''Nepenthes'' × ''harryana'' (; after

Harry Veitch Sir Harry James Veitch (24 June 1840 – 6 July 1924) was an eminent English horticulturist in the nineteenth century, who was the head of the family nursery business, James Veitch & Sons, based in Chelsea, London. He was instrumental in establi ...

, head of the well known horticultural firm of Veitch & Sons) is the

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 ...

between '' N. edwardsiana'' and '' N. villosa''.McPherson, S.R. & A. Robinson 2012. ''

Field Guide to the Pitcher Plants of Borneo 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. Its two parent species are very closely related and so ''N. × harryana'', which is intermediate in form, may be difficult to distinguish from either of them.

Botanical history

''Nepenthes'' × ''harryana'' was first described by

Frederick William Burbidge Frederick William Thomas Burbidge (1847–1905) was a British explorer who collected many rare tropical plants for the famous Veitch Nurseries. Biography Burbidge was born at Wymeswold, Leicestershire, on 21 March 1847, was son of Thomas Burbid ...

in 1882. Burbidge wrote of it as follows:

Apart from these I found an intermediate between N. villosa and N. Edwardsiana, also epiphytic on
Casuarina ''Casuarina'' is a genus of 17 tree species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and eastern Africa. It was once treated as the sole genus in the fami ...
. This is, I believe, unnamed ; if so, I should like it to be called Nepenthes Harryana. Now, if a dried pitcher of N. Edwardsiana be examined, the upper four-fifths of it will be seen to be membranous, the lower part leathery and hard ; in N. villosa nearly all is hard and leathery except about half-an-inch below the hardened rim of the urns ; in N. Harryana about one-third is hard, and two-thirds soft or membranous below the rim. The edge of the pitcher mouths in these three kinds is quite distinct from those of all others, as shown in my sketches.
..
Sir
Joseph Hooker Joseph Hooker (November 13, 1814 – October 31, 1879) was an American Civil War general for the Union, chiefly remembered for his decisive defeat by Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. Hooker had serv ...
, in ''Linn. Trans.'', vol. xxii., suggested that N. villosa and N. Edwardsiana might be forms of the same species. This is not so, however, they are quite distinct in zone on the mountain, and in habit of growth also, and in colour. Then N. Harryana is a hybrid no doubt, which shows they have distinct sexual characters.

John Muirhead Macfarlane John Muirhead Macfarlane FRSE LLD (28 September 1855, Kirkcaldy, Fife – 16 September 1943, Lancaster) was a Scottish botanist. Life He was born in Kirkcaldy in Fife on 28 September 1855. He was educated locally, then studied sciences at the ...

agreed with Burbidge's hybrid hypothesis and described the plant as such in his monograph of 1908, " Nepenthaceae".Macfarlane, J.M. 1908. Nepenthaceae. In: A. Engler ''Das Pflanzenreich IV'', 111, Heft 36: 1–91. B. H. Danser, in his 1928 revision, wrote that ''N. × harryana'' could be a hybrid as Macfarlane suggested or a form of ''N. villosa'' together with ''N. edwardsiana''. Favouring the latter interpretation, he synonymised both taxa with ''N. villosa''.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. Frederick William Burbidge 1880 sketch

Identification

''Nepenthes'' × ''harryana'' can be distinguished from ''N. villosa'' on the basis of its pitcher morphology. The pitchers of the hybrid are more cylindrical than those of ''N. villosa'', whereas the

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 ...

is more dense than that of ''N. edwardsiana''. The hip of the pitcher cup, which is found just below the peristome in ''N. villosa'' and in the lower quarter of ''N. edwardsiana'' pitchers, is located around the middle of ''N.'' × ''harryana'' pitchers. However, ''N. villosa'' plants from

Mount Tambuyukon Mount Tambuyukon or Tamboyukon ( ms, Gunung Tambuyukon) is a mountain located at the West Coast Division of Sabah, Malaysia. It is considered the third-highest mountain in the country with height at , lying north of the highest Mount Kinabalu. ...

are easier to confuse with this hybrid, as they produce pitchers that may be elongated slightly above the hip.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. ''Nepenthes'' × ''harryana'' is known from a ridge above the Upper Kolopis River and from two locations along the Kinabalu summit trail; several specimens grow between Pondok Lowii and Pondok Mempening.Thong, J. 2006. ''

Victorian Carnivorous Plant Society Journal ''Victorian Carnivorous Plant Society Inc.'', formerly titled simply ''Victorian Carnivorous Plant Society'' and also known as the ''VCPS Journal'', is a quarterly periodical A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simp ...

'' 81: 12–17. ''N. edwardsiana'' is not known to grow along the summit trail, enabling easier identification of ''N.'' × ''harryana'' plants.

Botanical history

Identification

References

Further reading