The poorly known Nepenthes species

The genus Nepenthes comprises more than 160 species (!) that occur mainly in Southeast Asia with outlying species scattered across islands in the Pacific and Indian oceans (McPherson, 2011). So-called centres of diversity include the islands of Borneo, Sumatra and the Philippines archipelago.

Evolution of the number of Nepenthes species since the description of ‘Amramatico’ (Nepenthes madgascariensis)

written by Etienne de Flacourt in 1658.

Major publications: v  Hooker, De Candolle’s Prodomus, 1873: 33 species. v  Macfarlane, Engler’s Planzenreich, 1908: 58 species. v  Danser, The Nepenthaceae of the Netherland Indies, 1928: 65 species. v  Jebb & Cheek, A skeletal revision of Nepenthes, 1997: 82 species. v  Clarke, Nepenthes of Borneo and Nepenthes of Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia, 1997 and 2001: 31 and 34 species in Borneo and Sumatra respectively. v  McPherson: New Nepenthes, 2011: 138 species.

v Wikipedia, 2015: 164 species.

« Continuing exploration is likely to reveal additional Nepenthes species, as well as information that adds to our understanding of the

diversity, ecology and taxonomy of these complex […] plants »

S. McPherson, New Nepenthes, 2011, p.9.

Overview of the species described in the last 17 years.

70 taxa described from 1998 to 2015 (1/3)

N. mira, 1998 (Philippines) N. glandulifera, 2004 (Borneo)

N. sibuyanensis, 1998 (Philippines) N. rigidifolia, 2004 (Sumatra)

N. angasanensis, 1999 (Sumatra) N. chaniana, 2006 (Borneo)

N. benstonei, 1999 (Peninsular Malaysia) N. jamban, 2006 (Sumatra)

N. jacquelinae, 2001 (Sumatra) N. lingulata, 2006 (Sumatra)

N. mindanaoensis, 2001 (Philippines) N. tenax, 2006 (Australia)

N. platychila, 2002 (Borneo) N. flava, 2007 (Sumatra)

N. vogelii, 2002 (Borneo) N. mantalingajanensis, 2007 (Philippines)

N. hurrelliana, 2003 (Borneo) N. peltata, 2008 (Philippines)

N. izumiae, 2003 (Sumatra) N. attenboroughii, 2009 (Philippines)

N. saranganiensis, 2003 (Philippines) N. bokorensis, 2009 (Cambodia)

70 taxa described from 1998 to 2015 (2/3)

N. naga, 2009 (Sumatra)

N. micramphora, 2009 (Philippines)

N. pitopangii, 2009 (Sumatra)

N. thai, 2009 (Thailand)

N. andamana, 2010 (Thailand)

N. chang, 2010 (Thailand)

N. gantungensis, 2010 (Philippines)

N. hamiguitanensis, 2010 (Philippines)

N. holdenii, 2010 (Cambodia)

N. kerrii, 2010 (Thailand)

N. mirabilis var. globosa, 2010(Thailand)

N. palawanensis, 2010 (Philippines)

N. suratensis, 2010 (Thailand)

N. appendiculata, 2011 (Borneo)

N. baramensis, 2011 (Borneo)

N. ceciliae, 2011 (Philippines)

N. epiphytica, 2011 (Borneo)

N. leonardoi, 2011 (Philippines)

N. monticola, 2011 (Papua)

N. nigra, 2011 (Sulawesi)

N. pulchra, 2011 (Philippines)

N. robcantleyi, 2011 (Philippines)

N. undulatifolia, 2011 (Sulawesi)

N. abalata, 2013 (Philippines)

Nepenthes abalata A recently described species belonging to the N. alata complex from the western Islands of the Philippines: Culion, Cuyo and Malalison.

70 taxa described from 1998 to 2015 (3/3)

N. abgracilis, 2013 (Philippines)

N. alzapan, 2013 (Philippines)

N. cid, 2013 (Philippines)

N. extincta, 2013 (Philippines)

N. kitanglad, 2013 (Philippines)

N. kurata, 2013 (Philippines)

N. leyte, 2013 (Philippines)

N. negros, 2013 (Philippines)

N. ramos, 2013 (Philippines)

N. samar, 2013 (Philippines)

N. viridis, 2013 (Philippines)

N. ultra, 2013 (Philippines)

N. zygon, 2014 (Philippines)

N. tboli, 2014 (Philippines)

N. talaandig, 2014 (Philippines)

N. sumagaya (amabilis), 2014 (Philippines)

N. pantaronensis, 2014 (Philippines)

N. cornuta, 2014 (Philippines)

N. armin, 2014 (Philippines)

N. rosea, 2014 (Thailand)

N. kongkandana, 2015 (Thailand)

N. barcelonae, 2015 (Philippines)

N. weda, 2015 (Philippines)

N. halmahera, 2015 (Philippines)

And there’s more…

Taxa that were redefined after rediscovery or new field studies:

