N.eustachya Miq., only recorded from Sumatra and still distinguished by Macfarlane, is united with N.alata in the above. In his monograph, Macfarlane places N.alata in the group with carinate lid, N.eustachya among the species without keel on the lid; yet he distinguishes a N.alata var. ecristata, without keel. For the rest there is hardly any difference to be stated between these two species and especially the inflorescences are strikingly alike.
Danser also identified Ridley 16097 from the Malay Peninsula as N.alata, extending the species's range even further and making its apparent absence from Borneo difficult to explain. Ridley 16097 is now thought to represent a mixed collection of N.alba and N.benstonei.[5]
The specific epithet eustachya has been misspelled several times in the literature, including once by Otto Stapf in 1886 as N.eustachys[11] and once by Jacob Gijsbert Boerlage in 1900 as N.eustachia.[10][16]
Description
Nepenthes eustachya is a climbing plant. The stem attains a length of up to 5 m and a diameter of 0.8cm. Internodes are cylindrical in cross section and up to 12cm long.[12]
A rosette plant with lower pitchers (left) and a closeup of a lower pitcher (right)
Leaves are coriaceous and petiolate. The lamina is oblong-lanceolate in shape and can be up to 20cm long and 5cm wide. It has a rounded to emarginate apex, which may be sub-peltate. The petiole is canaliculate, not decurrent, and generally lacks wings. It clasps the stem for around half of its circumference. Two to four longitudinal veins are present on either side of the midrib. Pinnate veins arise obliquely from the midrib. Tendrils reach 15cm in length.[12]
Rosette and lower pitchers are ovoid in the lowermost quarter and cylindrical above, frequently widening just below the peristome. They are up to 20cm high and 4cm wide. On the inner surface, the glandular region covers the ovoid portion of the pitcher cup. The pitchers lack wings, bearing a pair of ribs instead. The pitcher mouth is round and has an oblique insertion. The flattened peristome may be up to 5mm wide. Its inner margin is lined with indistinct teeth.[12] The inner portion of the peristome accounts for around 29% of its total cross-sectional surface length.[17] The lid is sub-orbicular and lacks appendages. The spur is up to 4mm long and generally bifid.[12]
Upper pitchers resemble their lower counterparts in most regards. They usually attain a slightly greater size and are infundibular in the uppermost quarter.[12]
Immature parts of the plant may bear a sparse indumentum of white, mostly caducous hairs. Mature parts are glabrous throughout.[12]
The stem and lamina are green. Pitchers are white to light pink with many red speckles. The underside of the lid is often darker than the rest of the pitcher. The peristome is usually yellowish and may bear red stripes.[12]
Nepenthes eustachya usually grows in open, sunny sites on cliff faces and steep slopes at the forest margin. It is restricted to sandstone substrates and often grows on bare rock.[19] Where the species does occur it is common and may form dense clumps, such as those growing beside the road from Sibolga to Tarutung in North Sumatra.[12][1]
Nepenthes eustachya differs from N.alata in a number of morphological features. Jebb and Cheek outlined these differences when they restored the former as a valid species. Nepenthes eustachya has a lanceolate lamina with a rounded to sub-peltate apex, whereas that of N.alata is lanceolate-ovate with an acute or attenuate apex. The petiole also serves to distinguish these species: in N.eustachya it is scarcely or not winged at all, whereas in N.alata it is broadly winged. The pitchers of N.eustachya bear a simple or bifurcate spur, compared to the simple and acutely pointed appendage of N.alata. Mature parts of N.eustachya are glabrous, while N.alata bears an indumentum of reddish or whitish hairs. Jebb and Cheek also compared the structure of the pitcher base: that of N.eustachya is angular and woody, being gradually attenuate towards the tendril. The base of N.alata traps, however, has a similar texture to the rest of the pitcher and is abruptly attenuate towards the tendril.[12][13]
An upper pitcher of N.eustachya (left) and an upper pitcher of N.alata (right)
Nepenthes alata exhibits great variability across its range and it is inevitable that some plants will deviate from the characters outlined by Jebb and Cheek. However, the overall combination of morphological differences appears to be stable and it is this that demarcates these species.[12]
Nepenthes eustachya bears a superficial resemblance to N.mirabilis. It can be distinguished from that species on the basis of its lower pitchers, which lack wings, its fimbriate leaf margins on short shoots, and coriaceous leaves, as opposed to chartaceous in the latter.[12]
