Rat Eating Plant Named In Honour Of Sir David Attenborough. - Nepenthes Attenboroughii

Rat-eating plant discovered in Philippines
I was really lucky to see this plant at a Garden Centre by chance in London and I was able to capture some amazing images...And this was only discovered in mid of August....

A carnivorous pitcher plant that eats rats and insects has been discovered in the Philippines and named after Sir David Attenborough.
The plant is among the largest of all pitchers and is believed to be the largest meat-eating shrub, dissolving rats with acid-like enzymes.

The team of botanists, led by British experts Stewart McPherson and Alastair Robinson, found the plant on Mount Victoria in the Philippines.
They were inspired to search for the plant after word that it is existed came from two Christian missionaries who described seeing a large carnivorous pitcher in 2000 after they climbed the mountain.

Mr McPherson, of Poole Dorset, said: "The plant produces spectacular traps which catch not only insects, but also rodents. It is remarkable that it remained undiscovered until the 21st century."

The team, which found the plant in 2007 following a two-month expedition, published details of their discovery in the Botanical Journal of Linnean Society earlier this year following a three-year study of all 120 species of pitcher plant.

They decided to name the plant Nepenthes attenboroughii, after the wildlife broadcaster Sir David.

"My team and I named it in honour of Sir David whose work has inspired generations toward a better understanding of the beauty and diversity of the natural world," added Mr McPherson.

Sir David, 83, said: "I was contacted by the team shortly after the discovery and they asked if they could name it after me. I was delighted and told them, 'Thank you very much'.

"I'm absolutely flattered. This is a remarkable species the largest of its kind. I'm told it can catch rats then eat them with its digestive enzymes. It's certainly capable of that."

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Rat
• eating
• plant
• dicsscovered
• in
• Philippines

[darlenekeesey]

great clip .. keep it up thanks

[lmmsl]

@darlenekeesey Thanks for your visit and comments.All the best :)

[MarciCow]

For some reason, the 101 Strings version of "Tenderly" is the perfect background.

[lmmsl]

@MarciCow Yes,It is a lovely music and many thanks for your visit..

[gusto1978]

im wiling to spend BIG on these plants i want them all over my yard! kill the friggin RATS!

[lmmsl]

@gusto1978 Thanks for your visit...You may have lots of problams with Rats isnt it...They are a menace....

[doggynolikey]

It eats mice o3o how cute

[mromaha]

I want to see a time laps of this thing eating. What happens to the bones

[mromaha]

Horrible music

[Nepo35]

That is a miranda. The one on article is a northiana. No attenbroughii shown... Try again.

[Sorazodia]

is it a Miranda?

[hurmpfff]

@sansuncoeur

the rat falls down the mouth of the plant and gets trapped. it dies slowly of starvation and exahustion. it takes a long time for it to be dissolved since the acid is at the steam of the pitcher. the rat might also drown when it rains and the pitcher fills up. the ones that eat insects have all kinds of ants running around the curled top of the pitcher and none seem to fall inside untill it rains which makes the curled part of the mouth of the pitcher extremely slippery. so i read

[sansuncoeur]

that rat doesn't look like it's dying



[jack902902]

@Killerspider762

That is right, Genus: Nepenthes. Species: Miranda.