Botanical name: Nepenthes khasiana    Family: Nepenthaceae (Pitcher Plant family)

Indian Pitcher Plant is a carnivorous plant endemic to the Khasi hills of Meghalaya after which it is named. The species has a very localised distribution and is critically endangered. The Khasi people call the plant tiew-rakot, which means demon-flower or devouring-plant. The plant has long, oblong-lanceshaped leaves. Some unusual leaves first look like normal leaves, then develop a tendril at their tip, and finally the tip of the tendril develops an amazing pitcher, with a lid on top. As the pitcher matures, the lid turns a reddish hue. When an insect goes inside, the lid closes, and the insect is eventually digested. The inflorescences are compound racemes, 15-60 cm long, at branch-ends with 10-25 cm long flower-cluster-stalks. The flowers are actinomorphic, red greenish, about 8 mm in diameter. Tepals are nectar-bearing, 3-4, velvet-hairy externally, and hairless inside. The male flowers have the stamens with 2-24 filaments merged in column and bilocular anthers. The female flowers have 3-4 carpels, velvet-hairy ovary, superior, with numerous ovules and style with discoid stigma. This is believed to be the only species of Pitcher Plant found in India.

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The flower labeled Indian Pitcher Plant is ...