N. alba, reinstated in 2009 (Peninsular Malaysia)

N. deaniana, redefined in 2009 (Philippines)

N. lamii , redefined in 2011 (Papua)

N. pilosa, redefined in 2006 (Borneo)

N. rowanae, reinstated in 2005 (Australia)

N. smilesii, redefined in 2009 (whole Indochinese peninsula)

N. surigaoensis, redefined in 2008 (Philippines)

N. thorelii, redefined in 2011 (Vietnam)

N. paniculata, rediscovered in 2013 (Papua)

Exemples of some taxa awaiting formal descriptions:

N. « sp. Anipahan »

N. « sp. Luzon » (soon to be described)

N. « sp. Misool »

N. hamata « hairy »

Philippines

New Nepenthes species from Papua Apparently closely related to Nepenthes lamii.

How to describe a Nepenthes species?

A type specimen, collected with proper permits and deposited in a herbarium.

A description following the strict rules of the ICBN (International Code of Botanical Nomenclature)

published in a peer reviewed journal or a monograph.

A personal selection of poorly known species.

Some nomen nudum (nomina nuda)

Latin for ‘naked name’, a term used in taxonomy

for a name that looks like a scientific name but is not for it hasn’t been properly published.

Nepenthes ‘adrianii’ Nepenthes ‘taminii’

Nepenthes ‘adrianii’ or N. ‘spathulata’ red

This undescribed taxon is known from Java. It has been found in 2004 by Adrian Yusuf Wartono.

s Nepenthes ‘adrianii’ is very closely related to N. spathulata from southern Sumatra.

Nepenthes ‘adrianii’ Nepenthes spathulata with red pitchers

Nepenthes ‘taminii’ from Sumatra

An undescribed taxon named after Tamin Noraimi, a botanist. It has been found in 2007 by Alfindra Primaldhi,

an enthusiast from Indonesia.

N. ‘taminii’ seems to be closely related to N. rhombicaulis, another species from Sumatra. N. rhombicaulis is itself similar to N. gymnamphora both in morphology and growth habit.

N. rhombicaulis is known for the square section of its stem and the production of traps often partially buried in leaf litter on the forest floor.

The confusing species

Nepenthes gracillima Nepenthes lamii

Nepenthes monticola

This species from Gunung Tahan, Peninsular Malaysia, was first described as Nepenthes alba in 1924, then a few years later it was synonymised

with N. gracillima by Danser. It remained known as N. gracillima until recently.

Recent research showed that N. gracillima and N. alba are indeed two distinct taxa. Ridley, the botanist who described both species was right to do so.

Nepenthes gracillima

Nepenthes gracillima

Nepenthes alba

Nepenthes lamii and N. monticola

In 1928, In Danser’s Nepenthes monograph, this illustration, based on a herbarium specimen collected in 1920 was supposed to illustrate

a population of Nepenthes vieillardii from Papua.

That population was later described

as N. lamii in 1997, making N. Vieillardii a New Caledonia

endemic.

Actually, this illustration represents two species: N. lamii and N. monticola.

Nepenthes lamii

And this is Nepenthes monticola.

The mysterious species

Nepenthes beccariana Nepenthes mollis

N. beccariana is a species described by Macfarlane in 1908. The description is based on a specimen collected from Pulau Nias, a location 120 km off the coast from Sibolga (North Sumatra). This location has not been visited by a Nepenthes expert since then. It seems that the plant described as N. beccariana is very similar to N. longifolia another species from Sumatra. Both plants could be one and the same.

Nepenthes longifolia, which might eventually be sunk with N. beccariana.

N. longifolia is closely related to N. sumatrana. Both species can be easily distinguished by the shape of their upper pitchers.

Some seeds have been advertised as ‘N. beccariana’ by some Indonesian growers.But until N. beccariana type location is visited,

we don’t know what this species really is. Plants labelled as ‘N. beccariana’ shouldn’t be tagged and distributed as such.

They could be called Nepenthes aff. beccariana.

Nepenthes mollis

Known only from a unique specimen collected in 1925 in Gunung Kemul, Kalimantan, Borneo. The unique case of a Nepenthes species described based only on its leaves, stem and flowers. The pitchers are completely unknown. Danser wrote: ‘Though (…) the pitchers are unknown, the other parts are so peculiar and differ from all other species in such a striking manner, that it seems allowed to me to base a new species on it. It reminds (of) N. fusca, by its colours and its red-brown indumentum, but it differs by its quite other leaf shape and nervation, and its still denser indumentum.’

