Carnivorous Plants : Nepenthes ventrata (Pitcher plant)
This week has been quite interesting after the arrival of the carnivore to our home. We've been researching its diet, habitat, weather conditions it prefers, intent on keeping it happy and comfy at our home. It is quite hot and humid in Seoul right now which is a perfect setting for the marshland conditions- loving pitcher plant. We have been keeping the plant well watered and moist. And the pitchers were filled a little bit with distilled water. Most of all, we were waiting for it to entice its prey into the treacherous pitcher...
I was faced with lots of questions: Will it shut the lid tight after the bug slips into the pitcher? Will it drown its prey? (comparing the carnivore in ice age 3) Will it bulge up when it catches the prey and fills the pitcher with poisonous juice? (again, thanks to ice age 3) Will it burp after eating? (My curious and slightly scared 8year old)
We had to just wait for a day to find the answers!
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| There are many varieties of pitcher plants. This one is the Nepenthes ventrata. The leaves are long and oval. |
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| Pitcher from the pitcher plant is a modification of the leaf tip. Notice also the beautiful lid on top and the bright red color of the top of the pitcher. |
We just had to wait for a day after we opened up the windows and the mesh when a fly was attracted to it. It looked like it was on a trance and was walking straight towards the lid of the pitcher.
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| The fly was attracted to the pitcher |
| There was no big drama or drum roll or shutting of the trap door (lid) and the the fly just fell into its doom, into the pitcher. Paavam. It might take the plant a month to digest and ingest the nutrition from the bug, it seems. |
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| Pitcher plant caught a fly! | |
The next day, the inch of distilled water in the pitcher which caught the fly was empty and we filled it in with water again.
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| New pitchers are formed from the leaf tips |
These plants live in the marshy conditions where there is very less nutrition to be got from the soil. They have modified to replenish themselves by getting it from animals.
ABC Wednesday- C for Carnivorous plants
Color Connection
RubyTuesday2
Amazing nature!!
ReplyDeleteeat all the flies you want, plant!
ReplyDeleteROG, ABC Wednesday team
This is so interesting. I've heard of these plants, but never seen one.
ReplyDeleteMe too, Wanda. It is available everywhere in Seoul. Seems to be the plant for the hot, humid season!
DeleteHow cool...nature never fails to astound me, and I had never heard of this plant. Thanks for enlightening me...:)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, studied this plant in school.
ReplyDeleteMe too. First time growing one!
DeleteHey, this is interesting..these fly-catchers--cool!
ReplyDeleteAnd the plant is amazing too!
That is so cool! And I love how the fly is just in that little trap.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to have one of these right beside my back door! Great way to catch flies and other bitty beasts.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I had never imagined that someone will have this in the garden. Natures amazing creation.
ReplyDeleteSabyasachi
"Nature's amazing creation" -Is it me? :)
DeleteSuch interesting looking things!
ReplyDeleteInteresting post for ABC ~ guess your house will be free of bugs and flies, etc ~~ thanks, namaste, (A Creative Harbor)
ReplyDeletewow !!! though i have heard about these plants I am seeing the pic for the first time !!!! Any idea if we get them here in india ?
ReplyDeleteI like to have this plant inside our house. We have plenty of house flies and fruit flies for sure these plant would get fat in just a matter of minutes. ^_^ Love your shots and thanks for sharing and the visit too.
ReplyDeleteKim,USA
venus fly traps!
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting! Catching up with ABC.
ReplyDeleteC is for...
Rose, ABC Wednesday Team
PS.. COMMENTS makes me happy!
Wow so interesting. Never heard of anything like this before.
ReplyDeleteYou actually have a pitcher plant. That's amazing!! I remember learning about this in biology class in school. I thought it was only found in the wild.
ReplyDeleteAmazing information-thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHave read about it but havent seen one , especially in action, till now. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteWowsome plant :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! So glad to see that you have one of these Nepenthes. They're fun plants to grow! And yeah, I never get tired of them. Carnivorous plants are very cool and always amaze me.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
-Rob
Hello.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen or heard of these plants before, but if they keep the pesky bugs under control, great! Thanks for sharing.
The Confidence Of A Man
i have heard of this before, do u want to have it in the house?
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting lesson today! Thanks for the research!
ReplyDeleteBack again for RT.
ReplyDeleteMY RUBY Post
Have a great week ahead.
Interesting. If I have that plant, I too would watch how it tricks the bugs to come inside the pitcher. :)
ReplyDeleteMoms... Check nyo
I'd love to have this plant too. They will feast on mosquitoes and other bugs. Happy RT2!
ReplyDeleteMine's here.
First time I saw the plant being grown at home! Very nice.
ReplyDelete