The U.S. Botanic Garden is exhibiting Savage Gardens: The Real and Imaginary World of Carnivorous Plants through October 8 in the Conservatory Terrace, East Gallery and the National Garden.  The exhibition tells the story of how carnivorous plants lure, catch, kill and digest insects and how they adapt to inhospitable habitats.  Beds full of carnivorous plants are shown, plus a live bog garden. 
    More than 95 percent of the original carnivorous plant habitats along the U.S. southeast coastal plain have been destroyed.  The exhibition combines science, botany and hands-on activities to demonstrate the wonders of carnivorous plants and to tell about the importance of preserving the delicate environments in which they live. 
    Four larger-than-life sculptures provide “a bugs-eye perspective” of four carnivorous plants:

       The 10-foot-tall Tropical Pitcher Plant, which invites visitors to step inside to imagine the fate of an unlucky insect.
       Seven North American Pitcher Plant sculptures - up to 15 feet tall with brilliant color illuminated from within.
       The 9-foot-tall Venus flytrap sculpture which replicates the closing of the “trap” through the use of hydraulics.
       The Sundew, which comes to life as fiber optics illuminate more than 500 hundred of the sculpture’s tentacles.

Visit http://www.usbg.gov/exhibits