Nepenthes: Carnivorous Pitcher Plant: Buy Plants & Seeds Online Sale

Nepenthes is a medium sized plant with large green leaves and a funny looking body. These bodies are also nicknamed “monkey cups”, since many primates have been seen drinking the liquid from inside the pitcher. It looks like a long tube that can grow up to a foot, and can be as short as a few centimeters. The actual size of the plant may depend on the species of the plant, or the environment conditions. Above each pitcher, there is a small leaf that acts as a cover from rainwater. Outside the entrance to the pitcher, a slippery coating of fluid surrounds a colorful brim, which may vary for each species. There are over a hundred species recorded.

Because the Nepenthes lives in a poorly fertile and humid climate, they need insects and small organisms to survive, so they are true carnivorous plants. The opening of each pitcher is enriched with sweet nectar and a waxy coating that looks attracting to bugs. Once they land, many of them fall into to plant, and drown eventually in the pitcher of water (can be watery or syrup). Common victims are flies, beetles, mosquitoes and their larvae, (or course, larvae can swim, but the digestive fluids may kill them), moths and butterflies, and worms. Even small lizards, frogs, injured birds or mice may make their way into the pitcher. This is rarer than the Nepenthes’ normal prey, but they are more nutritious and supply the plant with a lot of food.

One spider, called the Nepenthes Crab Spider, is usually a white or red arthropod that lives inside the plant for it’s entire life. It feeds on the insects that drown in the liquid, since it is too dangerous for the spider to attack a live one. They will go “fishing” in the pitcher, attaching itself first with silk, and use an air supply trapped with the hairs on their back. Even though this takes the plants food, it helps the pitcher digest. The Crab Spider doesn’t become food itself, since its legs are able to grip on the walls. Inside the Nepenthes, glands on the bottom of each pitcher absorb the minerals from the prey and leaves behind the shell, which eventually dissolves in the harsh liquid.

Nepenthes tend to live around Madagascar, the Seychelles, Sri Lanka, and India. The climate around these regions’ forests is humid and has lots of rain. They do not need much sunlight, as many Nepenthes live under thick foliage and have few predators. Many types of these plants are human made hybrids, which are being sold as modern plants. They are great for catching unwanted insects as well, so they would be helpful at home or in a greenhouse to get rid of common pests. Nepenthes is an odd but beautiful plant to have.

The complete list of Nepenthes species includes 129 recognized extant species, an additional 4 incompletely diagnosed taxa, and three possible extinct species.

For more information, visit Nepenthes on Wikipedia