Scientific name: Nepenthes spectabilis x ventricosa

Family: Nepenthaceae (tropical pitcher plants)

Also known as: Monkey cup

About

The pitcher plant is a type of plant that eats insects, also called a carnivorous plant. They are rare,
unique and quite interesting. "Regular" plants consume nutrients from the soil, but carnivorous plants
are found in nutrient-poor soil. They get their nutrition from insects they "catch," after converting them
into a form they can digest or absorb.

Where it grows

Nepenthes pitcher plants are native to the Old World tropics, with the greatest diversity occurring
around Borneo (Indonesia/Malaysia/Brunei) and Sumatra (Indonesia). The plant featured on this poster
is a cross (hybrid) of two highland species and is only known in cultivation. This hybrid requires a
minimum temperature of 8.5°C in the winter and a maximum of 21°C in the summer, and ample
moisture and high humidity throughout.

Leaves

Many pitcher plants (Nepenthes spectabilis) have modified leaves that can form a vase or pitcher-
shaped vessel that produces a sweet syrupy secretion that attracts insects and dissolves them into
nutritious goo that is then absorbed back into the plant. Pitchers up to 35cm long, held upright from the
end of a pendulous tendril, hollow inside where insect digestion occurs, often contain water; lids
brightly coloured with nectar-secreting glands. Although these plants mainly catch insects, some species
have been known to catch animals as large as birds and small rodents.

Flowers and Fruits

Flowering structures spikes of small yellowish flowers. Fruits dehiscent leathery capsules containing lots
of seeds.

Special Features

Pitcher plants resemble their name: they look like pitchers. The plant is carnivorous, climbing and semi-
woody herb up to 15m tall.

Inside the elongated structure is a pool of water. Decaying insects that have been trapped inside, along
with nectar from the "lid," attract flies, beetles, butterflies and other insects to the plant.
Once inside, many insects find it difficult to exit the structure, so they eventually drown in the liquid.
The interior walls are waxy and slippery, and there are hairs toward the top that aid in keeping the prey
trapped. The plant's enzymes digest the meal and the plant is then able to absorb the nutrients.

The water held by the pitchers is sometimes enjoyed by monkeys (hence one of the plant’s common
names called monkey cup) and even parched humans looking for refreshment in the tropical heat.

The stems of some species of pitcher plants are used in Sri Lanka and Malaysia for basket-making and
cordage. More interestingly, in Malaysia we use the cup to make a sticky rice dish called “lemang periuk
kera”!