Plant Cuttings

There is a tradition in book-publishing that, having produced a hardback copy of a title, a paperback version is released (James Birch). If sufficient time has passed between the two events, one might like to think the later release will incorporate any necessary corrections or revisions to the hard-back’s original text [especially if a reviewer of the hardback version has pointed out textual matters that would benefit from the attention and action of the author/publisher – such as including sources…]. Anyway, using that as a pretext, I’ve been taking a look at my earliest Plant Cuttings items, which originally appeared in the Annals of Botany in January 2010 (Annals of Botany 105(1): v–vii, 2010; https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcp293). Written almost 15 years ago [items were completed two months before print publication date], some of them would benefit from ‘revision’. In that regard, I offer this early example about carnivorous plants. First the original item, then a more up-to-date version – with some ‘analysis’. I hope you find this exercise illuminating: I did.

Original 2010 version

Pitcher this: Rat-catcher extraordinaire

Image source: Stewart McPherson, one of the plant’s discovers*

It’s always been a topsy-turvy world when feeding’s concerned – what with vegetarian spiders and carnivorous plants – but upping the ante in the ‘who-eats-whom or what’ stakes, comes news of a true giant amongst flesh-eating plants. Whilst there are oft-repeated stories of carnivorous plants whose pitchers are large enough to drown rats, they are usually dismissed as myths or the far-fetched ramblings of those who have wandered too long in south-east Asian jungles. Now, however, it seems that there may well be truth in the stories. A new species of carnivorous plant has been discovered in the highlands of the central Philippines whose pitchers are big enough to catch rats as well as its more usual ‘prey’, insects. Of course, it is probably inaccurate to say that such a plant actually catches rats: it is conceivable that they fall in accidentally and drown in the pitcher’s copious supply of liquid. As befits a giant in its field the plant has been named Nepenthes attenboroughii in honour of one of the UK’s most internationally acclaimed naturalists and broadcasters, Sir David Attenborough (Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society159: 195–202, 2009). The fact that the intrepid team of Stewart McPherson, Alastair Robinson and Volker Heinrich also discovered ‘strange pink ferns’ and blue mushrooms – which they could not identify – on their expedition does not detract from the magnitude of their insectivorous discovery. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8195000/8195029.stm]

2024’s version

Every pitcher tells a story**…

This image, showing a lower pitcher of Nepenthes attenboroughii demonstrating the characteristic campanulate shape and upright lid of this species, by Alastair Robinson, is reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

It’s always been a topsy-turvy (Gary Martin) world when feeding and plants are concerned – what with vegetarian spiders [a reference to an accompanying Plant Cuttings item in the same issue of Annals of Botany, entitled Vegetarian spiders (Annals of Botany 105(1): vii, 2010; https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcp293)***] and plants that feed off fungi (Vincent Merckx et al., Annals of Botany 104: 1255–1261, 2009; https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcp235). That is to say, nutritionally, plants aren’t just about ‘eating sunshine’ (i.e. photosynthesis (Heather Kropp & Angela Halasey)), and are eaten by a wider range of animals than one might suppose. But ‘upping the ante’ in the ‘who-eats-what’ stakes, comes news of a true giant amongst flesh-eating plants.

Whilst one may have heard of stories of carnivorous plants (Laura Goertzel) whose pitchers are large enough to drown rats, such tales are usually dismissed as myths. Now, however, it seems that there may be some truth in those stories. A new species of carnivorous plant has been discovered in the highlands of the central Philippines, which is “among the largest of all pitchers and is so big that it can catch rats as well as insects in its leafy trap” (Matt Walker). Whilst it’s probably inaccurate to say that such a plant actually catches rats – no evidence of such behaviour was presented in Walker’s article – it is conceivable that those rodents might accidentally fall in these large traps, drown in the pitcher’s copious supply of liquid, become digested and some of its breakdown products by absorbed by the plant. In other words, it’s possible that this plant “can catch rats”.

