Hi everyone, and thanks so much for your feedback. I purchased the plant from an extremely reputable seller that is well known and respected in the CP community. I'm not going to divulge my source because I wish to purchase more plants from him in the future. But rest assured, he is extremely credible, and there is no issue whatsoever in regards to the labeling of "Red Hummer." This plant is is indeed a Red Hummer Giant.
In regards to the size of the plant, the leaves and traps are constantly growing and dying. Cephalotus plants do not get very big to begin with. The number of traps and leaves is not a good indicator for age. The only good indicator for age is the measurement of the plant's root bowl-- which I assure you, is monstrous. There are multiple points of growth on this plant.
With the way Cephalotus is grown, humidity and lighting can play very important factors. The previous owner of this plant kept it in very well-lit, low-humidity conditions, which from what I understand, diminishes the sizes of the traps. This plant is an official Cephalotus cultivar clone from a proven bloodline, so I expect the value of my investment to grow accordingly in the future.
Thanks for the comments, everyone.
not to come off as a prick, but im fairly sure most of us here know how big cephalotus get/can get and how they grow...though some people have problems growing them
if this is your first cephalotus, i hope you know what you are doing because even though you KNOW what to do, that doesnt mean you will make the plant happy...
each plant, has a specific set of conditions it will prefer, as you will learn as you get more into the hobby...
you can have 2 plants of the exact same clone next to eachother, and one can thrive, and the other be absolutely pissed off.
Having attempted cephalotus many many many times in the 3 years ive been in this hobby, i finally found the "Spot" in my collection in which my 3 are completely happy.
including 2 hummers giants, and a typical clone...
Hummer's Giant has been decreasing steadily in value over the last few years from what i have noticed, in which i could get a mature one 2 years ago for a couple hundred dollars it seemed, now i can get a mature one for 60$ or so...
in fact, i just sold a baby for 20$
sure, cephalotus are still valuable, but seems only in very hard to find cultivars such as Eden Black, or in very large, well established, mature plants like the one you have photographed
you state the plant is constantly producing pitchers as they die off,
in my experience, cephalotus often hold their traps for a very long time, upwards of a year or more, so the reason why we are saying that to us, it seemed that it was a bit small for a 12 year old hummer, is that well, it doesnt have as many pitchers as we would expect.
also as NaN pointed out, the cluster of immature pitchers would indicate a young plant,
however i have had plants that constantly produced mature pitchers, make a small growth point that produced immature pitchers, however only for a short time before beginning mature pitchers...
One thing i forgot to mention, and this is the reason for the edit...
is that you state cephalotus need high humidity to produce large traps, but you mention nothing about air circulation which, other than overwatering and not allowing the crown to get wet, is one of the most crucial parts in the cultivation of this species of plant...
disturbing the root system is also another big point to TRY and avoid,
and it does not appear that the plant was sent bareroot, as the soil doesnt look disturbed for something that was "recently purchased"
so, he sent it potted, thats the best way IMO.
the point in this being, you say the rootball was big.
if the plant was sent potted, how can you tell how big it was?
the plant is in a 6" pot, i assume?
the mossheads and immature pitchers are the only thing i can base size off of.
and i can show you a typical plant, with near that exact same amount of growth, from the last 5 months or so.
easily, a plant could be produced a year or so ago, from a rhizome division, and yield that result.
seen it happen.