Charles Clarke notes that the upper pitchers of N.eustachya, which have a pronounced globose base, may resemble those of N.clipeata from Borneo and N.klossii from New Guinea. Nevertheless, it would be difficult to confuse these species as they have little else in common and are geographically isolated from each other.[12]
In 2001, Clarke performed a cladistic analysis of the Nepenthes species of Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia using 70 morphological characteristics of each taxon. The following is a portion of the resultant cladogram, showing "Clade 5". It comprises the sister pair of N.eustachya and N.mirabilis with 72% support, as well as a weakly supported subclade (69%) that includes N.longifolia and the sister taxa N.rafflesiana and N.sumatrana with 58% bootstrap support.[12]
Nepenthes albomarginata × N.eustachya often produces reddish leaves and pitchers. The characteristic white band of N.albomarginata is present just below the peristome. In common with N.eustachya, the indumentum is almost completely absent from the leaves, which are sub-petiolate and wider than those of N.albomarginata. No mature plants of this hybrid have been observed and, as such, the upper pitchers and inflorescence remain unknown.[12]
Nepenthes eustachya × N.longifolia has been recorded from a number of locations near Payakumbuh and Sibolga, where its parent species are sympatric. It is relatively rare because N.eustachya and N.longifolia occur in markedly different habitats; the former usually grows in exposed, sunny sites, while the latter is more common in dense, shady forest. This hybrid differs from N.eustachya in having fringed lamina margins bearing short reddish-brown hairs. The peristome often has a distinctive raised section at the front, a characteristic inherited from N.longifolia. It can be distinguished from N.longifolia on the basis of its shorter tendrils and the presence of longitudinal furrows on the surface of the lamina, similar to those of N.eustachya.[12]
Nepenthes albomarginata is a tropical pitcher plant native to Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia, and Sumatra.
Nepenthes ampullaria is a very distinctive and widespread species of tropical pitcher plant, present in Borneo, the Maluku Islands, New Guinea, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra, and Thailand.
Nepenthes reinwardtiana is a tropical pitcher plant native to Borneo and Sumatra and to a number of smaller surrounding islands including Bangka, Natuna, Nias, and Siberut. Although some sources have included Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore within the range of this species, these records appear to be erroneous.
Nepenthes spathulata is a tropical pitcher plant native to Java and Sumatra, where it grows at elevations of between 1100 and 2900 m above sea level. The specific epithet spathulata is derived from the Latin word spathulatus, meaning "spatula shaped", and refers to the shape of the lamina.
Nepenthes adnata is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to the Indonesian province of West Sumatra, where it grows at elevations of 600 to 1200 m above sea level. The specific epithet adnata is Latin for "broadly attached" and refers to the base of the lamina.
Nepenthes benstonei is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Peninsular Malaysia, where it grows at elevations of 150–1350 m above sea level. The specific epithet benstonei honours botanist Benjamin Clemens Stone, who was one of the first to collect the species.
Nepenthes bongso is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra, where it has an altitudinal distribution of 1000–2700 m above sea level. The specific epithet bongso refers to the Indonesian legend of Putri Bungsu, the spirit guardian of Mount Marapi.
Nepenthes alata is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to the Philippines. Like all pitcher plants, it is carnivorous and uses its nectar to attract insects that drown in the pitcher and are digested by the plant. It is highly polymorphic, and its taxonomy continues to be subject to revisions.
Nepenthes gymnamphora is a tropical pitcher plant native to the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra. It has a wide altitudinal range of 600–2,800 metres (2,000–9,200 ft) above sea level. There is much debate surrounding the taxonomic status of this species and the taxa N. pectinata and N. xiphioides.
Nepenthes sumatrana is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to the Indonesian island of Sumatra, after which it is named.
Nepenthes longifolia is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra, where it grows at elevations of between 300 and 1100 m above sea level. The specific epithet longifolia, formed from the Latin words longus (long) and folius (leaf), refers to the exceptionally large leaves of this species.
