Chapel Hill – On Sunday, February 12th, at 2 p.m., the North Carolina Botanical Garden (NCBG) will celebrate the 208th birthday of Charles Darwin with a presentation by Johnny Randall, the NCBG director of conservation programs, entitled Charles Darwin and his “Most Wonderful Plant in the World” – The Venus Flytrap. The event is open to the public, and admission is free. It will take place in Reeves Auditorium in the Garden’s Education Center (located at 100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC).
Charles Darwin was deeply interested in carnivorous plants and was particularly intrigued by the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula), which is native only to a small area along the coasts of North Carolina and South Carolina. In his 1875 book Insectivorous Plants he called the plant “one of the most wonderful in the world.” This presentation will take a look at Darwin’s studies of the Venus flytrap as well as its natural history, evolutionary biology and current conservation efforts. A reception will follow.
Johnny Randall has served as the NCBG director of conservation programs since 1998 and is adjunct faculty in the UNC‐Chapel Hill Curriculum for the Environment and Ecology. In addition to overseeing the conservation and management of natural areas and administering the Garden’s seed conservation programs, Randall conducts research on rare plant reintroductions and directs rare plant recovery projects.