Quick Pics: December 12, 2014

Despite the colder weather, a few Nepenthes caught my eye:

Nepenthes truncata with some great stripes:

Recently opened pitcher

The forever underrated Nepenthes ramispina:

Smoky-black w/ creamy blue inside

Nepenthes veitchii “Golden Peristome”:

How did it get its name???

Plant Spotlight: Nepenthes talangensis x robcantleyi

Borneo Exotics in Sri Lanka typically only exports immature plants with leaf-spans ranging from 2″-8″. However, a few months ago they announced that they would make some of their larger “specimen” plants available.

Importing anything but smaller plants tends to be more trouble than it’s worth: They take up more space, cost more to ship, are more prone to damage in-transit, and they also experience much greater transplant shock than smaller plants. Larger plants also seldom fetch proportionately high prices in today’s collector market.

However, when I saw this particular hybrid, I decided it was all worth it. While the absolutely spectacular Nepenthes robcantleyi is very new to cultivation and therefore has yet to be proven as a good hybridizer, Nepenthes talangensis has consistently produced some of the best hybrids around. I reasoned that if any mate could bring out the very best in N. robcantleyi, it would be N. talangensis.

I suspect I was correct:

Monster N. talangensis x robcantleyi pitcher

 

Freshly potted from above

 

A more mature pitcher

Plants of this size take months to resume normal growth as they re-establish, but I’m sure this will become an absolute show-stopper.

 

Quick Pics: August 8, 2014

This seed-grown Nepenthes densiflora x robcantleyi is shaping up to be an absolute show-stopper:

The always incredible Nepenthes x trusmadiensis (naturally-occurring hybrid between N. lowii and N. macrophylla):

Drosera “Floating” is a lightly-colored variant of D. admirabilis that is found growing along the edges of, or sometimes in the shallow parts of ponds:

Massive (and extremely fragrant) Stanhopea orchid from an adjoining greenhouse:

Quick Pics: June 30, 2014

Nepenthes (veitchii x lowii) x spectabilis “Giant” starting to show some great color. This plant has always had a very tough time during colder winter months. Hopefully the new greenhouse will allow it to thrive year-round.

Cephalotus follicularis from Borneo Exotics.

Sarracenia ‘Adrian Slack’ dripping with nectar. This remains perhaps the most spectacular Sarracenia hybrid. The pitchers produce a sweet, musky smell this time of the year.

Ant Invasion!

A few days ago, I noticed that some of my Nepenthes had started producing an exceptionally large amount of nectar. Some of them had visible, glistening droplets covering their pitchers. It was so striking that I snapped a couple pictures:

Nepenthes maxima upper with nectar

Another N. maxima pitcher with nectar droplets

Well I wasn’t the only one to notice this. The next morning I arrived at a very different scene. Ants had invaded the greenhouse, and were feasting on the abundant nectar:

Ants feasting

I started looking around and noticed clusters of ants all over my plants:

This Nepenthes sanguinea seemed especially popular:

However, a meal this good is not without risks:

I also made a quick video of the ants swarming the above Nepenthes maxima, and being devoured by the hundreds:

Plant Spotlight: Nepenthes densiflora x spectabilis “Giant”

I will be periodically featuring outstanding plants from our collection and the collections of our friends in “spotlight” posts. These spotlights will have information on the plant, its history, growing advice, trivia, and probably most importantly: lots of pictures. What better way to get started than with an absolute MONSTER?

This is Nepenthes densiflora x spectabilis “Giant”:

We received this seed-grown plant from Borneo Exotics in February of 2011 and it has been happily growing in our California greenhouse ever since.

This plant stands head-and-shoulders above everything around it. Without fail, every person who sees this plant knows that it’s something special, even if they have never seen a Nepenthes before.

The lower pitchers are deep purple and brown and are covered in a velvety fur. The peristome is probably the most richly colored of any Nepenthes we have seen, with a burgundy background and almost black stripes. The spur on these pitchers is also very irregular, as it can be over 3 inches long. The tendrils are massively thick and also covered in hair, and the leaf-span is nearly 3 feet!

Unopened lower pitcher. Notice the “fur” & super long spur!

The upper pitchers can be just as stunning as the lower pitchers. They are more lightly colored, and are extremely elongated. Their peristomes exhibit a more vivid striping pattern:

Even the flowers of this beast set it apart. Like the pitchers, they are deep purple and are covered in brown fur. The petals of the female flower drool a thick, resinous sap from visible nectar glands:

So far we have crossed this female with N. aristolochioides, N. ventricosa, N. mira and N. talangensis. Keep a lookout for these seed-grown releases in the coming years.

Some interesting trivia: this particular specimen might end up being responsible for the very future of this hybrid in cultivation! I made a post about this plant on a forum last year. The pictures generated a lot of interest, including from Rob Cantley, the owner of Borneo Exotics and the man responsible for the hybrid. He sadly informed us that no more of these plants would be available because the tissue culture stock had been lost due to contamination. However, after taking another look, he discovered a few “lost” backup jars of this very cross in another location! This means that there should be more of these plants on the market in the near future. The full forum thread can be seen HERE. Obviously, I will be eagerly awaiting my royalty check for all future sales.

Welcome!

The official blog of Predatory Plants is now LIVE!

We plan to regularly update with pictures from the greenhouse, plant spotlights, growing tutorials, upcoming availability announcements, and any other news from the exciting world of carnivorous plants.

To get started, here’s a teaser picture of the first plant we will be featuring in our “spotlight” series:

Nepenthes densiflora x spectabilis “Giant” (Female)