As befits such a large carnivore, the plant has been named Nepenthes attenboroughii, in honour of a true human ‘giant in his field’, one of the world’s most internationally-acclaimed naturalists and broadcasters, the UK’s Sir David Attenborough****. A well-known phrase in English is to ‘say it with flowers’). If most people were to be named after a flesh-devouring flowering plant, they’d understandably wonder what that said about them, and probably be a little offended. However, Sir David is, apparently, “a keen enthusiast of the genus [Nepenthes]”, and is presumably suitably pleased to be so honoured.

The fact that the intrepid team of Stewart McPherson, Alastair Robinson, and Volker Heinrich also discovered ‘strange pink ferns’ and blue mushrooms – “which they could not identify” (Matt Walker) – on the same expedition does not detract from the magnitude of their putative rodentivorous discovery. The publication that formally names this plant is freely-available on the internet (Alastair Robinson et al., Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 159(2): 195–202, 2009; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8339.2008.00942.x)*****.

A note on some of the changes to the 2010 version

The original title has been amended [see 2^nd paragraph of Post-2010 update for more on this point]. A new – ‘free-to-use’ – image has been used to illustrate the post. A ‘typo’ was identified in the picture caption*. Although that can’t now be changed – or it won’t be the true, original text(!) – it has been acknowledged. The author – Matt Walker – has been added for the BBC Earth News item that inspired – and provided much of the material for – the original piece. Its omission was an egregious oversight, for which I apologise. One should always provide a source’s author where it is known: ‘Credit where credit’s due’. Since one of my interests is people-and-plants, the new version provides links for more information and background on the three named plant hunters. Explanation of less-common English words and phrases has been provided, e.g. ‘topsy-turvy’. As a result of these changes, the item has increased in length, from the original 240 or so words to approx. 515 words.

Post-2010 update

In 2012, Nepenthes attenboroughii was assessed for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as being critically endangered in nature (AS Robinson & DA Madulid, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2012: e.T159126A790335; https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012-1.RLTS.T159126A790335.en.). With only 300-500 mature individuals in the wild, I don’t know whether we should be pleased or not to discover that it is being offered – for sale – in April 2024 – by commercial plant-growers, e.g. Hampshire Carnivorous Plants Ltd, at £108 [https://www.hantsflytrap.com/nmc926-nepenthes-attenboroughii-514-p.asp], and Jeremiah’s Plants, for £150. One can only hope that these plants have not been trafficked from the wild, depleting the native population still further. We may therefore take some reassurance from Jeremiah Harris’ declaration that “Every plant I ship out has been grown and treated with the upmost care”, and interpret that as meaning that all appropriate plant-protection legislation, e.g. Appendix II of CITES, which “prohibits international trade in specimens of these species except when the purpose of the import is not commercial”, and covers all Nepenthes species, has been complied with.

Rereading the original source for that item, it doesn’t definitely state that Attenborough’s pitcher plant caught rats. Rather, McPherson is quoted as saying that “The plant is among the largest of all carnivorous plant species and produces spectacular traps as large as other species which catch not only insects, but also rodents as large as rats” (cited in the news item by Matt Walker). Seemingly, in penning the original piece, I was a little too keen to interpret that as endorsing the view that N. attenboroughii caught rats, rather than that its pitchers are as large as those of another Nepenthes species’ that does trap rodents. And, how could I not be persuaded by Walker’s words, “The pitcher … is so big that it can catch rats as well as insects in its leafy trap”? Anyway, I now recognise that my original sub-title of “Rat-catcher extraordinaire” was a little over-ambitious and incorrect. Accordingly, it has been changed for the 2024 revised version of the story **. But, and pleasingly, subsequent research for my updating of this item did uncover the fact that “In October 2012, however, a dead shrew was found in a pitcher of Nepenthes attenboroughii during a return expedition to Mount Victoria by Robinson and a group of naturalists” [stated here]. Perhaps, it’s just a matter of time before an actual rat – even if it’s a very small one – is caught in the trap?

Maybe, updating this item in another 15 years, observations of the plant’s rat-trapping behaviour will have caught up with the sub-title of the original piece(?). After all, genuine, bona fide, rat-catching behaviour has been attested to for Nepenthes rajah. Following the 1862 claim of a rat in the ‘rajah trap’ by Spenser St John (A Phillipps), Betsy Andrews and A Phillipps found drowned rats in pitchers of N. rajah in 1987 (A Phillipps). The rat-catching behaviour of N. rajah has also been stated – but without citing any sources – by Tuan C Nguyen, and Dan Rowsom.

