Ventrata Pitcher Plant

Taxonomia

Familia:	Nepenthaceae
Genus:	Nepenthes
Ordo:	Caryophyllales

Conspectus

Nepenthes × ventrata is the natural hybrid between N. alata and N. ventricosa, both from the Philippines. It is one of the most commonly tissue-cultured Nepenthes, relatively easy to grow indoors, and for many people the first tropical pitcher plant they see in a garden shop.

Nepenthes × ventrata is a hybrid of two Philippine species. N. ventricosa, a highland species, has very waxy, glossy pitchers that are red, green or speckled. N. alata, found throughout much of the Philippines from lowland to highland, is highly polymorphic, with many variant forms. Like its parents, the hybrid is a climbing plant whose leaf tips extend into tendrils carrying the pitchers.

The hybrid occurs naturally in the Philippines and is also produced in very large numbers by tissue culture for the houseplant trade. Plants sold this way are often mislabelled as N. alata. The cultivar name 'LeeAnn Marie' was later applied to the same plant, but it was never validly published and is treated as a synonym. As in all Nepenthes, individual plants are either male or female.

Informationes Geographicae

Regio Nativa: Philippines (natural hybrid where N. alata and N. ventricosa meet); widely cultivated

Zonae Climaticae: Tropical (Philippines); a common indoor plant elsewhere

As a natural hybrid it is endemic to the Philippines, like both its parents. N. ventricosa is a highland species of Luzon, and N. alata is found throughout much of the country at a wide range of elevations. Most plants seen today are cultivated, tissue-cultured plants.

Characteres Physicae

Magnitudo Matura: Not given in the cited sources; like most Nepenthes it becomes a large vine in time

Incrementum Ratio: Moderate

Typus Laquei: Pitfall Trap

The pitchers are watertight pitfall traps at the ends of the leaf tendrils. Their walls are slippery and very hard for prey to climb, and the ribbed peristome around the mouth helps retain prey and conduct it into the pitcher. The lid probably serves mainly to attract prey with its color and nectar glands, and insects clinging to its underside are at risk of falling in. Nepenthes are almost certainly able to make their own digestive enzymes, called nepenthesins, and more than 150 kinds of animals are known to live in Nepenthes pitchers. Pitchers near the ground tend to catch crawling prey and higher ones more flying insects.

Dux Curae

Requisita Lucis

Bright, diffuse sunlight. Artificial lighting can be enough if it is bright. It is relatively easy to grow indoors, but needs the brightest, most humid spot you can give it.

Bright light year round; no seasonal rest cotidie

Aquae Requisita

Typus: Purified water (distilled, reverse osmosis or rain) is safest

Methodus: Water from above and let the excess drain. Plants left standing in trays often develop dwarfed root systems.

Frequentia: Keep the mix moist; frequent watering suits an airy, well drained mix

Humiditas: High is best: at least 60%, ideally near 90%

Solum

Start with a 50:50 mix of long-fiber sphagnum moss and perlite. Match the mix to your conditions: in a very humid setting with frequent watering an almost pure aggregate mix works, while a brighter, drier setting needs more sphagnum to hold water. After about a year, knock the plant out of its pot and check that the roots are spreading through the mix.

pH: Acidic (sphagnum based)

Temperatura

Aestas: Days 77-86°F (25-30°C); nights about 18°F cooler

Hiems: Same as summer; no winter rest

Pascens

Frequentia: Optional; fertilizer at most once or twice a month into pitchers

Optional. If you want to fertilize, pour a small amount of orchid or epiphyte fertilizer directly into the pitchers once or twice a month, starting small and watching the effect. Plants that catch insects need nothing more, and many growers never fertilize Nepenthes.

Propagatio

Methodi: Stem cuttings: cut a green stem into segments with about two leaves each, trim each leaf to about a third of its size, bury the lower half in the mix and keep the pot in a closed bag at 100% humidity. Roots usually form within a month or so. Cuttings made under water root better. Seed needs a male and a female plant flowering at the same time; the long, threadlike seed should be sown immediately. Commercial plants are produced by tissue culture.

