''Nepenthes smilesii'' () is a tropical pitcher plant native to northeastern Thailand, southern

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

, Cambodia,Mey, F.S. 2010. ''Cambodian Journal of Natural History'' 2010(2): 106–117.Mey, F.S. 2009
''N. smilesii'' in Kampot, Cambodia
Carnivorous Plants in the tropics. and Vietnam.McPherson, S.R. 2009. '' Pitcher Plants of the Old World''. 2 volumes. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. Catalano, M. 2010. '' Nepenthes della Thailandia: Diario di viaggio''. Prague.Nunn, R. & C.N.A. Vu 2016. An account of the ''Nepenthes'' species of Vietnam. '' Carnivorous Plant Newsletter'' 45(3): 93–101. ''Nepenthes smilesii'' can tolerate an extended dry season and is most common in open, sandy

savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

and grassland. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''smilesii'' refers to plant collector

Frederick Henry Smiles Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederick ...

, who made the first known collection of this species.

Botanical history

''Nepenthes anamensis'' is a

heterotypic synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnae ...

of ''N. smilesii''. Its conservation status appears as

Data Deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

on the IUCN Red List. ''Nepenthes smilesii'' was referred to as ''N. anamensis'' throughout most of the 20th century. Further confusion resulted from the erroneous labelling of ''N. smilesii'' plants as '' N. thorelii'' in the horticultural trade. In '' Pitcher Plants of the Old World'', Stewart McPherson lists ''N. mirabilis'' f. ''smilesii'' and ''N. mirabilis'' var. ''smilesii'' as synonyms of ''N. smilesii'', but Marcello Catalano considers these to represent normal forms of '' N. mirabilis''.

Description

''Nepenthes smilesii'' is a climbing plant growing to a height of 5 m. Its leaves are sessile and coriaceous (leathery) in texture. They are very narrowly linear, reaching 40 cm in length while only up to 4 cm wide.

Ecology

''Nepenthes smilesii'' has a widespread distribution throughout Indochina. It has been recorded from Cambodia, northeastern Thailand, southern

, and western Vietnam. The species occurs across a wide range of altitudes, being recorded from elevations of 16–1500 m

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

, although it is more typically found at around 800 m. ''Nepenthes smilesii'' is notable among the Indochinese ''Nepenthes'' for experiencing extreme lows of temperature. Individual specimens of a natural hybrid between ''N. smilesii'' and '' N. mirabilis'' have been recorded from Cambodia.Mey, F.S., L.H. Truong, D.V. Dai & A.S. Robinson 2011. ''Nepenthes thorelii'', an emended description and novel ecological data resulting from its rediscovery in Tay Ninh, Vietnam. In: McPherson, S.R. '' New Nepenthes: Volume One''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. pp. 104–131.

Related species

''Nepenthes smilesii'' appears most closely allied to '' N. kongkandana'' and may be difficult to distinguish from that species. It differs primarily in the shape of its laminae, which are linear to lanceolate with an acute apex, as opposed to obovate with an acuminate apex in the latter. ''Nepenthes smilesii'' also differs in having shorter tendrils and a narrower peristome.

Notes

:a.''Nepenthes anamensis'' is pronounced . The

is derived from Annam, a former territory in central Vietnam.

References

* Beveridge, N.G.P., C. Rauch, P.J.A. Keßler, R.R. van Vugt & P.C. van Welzen 2013. A new way to identify living species of ''Nepenthes'' (Nepenthaceae): more data needed! '' Carnivorous Plant Newsletter'' 42(4): 122–128. * Kahl, T. 2003. '' Carnivorous Plant Newsletter'' 32(1): 8–9. * Kosterin, O.E. 2011. ''International Dragonfly Fund - Report 40'': 1–108. * McPherson, S.R. & A. Robinson 2012. ''

Field Guide to the Pitcher Plants of Peninsular Malaysia and Indochina This list of ''Nepenthes'' literature is a listing of major published works dealing with the tropical pitcher plants of the genus '' Nepenthes''. It includes specialised standalone publications and taxonomic monographs released as part of larg ...

''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. * Meimberg, H. 2002. Ph.D. thesis, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich. * Meimberg, H. & G. Heubl 2006. Introduction of a nuclear marker for phylogenetic analysis of Nepenthaceae. ''Plant Biology'' 8(6): 831–840. * 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 Evolution'' 39(2): 478–490. * Mey, F.S. 2009. '' Carniflora Australis'' 7(1): 6–15. * Mey, F.S. 2011
''Nepenthes smilesii'' in Tay Ninh Province, southern Vietnam
''Strange Fruits: A Garden's Chronicle'', December 11, 2011. * Mey, F.S. 2014

''Strange Fruits: A Garden's Chronicle'', February 3, 2014.

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4912563 Carnivorous plants of Asia smilesii Flora of Indo-China Plants described in 1895