''Nepenthes merrilliana'' (; after

Elmer Drew Merrill Elmer Drew Merrill (October 15, 1876 – February 25, 1956) was an American botanist and taxonomist. He spent more than twenty years in the Philippines where he became a recognized authority on the flora of the Asia-Pacific region. Through t ...

) 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

Philippines 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 ...

. It produces some of the largest pitchers in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

, rivalling those of '' N. rajah''.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. The species is native to northern and central

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 ...

as well as neighbouring Dinagat and

Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...

.Robinson, A. 2012
''Nepenthes merrilliana'' on Samar
Carnivorous Plants in the tropics, June 29, 2012. Its presence in southern Mindanao is uncertain. It inhabits coastal forest areas on steep slopes at elevations of 0–1100 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 ...

.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. ''

Nepenthes surigaoensis ''Nepenthes surigaoensis'' is a tropical pitcher plant endemism, endemic to the Philippines, Philippine island of Mindanao, where it grows at elevations of at least 800–1200 m above sea level.McPherson, S.R. 2009. ''Pitcher Plants of the O ...

'' is closely related to ''N. merrilliana'' and was for a long time considered 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 this species.Danser, B.H. 1928.

The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies "The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies" is a seminal monograph by B. H. Danser on the tropical pitcher plants of the Dutch East Indies and surrounding regions. It was originally published in the ''Bulletin du Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg'' ...

. ''Bulletin du Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg'', Série III, 9(3–4): 249–438. ''

Nepenthes samar ''Nepenthes samar'' is a tropical pitcher plant native to the Philippines. It is known only from the island of Samar, after which it is named. It is closely allied to '' N. merrilliana''. References * Mey, F.S. 2013''Nepenthes samar'' and ...

'' is another closely allied species.Cheek, M. & M. Jebb 2013. ''Nepenthes samar'' (Nepenthaceae), a new species from Samar, Philippines. ''Blumea'' 58(1): 82–84. Nepenthes merrilliana young plant.jpg, A young plant with lower pitchers growing in an exposed site Nepenthes merrilliana terrestrial pitcher.jpg, A small lower pitcher from Dinagat Nepenthes merrilliana - Macfarlane, 1911.jpg, Illustration of ''N. merrilliana'' from Macfarlane's

type description A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have be ...

of 1911

Natural hybrids

*'' N. alata'' × ''N. merrilliana'' N._×_merrilliata''.html" ;"title="Nepenthes x merrilliata">N. × merrilliata''">Nepenthes x merrilliata">N. × merrilliata''ref name=Samar />Mann, P. 1998
A trip to the Philippines
''

Carnivorous Plant Newsletter The ''Carnivorous Plant Newsletter'' is the official publication of the International Carnivorous Plant Society (ICPS), the largest such organization in the world. It is headquartered in Walnut Creek, California. History and editorship The newsle ...

'' 27(1): 6–11. *? ('' N. alata'' × ''N. merrilliana'') × '' N. mirabilis'' N._×_tsangoya''.html" ;"title="Nepenthes_x_tsangoya.html" ;"title="'' N._×_tsangoya''">Nepenthes_x_tsangoya.html"_;"title="''Nepenthes_x_tsangoya">N._×_tsangoya''*'' N._×_tsangoya''">Nepenthes_x_tsangoya.html"_;"title="''Nepenthes_x_tsangoya">N._×_tsangoya''*''Nepenthes_bellii">N._bellii''_×_''N._merrilliana'' *''N._merrilliana''_×_''Nepenthes_mindanaoensis.html" ;"title="Nepenthes_bellii.html" ;"title="Nepenthes x tsangoya">N. × tsangoya''">Nepenthes_x_tsangoya.html" ;"title="''Nepenthes x tsangoya">N. × tsangoya''*''Nepenthes bellii">N. bellii'' × ''N. merrilliana'' *''N. merrilliana'' × ''Nepenthes mindanaoensis">N. mindanaoensis'' *''N. merrilliana'' × '' N. mirabilis''

References

* Bauer, U., C.J. Clemente, T. Renner & W. Federle 2012. Form follows function: morphological diversification and alternative trapping strategies in carnivorous ''Nepenthes'' pitcher plants. ''Journal of Evolutionary Biology'' 25(1): 90–102. * 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! ''

'' 42(4): 122–128. * Cantley, R. 2000
''Nepenthes'' of the Philippines
[video] The 3rd Conference of the International Carnivorous Plant Society, San Francisco, USA. * Cheek, M. & M. Jebb 2013. ''Nepenthes ramos'' (Nepenthaceae), a new species from Mindanao, Philippines. ''Willdenowia'' 43(1): 107–111. * Co, L. & W. Suarez 2012
Nepenthaceae
Co's Digital Flora of the Philippines. * Gronemeyer, T. 2008. ''Nepenthes'' auf den Philippinen – Ein Reisebericht. ''

Das Taublatt ''Das Taublatt'' is a triannual German-language periodical based in Bochum and the official publication of Gesellschaft für fleischfressende Pflanzen im deutschsprachigen Raum, a carnivorous plant society based in Germany.Rice, B. 2010Carnivor ...

'' 60(1): 15–27. * Gronemeyer, T. & V. Heinrich 2008. Wiederentdeckung von ''Nepenthes surigaoensis'' am Naturstandort auf den Philippinen. ''

'' 60(1): 28–33. * Kurata, S. & M. Toyoshima 1972. Philippine species of ''Nepenthes''. ''The Gardens' Bulletin Singapore'' 26(1): 155–158
Abstract
* Macfarlane, J.M. 1927. The Philippine species of ''Nepenthes''. ''The Philippine Journal of Science'' 33(2): 127–140. * Mansur, M. 2001. In: ''Prosiding Seminar Hari Cinta Puspa dan Satwa Nasional''. Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia, Bogor. pp. 244–253. * McPherson, S. & T. Gronemeyer 2008. Die Nepenthesarten der Philippinen Eine Fotodokumentation. ''

'' 60(1): 34–78. * Meimberg, H., A. Wistuba, P. Dittrich & G. Heubl 2001. Molecular phylogeny of Nepenthaceae based on cladistic analysis of plastid trnK intron sequence data. ''Plant Biology'' 3(2): 164–175. * 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. * Oikawa, T. 1992. ''Nepenthes merrilliana'' Macf.. In: . 'The Grief Vanishing''.Parco Co., Japan. pp. 58–59. {{Taxonbar, from=Q150513 Carnivorous plants of Asia merrilliana Endemic flora of the Philippines Flora of Mindanao Flora of the Visayas Plants described in 1911 Vulnerable flora of Asia

Natural hybrids

References

Further reading