Carnivorous Plant Encyclopedia

An Australian sundew preferring partial shade with long lance-shaped leaves.

A South African rosette sundew with beautiful symmetrical form, a top beginner species.

A sundew with uniquely forked leaves, large and impressive, very hardy.

A sundew that captures insects very quickly, curling leaves in seconds. Sometimes annual.

A hardy sundew from South Africa with beautiful glistening sticky leaves, perfect for beginners.

A stem-forming sundew that raises a distinct stem with alternate, spoon-shaped sticky leaves. The lower stem is clothed in dead old leaves and the plant reaches about 25 cm. A robust African species with pink flowers.

A small rosette-forming sundew with wedge- to spoon-shaped leaves about 2 cm long lying at ground level. Wiry flower stalks reach about 25 cm. Native to swamps of South Africa and Madagascar.

A sundew from the Cape region of South Africa forming rosettes 5-10 cm across of spoon- to heart-shaped leaves, with pink flowers. Named after the British carnivorous-plant author Adrian Slack, it holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit.

A spatula-leaved sundew native to Japan, forming cute rosettes.

The pitcher plant most often seen at garden centres and home stores: a cross between the Philippine species N. ventricosa and N. alata (in the broad sense), bearing green pitchers flushed with red. Easy indoors, it is often sold under the name N. alata.

One of the easiest Nepenthes, growable indoors by beginners, producing many green pitchers.

A hybrid of N. ventricosa and N. ampullaria with pitchers and leaves stained deep blood red. Tough and treated as a beginner's houseplant, it is often said to be the same clone as 'Lady Luck'.

A hybrid pitcher plant recorded as N. khasiana × (N. ventricosa × N. maxima); the same cross is sold abroad as 'St. Gaya'. It is sold everywhere from mass-market hanging baskets to aquarium plant stores.

A slender Nepenthes with a unique lid mechanism that flicks insects in with raindrop impact.

The most widespread Nepenthes, from SE Asia to Australia, hardy and great for beginners.

A hybrid pitcher plant with large pale-green pitchers speckled red-brown and a near-vertical mouth ringed by a dark red-brown peristome. Pitchers reach about 25-30 cm, and it is a staple at both mass-market and specialist sellers.

A hardy Nepenthes from Malay Peninsula with many red-green color forms, easy for beginners.

A Czech-raised butterwort from P. agnata × P. moctezumae. It has long, narrow, arching leaves and flowers up to 4 cm across that open dark violet and fade to pink as they age.

A classic hybrid of the Mexican butterworts P. moranensis and P. ehlersiae. It flowers freely, and its large orchid-purple flowers have a white, many-rayed star at the throat.

A hardy Mexican butterwort with blue-purple flowers and thick leaves, recommended for beginners.

A small butterwort from limestone country in north-eastern Mexico. The blue-violet edges of its fleshy leaves are unmistakable, and in strong light the whole leaf can colour. The purple flowers have evenly rounded petals.

A small butterwort from rock faces in Mexican cloud forest. It keeps the same leaves all year without forming a winter rosette, and its small white flowers are veined in violet; the name refers to the notched petals.