Nepenthes lowii

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iNepenthes lowii
Lower to intermediate pitchers of cultivated plant.
Lower to intermediate pitchers of cultivated plant.
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Nepenthaceae
Genus: Nepenthes
Species: N. lowii
Binomial name
Nepenthes lowii
Hook.f. (1859)

Distribution of N. lowii.

Nepenthes lowii (after Hugh Low, British colonial administrator and naturalist) is a well-known species of pitcher plant and a type of carnivorous plant. This taxon is perhaps the most unusual in the genus, the upper pitchers being very strongly constricted in the middle. Recent studies in the field suggest that this particular species may have moved away from a solely (or even primarily) carnivorous nature and be adapted to "catching" animal droppings, especially those of birds and tree shrews.

[edit] References

  • Clarke et al (2000). Nepenthes lowii. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 10 May 2006. Listed as Vulnerable (VU D2 v2.3)
  • Clarke, C. 1997. Nepenthes of Borneo. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu, pp. 96-99.