Carnivorous Plants: Feed Me, Valentine – The Little Shop of Horrors

Join us on Valentine’s Day for our first Science on Screen selection, The Little Shop of Horrors (1986), a cult musical that turns one of nature’s strangest realities into darkly comic spectacle. After the screening, Drs. Jenn Yost and Matt Ritter, joined by Gage Willey, Cal Poly’s Plant Conservatory Curator, will dig into the real science behind Audrey II and her carnivorous kin.

The discussion will explore how real carnivorous plants, like Venus flytraps, pitcher plants, and sundews, evolved to trap, digest, and kill their prey, why these extreme adaptations exist, and what they reveal about plant ecology and evolution. By connecting the film’s outrageous premise to real biological strategies, the speakers will discuss how Little Shop of Horrors taps into genuine scientific fascination, blurring the line between pulp fantasy and natural history.

During the discussion, live carnivorous plants will be showcased in the auditorium.