Interesting Facts About the Pitcher Plant

Pitcher plants have a pouch for insects to fall into.

Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants that live in bogs and swamps that offer poor soil conditions. Pitcher plants eat insects for the nitrogen and nutrients needed to grow and survive in the wild.

Pouch

Pitcher plants are passive trapping plants. They have a pouch that contains water and digestive enzymes that drowns and digests the insects that fall inside. Tiny hairs inside the pouch point downward preventing the insects from escaping. The plant dissolves the insects for the nitrogen and nutrients it needs to survive.

Rare Nepenthes

The Nepenthes rajah is a large carnivorous pitcher plant with a pouch that is able to hold 3 quarts of water. The plant is capable of digesting mice, rats and other small animals. Nepenthes rajah is considered the king of pitcher plants and is famous for it size.

Miscellaneous

Pitcher plants will not harm a person if he sticks his finger inside the plant. Pitcher plants do not eat hamburger. People that take plants from the wild are threatening the species to the point of extinction.

References

• International Carnivorous Plant Society
• Rutgers: Nepenthes Rajah Sir Joseph Hooker