Difficultas: Moderate

Consilia Incipientium

A good first tropical pitcher plant. Keep it bright, warm and as humid as you can, water from above with pure water, and let old pitchers die off naturally as new ones form.

Difficultates solvendi (vel difficultates solvendi)

Leaf edges burning and tendrils failing to form pitchers: humidity is too low. Small plant with a weak root system: the pot has been left standing in water. Roots not exploring the mix after a year: change the mix.

Consilia Crescentia

Do not leave it in a saucer of water General

Water from above and let it drain. Nepenthes kept standing in water tend to have dwarfed root systems.

No new pitchers indoors Troubleshooting

Tendrils that fail to form pitchers usually mean the air is too dry. Move the plant to a more humid spot or a terrarium-style enclosure.

Check the label General

Mass-market plants sold as N. alata are very often N. × ventrata. Both are grown the same way, but the correct name matters if you want to trade or breed plants.

Facta Curiosa

It is often sold under the wrong name, N. alata.
The name N. × ventrata was first printed in Ron Fleming's 1979 list of Nepenthes hybrids in the Carnivorous Plant Newsletter, where it appears as a natural hybrid complex.
Because it was published without a formal description, the name is technically a nomen nudum.
The cultivar name 'LeeAnn Marie' refers to the same plant but was never validly published.

Historia

The name first appeared in March 1979 in 'Hybrid Nepenthes', a listing by Ron Fleming in the Carnivorous Plant Newsletter (volume 8, pages 10 to 12). Fleming listed named Nepenthes hybrids alphabetically with their breeders, dates and parentage, and entered Ventrata as a natural hybrid complex of N. ventricosa and N. alata. Because no formal description accompanied it, the name is a nomen nudum and is cited as Hort. ex Fleming (1979).

With the spread of tissue culture the hybrid became one of the most widely sold tropical pitcher plants, stocked by garden shops and home centres, often under the name N. alata.

Fontes

Frequentes interrogationes

Bright, diffuse sunlight. Artificial lighting can be enough if it is bright. It is relatively easy to grow indoors, but needs the brightest, most humid spot you can give it. Aim for about Bright light year round; no seasonal rest of light a day.

Purified water (distilled, reverse osmosis or rain) is safest. Water from above and let the excess drain. Plants left standing in trays often develop dwarfed root systems.

Start with a 50:50 mix of long-fiber sphagnum moss and perlite. Match the mix to your conditions: in a very humid setting with frequent watering an almost pure aggregate mix works, while a brighter, drier setting needs more sphagnum to hold water. After about a year, knock the plant out of its pot and check that the roots are spreading through the mix. Soil pH: Acidic (sphagnum based).

Non est necesse dormitio. temperaturae hiemalis: Same as summer; no winter rest.

Optional. If you want to fertilize, pour a small amount of orchid or epiphyte fertilizer directly into the pitchers once or twice a month, starting small and watching the effect. Plants that catch insects need nothing more, and many growers never fertilize Nepenthes. How often: Optional; fertilizer at most once or twice a month into pitchers.

Philippines (natural hybrid where N. alata and N. ventricosa meet); widely cultivated. As a natural hybrid it is endemic to the Philippines, like both its parents.

Stem cuttings: cut a green stem into segments with about two leaves each, trim each leaf to about a third of its size, bury the lower half in the mix and keep the pot in a closed bag at 100% humidity. Roots usually form within a month or so. Cuttings made under water root better. Seed needs a male and a female plant flowering at the same time; the long, threadlike seed should be sown immediately. Commercial plants are produced by tissue culture.

Leaf edges burning and tendrils failing to form pitchers: humidity is too low. Small plant with a weak root system: the pot has been left standing in water. Roots not exploring the mix after a year: change the mix.

Sicut multae plantae, plantae aquaticae sunt plantae quae in aqua, in terra, in aer vivunt.

Carnivoras sells Ventrata Pitcher Plant in Mexico. See the plants available on this page.