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Dangerous to touch?

glider14

Always a newbie
ok so i just got A Savage Garden and yes its a realy great book and i was just reading it and to my surprise it said that n. biclartera's (sorry spelling is bad) fangs are very sharp. YIKES!!! it also says this for another nepenthes i just cant remember it but it had sharp persimtone eeek!! so is any of this true or was it to add ummm lets say "drama" i think i may get a biclartera but i have little bros that get in to every thing which spells for DISASTER
 
Haha, i'ts not that bad. The lid is covering it on one side, the neck is covering the back, its' far in on one side, and the rest of the pitcher is covering the bottom. Pretty much safe, unless they do it on purpose.
 
Yes. the "fangs" on bicalcarata are sharp, but mostly they're not that tough so can be bent or broken before they do any real damage. Species where the peristome is comprised of teeth (which can be also be sharp in the same way as bical's fangs) are: hamata, villosa, macrophylla and edwardsiana. On many species the ribbing of the peristome extends to form teeth of some sort, but aren't dramatic as a species such as hamata (whose name derives from that feature).
 
This is a picture many may have seen before. It's my favorite picture I've taken from my N. hamata.
My plant has not formed any upper pitchers yet. The lower pitchers teeth are not really sharp, and not strong enough if you push on them to puncture your skin. I believe the uppers are thicker and sharper. I have to wait to find out.

Nhamata_1_22_05.jpg
 
wow thats pretty neat thanks for youralls help
smile.gif
 
Wow, I never knew there were sharp fangs on Nepenthes. I always thought they were just pointed hairs like on Venus Flytraps, but then, I'm pretty new to carnivorous plants too, so I wouldn't know. Hey, I think I should get myself a copy of The Savage Garden. It sounds like a really good book.
 
they can draw blood and pierce the skin, esp older fangs on bicalcarata.

while we are at it, is there a specific name for the "fangs"?
 
The fangs are enlarged nectar glands.  Extrafloral nectaries would probably be a correct technical term.  In ID guides they are usually called thorns.
click here to see an example:fangs

The fangs on N. bical are the largest nectar glands in the plant kingdom.
 
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