NEPENTHES

Passive traps of the slender pitcher plant (Nepenthes gracilis). The leaf blade narrows into genus of flowering plants commonly called pitcher plants that belong to the family Nepenthaceae, order Nepenthales. About 80 species are known, mostly native to Southeast Asia and Australasia. The common North American plants that are more often designated by the name pitcher plant are of the family Sarraceniaceae. Nepenthes species are perennial, shrubby, sometimes herbaceous plants, often climbing with their leaves. They may be anchored in the soil or may grow as epiphytes (i.e., obtaining support, but not nourishment, from another plant or some other aerial structure). The leaves are alternate and have a winged or expanded portion followed by a constricted, often coiled tendril. This is terminated by a hanging but upright, insect-trapping, pitcher-shaped structure with a lid. Water within the pitcher drowns insects that fall inside. The flowers, which have no petals, are inconspicuous. Cultivated species include N. dominii, N. hookeriana, N. mastersiana, N. phyllamphora, and N. veitchii.