Nepenthes truncata is a tropical pitcher plant

Pitcher plant

Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants whose prey-trapping mechanism features a deep cavity filled with liquid known as a pitfall trap. It has been widely assumed that the various sorts of pitfall trap evolved from rolled leaves, with selection pressure favouring more deeply cupped leaves over...

 endemic to the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. It is known from the islands of Dinagat

Dinagat Island

' is a province in the Philippines, located on the south side of Leyte Gulf. Leyte is to its west, across Surigao Strait, and Mindanao is to its south...

, Leyte, and Mindanao

Mindanao

Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three island groups in the country, which consists of the island of Mindanao and smaller surrounding islands. The other two are Luzon and the Visayas. The island of Mindanao is called The...

. The species grows at an elevation of 0–1500 m above sea level. Nepenthes truncata is characterised by its heart-shaped (truncate) leaves and very large pitchers, which can reach up to 40 cm in height.

Carnivory

On September 29, 2006, at the Botanical Gardens in Lyon

Lyon

Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, a Nepenthes truncata was photographed containing the decomposing corpse of a mouse. This incident is the first record of a mammal being successfully trapped in the pitchers of N. truncata. Both N. rajah

Nepenthes rajah

Nepenthes rajah is an insectivorous pitcher plant species of the Nepenthaceae family. It is endemic to Mount Kinabalu and neighbouring Mount Tambuyukon in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Nepenthes rajah grows exclusively on serpentine substrates, particularly in areas of seeping ground water where the...

and N. rafflesiana

Nepenthes rafflesiana

Nepenthes rafflesiana , or Raffles' Pitcher-Plant, is a species of pitcher plant. It has a very wide distribution covering Borneo, Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, and Singapore. Nepenthes rafflesiana is extremely variable with numerous forms and varieties described. In Borneo alone, there are at...

are known to occasionally catch small mammals in the wild.

Natural hybrids

• N. alata
  Nepenthes alata
  Nepenthes alata is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to the Philippines. It is found on all the major islands of the archipelago, with the possible exception of Palawan. It is one of the easiest and most popular Nepenthes species in cultivation....
  
  × N. truncata [=N. × truncalata
  Nepenthes × truncalata
  Nepenthes × truncalata is a natural hybrid involving N. alata and N. truncata. Like its two parent species, it is endemic to the Philippines, but limited in distribution by the natural range of N. truncata on Mindanao.-References:...
  
  ]
• N. mindanaoensis
  Nepenthes mindanaoensis
  Nepenthes mindanaoensis is a species of pitcher plant endemic to coastal lateritic hills on Mindanao in the Philippines. It is very closely related to N. alata.-Natural hybrids:*N. alata × N. mindanaoensis...
  
  × N. truncata
• ? N. petiolata
  Nepenthes petiolata
  Nepenthes petiolata is a highland Nepenthes pitcher plant species endemic to Mindanao island in the Philippines, where it grows at an elevation of 1450–1900 m above sea level.-Natural hybrids:*? N. alata × N. petiolata...
  
  × N. truncata