A Rat Eating Plant?

The purple pitcher plants introduced in the 1940s at Cranberry Glades Natural Area (Monongalhelia National Forest - Pocahontas County) are minatures compared to the new species discovered recently.

Rumors of the existence of hugh carnivorous plants began circulating back in 2000, when two Christian missionaries described seeing enormous pitcher plants while wandering lost on Mount Victoria in the central Philippine highlands. Sufficiently intrigued, a group of pitcher plant experts organised an expedition to this remote area and found an enormous plant with liquid traps large enough to drown a rat. The new species has been named Nepenthes attenboroughii, after the naturalist broadcaster David Attenborough.

It is thought that only a few hundred of the plants exist, growing only on one mountain on the island of Palawan. It is likely that the new species occasionally digested rats and mice.

Sir David Attenborough already has several species named after him, including a spiny anteater in New Guinea, a rare tree in Ecuador and a marine reptile, the Attenborosaurus, that lived during the Jurassic period.

But he downplayed the scientific significance of such names. “You have to have names for things and and you run out after a bit,” he said. “It’s just a compliment, but it’s very nice to receive compliments."

Here us an update on our last blog of Pilgrim George. I see the Hur Herald stopped by and interviewed him as he traveled through Calhoun County on his way to Spencer. The link is below:

http://www.hurherald.com/cgi-bin/db_scripts/articles?Action=user_view&db=articles_hurherald&id=35872

Have a great weekend!