Amazing Plants: Pitcher Plant

I have always been amazed since I was a kid of carnivorous plants.  I remember getting a Venus Fly Trap for one of my birthdays and have had a couple more since then.  I never have the greatest luck keeping them for long, but putting a fly in the trap and watching it close is the craziest thing to me.

I am on vacation this week and stumbled across another carnivorous plant in a random store in the North Carolina mountains.  My love of plants wouldn't let me leave without picking it up.  It is a pitcher plant and I couldn't pass it up not only because it is a carnivorous plant, but because it is also a very beautiful plant.

There are different types of pitcher plants, with the two most common called Nepenthaceae ("Old World" pitcher plants) and Sarraceniaceae ("New World" pitcher plants).  Many New World pitcher Plants are found in North America and are ground dwelling.   Usually one leaf forms the pitcher which is different than the Old World Pitcher plants where the pitcher is an extension of the leaf.  These Old World plants are often climbers and many are found in Asia.

The one I picked up is a type of Nepenthaceae.  The amazing part is this pant has "pitchers" that insect can fall into.  The sides of the pitcher is wax coated so that the insect cannot crawl out.  In some cases there is also liquid at the bottom that helps capture and drown insects, especially winged insects.  The liquid can be syrupy and is made by the plant.  The pitchers are colorful and different species have different smells that attract different types of insects. Some will also produce a sugary nectar to attract insects.  Once an insect is in the bottom of the pitcher, the plant has glands to absorb nutrients from the insect.

These plants are crazy; they eat insects!  But what makes these plants even more amazing is some of the larger species of pitcher plants have been recorded as capturing and digesting rats, mice, and lizards.

It's not every day you see a plant with an appetite for bugs.