Nepenthes alata

winged tropical pitcher plant

An evergreen, carnivorous perennial, with strap-shaded leaves with a prolonged midrib, which acts as a tendril and may end in a hanging, hollow pitcher, with two vertical ridges or "wings" at the front. The pitchers are slender expanding into a bulbous lower third, closest to the tendril, with a thickened rim and an apical lid. Pitchers vary in colour even on the same plant, ranging from yellow-green, to red, speckled, orange, purple, and a variety of combinations and range in size from 18cm, for lower pitchers to 23cm for those higher up the plant. Tiny petalless male and female flowers, with green or brown sepals, are borne in spike-like racemes.