The Nepenthes are a carnivorous plant genre belonging to the Nepenthaceae, also known as “tropical jar-plants” or “monkey cups”, which come from the fact that there have been seen animals drinking the rainwater that collects itself inside this plants. Their jar-like shape is due to the development of the middle vein of the leaf.
This genre is composed by around 170 different species and a great variety of natural hybrids. Generally, this species develop themselves in humid and warm zones, but many of them are also mountain tropical plants.
The Nepenthes species trap and kill their preys in a passive way, mainly just extracting the nitrogen and phosphorus from their bodies for feeding themselves and complete their necessary nutrition for their growing. Like most carnivorous plants they use nectar secretions and bright coloring for attracting insects of all kinds. Their most frequent preys are ants, spiders, scorpions, etc.
What are the characteristics of the Nepenthes?
The Nepenthes’ species are carnivorous plants that tend to grow as vines or climbers on the shape of a jar. They don’t tend to be jungle plants but they prefer to grown on open and sunny areas. The jar that’s formed by the leaf, (or most commonly known among gardeners as thrower), is similar to the ones that’s create on the North American jar-plant.
This species of Nepenthes has a very unusual leaf that seems like a normal one, and then inflames on the tip creating an unbelievable jar. It attracts the preys with a mixture of smells and on rare occasions by its stunning red-colored appearance, as the thrower develops itself, it congests and falls down due to its weight.
As it grows, the thrower starts to fill itself with air, and then with liquid and at last it opens revealing an inviting inside for the bugs. On the upper part, it has a cap that covers the entire opening which first opens whenever the leaf is completely developed for trapping the preys.
The insects are attracted by the smell of nectar. Once inside the jar, they have no chance to escape since the walls contain a squamae wax that doesn’t allow them to climb to the surface and instead they slip to the bottom of the jar. The movement made by the insects on their attempts of escape is the one that stimulates the glandules to expel their digestive acid; the latter that is so strong that a mosquito would disappear in matter of hours.
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Where do the Nepenthes come from?
Most of these plants are from the Old World, from South China, Indonesia and Philippines, the west of Madagascar and the south of Australia. The majority of the species are restricted to very small ranges, some of them are only found on individual mountains and it is this inaccessibility that makes some species to remain undiscovered by decades or more. The Nepenthes Mirabilis is the most openly distributed one of this genre, it can be found on Indo-China, all the Malay Archipelago and Australia.
The 70% of the Nepenthes’ species are mountain-tropical plants.
Conditions in which the Nepenthes grow
Nearly all the Nepenthes’ species grow on humid environments with moderated-to-high levels of light, although some others prefer the dense and gloomy forests. Other species have adapted themselves to grass resembling the ones of the savanna. Generally, the grounds on which the Nepenthes’ species grow are acid and low on nutrients, composed by fertilizer, white sand and they’re usually volcanic grounds. Usually they enjoy of an environment with light, either it be intense or vague, more like partially sunny. Many of these species can be cultivated on a sunny location, and even under high-potency fluorescent light.
Types of Nepenthes
The Nepenthes genre encloses around 170 species and numerous natural hybrids. On 1928 B.H. Danser divided the Nepenthes on 6 groups:
- Vulgatae: This group consists on Nepenthes Distillatoria, Tomoriana, Neoguineensis, Mirabilis, Madagascariensis, Tobaica, Anamensis, Papuana, Khasiana, Gracilis, Paniculata, Reinwardtiana, Pervillei, Thorelii, Kampotiana, Alata, Philippinensis, Trichocarpa, Tentaculata, Albomarginata, Vieillardii, Geoffrayi.
- Montanae: This group includes Nepenthes Gymnamphora, Pectinata, Bongso, Gracillima, Sanguínea, Macfarlanei, Singalana, Inermis, Dubia, Carunculata.
- Nobiles: Formed by Nepenthes Spectabilis, Leptochila, Hirsuta, Deaniana, Neglecta.
- Regiae: This group consists on Nepenthes Máxima, Oblanceolata, Veitchii, Ephippiata, Klossii, Pilosa, Burbidgeae, Rajah, Attenboroughii, Boschiana, Mollis, Clipeata, Truncata, Fusca, Stenophylla, Lowii.
- Insignes:The species that form this group are Nepenthes Merrilliana, Petiolata, Burkei, Ventricosa, Northiana, Decurrens, Treubiana, Villosa, Insignis, Rafflesiana.
- Urceolatae:The species belonging to this group are Nepenthes Ampullaria, Bicalcarata, Hookeriana.
Choosing a Nepenthes species for breeding
There are many species of Nepenthes, from small plants that feed themselves with insects to the bigger ones that can eat small animals. Some of the Nepenthes species can be cultivated on greenhouses and some more easily cultivated samples for low grounds are:
- Rafflesiana: This plant generally develops itself on open, sandy, humid areas, it grows on hills that go from sea-level to 1200 and 1500 meters. They grow vine-shaped, their stems can grow up to 15 meters large and 10 millimeters wide. This plant is not larger than 20 centimeters, though here are some species of Nepenthes Rafflesiana that create jars of 35 cm large and 15 cm wide. The color of their jars varies from dark purple to almost completely white. Their flowers are red or purple, usually they bloom alone and rarely on pairs.
- Bicalcarata: Also called “tusk-jar plant”, is a tropical jar-plant native from Indonesia. The jar-shaped leaves of these ones can get to length 80 cm large and 12 cm wide, their roots are shallowly deep (they only reach the superior layer of the fertilizer up to 25 cm of depth. This plant’s throwers have very little spines that they use to trap their preys. The mouth of their jar is rounded and the cover is oval-shaped.
