#tropical pitcher plants

[wyldeplantlife]

Pitcher Plant Lamp

[phosminos]

Nepenthes Ventricosa x Hamata! A beautiful hybrid from Wistuba :)

[creepyhouseplant]

I thought my carnivorous plants would make a great first post!

Top left, purple pitcher

Top right, common butterwort

Bottom left, cape sundew

Bottom right, spoon leaf sundew

Carnivorous plants have always been one of my special interests. I'm just so fascinated by them! I've had Venus fly traps in the past, other pitchers. I actually have another pitcher, a velvet pitcher, but it's not doing so hot. I got it discounted, and I think the seller may have been feeding it tap water instead of distilled, and she wasn't thrilled about having the plant in her shop in the first place because she is vegan. So she ended up giving it to me at a discount because she wanted it out! I'm still trying to revive it, but I'm starting to get less hopeful about it.

[toadstoolanimations]

Hello fellow lads and lasses.

This marks my first post about my houseplant collection. My favorite plant in my collection is my Nepenthes Pitcher Plants. These tropical plants are carnivorous and the pitchers are used to trap and digest insects. Botanical carnivores are not able to gain nutrients through their roots due to evolving in nutrientless soils and environments.

To care for these plants I use sphagnum moss as the potting mix, but any carnivorous soils can be used just be sure that no soils or potting mixes contain any fertilizers. Most carnivores require high amounts of light, and frequent watering. Only water with rainwater, distilled, or reverse osmosis water. When indoors plants must be fed by hand with many common pet store insects like crickets or mealworms. Comment on any questions regarding carnivorous plants which are my specialty.

Hope everyone has an amazing and magical day.

Extra Reminders

My Etsy Store is Open with plants and reptile supplies available for purchase

Commissions, Customs, and Character Sheets Open on My Fiverr Store

https://www.fiverr.com/calebacker?public_mode=true

[calmingram]

Nature's Pitcher 🌿

I'm an autistic amateur photographer. Follow me on Tumblr and Instagram 📷

[cordycepsbian]

we usually think of venus fly traps and pitcher plants as being from rainforests and other tropical regions and finding out that they're native to north and south carolina shattered our worldview

[muttball]

Common Swamp Pitcher

[suetravelblog]

Bako National Park Sarawak Malaysia

[ldragoon]

This nepenthes’ trap is getting ready to open!

[bicolchillingchili]

The Carnivorous Tropical Picher Plant, Series 2023, No. 005.

This peculiar native plant of the Philippines had once adorned the panoramic windows of our old house perched on the slope of a forested hill in my mountainous home province. Just like most of the other houses sparingly distributed in the lush environment, it was common to see diverse tropical plants hanging around the porches overlooking meadows and seas. Together with the other orchids that my…

[iamthecomet]

𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘺 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘋𝘢𝘺 𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯: 𝘗𝘢𝘱𝘢 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦

Rating: G Pairing: Mountain & Primo Words: 1k

Had a sudden lightbulb about the Abbey having a botanical garden and Mountain being mildly obsessed and then this happened. No warnings, just the old man and the soft earth ghoul being sweet to each other.

Mushy May brought to you by @forlorn-crows Divider by @ghuleh-recs

The botanical garden is Primo’s pride and joy. Sure, being the satanic pope was fun and good. Touring the world was entertaining. Playing music was…ok. But this expansive glass building built on the eastern side of the main Abbey building? This is everything.

He designed it all. Each pane of thick glass, the metal that holds them together, the stones that make up the floor and foundation. All of it from his hands, his mind. It’s been here a long time. Long enough that ivy grows along the southern gable. That the glass has become milky with time. The roof–once shining copper has gone green with oxidation.

For a long time, he was the only one who cared about it.

Sure, siblings and ghouls enjoyed it. They’d walk through the massive building and coo at the plants, the brightly colored flowers, the pitcher plants big enough to eat a human hand if they really wanted to. They marvel at this impossible beauty. But they never stay long. It’s too warm. Too humid. Too…strange. It’s a museum to them. Something to be looked at and enjoyed from afar.

Even many of the earth ghouls were a little put off by it–didn’t understand it. These plants weren’t supposed to grow here. So many of them had hang ups about not native species and practicality, it made Primo’s head hurt. So little appreciation for all of his hard work. For this beauty that should be impossible but by the grace of lord Lucifer it isn’t.

