Pitcher Plants

We've seen them at Elliot Falls, Fruit Bat Falls, and the Cairns Botanical Garden, and they're remarkable. I find these plants intriguing because they have evolved to attract insects and trap them, giving the plant a chance to feed without great effort. So here is a bit more about them.

Who are they?

Pitcher plants are a group of carnivorous plants with modified leaves that act as pitfall traps, a prey-trapping mechanism that includes a deep cavity filled with digestive liquid. Specialized leaves form the traps of what are considered "true" pitcher plants. The plants use nectar to attract and drown their prey.

Description:

The purple pitcher plant (S. purpurea) has heavily veined, green to reddish, flaring, juglike leaves with downward-pointing bristles that prevent prey from escaping, including salamanders. It has purple-red flowers. Pitcher plants are a group of carnivorous plants with modified leaves that act as pitfall traps, a prey-trapping mechanism that includes a deep cavity filled with digestive liquid. The traps formed by "true" pitcher plants are formed by specialised leaves.

How do they work?

They all grow in nitrogen-deficient soil, just like other carnivorous plants. These lovely and clever plants collect nitrogen in vase-shaped cups that entice both flying and crawling insects with their intoxicating fragrance, bright colour, and sweet nectar.

On the top there is a "lid" curves over the rim of the cup, which is often grooved or toothed and made extremely slippery. An unwary insect enters and quickly drowns in a slick-walled vat of sticky, acidic liquid. Bacteria in the cups of a tropical pitcher plant aid in digestion, just as bacteria in our gut aid in digestion.

Growth Pattern:

While a few of the tropical pitcher plants are low-growing, most are climbing vines, supported by tendrils at the tips of the leaves. Some reach 45 feet (13.7 meters) high into surrounding trees. Some are epiphytes.

Here is a video of another type of pitcher plant however all pitcher plants grow the same way (as the video is a bit slow you can put it to the speed of 1.25 below by clicking the setting icon)

Distribution:

More than 100 tropical pitcher plant species can be found in tropical habitats in Australia, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, the Seychelles, Southeast Asia, and Sri Lanka. Each grows in a small area, but several species may coexist in the same habitat.

Diet:

Pitcher Plants are probably the easiest carnivorous plants to feed. During their

active growing season, drop bugs, fish food, or fertilizer pellets in a few of the pitchers every 2-3 weeks.