Tropical Pitcher Plant

Did you know

• Nepenthes rajah produces the largest carnivorous pitchers in the world—the cup-shaped traps can hold over 3.5 liters of liquid, large enough to drown rats and small lizards.
• Some Nepenthes species form symbiotic relationships with tree shrews and bats—the animals defecate into the pitchers as they drink the nectar, providing the plant's main nitrogen source.
• Nepenthes flowers are surprisingly modest—small greenish-brown clusters on long stalks, often missed by visitors mesmerized by the spectacular pitcher traps.
• The species was first described in 1859 by British naturalist Spenser St. John, who watched a drowned rat being slowly digested in a pitcher and named the plant 'rajah' (king) for its size.
• Tropical pitcher plants grow only in nutrient-poor soils on tropical mountains—they're carnivorous because their habitat provides almost no nitrogen, so they evolved to digest insects instead.

Color meanings

Uses

• Specimen carnivore
• Greenhouse curiosity
• Conservation
• Tropical collections