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Cephalotus

The Albany pitcher plant is another oddity in the carnivorous plant world. It inhabits a small range on the western coast of Australia where the habitat is amazingly like that of the venus flytrap. It is often flooded in spring, has to compete with grasses and sedges, is in a boggy, but not soggy area, and is one of the first plants to return from natural burns. The latitude is almost the same as the venus flytrap, the main difference being that winters are somewhat warmer than in North Carolina. It is also under environmental pressures to move on for progress, but this is mainly due to cattle ranching. The cattle stomp the little plants into oblivion, and ruin the rest of the natural habitat. Incidentally, botanists searching for Cephalotusoften find them by stepping on them and hearing the pitchers pop!

The pitchers of Cephalotusare shaped like moccasins, and consist of the pitcher, lid, and mouth. It traps primarily crawling insects, which are lured into the liquid by sunlight reflecting through the windows in the lid to the watery grave below. Insects crawl in hoping to find a drink, and end up as a meal. The entire pitcher is covered in bristly hairs which aid in reflecting heat away from the plant.

Also interesting is that Cephalotusproduces at least two type of leaves; the pitchers, and oval shaped flat leaves. These oval, non-carnivorous leaves are produced during spring as light levels increase, and are possibly formed to increase photosynthesis for production of pitchers later in the summer.

Species

There is only one species, Cephalotus follicularisand a couple of variants, the normal one, and the 'Giant' which produces pitchers up to twice the size of the normal variant.

Soil and Containers

Very similar to venus flytraps. Cephalotusprefers a 1:1 mix of peat moss and sand, and a deep container, at least 6 inches in diameter. They don't like their roots wet, so keep them in shallow water, and allow this to evaporate before refilling.

Climate

While Cephalotusdoes not require a dormancy, they do benefit from a change in photoperiod. They can withstand the same extreme temperatures as venus flytraps, although they tend to prefer it a little warmer.

Cephalotusdoes not seem picky about the amount of light it receives. If grown in full sun, they produce dark red, small pitchers. However, they will succeed in a north facing window, producing large green pitchers.

Propagation

Cephalotuscan be propagated by seed, leaf cuttings, rhizome cuttings, division, and tissue culture.

The only difference from the venus flytrap in propagation techniques is the rhizome cuttings. The wiry rhizome can be cut into 1 inch peices, place just under the surface of the soil, and allowed to grow. Leaf cuttings can be made from both carnivorous and non-carnivorous leaves, although I personally prefer using the non-carnivorous ones.

While Cephalotushas been successfully introduced into tissue culture, they have not found that plants grow significantly faster as compared to traditional methods. Because of this, Cephalotusremains a somewhat moderately priced plants.

Seasonal Care

Remove dead growth, repot every few years, and remove flowers in the spring to prevent sapping of the plants strength. When repotting, plants can be divided up or left to form large colonies. Leaf and rhizome cuttings should be done in the spring time.

Pests and Diseases

Due to the bristly nature of the pitchers, this plant is rarely infested with any pests. While fungus may occur, this is also rare since it prefers lower water levels.