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  • #21
Very nice pix, Jeff. The Nepenthes macrophylla is a beauty - I'm fervently hoping that mine will look like this in a coupla years...

I also have N. faizaliana from MT and it is nearly identical to the image of the plant that Tony posted (it is rather darker overall, almost certainly from outdoor culture). One of the things that I've noticed about this particular plant is that the pitchers are formed very, very slowly, but that they last forever. I have one 20 cm tall lower that is just starting to brown after a year. Much more than N. fusca, this sp. reminds me of some highly-colored N. stenophylla clones. Lovely, thick, shiny leaves, too.

My two cents on the issue of Nepenthes taxonomy: one of the very real problems with unusual "ornamental" plants of all kinds is that new descriptions are driven more by the desire of the horticultural trade to offer a bigger selection (more species = more potential sales), or the desire by amateur botanists to publish, than by the interests of comparative botany. In spite of this bias, most of the new carnivorous taxa being described these days appear to be "good". An additional aggravation is that collectors naturally gravitate to/take the "showier" examples in a given colony to serve as the type series, which may not necessarily best represent the whole of the population. As a further complication, species that are thinly-distributed in very remote regions often yield very few type specimens (sometimes, only the holotype!) to "first contact", and these individuals also may not represent the species in its totality. And finally, when dealing with the genus Nepenthes specifically, you have the added complications of intraspecific variability deriving from environmental factors (exposure, elevation, etc.), dramatic ontogenetic changes as the plant progresses from rosetted seedling to hemiepiphytic or epiphytic vine, and the genetic "pollution" from pollen imported into the deme from species that occur in sympatry.

I suspect that, as our knowledge grows and our understanding of the family improves, we may find that several "good" species that we grow today may either be sunk, or be found to represent particular, fairly stable forms within hybrid swarms.

As an aside, what I find to be an amazing coincidence is that the coveted "post-modern toilet bowl" Nepenthes types (jacquelinae, platychila, and Andreas Wistuba's newest sp. nov.) are all being described in what should presumably be the final chapter of discoveries of novelties in this genus (1995-2005). Since two are Sumatran and one Bornean, one wonders what else is out there in the wilds of Malesia. YIKES!!

Peace,

SJ
 
  • #22
Hi Stone jaguar:

Yes, you are right about the showy specimens being used as the standard form of the species. However, nowadays, Nep growers are more realistic about what to expect when he/she acquires a new plant.

One quick note on the beautiful toilet bowls, these are not the last ones to be found on the last chapter of discoveries between 1995-2005, don't forget the Hairy Hamata!. That's definitely a beautiful plant and another great discovery by Chi'en Lee.

One thing i learned about these plants is that specific physical traits are not unique within a species but passed on on to another one if the environmental pressure is great enough to allow the survival of the new species.

Gus

Gus
 
  • #23
Couldn't agree more with your comments on taxonomy Stone Jag but the final chapter in discoveries won't be over until the last tree is felled.
 
  • #24
And Malaysian logging companies are doing their best to make sure that day comes as quickly as possible...
 
  • #25
In the Philippines there are some huge logging "concessions" given to timber companies for so-called selective logging. The devastation is such that there are several sets of armed guard posts on each approach road and aircraft are not allowed to overfly the area to see what is going on there. I got into one of these concessions once and the result was the first rediscovery of N. copelandii (Later found on a more accessible mountain) and the discovery of the highland N. truncata which was seeding at the time. Don't know what else may have been there but it's almost certainly gone now
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  • #26
"...but the final chapter in discoveries won't be over until the last tree is felled."

Rob - how incredibly poignant and very well said. My experience with "cryptobotany" is that these spectacular new discoveries being made around the world (e.g. Phragmipedium kovachii, Aztekium hintonii, Nepenthes jacquelinae, several new and noteworthy cycads from the northern Neotropics & China, etc.) signal that access roads are finally reaching that "last tree". For those of us who relish both the thrill of handling "lost" and novel taxa and the wilderness experience in the wet tropics, this is, indeed, a very bittersweet reality. Locally, one can take the pulse of how far out the loggers and squatters have made it by taking stock of the numbers and comparative rarity of orchids being hauled out for roadside sale. Most of the material that we have seen surface over the past decade are either not previously reported for the country, or were known from perhaps one or two vouchers taken in the 19th century.

My final point was more along the lines of how very surprising it is that this particular pitcher "mold" seems to have eluded all you guys' best efforts until fairly recently (excepting, perhaps, N. talangensis, which does not really represent the more extreme form of this model). I really do think that there must be several more of these chunky little fellers gracing the mossy forests over yon.

Peace,

SJ
 
  • #27
Hey man, nice Veitchii and Macrophylla. I liked them all, but those really caught my attention. The Veitchii because of it's 'inflatable' peristome and the Macrophylla because i just got one myself that is about an inch and a half around, i can't wait untill it looks like that. Except a whole lot bigger.
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  • #28
Jay, The rate of discovery of distinct new species is running at several per year. IMO there may very well be more in the toilet bowl "mold". It's possible to go to a hitherto "explored" mountain and discover something that has been overlooked simply by going off the beaten trail. Added to that there are still scores of unexplored mountains that are still difficult to access.

Roadside sales can be very sad to see. One year after the discovery of N. sibuyanensis it was possible to buy this species by the roadside in the town of Magdewan and I saw gardens with the plants in. Of course as they were at sea level they would all have been be doomed.
 
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