Video: giant carnivorous plants
Here is an interesting video documentary about the carnivorous pitcher plant. Of course, a new species of pitcher plant recently discovered on Mount Victoria in the Philippines made headlines as a "rat-eating plant," but that was apparently bullshit. While pitcher plants do sometimes nab small rodents, as in this other delightful clip, the researchers who found the new species in the Philippines have never observed any rodents inside its pitchers. The giant pitcher plant, Nepenthes attenboroughii, was named in honor of celebrity naturalist Sir David Attenborough, narrator of the above video. (Thanks, Mark Pescovitz!)
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While some of the larger species certainly could drown a rat, the plants cannot digest such overwhelming quantities of material. There is the possibility that, as the trap dies from putrid overload (a great name for a band), it goes on to deposit the nitrogenous material on the ground, inadvertently fertilizing the plant.
I have found in culture they enjoy very low levels of nutrition, and will frequently pout (or perish) if fertilized too richly. Carnivory is an adaptation to nutrient-poor environments, after all.
I'm convinced that listening to Attenborough's voice for years upon years of exquisitely done nature films is why an entire generation of Americans think British people are smarter than us.
I thoroughly enjoyed the sound effects along with the time-lapse. Or perhaps the plants actually do growl when they open?
private life of plants is real good...
Feed me Seymour!
Note @chixon the growling heard at ~ 2:53 on the video is actually a very low pitched rumbling noise Nepenthes attenboroughii makes as it grows; a noise that humans cannot perceive with ears alone.
However, when the time-lapse recording is played back at full speed, the pitch of the rumbling noise is tweaked thereby creating an effect not unlike growling.
Furthermore, it's true that all carnivorous plants make similar "growling" sounds when ready to feed-- provided similar time-lapse recording treatments.
I hope that answers your question.
I'll never sit on a toilet again.
I've created my own pitcher plant(er). Here in Seattle, all I do is open a bottle of wine on a hot summer day and I wind up with 4-5 fruit flies flapping around in my nefarious trap. Yum!
Reminds me of "Wheeled Warriors" from the late 80s-
with those cool mutant plant seeds that grow into vehicles.
On my end it reminded me of the giant plan in the last Ice Age installment. With the plant immobile, or at least slow moving, its best bet would be to make the structure of its pitcher trap escape proof. This article now makes me wonder whether some pictures on the net of pitcher plants ingesting rats are true.
hmm reminds me of many religions...
I heart David Attenborough