''Nepenthes aenigma'' is a tropical

pitcher plant Pitcher plants are several different carnivorous plants which have modified leaves known as pitfall traps—a prey-trapping mechanism featuring a deep cavity filled with digestive liquid. The traps of what are considered to be "true" pitcher p ...

known from two mountains in

Ilocos Norte Ilocos Norte, officially the Province of Ilocos Norte ( ilo, Probinsia ti Ilocos Norte; tl, Lalawigan ng Ilocos Norte), is a province of the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region. Its capital is Laoag City, located in the northwest corner ...

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

on the

Philippine The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

island of

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

, where it grows at an elevation of around 1200 m above sea level. The species is notable for growing among dense vegetation in deep shade. It shows similarities to '' N. burkei'' and '' N. ventricosa''. The species was originally discovered in April 2002 by ornithologist Herman Nuytemans and was only relocated in the wild just over 10 years later.Suarez, W. (2013)
The rediscovery of ''Nepenthes'' sp. Luzon
Carnivorous Plants in the tropics, 18 April 2013. Prior to its formal description the species was known under the placeholder name "''Nepenthes'' sp. Luzon". The specific epithet '' aenigma'' is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for "enigma" or "riddle" and refers to the species's "very unusual ecological preferences" of growing in deep shade.

References

Carnivorous plants of Asia aenigma Endemic flora of the Philippines Flora of Luzon Plants described in 2016 {{Nepenthes-stub