Giant carnivorous plant discovered

**Jenna** · 08-22-09, 02:30 PM

A giant plant that can gobble up bugs and even rodents has been discovered in Southeast Asia.

The carnivorous plant (nepenthes attenboroughii) was found by researchers atop Mt. Victoria, a remote mountain in Palawan, Philippines. The research team, led by Stewart McPherson of Red Fern Natural History Productions, had learned of the plant in 2000 after a group of Christian missionaries stumbled upon it while trekking up a remote mountain and reported it to a local newspaper.

The discovery, announced last week, was detailed in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society.

The pitcher plant is the world's second largest and can grow to more than 4 feet tall, with a pitcher-shaped structure filled with liquid. The plant secretes nectar around its mouth to lure rats, insects and other prey into its trap. Once an animal has fallen in, enzymes and acids in the fluid break down the carcass of the drowned victim.

"All carnivorous plants have evolved to catch insects but the biggest ones, such as this one, can eat rats and frogs," McPherson told LiveScience. "It's truly remarkable that a plant this big has been undiscovered for so long."

Though some have approached McPherson to ask about the likelihood of cultivating the monster plants as mouse traps for rodent-infested regions like New York City, the botanist (who also happens to specialize in pitcher plants) says he finds the idea "a bit far-fetched."

"Mice and rats are attracted to the sweet nectar of the plant, but it only catches them occasionally," says McPherson. "It just isn't practical. There will be too many mice for the plant to catch anyways."

More here:

Giant Plant That Eats Rodents Discovered in Southeast Asia - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News - FOXNews.com

**Car 4** · 08-22-09, 03:10 PM

Could we get a big one for RSA's house?

Car 4

**2 Blue 4 U** · 08-22-09, 07:21 PM

Saw this earlier this week, wonder if these plants grow in the dark, they would never starve underneath the streets of NYC that is for sure, even under some of the highway overpasses where there are plenty of rat nests.

Flesh-devouring plant called Nepenthes attenboroughii can gobble up rats whole

BY CATEY HILL
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Updated Tuesday, August 18th 2009, 2:12 PM

Hey, MTA, we might be able to help out with your rat problem: Scientists have discovered a flesh-devouring plant that can swallow rats whole!

This new plant, named Nepenthes attenboroughii, eats flesh, according to the Daily Mail. The plant is a part of “pitcher” family of plants.

"Many pitcher plants trap not only insects, but also rodents, including mice and rats," scientist Stewart McPherson, one of the discoverers of the flesh-eating plant, told the Daily Mail.

The plant, which captures critters in its large, hollow “pitcher'” and then dissolves them with acids and enzymes, secretes a nectar to attract the animals. But there is nothing sweet about the nectar, as it lures the animals into the deadly “pitcher,” where they usually drown or die of exhaustion, and then are dissolved.

"The fluid breaks down the soft parts of the prey, and generally, only the bones of the prey remain," McPherson said.

The flesh-devouring plant can grow up to 4 feet long and is one of the largest carnivorous plants that has remained undiscovered, according to McPherson of Redfern Natural History Productions. He and botanists Alastair Robinson and Volker Heinrich discovered the plant while in the Philippines.

"All pitcher plants are carnivorous plants. They need to acquire nutrients by trapping and digesting animals (mainly insects) because they grow in really hostile areas where nutrients are scarce in the soil,” McPherson said.

Source: The Daily Mail