New CP? Or . . .

[Tropics]

New carnivorous plant? Or . . .

. . . the leaf of very young Nepenthes plant.

What are those drosera-like tentacles for? Do they secrete fluid? Does this young form of the plant recall a Nepenthes ancestor that had tentacles on its leaves? If so, did the tentacles evolve before pitchers? Did the tentacles further evolve to become glands that produce fluid? Do the tentacles correspond to the leg extremities of whale embryos that later recede? (Mature whales have tiny remnant leg bones inside their bodies, which recall ancestors that lived on land.) I wonder if someone knowledgeable in biology or genetics can shed some light on these Nepenthes tentacles.

 

[seedjar]

The tentacles are hairs, just like there are hairlike projections on larger pitchers. At young age, the hairs are a little disproportionate to the rest of the leaf, the way little kids' heads are way bigger than their bodies. Those hairs will later form the spurs, wings and fuzzy pelt found on certain species. Drosera and Nepenthes are in the same order, so I don't suppose it's too far a stretch to imagine that the hairs and tentacles share some evolutionary history. I believe the parts of Nepenthes that secrete nectar are glands embedded within the surface of the leaf and peristome, however.
~Joe

 

[abcat1993]

the way little kids' heads are way bigger than their bodies.

Yeah, like 7th graders

 

[Ant]

Wrong! I amin 7th and now you call me big headed!

 

[phissionkorps]

midgets have big heads too

 

[Clint]

Woaaaahhhhh there... this isn't south park and some of our members could be little people.