The pitcher plant, native to Madagascar, South east Asia, and Australia is a carnivorous plant found in a wide range of habitats (of course they’re in Australia, everything terrifying is there). Their carnivorous diet supplies them the nitrogen and phosphorus they need to survive. Pitcher plants are found in places with acidic soil with little to no nutrients and resemble a pitcher or pot. If you really like salamanders or bugs, I’d probably recommend you don’t read much further as these creatures’ stories don’t end well.
These plants eat mostly insects, as well as salamanders and roughly 20% of surveyed pitcher plants have been found with one or more salamanders inside them. The pitcher plant attracts its prey with a trail of nectar secreted by its glands. Once the prey, such as a salamander, is nearby,it crawls up the bulb of the plant slips on the smooth section of the plant near its bottom lip. The salamander then falls into the pit of the plant, where it drowns and is digested by enzymes secreted by the plant.
There are many types of pitcher plant ( in many fun colours, like collectables) including the parrot pitcher plant (red with dark red flowers), the sweet pitcher plant (dull red with violet scented flowers), the yellow pitcher plant (bright yellow flowers) and many more. The largest species of pitcher plant is the sun or marsh pitcher plant, which has grown up to 50cm (20in) high (imagine seeing that thing eat a salamander! Yeah no thanks).
As terrifying as these plants are for salamanders, they’re actually pretty neat when you think about it. Like venus fly traps, you can buy them and keep them as house plants, which could be a great conversation starter. To care for these carnivorous little guys, keep the soil moist, put it in the sun, and mist the whole plant. A major benefit is that the plant will catch a few of the insects that may get into your home! They feed every 2-3 weeks on whatever falls into their trap.
Some more weird facts include the fact that pitcher plants don’t actually eat all the bugs that they trap and some even live in harmony with them. How weird. Spiders will sometimes hide under the plant’s lid and some even lay eggs in the plant to house their larvae. Even small frogs will hide inside the pitcher plant and eat the flies that the plant attracts.
The decaying insects inside attract even more bugs and any other creatures living near the plant, and can feed on those as well. Bugs flock to these plants like students flock to places with free alcohol. All in all, these plants are a great source of food for many bugs and amphibians, and greatly help out many creatures.
The pitchers themselves only last a year or two but the actual root and stem system can live for up to 50 years. They are completely safe for pets and humans because the exterior of the plant isn’t poisonous and they even have a pleasant flowery odour to them. They reproduce through seed droppings in the wild but can be cut from the original plant at the stem and grown separately to make a new plant.
These absolutely insane plants have got to be one of the weirdest things I’ve come across and I have decided I need one for my own plant collection. Even though I like these funky little guys a lot, I’m still not sure it’s enough to ever convince me to go to Australia.They definitely have some weird things down there. I do feel bad for all the cute little critters that get caught in the dangerous trap but the pitcher plant is a very unique plant and it deserves some credit for being pretty cool.