Category: Pitchers
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Cephalotus
Cephalotus (Greek: κεφαλή “head”, and οὔς/ὠτός “ear”, to describe the head of the anthers) is a genus which contains one species, Cephalotus follicularis the Albany pitcher plant, a small carnivorous pitcher plant. The pit-fall traps of the modified leaves have inspired the common names for this plant, which include ‘Albany pitcher plant”, “Western Australian pitcher plant”, “Australian pitcher plant”, or “fly-catcher plant.” It is an evergreen herb that is endemic to peaty…
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Nepenthesin (and the carnivorous plants it comes from)
Nepenthesin (also spelled nepenthacin or nepenthasin) is an aspartic protease of plant origin that has so far been identified in the pitcher secretions of Nepenthes and in the leaves of Drosera peltata. Discovery In the late 19th century, Sydney Howard Vines showed that the pitcher fluid from Nepenthes could digest protein in acidic conditions. He suggested the plants were making a digestive enzyme, for which he proposed the name “nepenthin”. In…
