Carnivorous Plant Encyclopedia

A complex hybrid pitcher plant sold as N. × mixta (N. northiana × N. maxima) crossed with N. × dicksoniana (N. rafflesiana × N. veitchii). A hybrid of the same parentage was raised at Veitch's nursery in Britain in 1900.

A natural hybrid between N. rajah and N. villosa, found only around Mount Kinabalu in Borneo. Ribs on the inner edge of the peristome end in long teeth, and its pitchers are intermediate between the parents. It forms upper pitchers more readily than either parent.

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.

True to its name ('white-margined'), this pitcher plant has a band of white hairs just below the rim. The hairs lure termites, making it known as a termite-specialist carnivore. Pitchers are about 15 cm tall.

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 pitcher plant with round, shield-shaped leaves whose tendril joins the underside of the blade, and large pitchers swollen at the base. It grows only on the granite cliffs of Mount Kelam in Borneo and is among the most threatened species in the wild.

A highland pitcher plant endemic to Sulawesi, Indonesia. Its upper pitchers are narrow below and flare abruptly above like a wine glass, the feature that separates it from its close relative N. maxima.

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 small highland pitcher plant endemic to northern Sumatra. Its name is Indonesian for 'toilet', after the wide-mouthed yellow upper pitchers shaped like a toilet bowl. It was described only in 2006.

A lowland pitcher plant of the east coast of Madagascar. It bears mostly slender, funnel-shaped yellow upper pitchers with a broad peristome and an almost circular lid, and was the first Nepenthes species recorded scientifically, in the 17th century.

A lowland pitcher plant from the southern Philippines. Its upper pitchers reach 40 cm long, among the largest in the genus and rivalling N. rajah, with a broad, strongly ribbed peristome and a large lid.

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.