In its native habitat in southwest Western Australia, Cephalotus follicularis, commonly known as the Albany Pitcher Plant, grows in wet sand and peat soils. Some authors describe the habitats as bogs, others as fens (compare from CPN: PDF, PDF and PDF). Bogs usually have stagnant, acidic water-logged soil—most Sarracenia are found in or adjacent to bogs. Fens usually have water flowing through the soil and the water may or may not be acidic depending on the source of the water—Darlingtonia are usually found in fens and along streams. In cultivation Cephalotus definitely needs to be treated as a fen plant. They do not like stagnant conditions.

Cephalotus is best grown in tall pots. The pots can be sitting in a small amount of water without overhead watering or they can get regular overhead watering without sitting in water or a combination of both. The trick is to use a soil mix appropriate for your growing conditions and watering methods. A healthy, well-adjusted Cephalotus will keep the pitcher lids open and maintain water in the pitchers. It may take some experiments and you may lose some plants in the process. However, the end result is well worth the trouble.

Growers of Cephalotus all have their favorite soil recipe so there is no real consensus about what the ideal soil mixture should be. The extremes are mixes heavy in organic matter and non-mixes with no organic matter. Plants grown in these soils require constant attention and careful watering. Growers who use the heavy mix allow the soil to dry out a bit and then flush water through the pot when watering. Growers who use pure mineral soils (perlite, sand, etc.) top water the plants daily. These methods have little margin for error. The common "CP Mix" of 50% peat:50% sand may actually work better for the plants at first but over time the peat degrades and accumulates salts from the water causing problems. (Finding decent peatmoss can also be a problem.)

Using a mix of about 20% peat or chopped long fibered Sphagnum:80% sand and always having the pots sit in about a cm of water requires the least effort over time. The plants can be in that mix indefinitely but do need to have water flushed through the pots occasionally to eliminate accumulated salts. The soil mix should be adjusted depending of the size of the sand grains, the type of peat or Sphagnum, and the height of the pots. A 1 cm layer of pure sand on the top of the soil can also be beneficial to keep down moss that would block air getting to the roots. Do not blindly follow someone else's soil mix advice, including the advice here. Check the soil and plants to see how well the pots of choice and soil mix are working to keep the soil wet but not soggy.

Cephalotus grows best and are the most colorful with a lot of light. South facing windowsills are the best for them, but east and west will sometimes work. The plants grow well in greenhouses and especially in terrariums under LED bright light.

The photo above shows Cephalotus growing in a 20% peat:80% 12 mesh sand soil mix topped with 1 cm pure sand, under 21W of 3000K white LED lighting per square foot (30 cm²) 14 hours per day. The larger pots are 5 inches (12 cm) tall; the smaller pots are 4 inches (9.5 cm) tall. In greenhouses, the plants can be in #1 nursery pots.

In the wild, Cephalotus specializes in eating ants. Good substitutes for ants are dried blood worms and Osmocote® pellets placed in the pitchers. Cephalotus can also be soil fertilized with pellets or very dilute fertilizer. Urea-free orchid fertilizers are the best. With soil fertilization it is best to flush the pot regularly to keep the soil from becoming anaerobic. Soil fertilization can also result in plants being dark green and producing a higher percentage of non-carnivorous leaves.

In a mild climate, Cephalotus can be grown outside. However, there is a problem. Cephalotus is highly susceptible to mildew.

These plants were grown indoors but near an open window under red+blue+white LEDs on a natural light cycle (the purple cast is from the lighting). They normally had a humidity dome over them but it was removed to allow the plants to produce flowers for seed. When the mildew was noticed, the plants were immediately treated with a fungicide and survived. Whole collections have been lost from fungus attacks.

Under natural conditions Cephalotus stems will die back after flowering. New stems will then emerge at about or below the soil level. Plants grown indoors under constant light period will not bloom but the stems still die back. Expect this to happen. The plants may look terrible until new stems grow out.

 

Propagation of Cephalotus by crown divisions and stem cuttings.

The easiest and quickest way to propagate Cephalotus is by crown divisions and stem cuttings. You can get new nicely growing plants in less than 6 months.

