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Hi everyone,

Considering the rather heated debate that has surrounded the identity of Nepenthes burkei in the past, I though people might be interested to see an image of this species which I recently photographed on a trip to Mindoro in the Philippines.  There has been a lot of confusion surrounding the appearance of this species versus the closely related N. ventricosa, but as you can see there are some rather distinct differences in the pitcher shape.  I'll have more photos of this species posted on my website soon.

CLP083212.jpg


I have only seen two plants of true N. burkei in cultivation, one in Australia and one in Japan, both of which I believe originated from a single collection made back in the 1970's.  I would be curious to hear from anyone if this is being grown in Europe and/or the US.

In regards to Malesiana Tropicals (about which I have received many emails recently), please be informed that I have resigned from my work there in July.  MT is still engaged in the production of Nepenthes and I presume will continue to do so.  I regret having lost contact with many correspondents after leaving MT, but please feel free to email me directly at this address from now on.  I am currently based in Sarawak and am still involved in field work on Nepenthes.

Best regards,
Ch'ien Lee
 
Welcome Ch'ien! It is an honor to have you aboard the forums. Glad to hear things are going well for you.

Beautiful picture of N. burkei. The plant from Australia has been spread around and there are at least a few pieces in the US. I look forward to more pictures and discussion on this species and how it differs with N. ventricosa. There are other sources of N. burkei that don't look like typical N. ventricosa but also don't look entirely like the plant in your picture either.

Tony
 
Great to "see" you here Chi'en!
 
Hi Ch'ien

Welcome to the forums.
smile.gif
Thats a beautiful plant and photo. Thanks for the opportunity to see it. That's quite a striking pitcher.

Good to have you here!

Suzanne
 
Thanks for sharing your photo with us, Ch'ien! It's excellent!

I have a specimen labelled N. burkei which I obtained from
Australia. While the markings on my plant are virtually identical
to the plant in your photo, the peristome is not nearly as flared.
Did you observe any variation of this quality in the population of
plants you observed, or is there considerable difference in
this feature between upper and lower pitchers?? Do you
have any other photos of the species you would care to post?

Thanks again!
 
Yeah, welcome!
smile.gif
thats a really cool looking pitcher. . .
cool.gif


thanks for putting it up!

P.S. at M.T. whats the progress with the giant red bicals?
hmm. . . someone may have said they were still in juvenile form or something
 
Hopefully this won't violate any rules but here is a non-sales page link to an image of a plant labeled "N. burkei" sold in the past by an orchid shop near me.
N. "burkei"?
 
Hi Ch'ien,
Have always been enlightened by your input. The N. burkei photo is a great illustration! I ditto what Neps (Jeff) said above. You mentioned a website soon. Will this be something new, not associated with M.T.?

Trent

Boca Raton, Florida
 
Hi Ch'ien,
The Photo is GREAT
biggrin.gif
I'm looking forward to see your website !!!

I have a N.burkei which I got from Oly Marthaler (that would be one in Europe ;-) )

Here is an intermediate pitcher
N.burkei_1.JPG


N.burkei_2.JPG


The pitcher is not as impressive as the one you have photographed, but I believe that it is a burkei. We can see the two lines (wing ribs) at the front of the pitcher, which are characteristics of this species.

Best regards,

David Streit
 
  • #10
Wait a minute, are you the Ch'ien that goes cliff hanging in order to transplant N. clipeata plants where they will be out of reach to collectors, suspending your self on pencil thin tree limbs far above the forest floor? If so, then you are crazy as a bug on a pitcher lip.

I like that!

Welcome to Terra Forums. You'll fit right in here I think :)

It's a real honor to see you here!
 
  • #11
Don't forget rediscovering a very nice lowland plant! And I'd be interested in seeing the new website, too. Welcome to the forums!
 
  • #12
Ch'ien Lee, I have a lot of plants with your name on them. A grower in Washington State (Andrew Marshall) sold me plants that include your name on the labels. I always wondered who Ch'ien Lee was.
 
  • #13
What a pleasant surprize to see you pop up here! A warm welcome to you sir!
 
  • #14
Thanks for the kind welcome to the forum here!  It's great to hear from so many Nep enthusiasts out there.

Glad to know that N. burkei has been well circulated in cultivation.  Here's a couple more photos of the plants in the wild.  Vegetatively the plants are virtually indistinguishable from N. ventricosa, but the pitchers are consistently less waisted, with a steeper mouth, wider peristome and larger lid.  There is a bit of variation in the color of the pitcher, with some being almost entirely red.  Also note the huge difference in the shape of the peristome between the lower and upper pitchers.

CLP083324.jpg


CLP083318.jpg


There seem to be a lot of plants being circulated as "N. burkei" which are either actually N. ventricosa or represent intermediate forms between the two species.  I'm not sure where they originate from and their proper ID will probably have to wait until someone capable of doing the research takes the time to clear up the mess.  The plants coming from Australia (a single clone I think) originate from a site very close to the one I photographed these plants.

>You mentioned a website soon. Will this be something new, not associated with
> M.T.?

My website will be online in about a month.  No, it's not associated with MT, but it will be full of new photos of Nepenthes in the wild (plus many other tropical plants) as well as information on upcoming field trips I will be conducting in 2004.

>P.S. at M.T. whats the progress with the giant red bicals?
>hmm. . . someone may have said they were still in juvenile form or something

In regards to the N. bicalcarata (giant red) from Malesiana Tropicals, at the time I left the company, all the plants of this variety had turned out in fact to be the natural hybrid N. bicalcarata x gracilis.  This is a shame since this bical variety is really an incredible plant with very large dark purplish pitchers.  Probably the seed was collected a bit off season and all the flowers had been pollinated by N. gracilis which grows in abundance in the same vicinity.  The hybrid N. bicalcarata x gracilis (referred to as N. x cantleyi) is also a nice plant and though the peristome teeth are nearly absent, the pitchers can have a very nice red coloration.

Best regards,
Ch'ien
 
  • #15
Hi Ch'ien,

Concerning N. burkei, I may have another clone, which I haven't been able to photograph yeet. Of course, when I can do so, I'll it to the forum and to you ! Looking forward to hearing your opinion about it !

BTW: could you send me a short email with your current email address, so I can communicate stg a bit more private ?

Thanx already,

OL

ps: Please everybody, don't feel offended !
 
  • #17
Welcome Ch'ien, I saw Tuan Nguyen's slideshow of your adventures in Borneo. Taking this a bit off-topic, I believe you are a UCSC alumni. I am wondering what you thought of the Nepenthes collection at UCSC Arboretum the last time that you saw them?

Welcome Oliver, Ch'ien's addr seems to be listed on his pictures.
 
  • #18
Ch'ien,
Glad to see you finally made your way here.
biggrin.gif

Stunning news, your departure with T, as I had always associated you as the integral part of MT.
Can't wait for your site to get up.

Regards,

Joe
 
  • #19
Nice to see you here!
biggrin.gif
Your slide show last night was amazing!

What exactly is it that helps you distinguish Nepenthes ventricosa from Burkei? There are so many hybrids out there, and so many different variations/clones of ventricosa and burkei... Could it be possible that Nepenthes burkei is just a rare clone of ventricosa?

olivier,
    Did you ever get around to taking those pictures?
 
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