''Nepenthes epiphytica'' 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 only from the
Berau and
East Kutai Regencies of
East Kalimantan
East Kalimantan ( Indonesian: ) is a province of Indonesia. Its territory comprises the eastern portion of Borneo. It had a population of about 3.03 million at the 2010 census (within the current boundary), 3.42 million at the 2015 census, and 3 ...
,
Borneo
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...
, where it grows at an elevation of around 1000 m
above sea level.
Prior to its
formal description as a species, ''N. epiphytica'' was considered to be a variant of the closely related ''
N. fusca''.
''Nepenthes epiphytica'' belongs to the loosely defined "''N. maxima'' complex", which also includes, among other species, ''
N. boschiana'', ''
N. chaniana'', ''
N. eymae'', ''
N. faizaliana'', ''
N. fusca'', ''
N. klossii'', ''
N. maxima'', ''
N. platychila'', ''
N. stenophylla'', and ''
N. vogelii''.
The
specific epithet ''epiphytica'' refers to the
epiphytic
An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...
habit of this species.
[Wistuba, A. 2012. ''Nepenthes epiphytica''. In]
''AIPC Special Issue 4: News of 2011''.
Associazione Italiana Piante Carnivore. p. 20.
References
Carnivorous plants of Asia
epiphytica
Endemic flora of Borneo
Flora of Kalimantan
Plants described in 2011
{{Nepenthes-stub