- Mirabilis: This carnivorous plant species has the widest distribution of all the Nepenthes species. It develops itself on Asia’s south-east to South Australia, one of its main characteristic is that its throwers form in the middle of the leaf. A curious fact about this sample is that people from the Kon Tum province in Vietnam uses the jars of this plants for cooking their rice.
- Hirsuta: Also known as “hairy plant thrower”, it characterizes itself for having a thick, brown-colored hair cover on all parts, even on the stem. Their throwers are generally green with some red spots on the lower part. This plant grows mainly on the grounds composed by sandstone substratum.
Overall, there’s a great variety of species that can be found on the greenhouses and they can be cultivated at home as well, you must choose the one that adapts he better to the environmental conditions and the cares that you’re able to offer.
Ways of feeding
The Nepenthes use their jars for trapping insects and drowning them on the liquid held on the inside. The latter is composed by rainwater apart from the digestives enzymes exuded by the plant. For feeding it while you breed it, you can place the insects in the jars.
You must keep in mind that you shall not put too much insects inside the jar, since it is common for many carnivorous plants to dry themselves and die due to digesting too much insects. It’s recommended to use living insects for feeding the Nepenthes, because dead insects can be contaminated with insecticides that could harm the plant.
Use only insects of reasonable size to feed the plant.
You shall not feed the Nepenthes plant with meat.
Where to place the Nepenthes?
The Nepenthes are a carnivorous plant species that shall not receive direct sunlight, they most commonly grow under big trees that gives them enough shadow, so the recommendable thing is to remain them on such conditions, especially during the spring and summer seasons.
Sunlight is indispensable for the coloration of the jars, but its direct exposure burns the leaves. When the Nepenthes are breed on insides, it’s advisable to use an adequate cultivation light. The semi-tropical species require a constant temperature of 25 to 30oC and a humidity level of at least 70% during the day and 80% during the night, which can be achieved in a warmed greenhouse and using a humidifier.
What happens if you decide to have a climbing Nepenthes?
The Nepenthes is a carnivorous plant type that is considered climbing because on they grow on vines in its majority, which can reach up to 10 meter height. In case you choose this Nepenthes type for breeding, you must condition your area with some strings held by nails on the walls for the plant to develop and for it to be able to climb, so you’ll have a radiant vine. The greatest part of the Nepenthes need tutoring for growing on vertical direction, since the overall species blooms over bushes close to the ground.
The same way, it is recommended to plant the climbing Nepenthes on a metallic pot and give it a good earth substratum, which must be wispy since the draining of the water is vital because, if not done properly, the roots will rot and the plant will be completely damaged.
What are the steps for caring them?
The Nepenthes are gorgeous plants that need very specific cares in order to grow on a proper way, some of the cares that you must have when seeding this plants are:
- Sun: They must not be exposed to direct sunlight. The ideal is for them to receive 50% light and 50% shadow. The light is indispensable for the plant to develop its coloration, however an excess of sunlight could cause overheating or burnings and damage the plant.
- Water: Since this plant requires humid means for its progress, it must be avoided its complete dryness. Use distilled, purified or rain water as long as it is relatively clean. You can also use the sink’s water if it is low on salts.
- Ground: This species are tolerant to a wide variety of earth mixtures, they enjoy of a wide, open ground; that can give them the necessary humidity and drain the water excess. The best mix is one of three parts of long-fiber moss along with other materials such as pearlite, orchid bark, pumice and fern fiber arbore.
- Temperature: You have to be very strict in matters of temperature to keep the Nepenthes at their ideal conditions: an environment with a day-time temperature between 19 and 27oC and the one of the night-time between 15 to 21oC for the plant to grow and carry itself adequately.
What do you have to know to buy one?
Before buying a Nepenthes you have to think about all the attention and cares that these plants need. It’s vital to know that this carnivorous plants should be kept on specific environmental conditions on all aspects (heat, ground, humidity) for its perfect improvement.
Either it be that you want to seed them out on the open or on insides, you have to give them an appropriate environment for them to reach their full potential. Which translates itself in a beautiful carnivorous tropical jar-plant with exotic, stunning colors for beautify your house or garden.
For learning more about these carnivorous plants, I recommend you to read the following articles:
- Carnivorous plants. Characteristics and cares
- Origin and types of the Sarracenia plant
- Reproduction of the carnivorous Cephalotus plant
- Cultivation and reproduction of the Drosera
How to develop the plant?
Always follow the instructions to provide the Nepenthes with their adequate surroundings: it’s necessary for their ground to be always humid and you must water it with distilled or demineralized water; you can also do it with rain water if it isn’t too contaminated. All the Nepenthes species need to be humid at all times, that’s why their often rooted on greenhouses with the required temperature and humidity.
I recommend to use a humidity controller for achieve the perfect level for the plant, since the substratum must be watered in a way it is soaked, nevertheless the water shall never remain accumulated on the moss or the roots will rot. On the other side, if the plants is only shallowly watered, then the moss will dry and the roots will die. That’s why it is so important to keep a balance between the humid moss and you can reach it using a water sprayer to humidify the leaves daily and several times the same day if there’s too much heat.
How long do they live?
The Nepenthes are carnivorous plants that can get to live between 2 or 5 years when they’re seed on greenhouses or insides. Although, there have been some recorded cases of Nepenthes that has lived 10 years on their natural habitat. That for, if they are taken care properly, on an environment that fits with their requests for growing, this plant can live much more time on domestic breeding.
What are the medical uses of the Nepenthes?
There are very little studies that talk about this tropical jar-plant properties; nevertheless, it is known that this carnivorous plant species has been used in the past as a method of alternative medicine to treat afflictions such as constipation, urinary and digestive problems, liquid retention, among others.
There’s also a form of injection made from the extract of this jar-plant that has been used to treat corporal pain.