Nepenthes edwardsiana claims that distinction, I think. No matter how expensive the ceph (Eden Black), it's only a fraction of what an Nepenthes edwardsiana will command WHEN they become available.
Thinking in terms of monetary value just cheapens the worth in my humble opinion. All life is precious. One of the LACPS members said there was discussion at the ICPS conference on how new forms or even species of Nepenthes will get collected to extinction from the wild to exist thereafter only in the collections of a few wealthy and privileged collectors.
Nepenthes Hamata, villosa, macrophlla could eat your money.
but as others have stated, dont collect plants because of their value, collect them because you like them...
Thinking in terms of monetary value just cheapens the worth in my humble opinion. All life is precious. One of the LACPS members said there was discussion at the ICPS conference on how new forms or even species of Nepenthes will get collected to extinction from the wild to exist thereafter only in the collections of a few wealthy and privileged collectors.
Uncompleted eBay auctions have reached these prices a few times but the buyers have disappeared before paying for the plants. Iirc, Cephalotus prices peaked around $6-700 a few years ago for HG Cephs - no? Although I wouldn't be shocked to see a mature 'Eden Black' get in that range ....I've never heard of a ceph going for thousands of dollars...
Supply & demand typically dictate prices. When something first becomes available (or some s/d imbalance jolts the mkt), there is frequently a mania of sorts which causes a rapid, short-lived rise in price (D. falconeri was a good example a few years ago as are several of the plants previously mentioned). Since most plants can be mass-produced using t/c, once established in vitro, supply can usually overwhelm demand for most plants desired by the fairly small CP community. Plants that have barriers to t/c (ie: 'Adrian Slack') tend to remain at a higher price for a longer period because conventional propagation only slowly catches up to demand, but even in these cases, they tend to come to equilibrium at lower prices after some time. For example, 'Adrian Slack' is in many more collections now then just a few years ago...@Listserv: then you'll be in a rude awakening once they become commonplace.
As Steve already commented - not really. They are nice plants and are grown & appreciated by a significant number of CP growers, but as an investment, their 'mania-phase' peaked a few years ago and their prices continue to plummet.Adult mature specimens of Cephalotus are certainly worth their weight in gold.