Sometimes the plants may start to collapse from something untoward happening to the roots and other underground parts or maybe the stems are dying of old age. As soon as the problem becomes apparent, unpot the plant, cut off all the good stems for propagation, and if it is there, cut off any rotting or all black underground parts and repot what is left in new soil. To help avoid any "untoward happenings", make sure all the plant parts are at least 5 cm (1 inch) above the water level the pot may experience in the future. 

Crown cuttings can also be taken to thin out large plants that get too dense. The plant pictured below is in need of rejuvenation via crown divisions. The tape measure is in inches.

It produced many divisions like this one.

A different plant was not doing well and had many old stems that stopped growing, likely from old age. It was rejuvenated with crown and stem cuttings.

The lower left cutting failed to grow. The other cuttings are the D3 plants in the image below. The photo below was taken four months after the cuttings were placed in almost pure sand in short pots sitting in a few mm of water. There was a humidity dome over the tray of plants.

The larger plants are crown divisions from plants that were declining but the growth tips were active; the smaller plants were stem cuttings and crown divisions that stopped growing from old age. The open pitchers were filled with water and fed one Osmocote pellet as soon as they matured.

 

Propagation of Cephalotus by leaf pullings.

Cephalotus may be propagated by leaf pullings using the same growing conditions as the crown divisions. Make sure the leaf petiole is intact, preferably with a small amount of stem tissue. This method is slower and less certain of success but if you have a lot of stray leaves and want a lot of plants, this method does work.

Seven months later, two of the four leaves produced small plants.

 

Propagation of Cephalotus by seed.

Propagation of Cephalotus by seed is not an easy and quick process. Cephalotus will not bloom under a constant light cycle so the plants must be grown under a natural light cycle. There are light timers that automatically maintain a natural light cycle for plants grown indoors. Under a natural light cycle, the plants start blooming during the late spring and each scape may bloom for about a month. The flower scapes can get quite long and some may need support.

When the flowers open, the anthers on the stamens mature first. There are two rows of six stamens that mature a day apart. After the stamens are mature, the stigmas start to mature.

The lower flower above has receptive stigmas and fully mature stamens with anthers presenting pollen. Pollen needs to be manually transferred from the anthers to the stigmas to insure good pollination. Whole pollen-laden stamens can be plucked with a fine tip forceps and used to place pollen on the stigmas in order to make crosses between varieties. The pollen does not stick to paint brushes but a paint brush may be used to fluff the flower scattering pollen onto the stigmas. Selfing results in inbreeding depression which may not be desired but can also produce plants with unexpected traits.

After pollination, the seeds mature in about a month. The seeds are in the tip of the achenes—the brown hairy sheaths hanging from the lower flower in the left photo above. Not all the achenes will have seeds in them. Some seeds may be lost while collecting the achenes by picking them up at the tip but they may not have been there in the first place. It is best to collect the achenes with seeds into a small metal bowl (plastic is too staticky). Handle them by the base to avoid losing the seeds.

The seeds should be separated from the achenes before the attempt to germinate them. That is best done in a large metal or ceramic bowl. The achenes have hairs to facilitate dispersal. It is easy to "disperse" them by breathing on them. It is recommended to wear a mask while working with the achenes so as not to disperse them.

Because of length of time it takes to get small Cephalotus plants, it is problematic to germinate the seeds and grow the seedlings on peat moss or other medium that is contaminated with moss spores or subject to fungus. Finely chopped long fibered Sphagnum moss works well except it is easy to lose the seeds before they germinate if the moss is not chopped fine enough. Also, sometimes the Sphagnum will be contaminated with sedge seeds or moss. Fine vermiculite should be considered. The soil should be saturated with water and the seeds placed on the surface.

Cephalotus seeds require temperatures of about 15°C (58°F) for 6 to 10 weeks in order to germinate. Some seeds may take even longer or can be induced to germinate quicker by the hormone GA3. Refrigerator temperature is too cold. The seeds in the photo on the right above are just starting to germinate. You may individually remove the seeds from stratification as they germinate and continue growing them in the same medium at room temperature under LED lighting.

The seedling in the photo above on the left was later repositioned to sit more like the one on the right which had been repositioned to grow upright.

The difficult part of growing Cephalotus from seed is it can take years to get plants with pitchers that are large enough first to be fed pieces of dried blood worms and then fertilizer pellets. They can be soil fertilized with very dilute fertilizer, but that can be problematic as moss, algae, and cyanobacteria can quickly overgrow the plants.

