Feed me, Seymour! People are hungry for carnivorous plants

Tired of houseplants that look pretty and soak up water but don't earn their keep?

Consider the humble Venus flytrap, which not only looks cool, but will rid your house of unwanted insects — a win-win.

Plant lovers are snapping up flytraps and other carnivorous plants in record numbers, helping to grow the bottom line of specialty nurseries that sell these unusual plants, per The New York Times.

Who's hungry?

The latest carnivorous craze traces back to one unexpected influencer: Charles Darwin.

That guy loved carnivorous plants and is often credited with nurturing a fascination with the plants in the scientific and public imagination.

Darwin called the Venus flytrap "one of the most wonderful" plants in the world, and said he cared more about sundews — which trap insects on their tentacles (!!) — "than the origin of all the species in the world.” Okay, bud, we get it.

Victorian authors like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and H.G. Wells were similarly inspired and wrote about man-eating plants — likely fodder for later fiction like Little Shop of Horrors and The Day of the Triffids.

Pandemic pets

More recently, the popularity of carnivorous plants spiked during the pandemic, offering fun, quirky houseplants for homebound hobbyists — with less commitment than a pet. Sundews even inspired COVID-19 research.

And demand continues to bloom:

• California Carnivores had its best year in four decades in 2025 and sales are already up 30% from last year.
• Around 630 varieties of carnivorous plants are known to science, including a range of trap styles, including adhesives, snap traps, and pitcher plants.
• Most sell for $10-$30; some go for hundreds or even thousands.
• They're popular around Halloween — even Trader Joe's sold Venus flytraps.
• The global rare and exotic plant market hit $4.2B in 2026 and is expected to reach $11.5B by 2033.

The finicky plants prefer harsh habitats like bogs, mountaintops, and depleted soils, making them hard to grow at scale and allowing smaller growers to thrive.

They do face threats, however, as one-fourth of species are at risk of extinction due to habitat loss and poaching.

Looking to join the club? Countless Instagram and TikTok videos offer inspiration.

Don't worry, chances of a Little Shop of Horrors situation are pretty slim.