01/02/2023
The Low's pitcher-plant is a toilet and food source all in one.
You've probably heard of carnivorous plants like the Venus flytrap, but the Nepenthes lowii (or the Low's pitcher-plant) has moved away from eating animals, to instead feasting on what they leave behind.
The plant secretes a white, sugary nectar that both birds and shrews love. But in order to access it, they must perch their rear ends over the mouth of the Low's pitcher-plant. "Basically it's a toilet complete with a feeding station," said one researcher at Royal Roads University in British Columbia.