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N rowanae in thailand?

  • #41
Hi lol ,
Sorry for my Thai website, please follow this link

or select topic from the left menu . I just add English menu yesterday .
N. bicalcarata has never been found in the Kingdom of Thailand, as far as I know. Dept. of Agriculture declared the local species of Thailand as follow
1.Nepenthes mirabilis

2.Nepenthes distillatoria

3.Nepenthes smilesii

4.Nepenthes thorelii

5.Nepenthes ampullaria

6.Nepenthes kampotiana

I would like to raise up another scenario for discussion , it's true species.It seems to me that members in this forum concentrate in hybrid hypothesis.Have we neglected some important data ,ie. Vikings are found on very remote Island(s) , may be only one Island.Only a few Thai people know where. But most Thai expert said in Andaman sea. It was told that there was only one species (hybrid???) on this(these) Island(s) , that is Viking. Vikings got their own characteristics. Vikings may look like some species we knew , but they're also some characteristics different from all we knew as well. Some Nep. on mainland are still unexplored . So it's not surprising if one species on an remote Island is unexplored too. In Andaman sea , there are a lot of Islands that look like giant rock rising precipitously from the sea , there's not even a square inch for a botanist to step on. No fresh water.No people. Such a place is very appreciated for the swallow nests hunters.If Viking grow on such Island ,they can collect both Vikings and swallow's nests to earn their lives .And undoubtfully,this explains why they keep this treasure Island in secret. I'm going to interview an expert who can contacts directly to these people this afternoon for one hour and will report the result on my web as soon as possible. May be we ,this forum, can extract more details from my report.
Next week ,if luck , one guy from an Island in South will trade me pics. of Vikings in their habitats.The only obstacle is that he has no camera (and actually he doesn't know how to take picture , we may have pics of blurry Vikings in their habitats).
And next step , just a proposal sent to another guy who collects Viking. Next month, I will buy him round trip Air tickets to Bangkok plus bonus and grand meal in exchange with primary data in every view about Viking except one question , where is the Island .His name andappearance will be very confidential. He is now making decision. Now I'm list out questions to ask him if he accepts my invitation. It would be vey appreciated if you could help suggest some topics or questions I should ask that day for fear that I would be too excited to interviw him in every aspects.
Thank you in advance.
 
  • #42
Hi Nong:

I would like to contribute to your quest and study by asking the following:

How many types of Nepenthes are found in that island (only Vikings?)

Is there a way to describe the different types of nepenthes found on such island?

What time of the year do these plants flower?.
What are the average temperatures? (daytime and nighttime)
What type of insects are found inside the pitchers?

Are there any mirabilis around?

I hope he can answer some of these questions.

gus

P.S. type of soil? sandy?
 
  • #43
Also, if there are seasonal differences. (early spring dry season, night lows in winter)
Nong,
Are these the same islands where Paphiopedilum leucochilum grows? I saw the pictures of the Paphs on the website.

Trent
 
  • #44
Gus,
Somewhere along the line I read that only Viking grows on the island. There are no other Neps. If that's the case, is Viking found on other nearby islands.

I checked Nong's photos, studying the leaves and growth structure. The leaf margins are not fimbriate from what I can see. They are thick and glabrous, unlike mirabilis. The more I look at the pictures, the more I think it's a new species, allied to rafflesiana or thorelii/anamensis/smilesii.

Trent
 
  • #45
I don't think Ampullaria grows in Thailand. According to the Savage Garden, it grows in Borneo, the Malay Peninsula, New Guinea, and Sumatra.

I'll check on some other places just to make sure.
 
  • #46
Yeah, you're right, it does grow in Thailand, but not just in Thailand. It does grow in other places.
 
  • #47
Hi Trent:

Yes, if Viking only grows in these islands and there are no mirabilis around, then it has evolved to a new species!. this is exactly what i wanted to get at.

It'd be nice that someone confirms whether other neps grow with N. Viking.

Gus
 
  • #48
Hi All,
My LAN system (server) halted last night and need time to repair . Just short answers from Net cafe . Paph. in my web is my masterpiece from pollination in my nersery,not Paph on the Island.I've just finished 1 hr. interview with one expert who raise and trade Viking for 12 years. It may take 2 week to make a full report in every details. Meanwhile , I can answer some questions you asked. On the Island , with total area Viking growth naturally only about 2 acre,there is another but minor Nep. grown.That is N. thorellii .But still confused.This expert has never visited the Island but he noticed 100 cutting of Viking he bought from the Island grew to be 5 thorellii-like Vikings. (There are more remarks on this interview to brainstorm , please wait patiently).
There are a lot of N. ampullaria growing wild in Satoon province of Thailand , but only green type . We call them Satoon Nep.or " mor Gang Ling" in Thai (means monkey's cooking utencils) This is why Dept. of Agriculture declared Nepenthes ampullaria as one of the local species of Nep in Thailand .
Temp. on the Island reach 38 celcius in summer and 15+ in winter. Most of year rainy ( = 24- 28 celcius).Monsoons come between July - Dec. This monsoon season interrupts harvesting and Vikings have time to recover. Only 3 family know where it is and it takes many hours to visit this isolated Island.
Rare or near extinct?
Nong
 
  • #49
Nong,

I showed the pics a while back of Viking to Dr. Jan Schlauer(a taxonomist) , and he thought they looked likly to be cultivated hybrids. If you get pics of them in the wild...I think it quite likely they will eventually be given species status.

Cheers,

Joe
 
  • #50
I'm trying hard , Joe.
Nong
 
  • #51
Nong,

Yes, I am sorry. I see you are trying hard. I wish you good luck in that endeavor.

Cheers,

Joe
 
  • #52
Hi Nong;

You seem to have a lot of responsibilities on your shoulder. I do believe that the preservation of the Viking (species or complex hybrid) is in your hands. so please keep up the good work and try to preserve as many specimens of this beauty for future generations.

It is possible that in these islands you have three types of plants. Viking, thorellii and a hybrid between the two.

Just a thought.

Gus
 
  • #53
Nong,
The guy that I got the Nepenthes from in Bangkok is named
Chumpon Udomdun. There has been several articles on him and Nepenthes. One is from the Agriculture Techno Transfer Forum magazine 2/15/96. He had several types of the "Viking"
nepenthes amongst several other species from all over Thailand. I do have a couple of phone numbers from him about four years ago. Email me and I can send it to you if you want.
Truly,
Tom
 
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