''Nepenthes mapuluensis'' (; from Mount Ilas Mapulu), the Mapulu pitcher-plant,Phillipps, A. & A. Lamb 1996. ''

Pitcher-Plants of Borneo ''Pitcher-Plants of Borneo'' is a monograph by Anthea Phillipps and Anthony Lamb on the tropical pitcher plants of Borneo. It was first published in 1996 by Natural History Publications (Borneo), in association with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Ke ...

''. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu. is a species of 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 ...

native to

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 eas ...

.Clarke, C.M. 1997. ''

Nepenthes of Borneo ''Nepenthes of Borneo'' is a monograph by Charles Clarke (botanist), Charles Clarke on the Nepenthes, tropical pitcher plants of Borneo.Clarke, C.M. 1997. ''Nepenthes of Borneo''. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu. It was first p ...

''. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu. It is known only from a restricted geographical range and is listed as

Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

. ''Nepenthes mapuluensis'' has no known

natural hybrid In biology, a hybrid is the offspring resulting from combining the qualities of two organisms of different breeds, varieties, species or genera through sexual reproduction. Hybrids are not always intermediates between their parents (such as in ...

s.McPherson, S.R. 2009. ''

Pitcher Plants of the Old World ''Pitcher Plants of the Old World'' is a two-volume monograph by Stewart McPherson on the pitcher plants of the genera ''Nepenthes'' and ''Cephalotus''. It was published in May 2009 by Redfern Natural History Productions and covers all species kno ...

''. 2 volumes. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. No

infraspecific taxa In botany, an infraspecific name is the scientific name for any taxon below the rank of species, i.e. an infraspecific taxon or infraspecies. (A "taxon", plural "taxa", is a group of organisms to be given a particular name.) The scientific names ...

have been described.

Botanical history

''Nepenthes mapuluensis'' was first collected in 1957 on Mount Ilas Mapulu by A.J.G. 'Doc' Kostermans, the head of the Botanical Division of the Forestry Research Institute at

Bogor Bogor ( su, , nl, Buitenzorg) is a city in the West Java province, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.type material In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes t ...

of '' N. campanulata''. The species was described in 1990 by J. H. Adam and

C. C. Wilcock Christopher C. Wilcock (born 1946) is a taxonomist specialising in the carnivorous pitcher plant genus ''Nepenthes''. Together with J. H. Adam, Wilcock has described several ''Nepenthes'' taxa, including the species '' N. faizaliana'' and '' N. ma ...

based on a single duplicate collection in the

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

and

Bogor Bogor ( su, , nl, Buitenzorg) is a city in the West Java province, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.''Nepenthes mapuluensis''
Carnivorous Plant Database.Cheek, M.R. & M.H.P. Jebb 2001. Nepenthaceae. ''Flora Malesiana'' 15: 1–157.

Description

The stem of ''N. mapuluensis'' can measure up to 6 mm in diameter, but the maximum length is unknown. Internodes are cylindrical and up to 4 cm long. The leaves are

coriaceous This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

. The

lamina Lamina may refer to: Science and technology * Planar lamina, a two-dimensional planar closed surface with mass and density, in mathematics * Laminar flow, (or streamline flow) occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption betwee ...

oblanceolate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

-linear in morphology, up to 26 cm long, and 5 cm wide. The apex of the lamina is acute, while the base is

attenuate In physics, attenuation (in some contexts, extinction) is the gradual loss of flux intensity through a medium. For instance, dark glasses attenuate sunlight, lead attenuates X-rays, and water and air attenuate both light and sound at variable a ...

, sub-petiolate, and semi-amplexicaul.

Tendril In botany, a tendril is a specialized stem, leaf or petiole with a threadlike shape used by climbing plants for support and attachment, as well as cellular invasion by parasitic plants such as ''Cuscuta''. There are many plants that have tendr ...

s grow to 50 cm in length. The pitchers of ''N. mapuluensis'' are ellipsoidal in shape. They grow to 21 cm in height and 8.5 cm in diameter. The pitchers possess two fringed wings up to 10 mm wide. The

peristome Peristome (from the Greek ''peri'', meaning 'around' or 'about', and ''stoma'', 'mouth') is an anatomical feature that surrounds an opening to an organ or structure. Some plants, fungi, and shelled gastropods have peristomes. In mosses In mosses, ...

of this species is moderately developed and is folded or wavy as in the closely related '' N. northiana''. The peristome may be up to 12 mm wide and bears a row of distinct, but not pronounced, teeth. Aerial or upper pitchers may be

infundibular An infundibulum (Latin for ''funnel''; plural, ''infundibula'') is a funnel-shaped cavity or organ. Anatomy * Brain: the pituitary stalk, also known as the ''infundibulum'' and ''infundibular stalk'', is the connection between the hypothalamus and ...

