The Cambodian government asked people to stop picking rare carnivorous plants that, when viewed from certain angles, look a lot like human male Genitalia.
The Cambodian Ministry of Environment shared photos on Facebook of three women taking pitcher plants and posing for pictures. Ministry officials asked that the public not touch the rare plants. Khmer Times reported.
“What they are doing is wrong and please don’t do it again in the future!” The Ministry of Environment wrote May 11 in the Facebook post. “Thank you for loving natural resources, but don’t harvest so it goes to waste!”
Some news websites reported that this plant is being used for medicinal purposes. Nepenthes holdeniiBut it’s actually a closely-related species called Nepenthes bokorensisJeremy Holden is a freelance wildlife photographer who was first exposed to the concept. N. Holdenii, and François Mey, a botanical illustrator who described both species, separately told Live Science.
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N. holdeniiAnd N. bokorensis Both are similar in appearance. They only occur in nearby mountain ranges which may explain the confusion. However, N. holdeniiIt is the rarer of both species, and few researchers know where to locate it.
“My plant [N. holdenii]Holden said that it grows in a few hidden locations in the Cardamom Mountains, southwestern Cambodia.BokorensisIt is located on the much more accessible Phnom Bokor which has undergone extensive development over recent years.”
The Ministry of Environment’s Facebook post & photos responded to a May 11 video that showed women picking plants. NewsflareA website that licenses and buys videos. This isn’t the first time that the government has warned against harming phallic or photogenic plants. Senior officials at the ministry asked tourists to not pick. N. bokorensis And N. holdeniiIn a StatementIn July 2021 because the activity could lead to the plants’ extinction.
NepenthesPlants can survive in low-nutrient soils by adding live insects to their diet. They also use their nectar and sweet scent to attract prey. “When you smell a good thing, it’s a good thing.” bokorensis pitcher, it smells sweet — just like a candy,” Mey said.
Insects eat nectar from the plants’ modified leaves, which, when mature, look like pitchers. When insects fall into pitchers, they are submerged in digestive fluids, and the hungry plants absorb their nutrients. The pitcher plant’s phallic resemblance to a pitcher is most evident when Nepenthes’The pitcher is closed, but leaves are still growing.
According to a 2021 study published in the Journal of International Studies, the natural habitats for carnivorous pitcher plants have declined in Cambodia due to agricultural expansion on private lands as well as the growth of the tourism sector into protected areas. Cambodian Journal of Natural History.
Mey observed that even though the phallic appearance of the plants can be “fun”, picking them could threaten their survival.
“If people are interested in taking pictures with the plants, even if they do so in a funny manner, it’s fine,” said he. “Just don’t pick the pitchers as it weakens your plant. The plant needs these pitchers for its survival.”
Original publication on Live Science
