Pitcher plant, Nepenthes

Nepenthes raffsiana Masilus Zhu Long Cao (Pitcher plant) (root, stem) Flavonoids, anthraquinoids, amino acids, phenols.57 As a poultice to treat stomachache and dysentery. Internally to treat remittent fever. 

The opposite of super-hydrophobicity, the Lotus Effect, is super-oleophobicity, the Pitcher Plant Effect. A natural example of super-oleophobicity involves the Nepenthes Pitcher Plant, which has microtextured surfaces in which an aqueous liquid fills the spaces within the texture and forms a continuous overlying film to cause insects to slip into the plant s digestive juices. Here, the plant s super-oleophobic surface essentially repels the oils on the insects feet. This is termed the Pitcher Plant Effect. Microporous, microfibre coatings have been developed to mimic this effect and be highly repellent to oils while remaining permeable to water. 

Hatano, N., Hamada, T. (2008) Proteome analysis of pitcher fluid of the carnivorous plant Nepenthes alata. Journal of Proteome Research, 7 (2), 809-816. 

One of the most amazing characteristics of insects is their ability to cling to almost any surface, whether it is vertical or upside down. However, the walls of the Nepenthes pitcher plant are so slippery that any insect that lands on those walls slips to its death in the digestive juices at the bottom of the pitcher. One can envision this type of slippery surface being useful in human activities, such as in pipes for handling biomedical fluids and fuels. Slippery surfaces also could be useful... 

Riedel, M. Eidmer, A. Meimberg, H. Jetter, R. (2007). Chemical composition of epjicuticular wax crystals on the slippery zone in pitchers of five Nepenthes species and hybrids. Planta, Vol.225, No.6, (May 2007), pp. 1517-1534, ISSN 0032-0935 Riederer, M. Muller, C. (Eds.). (2006). Biology of die Plant Cuticle, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, ISBN 978-1-4051-3268-8, Oxford, UK... 

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