throughout, but are often cylindrical and relatively small.Lee, C.C. 2007
Re: Has anybody seen ''N. mapuluensis'' in nature?
Carnivorous Plants in the tropics. They bear reduced fringed wings or ribs. ''Nepenthes mapuluensis'' has a

racemose A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

. The peduncle is up to 7 cm long. The size of the

rachis In biology, a rachis (from the grc, ῥάχις [], "backbone, spine") is a main axis or "shaft". In zoology and microbiology In vertebrates, ''rachis'' can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this c ...

is unknown.

Pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''. Description Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...

grow to 8 mm in length. A study of 120

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...

samples taken from the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...

(''Kostermans 14017'') found the mean pollen diameter to be 28.9 μm ( SE = 0.5; CV = 9.2%). The species is mostly

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin ''glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

, although certain parts of the plant, such as the pitchers, may have a scattered

indumentum In biology, an indumentum (Latin, literally: "garment") is a covering of trichomes (fine "hairs") on a plant Davis, Peter Hadland and Heywood, Vernon Hilton (1963) ''Principles of angiosperm taxonomy'' Van Nostrandpage, Princeton, New Jersey, pa ...

of short hairs.

Ecology

The type locality of ''N. mapuluensis'' is described on the original collector's label, which reads: "the species is common on the limestone mountain of Ilas Mapulu at an altitude of 800 m". The population from which the

originated was subsequently destroyed and for some time the species was thought to be

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

. More recently, however, further observations of ''N. mapuluensis'' have been made by

Troy Davis Troy Anthony Davis (October 9, 1968 – September 21, 2011) was a man convicted of and executed for the August 19, 1989 murder of police officer Mark MacPhail in Savannah, Georgia. MacPhail was working as a security guard at a Burger King re ...

Joachim Nerz Dr. Joachim Nerz (born 1964) is a German taxonomist and botanist specialising in the carnivorous plant genera ''Heliamphora'' and '' Nepenthes''. Nerz has described several new species, mostly with Andreas Wistuba. Publications * Schlauer, J. ...

and

Andreas Wistuba Andreas Wistuba (born 4 March 1967) is a German taxonomist and botanist specialising in the carnivorous plant genera ''Heliamphora'' and '' Nepenthes''. More than half of all known ''Heliamphora'' species have been described by Wistuba. Pub ...

, significantly expanding the known range of this species. This being the case, ''N. mapuluensis'' is thought to be

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 Sambaliung mountain range in

. ''Nepenthes mapuluensis'' is restricted to

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

substrates and grows in stunted vegetation on low summit ridges, which are often extremely inaccessible. It has been recorded from elevations of between 50 and 850 m.

Related species

''Nepenthes mapuluensis'' is very similar to '' N. northiana'' and there is some question as to the validity of its species status. Although there are few morphological characters separating these two

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

, there seem to be several stable differences that can be used to distinguish between them. Compared to ''N. northiana'', the leaves on the climbing stems of ''N. mapuluensis'' are more linear, the pitchers darker in colour, and the upper pitchers narrower. It is also worth noting that ''N. northiana'' is known only from the Bau area of

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

, which lies several hundred kilometres away from the only known populations of ''N. mapuluensis''. In his Carnivorous Plant Database, taxonomist

Jan Schlauer Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

treats ''N. mapuluensis'' as a possible synonym of ''N. northiana''.

Cultivation

''Nepenthes mapuluensis'' is extremely rare in cultivation. It has been artificially crossed with '' N. ventricosa'' to produce the hybrid ''Nepenthes × mapulucosa'' Hort.Westphal ''in sched.'' (2000), although this name is a ''

nomen nudum In taxonomy, a ''nomen nudum'' ('naked name'; plural ''nomina nuda'') is a designation which looks exactly like a scientific name of an organism, and may have originally been intended to be one, but it has not been published with an adequate descr ...

''.

Notes

:a.Kostermans explored Mount Ilas Mapulu between September 20 and September 24,van Steenis-Kruseman, M.J., ''et al.'' 2006
Cyclopaedia of Malesian Collectors: André Joseph Guillaume Henri Kostermans
Nationaal Herbarium Nederland. and it was during this time that he collected ''N. mapuluensis''.

References

External links

WildBorneo: ''Nepenthes mapuluensis''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5435038 Carnivorous plants of Asia mapuluensis Endemic flora of Borneo Plants described in 1990 Flora of the Borneo lowland rain forests