nepenthes

I remember an Ecology class field trip in college to a local nature park in which I saw my first non-Venus fly trap carnivorous plant. I had been floored – didn’t carnivorous plants only grow in exotic locations?

: Drosera tokaiensis – the sundew. My first local carnivorous plant was a Drosera brevifolia, which looks similar. Jan Wieneke picture.

Ever since that trip I had been intrigued by carnivorous plants, especially those that did not require special lighting and terrariums. I learned that many carnivorous plants, even the odd Venus fly trap, were natives to the US.

Cobra and Trumpet Plants, many are US Natives. Taken at Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco.

Assortment of Carnivorous Plants. Taken at Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco.

Over the years I have enjoyed growing many different varieties of both native and exotic, but my favorite over the years has been those of the genus Nepenthes.

Nepenthes at Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco.

Peristome close-up on Nepenthes.

Nepenthes are vine-forming tropical plants with vase-like pitchers that form at the end of leaves. They are native to the greatly biodiverse Old World Tropics, and exist in areas of high humidity. The genus is broken into highland and lowland species, with plants above 1000 meters receiving cool humid nights and plants at lower elevations enjoying warmer nights.

Pretty!

The vase-like pitcher holds rain water and lures insects, amphibians, and sometimes even small rodents to their watery death. The pitchers have slick walls that are difficult for prey to escape once inside. The ribbed lid, called a peristome, helps attract prey by its colorful appearance, but provides unstable ground to direct victims inside. Many species also have a lid, which prevents rainwater dilution of the plants fluid and may contain nectar to further attract prey.

Pitcher Morphology. Created by Mgiganteus1 for Wikipedia.

I currently am growing a hybrid lowland Nepenthes ‘Miranda’(N. maxima × N. northiana) × N. maxima). She (I guess I should say he since, like bromeliads Nepenthes are either male or female – but mostly male) she lives in a hanging basket on my patio under a shade cloth pergola (dappled light) during the summer. In my zone 8b (almost 9) garden we have high humidity, which Miranda likes. The maroon speckled pitchers produced are relatively large, and range from about 8 inches to the length of my forearm. I overwinter Miranda in my bathroom, and provide supplemental light.