I've always assumed that I probably didn't have enough room, didn't have the right conditions, or both, for a Nepenthes, so I've never attempted to grow one and ordinarily don't pay them a whole lot of attention. Last Wednesday at the ex-job, though, I happened to notice that they had one blooming, which I'd never seen before.
And, okay, it's not like it's amazing or beautiful or anything, but it's at least new. (I was sort of surprised to learn, when I went to add the tags for this post, that I've never had a Nepenthes-related post on the blog before.)
Individual Nepenthes plants are either male or female,1 and are distinguishable by the presence or absence of pollen. This particular plant is male; the yellow dots are the pollen.
Wikipedia says that Nepenthes are insect-pollinated, but the insects in question vary quite a bit ("flies . . . moths, wasps, and butterflies"), so it's not clear what insect might go for this particular inflorescence. Scent could be a clue, but I didn't detect one. It's possible (likely?) this is a hybrid variety and no natural pollinator exists anyway.
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1 (Or so I'm told. Please blame any inaccuracies that may be present in this post on the internet in general, and Wikipedia in particular.)
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