''Nepenthes naga'' is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to the Barisan Mountains of

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. It is characterised by a forked sub-apical appendage on the underside of the lid and an undulate lid margin. 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 ...

''naga'' is the

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

word for "

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

" and refers to the distinctive lid appendage of this species as well as the large size of its pitchers. The name also references local folklore, which tells of dragons occurring in this species's habitat in the past.

Botanical history

''Nepenthes naga'' was first collected by Indonesian hobbyists between March and July 2007 as part of an expedition by Division ''Nepenthes'' Indonesia. The

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

specimen ''A.Primaldhi & M.Hambali DivNep052'' is the designated holotype, and is deposited at the herbarium of Andalas University (ANDA), near Padang, West Sumatra. An isotype is deposited at Herbarium Bogoriense (BO), the herbarium of the Bogor Botanical Gardens. The specimen was collected by Alfindra Primaldhi and Muhammad Hambali on July 27, 2007, at an elevation of between 1500 and 2000 m. The species was formally described by Pitra Akhriadi, Hernawati, Alfindra Primaldhi and Muhammad Hambali in a 2009 issue of the botanical journal ''Reinwardtia''. The description includes a line drawing of the type specimen by Hernawati, showing lower and upper pitchers as well as a female inflorescence.

Description

''Nepenthes naga'' is a climbing plant growing to a height of around 5 m. The stem is up to 1 cm in diameter. Internodes are circular to rhomboid in cross section and up to 14.8 cm long.

The leaves are sessile. The lamina or leaf blade is

spathulate 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 ...

to oblong in shape and coriaceous (leathery) in texture. The leaves of rosettes are up to 27 cm long by 7.8 cm wide, whereas those of the climbing stem are up to 16 cm long by 6 cm wide. The base of the lamina clasps the stem by one half to three quarters of its circumference. The

midrib 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 ...

is concave on the upper surface and triangular on the lower surface. Three longitudinal veins are present on either side of the midrib, although they are only distinct on the underside. Pinnate veins are indistinct. The lamina has an entire margin and a slightly

emarginate 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 ...

to rotundate apex. In rosettes, the tendrils are up to 41 cm long and have a peltate attachment, joining the lamina around 0.3 cm before its apex. Tendrils produced on the climbing stem are inserted apically and are up to 28 cm long. Rosette and lower pitchers are ovoid in the lower part, becoming cylindrical above. They are large, growing to 33.5 cm high by 6.8 cm wide. A pair of fringed wings (≤0.5 cm wide) runs down the ventral surface of the pitcher cup. Fringe elements are up to 1.9 cm long. The pitcher mouth is

ovate Ovate may refer to: *Ovate (egg-shaped) leaves, tepals, or other botanical parts *Ovate, a type of prehistoric stone hand axe *Ovates, one of three ranks of membership in the Welsh Gorsedd *Vates In modern English, the nouns vates () and ovat ...

and elongated into a short neck at the rear. The greatly expanded peristome may be up to 5.8 cm wide at the sides. Its inner margin is lined with distinct teeth, with those of the neck reaching 0.4 cm in length. The pitcher lid or operculum is ovate and has an unusual undulate margin. It measures up to 8.5 cm in length by 7.2 cm in width and has a

cordate Cordate is an adjective meaning 'heart-shaped' and is most typically used for: * Cordate (leaf shape), in plants * Cordate axe, a prehistoric stone tool See also * Chordate A chordate () is an animal of the phylum Chordata (). All chordat ...

base. Four to five pairs of veins are visible on the upper surface of the lid. The lid bears two prominent appendages on its lower surface. The first is a hooked basal crest up to 0.7 cm long. The second is a triangular,

dichotomous A dichotomy is a partition of a whole (or a set) into two parts (subsets). In other words, this couple of parts must be * jointly exhaustive: everything must belong to one part or the other, and * mutually exclusive: nothing can belong simultan ...

appendage present near the apex. This unique feature measures up to 1.4 cm in length and bears large

nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

gland In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland). Structure De ...

s (0.5 to 1 mm in diameter). Smaller glands (0.1 to 0.5 mm in diameter) are concentrated along the midrib. An unbranched spur (≤2.8 cm long) is inserted near the base of the lid. Nepsumatra2

Upper pitchers are

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 ...