Nepenthes dubia is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where it grows at an altitude of 1600–2700 m above sea level. The specific epithet dubia is the Latin word for "doubtful".
Nepenthes tobaica is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra. It is particularly abundant around Lake Toba, after which it is named.
Nepenthes inermis is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The specific epithet inermis is Latin for "unarmed" and refers to the upper pitchers of this species, which are unique in that they completely lack a peristome.
Nepenthes ovata is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra. The specific epithet ovata is Latin for "ovate" and refers to the shape of the lower pitchers.
Nepenthes spectabilis is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra, where it grows at elevations of between 1400 and 2200 m above sea level. The specific epithet spectabilis is Latin for "visible" or "notable".
Nepenthes beccariana is a tropical pitcher plant. The species was described in 1908 by John Muirhead Macfarlane based on a specimen collected from the island of Nias, which lies off the western coast of Sumatra. It appears to be closely related to both N. longifolia and N. sumatrana, and the former is possibly a heterotypic synonym of this taxon.
"A skeletal revision of Nepenthes (Nepenthaceae)" is a monograph by Matthew Jebb and Martin Cheek on the tropical pitcher plants of the genus Nepenthes. It was published in the May 1997 issue of the botanical journal Blumea. The work represented the first revision of the entire genus since John Muirhead Macfarlane's 1908 monograph. Jebb and Cheek's revision was based on "collaborative work by both authors since 1984, largely on herbarium specimens, but including fieldwork in New Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Madagascar". It was a precursor to their more exhaustive 2001 monograph, "Nepenthaceae".
"Nepenthaceae" is a monograph by John Muirhead Macfarlane on the tropical pitcher plants of the genus Nepenthes. It was published in 1908 in Adolf Engler's Das Pflanzenreich. It was the most exhaustive revision of the genus up to that point, covering all known species, and included detailed accounts of the structure, anatomy, and development of Nepenthes.
↑ Cheek, M. & M. Jebb 2013. Typification and redelimitation of Nepenthes alata with notes on the N. alata group, and N. negros sp. nov. from the Philippines. Nordic Journal of Botany31(5): 616–622. doi:10.1111/j.1756-1051.2012.00099.x
1 2 Kurata, S. 1973. Nepenthes from Borneo, Singapore and Sumatra. The Gardens' Bulletin Singapore26(2): 227–232.
1 2 (in Indonesian) Tamin, R. & M. Hotta 1986. Nepenthes di Sumatera: The genus Nepenthes of the Sumatra Island. In: M. Hotta (ed.) Diversity and Dynamics of Plant Life in Sumatra: Forest Ecosystem and Speciation in Wet Tropical Environments. Part 1: Reports and Collection of Papers. Kyoto University, Kyoto. pp. 75–109.
↑ Macfarlane, J.M. 1908. Nepenthaceae. In: A. Engler. Das Pflanzenreich IV, III, Heft 36: 1–91.
↑ Sota, T., M. Mogi & K. Kato 1998. Local and regional-scale food web structure in Nepenthes alata pitchers. Biotropica30(1): 82–91. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7429.1998.tb00371.x
↑ Bauer, U., C.J. Clemente, T. Renner & W. Federle 2012. Form follows function: morphological diversification and alternative trapping strategies in carnivorous Nepenthes pitcher plants. Journal of Evolutionary Biology25(1): 90–102. doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2011.02406.x
Meimberg, H., A. Wistuba, P. Dittrich & G. Heubl 2001. Molecular phylogeny of Nepenthaceae based on cladistic analysis of plastid trnK intron sequence data. Plant Biology3(2): 164–175. doi:10.1055/s-2001-12897
Meimberg, H. & G. Heubl 2006. Introduction of a nuclear marker for phylogenetic analysis of Nepenthaceae. Plant Biology8(6): 831–840. doi:10.1055/s-2006-924676
Meimberg, H., S. Thalhammer, A. Brachmann & G. Heubl 2006. Comparative analysis of a translocated copy of the trnK intron in carnivorous family Nepenthaceae. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution39(2): 478–490. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.11.023
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