In 1999, a paper written by Bruce Salmon in CPN, surmised that N. mollis could have been rediscoveredon Gunung Lumarku, Sabah, Borneo.

Most of the vegetative features seemed to fit.

This plant from Gunung Lumarku was later described in 2003 as… Nepenthes hurrelliana.

Could N. hurrelliana and N. mollis be one and the same?

Some authors disagree and to this day, N. mollis is still seen as a very mysterious species.

Until N. mollis type location is visited, I don’t think it is wise to unite both species.

The poorly studied species

Nepenthes angasanensis Nepenthes mapuluensis

Nepenthes angasanensis has been collected in Aceh, Sumatra. It is closely related to N. mikei and N. tobaica.

N. angasanensis and N. mikei.

Basically, N. angasanensis is known only from Charles Clarke’s ‘Nepenthes of Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia’ (3 pages) and a couple of pictures from Ch’ien Lee’s Wild Borneo website.

Some plants have very recently been sold as N. angasanensis. They are slowly entering cultivation.

Nepenthes mapuluensis has been collected In 1957 by Dutch botanist Kostermans. N. campanulata, which has also remained a poorly known species until its rediscovery in 1997, has been collected in the very same expedition. Sadly, while N. campanulata is now quite well studied (it has recently been likely found in the Philippines), this is still not the case for N. mapuluensis.

N. mapuluensis, named after Mount Ilas Mapulu is very similar to N. northiana, a species known from Bau, Sarawak, Borneo. Both species share the same habitat: remote spots on limestone mountains. Some authors think that both N. northiana and N. mapuluensis, although separated by hundreds of kilometres, could be the same species. I don’t. ;-)

The long lost species:

Nepenthes deaniana Nepenthes paniculata

Nepenthes thorelii

Nepenthes deaniana was first found in Mount Pulgar, central Palawan, Philippines, In 1907. MacFarlane described the species in 1908. The original herbarium material was lost in 1945 in the fire that destroyed the Manila herbarium. The plant was lost to science for the remainder of the 20th century.

N. deaniana was relocated in 2007 by Alastair Robinson, Volker Heinrich and Stewart McPherson on Mount Pulgar now named Thumb’s Peak.

However to this day, the relation between N. deaniana and its closely relative species are yet to be thoroughly studied. N. deaniana is included in a complex of species that some authors see with scrutiny. This complex includes N. mira, N. leonardoi, N. gantungensis and N. mantalingajanensis.

N. leonardoi

N. gantungensis

N. deaniana

N. mira

N. mantalingajanensis

Nepenthes paniculata

This species has been collected once, in 1920, and virtually never seen again since the initial collection. Dutch botanist Herman Johannes Lam collected

material bearing upper pitchers only in 1920 on Doorman's Top at 1460 masl.

The plant was found on a single mountain ridge in a mossy forest habitat.  A few years later, in 1928, another Dutch botanist, the well known Benedictus Danser

described the species.

Since Lam's original collection in 1920, N. paniculata has only been seen and photographed once.

Those three old pictures, taken by Steve Rose, show the typical infundibular upper pitchers.

The species was eventually relocated by a team of botanists in 2O13 on a ridge top of Mount Doorman.

The lower pitchers previously unknown to science reveal some

affinities with some species from the Philippines.

The typical infundibular upper pitchers of N. paniculata.

The lower pitchers of N. paniculata reminiscent of species like N. merrilliana and N. bellii.

Some good news for Nepenthes thorelii.

The species has been relocated in 2011 after more then a century. Papers on its systematics and ecology have been published.

The population rediscovered in 2011 was found in Tay Ninh province, southern Vietnam.

Very recently, seed of this Tay Ninh population has been collected and distributed. The species is now (very) slowly entering cultivation.

Prior to the 2011 discovery, N. thorelii had been found, in late 2009, near Phan Tiet, southern Vietnam. All the plants of that location were poached and this peculiar population thought to be completely lost.

Nepenthes thorelii

Those plants represented a different genetic pool from the Tay Ninh population.

Seeds of the Phan Tiet population have actually made it to the USA and 5 clones are now growing happily in a private collection. They will be distributed soon to botanical gardens. Eventually, they will make it back to Phan Tiet swamp.

Photos credits

Thank you Alastair Robinson;

Greg Bourke; Ch’ien Lee;

Alfindra Primaldhi; Kltower;

Vincent Fiechter; Jeremiah Harris; Gareth Davies;

Luu Hong Truong; Trongtham, Kruetreepradit;

Stewart McPherson; Jim

The late Phil Mann.