At this stage you can start feeding Cephalotus plants by putting pieces of dried bloodworm into the pitchers. Plants have been killed plants feeding them too much or too soon (see CPN PDF for more details about Cephalotus flowers and producing and germinating seeds).

The bottom line on Cephalotus is once you figure out how to grow the plants under the conditions you can provide, it is a very low maintenance plant. 

 

 Cephalotus under moderately strong light in a terrarium. How the plants respond to artificial light depends on brightness and LED color temperature.

Cephalotus 'OG Black' under 24W per square foot (30 cm²) 15 hours per day of 3000K white LED lighting in a terrarium.

Cephalotus 'OG Black' crown division with bright green new growth.

This Cephalotus division is mature enough to appreciate Osmocote® Outdoor & Indoor Smart-Release® Plant Food pellets in each pitcher as long as there is water in the pitchers. Note the pure sand "mulch".

These plants are grown under lights. They do not get fed very often to keep them from getting too big.

Cephalotus never ceases to amaze... This is a flower scape with two developing pitchers.

Hoverfly (Syrphidae) feasting on Cephalotus nectar.

Cephalotus seedling with two cotyledons (one with the remains of the seed), a non-carnivorous leaf, and two juvenile pitchers.

An older Cephalotus juvenile pitcher. The biggest difference is the perstome with sparse little hooks. What has this trap evolved to eat in the wild?

Cephalotus crown cutting with intermediate leaves. Please see CPN PDF for more information about Cephalotus leaves.

 

-- John Brittnacher and Tom Cahill
December 2011
Latest Update June 2026

For more information please see:

Evolution of the Oxalidales Carnivore

DeBuhr, Larry. 1976. Field Notes on Cephalotus follicularis in Western Australia. Carniv. Pl. Newslett. 5(1):8-9. https://doi.org/10.55360/cpn051.ld803 (PDF)

Lowrie, Allen. 1978. Cephalotus Hunting in the Deep S.W. of Australia. Carniv. Pl. Newslett. 7(4):119-121. https://doi.org/10.55360/cpn074.al244 (PDF)

Conran, J.G., and Denton, M.D. 1996. Germination in the Western Australian Pitcher Plant Cephalotus follicularis and its unusual early seedling development. W. A. Nat. 21(1):37-42.

Gibson, Robert. 1999. Observations on Cephalotus in the wild. Carniv. Pl. Newslett. 28(1):30-31. https://doi.org/10.55360/cpn281.rg416 (PDF)

Tran, Dick. 2001. Cephalotus cultivation: cultivation with capillary mats. Carniv. Pl. Newslett. 30(3):88-89 https://doi.org/10.55360/cpn303.dt324 (PDF)

Mann, Phill. 2005. Observations on Cephalotus follicularis Drosera binata in Western Australia. Carniv. Pl. Newslett. 34(3):68-70 https://doi.org/10.55360/cpn343.pm291 (PDF)

J. H. Cunnington, Rodney H. Jones and Sri Kanthi de Alwis. 2008. First record of powdery mildew on the Cephalotaceae. Australasian Plant Disease Notes 3:51-52.

Richard Nunn. 2014. New insights into the growth cycle of Cephalotus follicularis. Carniv. Pl. Newslett. 43(3):93-96. https://doi.org/10.55360/cpn433.rn450 (PDF)

Just, M.P., Merrit, D.J., Turner, S.R., Conran, J.G., Cross, A.T. 2019. Seed germination biology of the Albany pitcher plant, Cephalotus follicularis. Australian Journal of Botany, 67:480-489. https://doi.org/10.1071/BT19053

Cross, A., Kalfas, N., Nunn, R., and Conran, J. 2019. Cephalotus – the Albany Pitcher Plant. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole, Dorset, England.

John Brittnacher. 2020. Evolution of the Cephalotus pitcher. Carniv. Pl. Newslett. 49(3):103-120. https://doi.org/10.55360/cpn493.jb736 (PDF)

Richard Nunn and Chiem Nguyen Anh Vu. 2021. A new technique for the cultivation of Cephalotus follicularis. Carniv. Pl. Newslett. 50(2):85-86. (PDF)

John Brittnacher. 2022. Observations on Cephalotus follicularis reproductive biology. Carniv. Pl. Newslett. 51(4):168-177. https://doi.org/10.55360/cpn514.jb756 (PDF)