nepenthes

A magic potion, mentioned by ancient writers, which was supposed to make persons forget their sorrows and misfortunes.

A genus of pitcher-plants, comprising 31 species, and constituting the order Nepenthaceœ, found especially in the Malay archipelago.

Same as nepenthe.

A genus of climbing plants found in tropical areas of India, Malaya, Australia, etc., which have the leaves prolonged into a kind of stout tendril terminating in a pitcherlike appendage, whence the plants are often called pitcher plants and monkey-cups. There are about thirty species, of which the best known is Nepenthes distillatoria. See Pitcher plant.

A drug referred to in Homer’s Odyssey as bringing relief from anxiety or grief; hence, any substance seen as bringing welcome forgetfulness or relief.

A Southeast Asian plant of the genus Nepenthes.

Plural form of nepenthe.

pitcher plants