The World of Nepenthes
Diverse and carnivorous, pitcher plants fascinate for their killing abilities and beauty but they also need better protection.
Writer: Ashley Yeong
Editor: SL Wong
Published: 7 February 2024
PITCHERS are the Nepenthes’ deadly weapons. Hence its common name: the pitcher plant. For this tropical species devours its prey. Leaves shoot from the center of the plant, each with a thin tendril at the tip of the leaf and a pitcher-trap at the end of the tendril. In these pitchers is digestive fluid.
(Feature image: Nepenthes alba is only found in Peninsular Malaysia, especially in high mountain forests such as Gunung Tahan in Pahang. | Photo by Ikhwanuddin Mat Esa)
The Nepenthes, known locally in Malaysia as ‘periuk kera’, has evolved to thrive in nutrient-poor soils. Rather than competing with other plants for scarce minerals in the ground, it lures unsuspecting prey with its sweet nectar, tempting them to linger about the pitchers.
Once ensnared, its fate is sealed. When a prey falls into the pitchers, it is trapped, drowned, and then digested by the enzymes and acids in the fluid.
Malaysia’s diverse climate and geography, especially humid conditions and cool mountains, form ideal habitats for Nepenthes.
From species with pitchers smaller than a fingernail, like Nepenthes argentii that is native to the Philippines, to Nepenthes rajah, whose pitchers are larger than two hands and capable of digesting small mammals, these villainous plants vary in size and shape.
These attributes make pitcher plants highly sought after by collectors, fuelling the need to step up conservation.
New Nepenthes species are being discovered all the time; these were new finds in the last 4 years.
Gideon Lim’s fascination with flesh-eating plants ignited when he received a Venus flytrap on his 12th birthday.
“That was the coolest plant I had ever seen. And most certainly, I killed it. I had no idea what I was doing. But that got the ball rolling [in my interest in plants],” Lim said.
Little did he know that more than a decade later, he would be in the team that discovered four new Nepenthes species in the Titiwangsa Mountain Range. One of the new species was named after him – the Nepenthes limiana.
Currently, scientists have named 170 Nepenthes species globally. Peninsula Malaysia hosts 18 (all pictured here), with 11 exclusive to the region. The count continues to rise due to ongoing discoveries. Seven new species alone were discovered in the last 4 years.
Lim, who runs the education and conservation platform Malaysia Carnivorous Plants, said that Nepenthes species that grow close to each other can also naturally create hybrids.
Nepenthes alba
Nepenthes alba
Ecology and habitat: Upper montane forests.
Altitude: Up to 1,600 - 2,187m.
IUCN status: Least concern. (Photo: Ikhwanuddin Mat Esa)
Nepenthes albomarginata
Nepenthes albomarginata
Ecology and habitat: Hill and montane forests.
Altitude: Up to 1,100m.
IUCN status: Least concern. (Photo: Ikhwanuddin Mat Esa)
Nepenthes ampullaria
Nepenthes ampullaria
Ecology and habitat: Damp, shady forests and swampy grasslands, secondary forests.
Altitude: Up to 2,100m.
IUCN status: Least concern.
(Photo: : Edward Entalai Besi)
Nepenthes benstonei
Nepenthes benstonei
Ecology and habitat: Lowland, hill and montane forests.
Altitude: 150 - 1,200m.
IUCN status: Endangered.
(Photo: Ikhwanuddin Mat Esa)
Nepenthes gracilis
Nepenthes gracilis
Ecology and habitat: Lowland peat-swamp forests, disturbed area with poor soil, roadsides.
Altitude: Up to 800m.
IUCN status: Least concern.
(Photo: Dome Nikong)
Nepenthes gracillima
Nepenthes gracillima
Ecology and habitat: Upper montane forests.
Altitude: 1,400 - 2,200m.
IUCN status: Least concern.
(Photo: Chien Lee)
Nepenthes macfarlanei
Nepenthes macfarlanei
Ecology and habitat: Mountain ridges, under the shade on mossy banks.
Altitude: 900 - 2,150m.
IUCN status: Least concern.
(Photo: Edward Entalai Besi)
Nepenthes mirabilis
Nepenthes mirabilis
Ecology and habitat: Found in many places, but most common in disturbed swamp lands or grasslands.
Altitude: Up to 1,500m.
IUCN status: Least concern.
(Photo: Dome Nikong)
Nepenthes rafflesiana
Nepenthes rafflesiana
Ecology and habitat: Swamp forests, usually found with N. ampullaria; secondary forests and sand; rarely on ultramafic rocks.
Altitude: Up to 1,000m.
IUCN status: Least concern.
(Photo: Edward Entalai Besi)
Nepenthes ramispina
Nepenthes ramispina
Ecology and habitat: Upper montane forests.
Altitude: 900 - 2,000m.
IUCN status: Least concern.
(Photo: Edward Entalai Besi)
Nepenthes sanguinea
Nepenthes sanguinea
Ecology and habitat: Mountain ridges.
Altitude: 900 - 1,800m.
IUCN status: Least concern.
(Photo: Edward Entalai Besi)
The diversity of Peninsular Malaysia’s Nepenthes is remarkable. Click for details [information source: ‘Trappers in Nature: The Nepenthes of Peninsular Malaysia’ (2023).]
Inside the pitchers of the Nepenthes, it’s another universe.
Leonora Bittleston, who studies the interactions between pitcher plants and the microbes found within their pitchers, recalls the joy she experienced walking through a rainforest and seeing these cool-looking plants. Yet, what truly awed her were the pitchers’ inner workings.
The pitcher’s digestive fluid is home to various tiny creatures like mosquito larvae, mites, and microorganisms like bacteria, fungi and amoeba, all living together in a symbiotic community.
Think of it like this – one plant with multiple pitchers is like an apartment building with unique units and residents.
“Every little family inside is going to be slightly different,” said the assistant professor of biology at Boise State University. “They’re going to be affected by the size of their apartment, which family moves in when, who arrives first – all these are going to change the acidity [of the pitcher fluid] and whether other families are able to live in the apartment or not.”
But the Nepenthes doesn’t stop at insects. Sometimes, it supports other animals as well.
For example, Nepenthes hemsleyana provides a cozy resting spot in its pitchers for bats. In return, the bats poop in the plants. Bat poop, known as guano, is rich in nitrogen – a vital nutrient for plants.
Nepenthes hemsleyana pitcher plant: Bazile Vincent/Wikimedia; bat image: generative AI.
Human activities, ranging from habitat destruction to poaching to fuel illicit trade of pitcher plants, drives the Nepenthes to the brink of endangerment.
One of the ways conservationists are responding to these threats is by making pitcher plants so common that their allure in the wild diminishes. Quoting the late Australian botanist Allen Lowrie, Lim said the strategy was to “make them as common as muck”.
“I’m a firm believer of this phrase […] conservation through cultivation, which is essentially cultivating lots of these plants and putting them in people’s hands to make it so common that nobody will be incentivised to go into the wild to poach them.”
For Lim, the logic behind the need to protect the Nepenthes is no different from the Malayan tiger. “Malaysia has lots of national treasures and national heritage. Pitcher plants are only one of them.”
“The more we understand our national treasures and heritage, the more we learn of their significance to the biosphere, to ecology. Our health and our planet’s health [are] but a reflection of our ecological health.”
Next week: We investigate whether artificially propagated Nepenthes is helping save these plants in the wild.
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