Post-script

I thought that updating this item would be a straightforward task, requiring a minimum of ‘tweaking’. But, once embarked upon this project, I soon realised how much Plant Cutting items had evolved since they first appeared, and consequently how much needed to be changed. Although the 2010 piece may inform, it doesn’t provide that much by way of ‘education’ [a major contribution to which is providing sources to support statements made]. Believing that humour (Arthur Koestler) is also a legitimate educational ‘tool’ (Pratish Nair; Fatih Erdoğdu & Ünal Çakıroğlu (RPTEL 16, 9 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1186/s41039-021-00158-8); Cheong Fan), attempts at injecting some have been attempted. Consequently, the 2024 version of the news item is much-fuller – although not gratuitously so – than the original, and is now much more in keeping with what I hope readers would expect from one of my blog pieces.

Anyway, this has been more of a cathartic experience than I anticipated – with more ‘soul-baring’ than one should feel comfortable with****** – but I trust it provides a little more insight into what a Plant Cutting is, and what the blog hopes to achieve.

* Oops! This ‘typo’ has been overlooked for 15 years, until now; ‘discovers’ should be ‘discoverers’…

** This is an attempt at a wordplay, a pun, on the phrase ‘every picture tells a story’ (Pascal Tréguer), using pitcher, the animal-digesting leaf modification of a carnivorous plant, as a homophone for ‘picture’. And which blog item is illustrated with a picture of a pitcher (because the pictured pitcher does have quite a story to tell). [I know, one should never attempt to explain a joke…]

*** Were I to revise the original item, which looked at Bagheera kiplingi [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagheera_kiplingi] (Kara Rogers; Ed Yong), I’d certainly include mention of Martin Nyffeler et al’s paper, “Plant-eating by spiders” (The Journal of Arachnology 44(1): 15-27, 2016; https://doi.org/10.1636/P15-45.1) [and would have made some mention of its 1^st April publication date…].

**** Explaining this plant’s scientific name, Alastair Robinson et al. (Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 159(2): 195–202, 2009; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8339.2008.00942.x), write as follows: “Etymology: The specific epithet, attenboroughii, is a commemorative, genitive noun in apposition taken from the patronym Attenborough. We have chosen to name this species after broadcaster and naturalist, Sir David Attenborough, whose outstanding television documentaries have made the world’s natural history accessible and understandable to millions. As a keen enthusiast of the genus and a patron of Philippine conservation efforts, it is fitting that this spectacular new species be dedicated to him on the occasion of his 80th birthday”. In the Acknowledgements section to their paper, Robinson et al. thank Sir David Attenborough “for his encouragement and support”. I think from this we can conclude that Sir David is happy with his name being associated with this plant.

***** In a seemingly casual statement in his BBC Earth News item, Matt Walker states that “On the way down the mountain, the team also came across a striking new species of sundew, a type of sticky trap plant, which they are in the process of formally describing”. This second new-to-science carnivorous plant was formally described, as Drosera ultramafica, by Andreas Fleischmann et al. (Blumea – Biodiversity, Evolution and Biogeography of Plants 56(1): 10-15, 2011; https://doi.org/10.3767/000651911X560907). Although I’ve not yet tracked down anything further about those ‘strange pink ferns’ or ‘blue mushrooms’, this must have been quite the expedition!

****** In case you’re wondering, I’d like to reassure readers that, because the effort involved in reworking an old Cutting is probably as much as goes into creating a completely new one, Mr P Cuttings has no plans to repeat this exercise(!)

Tags: science communication, botany, plant science, plant biology, vegetarian spider, pitcher plant, Sir David Attenborough, Nepenthes attenboroughii, Nepenthes, Nepenthes rajah, rat, carnivorous plant, Annals of Botany, Plant Cuttings, CITES, Drosera ultramafica, Bagheera kiplingi,