Hi all,
Just wanted to add a few notes and images to help clarify the issue surrounding these plants.
Joachim wrote:
>FYI the N. faizaliana clone from Malesiana Tropicals has produced a more
>mature looking pitcher with the expected apendage below the lid:
Nice to see a well grown plant! This is undoubtedly N. faizaliana, but more important to identification than the appendage beneath the lid (since N. fusca and N. stenophylla also have a similar appendage) is the shape of the lid itself. N. fusca can immediately be distinguished from this species by a triangular lid which can be very narrow particularly in the upper pitchers and frequently has a short apical appendage as well. The lid of N. faizaliana by contrast is nearly orbicular (sometimes wider than long) and is in fact much more similar to N. stenophylla.
In their description of N. faizaliana Adam & Wilcock made the mistake of comparing the species with N. fusca (from which it is quite distinct) when they should have compared it with N. stenophylla (with which it is very similar). The problem may have arisen because the type specimen had a broken detached lid, however additional specimens have shown that the lid is indeed orbicular.
N. faizaliana can be distinguished most easily from N. stenophylla by its 1-flowered partial peduncles, as opposed to 2-flowered in the latter. However, I do not agree entirely with Jebb & Cheek that this is the only characteristic which can serve to seperate the two species as there are several vegetative features (especially notable with live plants) which can distinguish them. Most obvious to horticulturalists is the wider expanded peristome which is usually much more colorful than in N. stenophylla. The pitchers of N. faizaliana can also reach a much larger size and I have seen some in the field which have measured well over 30 cm in length. N. faizaliana is restricted to the limestone formations in and around Mulu National Park, whereas N. stenophylla is widespread in montane habitats in northern Borneo. I agree with Clarke that N. faizaliana is probably most closely related to N. boschiana. These two species are both restricted to limestone (though N. boschiana has recently been confirmed from ultramafic soils as well), and also have a similar pitcher structure.
On the other hand, the identity of the plants sold by Borneo Exotics (which I believe originated from Atlanta Botanical Gardens) is another issue entirely. Whilst a very few plants I have seen from this batch have wide orbicular lids (a different cross perhaps?), most have narrowly triangular lids. I have seen plants very similar to these latter ones at over a dozen localities throughout Sarawak and West Kalimantan and have always regarded them as N. fusca (see photo below of upper pitcher). This is a bit hard for some collectors to swallow because the plants appear so different to what they have in their collection as N. fusca. However, much of the confusion has arisen because nearly all of the N. fusca plants which have been grown by horticulturalists (until quite recently) have originated from just a few localities near Mt. Kinabalu and in the Crocker Range in Sabah. Some taxonomists in fact have argued that the Sabah N. fusca is quite different from the type specimen of the species which was collected in East Kalimantan and actually may not represent the same species. However I prefer to regard N. fusca as a somewhat variable species which occurs almost throughout Borneo and that the Sabah forms represent one extreme of the variation, especially now considering the well-accepted conclusion that N. maxima does not occur at all in Borneo. The only other species of Bornean Regiae that shares N. fusca's narrowly triangular lids and infundibuliform upper pitchers is the recently published N. hurrelliana, but this latter species is easily distinguished by a number of other features.
Pyro wrote:
>Faizaliana is classified as a highland but I find it actually grows better as
>an intermediate. Mine is currently on my deck here in Atlanta and growing very
>well.
Both N. faizaliana and N. fusca can be grown as intermediate plants. Nepenthes fusca usually ranges from about 500 m to 1500 meters (and above). I have seen N. faizaliana as low as 400 m at the type locality, but it is more common at 1200 meters and above. The altitudinal range may not be an indication so much of the temperature requirements of the species, but more as a result of the habitats and amount of rainfall at different elevations. Despite their tolerance of warmer lowland conditions, both of these species seem to produce better, more colorful pitchers when grown under cooler highland conditions.
I'll be putting together an article for the CPN on this shortly, which will hopefully help to further clarify the issues surrounding these species (particularly N. fusca). Also, there will be more images and details in the upcoming "Guide to Pitcher Plants of Sarawak" which should be in print soon.
Best regards,
Ch'ien