Plant Description

Dionaea muscipula 'Scarlet Bristle' is a distinctive Venus flytrap discovered by Richard Keen in Canada. The plant appeared during tissue culture propagation of typical Venus flytraps in his laboratory. It stood out immediately due to its unusual trap structure and deep red colour.

The plant grows low to the ground in all seasons. The leaves remain short and lie close to the surface of the growing medium. This gives Dionaea muscipula 'Scarlet Bristle' a compact and spreading habit rather than the upright form seen in many other cultivars.

Colour is a key feature. The leaf blades and traps develop strong scarlet to burgundy tones when grown in filtered sunlight. Many plants maintain this red colour across most of the trap surface rather than only inside the trap.

The trap margins are very unusual. The marginal cilia are short, irregular, and heavily reduced. They lack the long hairlike tips seen on standard Venus flytraps. This creates a rough edge around the trap lobes that looks coarse and bristly. The structure differs clearly from dentate forms such as Dionaea muscipula 'Shark Tooth' and also from cultivars like Dionaea muscipula 'Red Piranha'.

Dionaea muscipula 'Scarlet Bristle' also shows an uncommon feature in the trigger hairs. As the traps age, the upper portion of the trichomes develops thick, bristly growth. On mature traps, this growth becomes easy to see with the naked eye. The shape can resemble a spear tip or the end of a small bottle brush.

This added growth on the trigger hairs does not appear to change how the trap works.

Plant photos above are of our Dionaea muscipula 'Scarlet Bristle' 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.