Carnivorous Pitcher Plants

The Pitcher plant is one of the most mysterious plants in the universe. With its unique ability to obtain food, it has inspired multitudes to reshape their concept on how nature really works.

Contradictory to what we always think, the pitcher plant does not really look like the one we have on the fridge. Rather, most of them resemble goblets of all shapes and sizes!

These meat-eating pitcher plants belong to two large families of monocots—the Nepenthaceae (Old World) and Sarraceniaceae (New World).

The pitchers under the Old World clan live high above a tree. Because there is not much of a food source up there, the Pitcher Plant has resorted to finding an alternative source of nutrients. What it does is to fold the ends of its leaves like a cup and concocts nectar juices and waits patiently for its helpless victims.

Meanwhile, the New World family members enjoy the attention of many more insects while staying on ground. Unlike its relative who lives up in the trees, these pitchers actually form a whole pitcher out of its leaf.

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Indoor Pitcher Plants

Nepenthes are tropical pitcher plants native to parts of South East Asia, India, Madagascar and Australia. Most are vines, but some remain compact in habit. The name "Monkey Cups" comes from monkeys occasionally drinking the fluid in the pitchers.

The pitcher is actually a swelling of the mid-vein in the leaf. Insects are attracted to this because of nectar secretions and coloration. The slippery rim (peristome) and inner walls of the pitcher encourage insects to fall into the digestive fluid at the bottom of the trap. Nutrients are absorbed from this "soup."

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