Nepenthes, the Tropical Pitcher Plant

carnivorous · tropical · asia · plants

Pitcher-shaped traps. Nepenthes plants have hollow, tube-shaped leaves that look like little cups or pitchers hanging from their vines. Insects slip inside these pitchers and get trapped, and the plant slowly digests them for nutrients.

Called monkey cups. These plants are nicknamed 'monkey cups' because people used to think monkeys would drink the rainwater that collected inside the pitchers. The name stuck even though monkeys don't really use them that way.

Found across the tropics. You can find Nepenthes plants in hot, humid rainforests across Southeast Asia, from Indonesia and Malaysia to the Philippines, and even in parts of Australia and Madagascar. Borneo and Sumatra have the most different kinds.

Mountain specialists. Most Nepenthes plants grow high up on tropical mountains where it's warm during the day but cool and misty at night. Some live so high that temperatures can drop near freezing, making them amazing mountain climbers.

Huge plant family. There are about 170 different species of Nepenthes, and scientists have created many more by breeding them together as hybrids. This makes them one of the most diverse groups of carnivorous plants on Earth.