This enzyme liquid is indeed dangerous to insects and small animals, however for local residents in Brunei, some use it for medicinal purposes. The liquid from young Periuk Kera that can still be opened is used on a person’s wound to control the discharge of faeces or urine. The hairy part of some Nepenthes species is used to treat kidney stones, high blood pressure, fever and cough.
At present as well, endophytic bacteria that
by the pharmaceutical medical industry. Nepenthes hemsleyana and the furry bat, Tuttle Nepenthes albomarginata
with a peristome ringed in white as though made of velvet. Merlin
The best place to see the diversity of Nepenthes species in Brunei lies in the white sand beach area on the coastal highway of the Belait District. The forest area in Temburong meanwhile is the only area in Brunei to see the stenophylla species and Nepenthes tentaculata.
Periuk Kera still holds a thousand and one mysteries to this day although scientific studies on it have been carried out for a century. The different species use different trap components to capture their targeted prey. For example, several studies have found that the species Nepenthes hemsleyana is a plant commonly used as a resting place for bats during the daytime. At the same time, this species benefits from bat droppings which are rich in nitrogen. Studies like this help scientists to identify
Kera that were not known before this. All types of Nepenthes in Brunei, except Nepenthes gracilis (the common Periuk Kera which is common only in a limited area and attracts the interest of Periuk Kera collectors (Nepenthes hispida,
However, all types of Periuk Kera in the genus Nepenthes are considered threatened and protected by a ban on being transferred across international borders. The lowland now faces a threat from
It is time for all of us together to care for and save its habitat so that these plants will continue to thrive in
the natural environment.
Source: MUHIBAH, the Royal Brunei Airlines in-flight magazine, 2015 Nov-Dec, pages 54-55. Printed in Bahasa Melayu and translated into English for this site; text recovered from the scanned page by OCR and lightly corrected.