in the lowermost part, becoming ovoid and then cylindrical above. They may be up to 24.3 cm high by 4.5 cm wide. A pair of ribs is present instead of wings. The mouth is ovate and has a neck. The peristome is much narrower than that found in lower pitchers, measuring only up to 1 cm in width. Its teeth, although distinct, are also much shorter, with those of the neck reaching 1.3 mm. The fringed lid is ovate, has a cordate base, and measures up to 6.1 cm in length by 5.5 cm in width. Three to four pairs of veins are visible on the upper surface of the lid. As in their terrestrial counterparts, the lid of aerial pitchers bears two appendages on its underside. The hook-shaped basal crest is up to 0.3 cm long, while the forked sub-apical appendage reaches 1.5 cm. The latter bears large nectar glands (0.5 to 1 mm in diameter), with smaller ones (0.1 to 0.2 mm in diameter) concentrated along the lid midrib's lower surface. The spur (≤1.4 cm long) is flattened and has a

bifurcate Bifurcation or bifurcated may refer to: Science and technology * Bifurcation theory, the study of sudden changes in dynamical systems ** Bifurcation, of an incompressible flow, modeled by squeeze mapping the fluid flow * River bifurcation, the f ...

apex. Only the female inflorescence of ''N. naga'' is known. It is a

raceme 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 ...

measuring up to 14.5 cm in length, of which the

peduncle Peduncle may refer to: *Peduncle (botany), a stalk supporting an inflorescence, which is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed *Peduncle (anatomy), a stem, through which a mass of tissue is attached to a body **Peduncle (art ...

makes up 7 cm and the rachis 7.5 cm. Partial peduncles are one- or two-flowered. Their unbranched basal portion is up to 0.5 cm long, while the branches reach 0.9 cm.

Bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

eoles are linear and up to 1.2 cm long. Tepals measure up to 0.5 cm. Fruits are up to 1 cm long by 0.4 cm wide. ''Nepenthes naga'' lacks a conspicuous indumentum; most parts of the plant are glabrous.

Ecology

''Nepenthes naga'' is known only from a small population in the Barisan Mountains of

North Sumatra North Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Utara) is a province of Indonesia located on the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan. North Sumatra is Indonesia's fourth most populous province after West Java, East Java and ...

. It grows

epiphytically 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 ...

in mossy montane forest and has an altitudinal distribution of 1500–2000 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. & A. Robinson 2012. '' Field Guide to the Pitcher Plants of Sumatra and Java''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. The vegetation in this habitat is dominated by

Fagaceae The Fagaceae are a family of flowering plants that includes beeches, chestnuts and oaks, and comprises eight genera with about 927 species. Fagaceae in temperate regions are mostly deciduous, whereas in the tropics, many species occur as evergre ...

and Gleicheniaceae, as well as various montane

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s. ''Nepenthes naga'' occurs in an unprotected area. Plantations of the Pará rubber tree (''Hevea brasiliensis'') at the foot of the hill inhabited by ''N. naga'' pose a threat to this species. Population decline is also attributed to plant collectors, who have removed a number of plants and collect seeds in such numbers that few are left to germinate naturally. The species has no known natural hybrids.McPherson, S.R. 2009. '' Pitcher Plants of the Old World''. 2 volumes. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.

Related species

In their description of ''N. naga'', the authors compared it to the

endemics 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 else ...

'' N. ovata'' and '' N. spathulata'', contending that it can be distinguished from these species on the basis of its

lid appendage and frilled lid. ''Nepenthes naga'' is nonetheless very similar to these species and to '' N. bongso'', and may prove to be an aberrant form of one of them. Populations of ''N. bongso'' exhibiting a similarly branching lid appendage have been discovered and " st authorities believe that 'N. naga''falls within the range of variation of ''N. bongso".

Notes

:a.The original Latin description of ''N. naga'' reads:

Nepenthidi spathulatae similis, ascidia operculo facie inferiore appendice subapicali triangulari serpentis linguae similis, operculi margine undulato differt.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4911324 Carnivorous plants of Asia

naga Naga or NAGA may refer to: Mythology * Nāga, a serpentine deity or race in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions * Naga Kingdom, in the epic ''Mahabharata'' * Phaya Naga, mythical creatures believed to live in the Laotian stretch of the Mekong Riv ...

Endemic flora of Sumatra Plants described in 2009