One of the most unusual types of plants Jim and I saw yesterday at Bok Tower Gardens was the tropical carnivorous plant called Nepenthes.
Several were hanging in pots in the garden shop at the visitors center. And a large metal sculpture of one was located on a small island in the tropical lily pond near the tower.
Nepenthes produces a tendril that grows into a dramatic pitcher shape. Inside, the pitcher produces nectar that attracts insects — and then drowns and digests them once they partake.
In this way, the plants derive much-needed nitrogen to supplement the lack of nutrients in the poor soil in which they normally grow.
The name Nepenthes comes from a Greek word that means “forgetfulness” and often referred to sleep-inducing drugs in ancient times.
Elsewhere in Bok Tower Gardens, native Florida pitcher plants could be found in marshy areas built to filter rainwater flowing into the Garden’s hilltop ponds.
And a fanciful sculpture of a Venus flytrap — complete with a giant sculpted blowfly — was placed off the main visitor’s path in a clearing.
Robert Craig Waters 