Triphyophyllum peltatum’s carnivorous nature became known in 1979. That discovery came more than half a century after the plant had already received its scientific description.
The delay reflects the species’ unusual, conditional carnivory. It does not always display insect-catching leaves. Under phosphorus-poor conditions, a young plant may produce slender, glandular leaves capable of trapping prey, while other stages carry ordinary non-carnivorous leaves.
T. peltatum is therefore described as facultatively carnivorous. Its life cycle changes dramatically: a juvenile rosette bears simple leaves, a nutrient-stressed phase develops carnivorous leaves, and the adult becomes a climbing liana with grappling hooks at the leaf tips.
The date is easy to confuse with the plant’s earlier taxonomic history. The 1979 milestone concerns recognition of carnivory, not the year the species was first named. Its late-discovered feeding habit is one reason the plant remains a notable exception among carnivorous plants.