A new species of Nepenthes pitcher plant has been discovered in a remote region of the Philippines. After being rescued, they described the mammoth carnivorous plant. Apparently, some missionaries who became lost in the wilderness originally discovered it. Consequently, a research expedition of pitcher plant specialists returned and found it.

The new species of tropical pitcher plant has been named after David Attenborough—Nepenthes attenboroughii (pictured). Furthermore, the newly discovered species is also described as being “the largest of all pitchers and is so big that it can catch rats as well as insects in its leafy trap.” Additionally, according to a thread on Terraforums.com, “It seems unfortunately this species is critically endangered and present as less than a few hundred individuals in just one location.” From the BBC News:

Word that this new species of pitcher plant existed initially came from two Christian missionaries who in 2000 attempted to scale Mount Victoria, a rarely visited peak in central Palawan in the Philippines.
With little preparation, the missionaries attempted to climb the mountain but became lost for 13 days before being rescued from the slopes.

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Accompanied by three guides, the team hiked through lowland forest, finding large stands of a pitcher plant known to science called Nepenthes philippinensis, as well as strange pink ferns and blue mushrooms which they could not identify.

As they closed in on the summit, the forest thinned until eventually they were walking among scrub and large boulders

“At around 1,600 metres above sea level, we suddenly saw one great pitcher plant, then a second, then many more,” McPherson recounts.

“It was immediately apparent that the plant we had found was not a known species.”

David Attenborough in the video below describes the tropical pitcher plant family and N. rajah: “It’s so big that it catches not just insects but even small rodents, and one was recorded that had in it the body of a drowned rat, so if ever there was a carnivore among plants this is it.”

This video shows a mouse falling into a Nepenthes trap:

The first three images are by Alastair Robinson. The last image above was found here.

Similar from The Conservation Report: “NEW SPECIES: Rat-eating plant discovered in Cape York“

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