''Nepenthes ceciliae'' 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 ...
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to 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
Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
, where it grows at 1500–1880 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 ...
.
Its discovery was announced online in August 2011.
[ Gronemeyer, T. 2011]
Neue Nepenthesarten von den Philippinen
G.F.P. Forum, August 28, 2011.
''Nepenthes ceciliae'' belongs to the informal "''N. alata'' group", which also includes ''
N. alata'', ''
N. copelandii'', ''
N. extincta'', ''
N. graciliflora'', ''
N. hamiguitanensis'', ''
N. kitanglad'', ''
N. kurata'', ''
N. leyte'', ''
N. mindanaoensis'', ''
N. negros'', ''
N. ramos'', ''
N. saranganiensis'', and ''
N. ultra''.
[Cheek, M. & M. Jebb 2013. Recircumscription of the ''Nepenthes alata'' group (Caryophyllales: Nepenthaceae), in the Philippines, with four new species. ''European Journal of Taxonomy'' 69: 1–23. ][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 Botany'' 31(5): 616–622. ][Cheek, M. & M. Jebb 2013. ''Nepenthes ramos'' (Nepenthaceae), a new species from Mindanao, Philippines. ''Willdenowia'' 43(1): 107–111. ][Cheek, M. & M. Jebb 2013. ''Nepenthes ultra'' (Nepenthaceae), a new species from Luzon, Philippines. ''Blumea'', published online on October 24, 2013. ] These species are united by a number of morphological characters, including winged
petioles,
lids with basal ridges on the lower surface (often elaborated into appendages), and upper pitchers that are usually broadest near the base.
In their original paper defining the ''N. alata'' group,
Martin Cheek Martin Roy Cheek (born 1960) is a botanist and taxonomist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.[Matthew Jebb
Matthew Hilary Peter Jebb (born 1958) is an Irish botanist and taxonomist specialising in the ant plant genera ''Squamellaria'', ''Myrmecodia'', ''Hydnophytum'', ''Myrmephytum'' and ''Anthorrhiza'', as well as the carnivorous plant genus ''Nepe ...]
treated ''N. ceciliae'' as possibly
conspecific
Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species.
Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organ ...
with ''
N. copelandii''.
Natural hybrids
* ''N. ceciliae'' × ''
N. pulchra''
[McPherson, S.R. & V.B. Amoroso 2011. '']Field Guide to the Pitcher Plants of the Philippines
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.
References
* Gronemeyer, T. 2012. ''Nepenthes ceciliae''. In
''AIPC Special Issue 4: News of 2011''.Associazione Italiana Piante Carnivore. p. 19.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4185929
Carnivorous plants of Asia
ceciliae
Endemic flora of the Philippines
Flora of Mindanao
Plants described in 2011