Nepenthes is the carnivorous plant genus that includes tropical pitcher plants with hanging insect-trapping pitchers.
Nepenthes species produce modified leaves shaped into pitchers. Prey is attracted by visual cues and nectar, then may slip on the pitcher’s waxy inner surface and fall into digestive fluid. The plant absorbs nutrients released from the captured organisms.
Most Nepenthes species are native to tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia, although the genus also occurs in Madagascar, the Seychelles, Sri Lanka, and northern Australia. Many grow as vines or climbing plants, while some form compact rosettes.
Nepenthes is often confused with Sarracenia, the North American pitcher-plant genus. Both use pitcher traps, but they are separate lineages. Venus flytraps belong to Dionaea, while sundews belong to Drosera; those genera use different trapping structures.