Pretty Pitcher
The Nepenthes pitcher plant has numerous species spread across the tropics. This variety is a cross between truncata (Philippines) and ephippiata (Borneo) and is 60mm in diameter and 320mm in length.I like it because like other pitcher plants it demonstrates the remarkable possibilities of leaf evolution — of form, size, pattern, and colour. To get orientated, the original leaf top surface constitutes the inside of the barrel and the leaf edges are fused down the length of the barrel on the left of the image. Artificial illumination is necessary to capture the complexity of the convolutions and colour. The plant hangs under shelter in my Gold Coast home garden and regularly catches an insect or two to satisfy its carnivorous cravings.
Pretty Pitcher
The Nepenthes pitcher plant has numerous species spread across the tropics. This variety is a cross between truncata (Philippines) and ephippiata (Borneo) and is 60mm in diameter and 320mm in length.I like it because like other pitcher plants it demonstrates the remarkable possibilities of leaf evolution — of form, size, pattern, and colour. To get orientated, the original leaf top surface constitutes the inside of the barrel and the leaf edges are fused down the length of the barrel on the left of the image. Artificial illumination is necessary to capture the complexity of the convolutions and colour. The plant hangs under shelter in my Gold Coast home garden and regularly catches an insect or two to satisfy its carnivorous cravings.