And then, Mountain came.

Primo had misjudged him–he’ll admit that now. He had seen the tall lanky earth ghoul with his antlers and his gentle manner and Primo had assumed he’d be just like the others. That he would appreciate from afar, that he would pitch in when needed but not really want to help. But Mountain surprised him.

Mountain’s first trip through the botanical garden left him in awe. He named half of the plants with ease, latin spilling from his mouth as he reached out to touch delicate dew coated petals. And Primo had stared. He couldn’t help it. He felt the thrum of Mountain’s magic through the stone and a fly trap that had been struggling perked back up, leaves unfurling.

And when Mountain smiled–sheepish–Primo thought it was a little like looking at the sun.

Mountain still spends most of his time in the more practical greenhouses and gardens. Harvesting food and teas and herbs and making sure the Abbey is well stocked and taken care of. But he spends every Sunday here with Primo. Closed inside the bright, stuffy, greenhouse. Tropical at all times. Brightly colored flowers still blooming in the dead of winter. It’s Primo’s favorite day of the week–he isn’t afraid to admit it. When he gets there on this particular Sunday, Mountain has beaten him. It’s the first Sunday since the band got back from touring and Primo missed the earth ghoul. Missed hearing him hum to himself as he worked. Missed watching him perk up plants with his magic, feeling the pull of it through the foundation.

When he slips through the door Mountain is nearby, tending a patch of vibrant blue orchids–fickle things that only seem to like Mountain’s touch. They’ve been suffering while on tour, but Primo notices that two minutes with Mountain has left them fresh and healthy.

Mountain startles when the door closes, he turns to look at Primo. That hesitant smile tugging at his lips like always.

“Papa,” Mountain says, straightening up, tall as ever. Antlers dotted with tiny blue forget me not flowers. “I brought you something.”

Primo steps further into the warmth of the building, walks closer to Mountain. Shoes clicking on the stone. He inhales. Smells a menagerie of flowers and green and life that makes his chest constrict. Everywhere else in the Abbey feels dark and oppressive. Here–he really feels at home.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know,” Mountain sits down on one of the stone benches that lines the path, he pats the space next to him and Primo sits. Smelling the deep evergreen and cedar that is Mountain. He always smells like a forest at mid-winter. Even in here, Primo loves it. Loves the constant reminder that this strange tropical word they’ve built here is unnatural for this climate. It makes him that much more proud of it.

“So why?”

“I couldn’t leave it there–not when you needed it for your collection.”

Mountain is the only one who truly understands. That this is a collection. That is is not just a garden. Primo has done all he can to fill it with all kinds of rarities. Strange insects, and butterflies, snakes and lizards and vibrant blue tree frogs. Whatever he can find that will thrive in this climate he’s created. Oddities that he cannot resist.

Primo feels his heartbeat quicken. “Show me.”

Mountain produces a small seedling in a pot that fits in the palm of his big hand. Primo studies it, breath catching as he starts to recognize the leaves, the color.

“Is that–”

“A corpse plant. Yes. I saw it growing on the side of the path when we went on a hike. Cirrus thought I was crazy when I started digging it up. But I couldn’t leave it there.”

Primo strokes the leaves. It doesn’t look anything like what it will when it’s full grown. And Primo cannot guarantee his unnaturally long life will be long enough to see it bloom. But he finds he doesn’t mind. It will be here, part of his legacy whether he is or not.

“Oh, Mountain this is–I’ve always–It’s my holy grail.”

“I know.” Mountain grins at him, a real smile. He sets the plant down and slings his arm around Primo’s shoulders, pulling him in for a half hug. “Consider it a thank you, for letting me work with your collection–for letting me spend time with all of them.”

Primo feels himself flush–an odd occurrence considering his age. He leans into the fresh winter smell of Mountain and lets his eyes fall closed as Mountain holds him close.

“Our collection,” Primo corrects, he can’t pretend it belongs only to him anymore. And he finds he doesn’t want to.

Mountain makes a small surprised noise, but then he’s nodding, acquiescence. “Ours.”

[phosminos]

Nepenthes Ampullaria x Aristolochioides, with its Nepenthes x Briggsiana brother behind it :)

[dailybotany]

Hello!! Potentially a super specific question, but what's the funniest/ most strange pitcher plant that you know of? :0

Since I actually don't know much about pitchers, I texted my friend whose Thing is tropical and carnivorous plants and particularly pitchers and especially Nepenthes.

