Nepenthes rafflesiana

Native to the Malay Peninsula, Singapore, Borneo, and Sumatra, this tropical pitcher plant grows as a vigorous climbing vine. Its tendrils support pitchers formed from modified leaves. Liquid inside the traps helps digest captured small animals. Lower pitchers are usually egg-shaped, while those higher on climbing stems are funnel-shaped. It grows in lowland peat swamps, secondary forests and damp sites with poor, acidic soil. Its pitchers can shelter mosquito larvae and crab spiders. It is vulnerable in Singapore, where habitat loss threatens its populations. Photographed in Ecuador.