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A giant carnivorous plant has been discovered by a team of scientists in the central Philippines, and named after Sir David Attenborough.
The new species of pitcher plant is so big it can catch rats as well as insects in its traps.
It occurs only on the summit of one mountain in Palawan, Philippines and was discovered by botanists Alastair Robinson, Stewart McPherson, Volker Heinrich and Andreas Fleischmann in June 2007.
They named the remarkable plant Nepenthes attenboroughii in honour of natural history expert Sir David Attenborough. It is a real-life version of Audrey, the man-eating plant created by nerdy florist Seymour Krelborn in the 1986 film Little Shop of Horrors.
Nepenthes attenboroughii produces some of the largest, most voluminous and most beautiful traps of all known pitcher plants.
Mr McPherson, 26, from Poole in Dorset, said: “It’s definitely not a joke. There’s 120 different species all around the world.
“This particular one was discovered as part of a survey to look at all of them. It’s one of the largest, there’s only one or two that are any bigger. It is big enough to catch rats.”
The team said the structure of its leaves, pitchers and flowers suggests strongly that it is a close relative of the great Nepenthes rajah from Borneo and may be related to the Nepenthes flora of Palawan and Borneo.
It is one of 13 new species the team has discovered during three years of expeditions in South East Asia.
Their findings were published in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society earlier this year. Mr McPherson’s company Redfern Natural History is working on a documentary and has produced books about the new species
@Dr Chaos 346438 wrote:
What happens if you put your hand into it?
having looked it up I think all that happens is that you will get your hand covered with some fairly unpleasant slimy liquid. As far as I can ascertain the contents of the plant are not particularly highly corrosive or toxic (or it would dissolve/kill the plant), it kills the rodent by drowning it and it is then slowly dissolved over a length of time.
In England it is rumoured that some forms of cider popular in the rural areas are made in a similar fashion.
you’ve never heard about the story about rats being dumped into scrumpy tubs in SW England as part of the brewing process? Not sure if they do this in EA, if they do they must be using pedigree guinea pigs given how much Aspalls costs..
i’ve never heard of that, i mean i always thought cider was dirty but this just brings a whole new light on it
aspalls, mmmmmmmm. i would drink it even if it was rat infested.
Now I can see why cider tastes like cock snot
@General Lighting 346490 wrote:
if they do they must be using pedigree guinea pigs given how much Aspalls costs..
:laugh_at::laugh_at:
@joshd96320 346547 wrote:
aspalls, mmmmmmmm. i would drink it even if it was rat infested.
:love: tip top cider, yummy
@TheLostOne 346792 wrote:
Now I can see why cider tastes like cock snot
ha ha!! welll …… I cant really say anything in reply to that…… 😉 :laugh_at:
@TheLostOne 346792 wrote:
Now I can see why cider tastes like cock snot
:sign0068::sign0003::sign0055::sign0055::argue_mad:argue_cur:get_you::you_smart:crazy_fre:rant::ar15::head_bang
:weee:
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Forums › Life › Food & Drink › Giant meat-eating plant discovered