His response was first: is that tumblr??? To which I responded "yes, and you recognized it so lose/lose"

But then he sent me this absolute monstrosity of a pitcher:

Why is it so fleshy? Why does it have little tentacles??

Meet Nepenthes mirabilis var. echinostoma, a variety of the common swamp pitcher plant or tropical pitcher plant that arose in Brunei and Sarawak. Nepenthes mirabilis is the most widespread species of Nepenthes and var. echinostoma is a GREAT example of the morphological plasticity present in the species across its range!

Also, these guys are totally edible which is great for me because I feel like if I don't eat them first they will find a way to eat me and I won't be able to crawl out because of their tiny little tentacles. (I love them, thank you for sending this ask!!)

[toadstoolanimations]

Another Plant Haul

[willtheweaver]

A writer’s guide to forests: from the poles to the tropics, part 8

We’ve made it to the tropics. I hope you enjoyed this, and found it useful in your writing.

Tropical rainforest

Probably the most recognizable of forest environment, and among the most threatened.

Location-Latin America, Africa, Australia, Indonesia, and the Pacific islands in between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Many forests have been felled or heavily altered by human activity.

Climate-Subtropical to tropical, with conditions being wet year round. Rain does not fall all the time, with a defined rainy and dry season. (What’s the difference? Rainy season has rain almost daily while in the dry season you will have to make do with high humidity and morning fog) At higher elevations, nights are cooler, though still well above freezing, and mist and rain are more common(this is why mountainous RF are called cloud forests)

Plant life- This is a tree dominated environment. The understory and forest floor are dark, unless trees have recently fallen. Many small plants are arboreal, nestled in the upper branches of trees. Vines and other climbers use larger plants as scaffolding. In areas of poor soil, tropical pitcher plants (Nepenthes spp.) and bladderworts (Utricularia spp.) get much needed nutrients from animal sources.

Animal life- Rainforests are the most biodiverse environments on Earth. Insects are everywhere, as are the animals that eat them. Birds and primates can be found from the canopy to the forest floor. The moist conditions make for an ideal habitat for frogs and toads. Apex predators are the big cats-think jaguars, tigers and leopards. Some species of herbivores can be quite large; Africa is home to gorillas and forest elephants, while the island of Borneo, Sumatra, and Java support rhinos and orangutans (though the further of these species is uncertain)Waterways are home to all sorts of fish(there are more species in the Amazon river than in the Atlantic Ocean), and larger animals, such as otters, crocodilians, and even river dolphins. Isolated islands have far fewer mammal species, with bats being the only ones, but hardy insects, reptiles, and birds making up the majority of the biomass. Deforestation and the introduction of invasive species have caused the extinction of many animal species, with island forests being the hardest hit.

How the forest affects the story- When one thinks of societies in the tropics, it usually is through the lens of western stereotypes designed to shock audiences and give ‘civilization’ something to conquer. Avoid this at all cost! There is more to the forest. Before the Spanish conquest, the Amazon was home to cities, and the agricultural societies of New Guinea are believed to be contemporaries with the farmers of Mesopotamia.

Grain does not do well in the tropics, so farming will be based around plants such as açaí, coconuts, taro, breadfruit, bananas, and manioc. These can be supplemented by hunting and fishing, but long term storage will have to be addressed. High humidity is a breeding ground for bacteria and fungi, so organic material will have to be kept dry so they don’t rot. The concentration of microorganisms also means that good hygiene is needed to avoid disease.

Settlement will always cause disruption, and the extent of your character’s activities can have a big impact on the forest, and your story. And remember, the activity of a small village will be different to that of large scale logging. Management, use, and abuse of the rainforest can be a driving factor in the plot. How will your characters react? Is the threat from outside or from within? The destruction of the rainforest is one of the main factors, along with unmitigated greenhouse gas emissions that is causing the current climate crisis. Can your characters do better? Or will you create a cautionary tale that shows us the grim future we are currently barreling towards? (That choice, my dear writers, is completely up to you)

[sitting-on-me-bum]

A tropical pitcher plant's slippery surface tumbles victims into its open maw. A pitcher plants is a type of carnivorous plant, eating insects and small animals that fall into its trap.

PHOTOGRAPH BY HELENE SCHMITZ, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION