Pitcher plant with a white band of hair under the rim that lures termites

Nepenthes albomarginata is a tropical pitcher plant from Borneo, the Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra. The species name comes from the Latin albus (white) and marginatus (bordered) and refers to the dense band of short white hairs located directly under the pitcher's rim, the species' most distinct characteristic.

This plant is a climber and the stem can grow up to 4 meters long. The leaves are leathery and grow up to 25 centimeters long. The pitchers are relatively small, up to 15 centimeters high and 4 centimeters wide, with a pair of fringed wings along the front.

The species is unique among carnivorous plants in that it has specialized in a single type of prey: termites. The white band of hair under the peristome (rim) is living tissue that acts as bait. When a foraging termite colony finds the pitcher, the termites begin grazing on the hair band, and many then fall into the pitcher, unable to climb out. Pitchers that have caught termites therefore often lack parts of their white band. N. albomarginata is the only known plant that offers its own tissue as bait.

In the wild, it grows primarily in a type of heath forest on nutrient-poor sandy soil, but has also been found in the summit vegetation of lowland mountains, on both sphagnum moss and limestone.

Care

Thrives in medium to bright indirect light. Use a substrate of 50 percent long-fiber sphagnum and 50 percent perlite or coconut chips/orchid bark. Keep it moist but not soggy, and preferably water only with distilled or rainwater.

This species prefers it warm, around 29 degrees Celsius during the day and 20 degrees at night. Humidity should be around 65 percent during the day and preferably closer to 90 percent at night, making a terrarium, plant cabinet, or shaded greenhouse the best location, though it usually acclimates to a normal indoor environment as well. Never fertilize in the substrate.