He has discovered strange plants that eat monkeys and rats in the forest of the Philippines, identified pre-historic plants in Venezuelan jungles, chanced upon a remote plateau littered with gemstones... Jeremy Miles catches up with Stewart McPherson, the award-winning conservationist.
The small jungle rat couldn’t resist the temptation. The sweet-smelling water, which lay in the large, red pitcher-shaped flower – nepenthes attenboroughii in case you are wondering – was too delicious to ignore.
Crouching on the lip of the flower it peered in, something it should never have done. The next moment, thanks to the petal’s waxy surface, it lost its grip and slipped smoothly into the rain water that had collected inside the pitcher.
For a few seconds, the rat struggled desperately to extricate itself from the fluid and scramble up the pitcher’s wall, but the downward facing spines in it prevented the rodent from escaping.
For a few seconds, the rat struggled desperately to extricate itself from the fluid and scramble up the pitcher’s wall, but the downward facing spines in it prevented the rodent from escaping.
What happened next is something that continues to remain a source of fascination for not just naturalists and botanists, but for anybody interested in living creatures. The flower began to release enzymes into the liquid, which slowly began to digest the rat. In less than a day, little remained of the rodent. And the flower readied itself to repeat its act.
If it wasn’t for naturalist Stewart McPherson, few would have known that such a plant exists. An expert in carnivorous plants, the 29-year-old has made it his life’s mission to travel to some of the world’s most remote regions in search of these unknown species.
It was in 2009 that he first made international headlines when it was revealed that he had discovered a huge, but previously unknown variety of pitcher plant growing on Mount Victoria and Mount Sagpaw in the highlands of the western island of Palawan in the Philippines.
It was in 2009 that he first made international headlines when it was revealed that he had discovered a huge, but previously unknown variety of pitcher plant growing on Mount Victoria and Mount Sagpaw in the highlands of the western island of Palawan in the Philippines.
The real Indiana Jones
Sitting in the same home where as a child he used to give his astonished parents detailed lectures on the mechanics of the Venus flytrap, now he talks about the kind of expeditions that, to most of us, are the stuff of Indiana Jones movies. Like the time he was guided up a distant mountain in the Philippines by a trio of machete-wielding murderers.
“We were on land used by a penal colony,” he explains of the area he was trekking through when he found another rare carnivorous plant. “We had to get special permission. The prison authorities eventually agreed, but insisted we took these guys with us as guides.
“It was an amazing trek, and when we finally got to the top – 2,000 metres up – we discovered a plant, nepenthes deaniana, that hadn’t been seen since 1899.”
The nepenthes deaniana is a very large carnivorous pitcher plant that grows only on Thumb Peak, the land that was being used as a penal colony. Because of this, the area was relatively inaccessible and unexplored. It took weeks of planning and lots of paperwork in order to explore the area.
I ask how Stewart got on with the murderers. “Oh they were great fellows, absolutely lovely chaps... and an enormous help clearing our path with their machetes.” Wasn’t he just a little bit worried? Stewart laughs, “No, not at all. I think they might have had some awkward questions to answer if we hadn’t come back.”
“It was an amazing trek, and when we finally got to the top – 2,000 metres up – we discovered a plant, nepenthes deaniana, that hadn’t been seen since 1899.”
The nepenthes deaniana is a very large carnivorous pitcher plant that grows only on Thumb Peak, the land that was being used as a penal colony. Because of this, the area was relatively inaccessible and unexplored. It took weeks of planning and lots of paperwork in order to explore the area.
I ask how Stewart got on with the murderers. “Oh they were great fellows, absolutely lovely chaps... and an enormous help clearing our path with their machetes.” Wasn’t he just a little bit worried? Stewart laughs, “No, not at all. I think they might have had some awkward questions to answer if we hadn’t come back.”
The largest recorded pitcher plant – which Stewart discovered in the Philippines – the nepenthes attenboroughii, can hold more than 1.5 litres of water. The plant is designed to be insectivorous, but is big enough to devour rodents, or even small monkeys that slip inside.
It employs the same mechanism that all other carnivorous pitcher plants have, except most are only big enough to devour flies, bugs, mosquitos and spiders.
The press had a field day when they discovered that not only was this plant big enough to trap rats and digest them with its flesh-eating enzymes, but that Stewart had named it in honour of his hero, broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough. Stewart has always admired Sir David’s work in promoting an understanding of the natural world. Sir David was delighted, telling the world that he thought the plant was “elegant and charming.”
Surveying the breathtaking panoramic views from Stewart’s family home on the Dorset coast, in southern England, it’s easy to see why he was inspired to become an eco-campaigning adventurer.
It employs the same mechanism that all other carnivorous pitcher plants have, except most are only big enough to devour flies, bugs, mosquitos and spiders.
The press had a field day when they discovered that not only was this plant big enough to trap rats and digest them with its flesh-eating enzymes, but that Stewart had named it in honour of his hero, broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough. Stewart has always admired Sir David’s work in promoting an understanding of the natural world. Sir David was delighted, telling the world that he thought the plant was “elegant and charming.”
Surveying the breathtaking panoramic views from Stewart’s family home on the Dorset coast, in southern England, it’s easy to see why he was inspired to become an eco-campaigning adventurer.
Where it all began
Across the waters of Poole Harbour lies the Arne Nature Reserve, while to the west you can see Holton Heath, a site set up in the First World War to produce Cordite – a smokeless military propelant to replace gunpowder – for the Royal Navy.
Just a couple of hundred metres to the east, coils of barbed wire and a big, old military-landing craft mark the training ground for the Royal Marine Commandos. “It was pretty exciting growing up here,” says Stewart. “There was always some action going on.” Action is something the ecologist knows all about.
Within a couple of years of graduating from university – he studied at Durham and Yale – Stewart had become a seasoned explorer and is now the author of 16 books published by his company Redfern Natural History Productions.
His travels in search of rare flora have taken him to some of the world’s most remote regions, from the mountains of the Philippines to the jungles of Borneo.
His travels in search of rare flora have taken him to some of the world’s most remote regions, from the mountains of the Philippines to the jungles of Borneo.
He has made several expeditions to Mount Roraima, a huge plateau deep in the Guiana Highlands of Venezuela. Skirted by towering 600-metre-high cliffs, this is just one of 100 plateaus found in this dense, nearly impenetrable region. The plateaus were isolated for 70 million years and in that time, developed a unique ecosystem
For more info about Stewart’s expeditions and publications go to www.redfernnaturalhistory.com.
