Carnivorous plant | Growth of nepenthes' insectivorous leaf

Growth of insectivorous leaf of nepenthes

The other day I bought a carnivorous plant, nepenthes.

Speaking of nepenthes, it is a characteristic insectivorous leaf.

In this article, I would like to use some pictures to see how the insectivorous leaf grow into that magnificent bag.

First of all, these pictures do not follow the growth of one insect leaf, but several insectivorous leaves attached to one nepenthes arranged according to the growth stage.

First, a leaf shaped like a thin vine comes out from the center.

This spreads and becomes a familiar leaf shape, but the vines hang down at the tip of the leaf.

The tip of the vine at the tip of the leaf is sharp, but there is a slight bulge.

There is a remnant of a trapped leaf.

Although it will take a long time, the insect leaves at the tip of the vine will grow into a bag that looks like a nepenthes.

However, the lid is not open yet.

At this stage, digestive juices have already begun to accumulate.

The color changes to a crisp shade of green and red and the lid opens.

It grows into a splendid insectivorous leaf.

When I looked inside, there was a feather bug.

By the way, the insectivorous leaf that has begun to die is reflected next to it.

When it withers, it seems to wilt from the tip, that is, from the lid to the vine.

Since it is a famous nepenthes, I often saw its existence on pictorial books and TV, but I did not know that the insectivorous leaves were connected to the leaves like this.

I thought that the leaves were vines, and the insectivorous leaves were vines or something.

I thought that the vines were stuck on the lid and the vines were hanging down.

I was a little impressed that the insectivorous leaves were firmly supported against the force of gravity.