Dionaea muscipula 'Red Piranha'

Plant Description

Edward Read and Ivan Snyder developed Dionaea muscipula 'Red Piranha' cultivar in Hawthorne, California. Read received green dentate flytraps from Snyder in 1995. These plants had triangular, toothlike trap bars but lacked any red colouration. This gave Read the idea to create a dentate plant with intense red pigmentation.

On 20 June 1995, Read crossed a select dentate plant with a red flytrap from Europe. The resulting seedlings were all green. Read selected the best grower and self-pollinated its flowers. From these seeds, a quarter of the new seedlings showed red colouration. This confirmed the red trait was recessive. Read selected one standout red plant with pronounced teeth. He named it 'Red Piranha' for its colour and trap bars that resemble piranha teeth.

'Red Piranha' is a dentate cultivar. Its trap edges are lined with sharp, triangular tentacles that interlock. These trap bars are its most defining feature. The plant exhibits strong red pigmentation across its traps and often the foliage. The intensity of this red depends on light exposure and the time of year. Under strong light, the colour becomes very deep.

Plant photos above are of our Dionaea muscipula 'Red Piranha' mother plants. Divisions are taken from the mother plants and are planted into 9cm pots to be sold. Division sizes can vary greatly and will always be sent largest first. If you'd like to know the size of a plant before ordering, please feel free to contact us.