Dex, clipeata is probably extinct in the wild (nobody's been to Mt. Kelam in a while...). I too hope that clipeata grows elsewhere in Borneo. Here's a small report by Joachim Nerz on Mt. Kelam (it's old!).Dexenthes said:I haven't been keeping very close tabs on it lately, so its believed that it's extinct in the wild?
There are also more than five clones of pure clipeata in cultivation (maybe not all of them are commercially propagated, though). The Japanese growers have a few clones in cultivation (I forgot how many exactly). Here's something I found a while back (not mine):dvg said:I believe there are five clones in commercial propagation.
(Basically, the grower is saying that the leaves are a characteristic in diagnosing the species.)
N.clipeataです。これも葉の付き方に特徴があって、普通は葉っぱの先端にツボが付くんですが、こいつぁ葉の真ん中へんからツボが付きだします。
It is a true intermediate. It grows at about 800 meters asl. atop Mt. Kelam in Borneo.Dexenthes said:Is it a very extreme lowlander? How tolerant of intermediate conditions would you say it is?
As unlikely as that is, I hope that it really is true. It would be a shame to lose a species this great!dvg said:I'm still holding out hope for an as yet to be discovered colony. And if that does happen, it's location would have to be kept either a closely guarded secret or just closely guarded, until some of that plant material was at least legally and responsibly collected.
Unfortunately, there just aren't any male and females flowering at the same time... if they could, I'm sure that people would make true species. Hybrids may be the closest some can get to clipeata, and there are natural hybrids including clipeata x rafflesiana and clipeata x reinwardtiana.Dexenthes said:I get sad every time I see a clipeata hybrid, to me it just signifies how much easier it is for the plant to be lost into genetic obscurity....
The NcSP (Nepenthes clipeata Survival Program) was supposed to network clipeata growers together in case there were males and females in flower at the same time. The problem with the program is that not all growers found the website and registered their clipeatas; IIRC it was mostly US and European growers who registered their plants, which all came from Wistuba, and all the clipeata that have ever flowered from AW have been males (clone 3 and some unidentified clones). This is a thread that Clint posted for a friend with a flowering male clipeata. And let's not forget it takes clipeata a lot longer than most Neps to flower.Dexenthes said:Hybrids, are a strange thing really, it would be a shame to waste any clipeata pollen or flowers of any kind, and finding other clipeatas I'm sure has proven to be extremely difficult. But at the same time, If one were to someday in the not so distant future own a Nepenthes (Rokko x {(clipeata x eymae) x clipeata}) x veitchii I think we can all agree that although it would be impressive, but it would not be like owning a true Nepenthes clipeata. That being said, as long as all growers take the most stringent efforts not to sell hybrids as true clipeata, there is a realistic future for this plant still.
That would be good news. Hopefully, if there are any clipeata left, their habitat would remain unmolested and healthy.Dexenthes said:Hopefully in a few decades there will be some sort of pure species breeding somewhere and maybe a few seedlings can return to Mt. Kelam.
When you like a species enough, you try to learn as much as you can about it.dvg said:You have a very impressive array of knowledge regarding this species Clue.