Thursday, March 08, 2007

The Tropical Pitcher Plants - Nepenthes villosa


Our lodge in the Kinabalu National Park (East Malaysia - Sabah) was named after these carnivorous plants - 'Nepethes'.

The later part of the first day's climb up Mt. Kinabalu showed us a number of these pitchers. These plants are known to be found at an altitude of 9000-10300 feet on Mt. Kinabalu.




The lid on these bulbs are used to attract and lure insects into the pitchers, which itself functions as a trap to drown the prey in the plant's fluid contained within. The lip or the peristome of this pitcher is intricate in the villosa species also attracts the prey, but cheats it of its foot hold.

It is interesting that the pitcher is considered the modified leaf of the plant.

15 comments:

Ravi M said...

Very nice stuff! Looking forward to see more of your Malaysia trip related write-ups.

Unknown said...

thanks, ravi.. keep watching this space (occassionally) for more of that stuff...

Unknown said...

hmm .. nice one dabba!

would like to see YOUR definition of "occassionally" ...

Unknown said...

too good vids...keep up the good work..looking fwd to see more..:)

KP said...

Gud work sis ... keep it coming :o)

Sanjaya Srivatsan said...

Rocking snap... the Pitcher. I wonder how will Beer pitchers look if they have this design.... :)

Nishant Ratnakar said...

Sanju, the beer pitchers will suck you if they have this design rather than you gulping beer from it.:D
nice image Vids

Unknown said...

Thanks again, sush - for not having Sap's tongue! ;)

Anonymous said...

The moth pic is too beautifully captured! Awesome.

Am a friend of Kedar Karthik and he sent me this link!

Unknown said...

@Guru, Sush, KP, Sanju, Nishant, Amruthraj

Thank you.. keep visiting for more posts...

The Muser said...

good work!:) keep em coming!

Anonymous said...

Awesome pics girl...
reminded me of the Venus flytrap that i studied in Biology in high school. I was fascinated by the description of it in the text book. Nice to see the pic :)
-Sona

Unknown said...

Thanks, Sona and Swathi!

Anonymous said...

Just came across your blog.
Its Good.
Are you thinking of becoming next Jane goodal?
Keep it up.w

Unknown said...

Oh - Jane Goodall! I wish..! thanks, sugatha!