 |
| http://www.tootoo.com/d-p2919601-Nepenthes_Alata/ |
Time for another weird and beautiful plant post. Pitcher plants are perhaps one of the most bizarre plants out there. Pitcher plants tend to live in places where the soil is very low in nutrients, and so have evolved a novel way to obtain their necessary nutrients. They use their modified cupped leaves to trap insects, and once inside, digestive juices break down the prey into the nutrients that the plant needs. My pitcher plant is based off of the Nepenthes genus, but isn't species specific.
 |
| To make the pitchers I formed a skinner blend into plugs and then hollowed them out. To make the leaves more interesting I dusted them with pastels and then glazed them with polyacrylic. This piece is mounted on a magnet, because who doesn't want a pitcher plant on their fridge? |
I love this one so much!
ReplyDeleteYou realize that Nepenthes pitcher plants don't all get their nutrients from trapping insects, right? At least two species have an even more novel way to get nutrients.
ReplyDeleteThey're critter potties.
N. lowii gets its nutrients from the poop of a shrew.
N. rafflesiana var. elongata gets its from the poop of a bat.
Both have pitchers that are perfectly shaped to hold their respective critter in a comfortable and sheltered way, above the level of the digestive juices. So the critter gets a comfy, sheltered place to sleep, and the plant gets fed when the critter craps. Pretty neat, huh?
Oh Big Bro, I'm so proud of you for knowing that! I'll turn you into a plant nerd yet!!! Yup, I was aware of that and telling everyone who would listen when this article came out:
ReplyDeletehttp://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/110202-bats-feces-carnivorous-plants-toilets-animals-science/
Its actually what inspired me to make the piece. My friend showed me the article, and we were nerding out over pitcher plants, and so I thought she needed one to hang on her filing cabinet at work!
Well, full disclosure - I had remembered reading either that article, or one on CNN or MSNBC's website or something, but only knew that it was a pitcher plant. But if Google knows something, so do I. So now am an 'expert' and 'know' that the species in question are Nepenthes lowii and Nepenthes rafflesiana elongata.
ReplyDelete