normally, the flytrap's closure is caused by an electrical signal created when two or more trigger hairs are brushed. But highly reactive chemicals in the plasma stream such as hydrogen peroxide, nitric oxide, and ozone had the same effect, even when they were blown at the pods too gently to trigger them by motion, they reported here last week at the annual Gaseous Electronics Conference.

It's a useful finding because the types of reactive oxygen and nitrogen molecules in cold plasmas play a major role in biological processes, including cell signaling. But normally, such processes have to be studied through complex analyses of cell cultures. With the Venus flytrap, they can be observed directly, when the pods snap shut.

Understanding such processes, the scientists say, could help biomedical researchers and aerospace engineers create a new generation of "intelligent materials" that can use similar signaling processes to change shape as needed, much as the Venus flytrap reflexively snaps shut when it senses its prey. It's an open and shut case for new research, including a more detailed examination of exactly how the various parts of the plant know how to spring shut at just the right moment.

Read the Full Story here.