''Pitcher Plants of the Old World'' is a two-volume
monograph
A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject.
In library cataloging, ''monograph ...
by
Stewart McPherson on the
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 ...
s of the
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
''
Nepenthes
''Nepenthes'' () is a genus of carnivorous plants, also known as tropical pitcher plants, or monkey cups, in the monotypic family Nepenthaceae. The genus includes about 170 species, and numerous natural and many cultivated hybrids. They are mos ...
'' and ''
Cephalotus
''Cephalotus'' ( or ; Greek: ''κεφαλή'' "head", and ''οὔς''/''ὠτός'' "ear", to describe the head of the anthers) is a genus which contains one species, ''Cephalotus follicularis'' the Albany pitcher plant, a small carnivorous pi ...
''. It was published in May 2009 by Redfern Natural History Productions and covers all species known at the time.
[McPherson, S.R. 2009. ''Pitcher Plants of the Old World''. 2 volumes. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.] The work was edited by
Alastair Robinson
Alastair S. Robinson (born 1980) is a taxonomist and field botanist specialising in the carnivorous plant genus ''Nepenthes'', for which he is regarded as a world authority.Ellison, A. & Adamec, L. eds., 2017. Contributing Author Information ...
and Andreas Fleischmann.
The monograph was followed in 2011 by ''
New Nepenthes: Volume One'', a supplementary work covering the many ''Nepenthes''
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 ...
documented in the preceding few years.
[McPherson, S.R. 2011. '' New Nepenthes: Volume One''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.]
Background
In an interview with ''The Hoopoe'', McPherson explained his reasons for writing the book and the extensive field work that it involved:
I prepared ''Pitcher Plants of the Old World'' in response to the lack of available information on dozens of species of ''Nepenthes''. Since many species of ''Nepenthes'' are not in cultivation, and also because there is often confusion concerning those that are, I resolved to study and photograph each species of ''Nepenthes'' and ''Cephalotus'' in the wild, in order to document each adequately. After graduating from university in 2006 at the age of 23, I began three years of intense research focusing on ''Nepenthes'' and ''Cephalotus'', and spent a cumulative total of eighteen months in the field. Over the last three years, I climbed over one hundred mountains across Southeast Asia in search of species of ''Nepenthes''. Many of these journeys were relatively simple, lasting just a few days or less. Others required more extensive effort, and in a few cases, I spent more than one week to find a single ''Nepenthes'' taxon.
Content
The book gives a detailed account of the singular ''
Cephalotus follicularis
''Cephalotus'' ( or ; Greek: ''κεφαλή'' "head", and ''οὔς''/''ὠτός'' "ear", to describe the head of the anthers) is a genus which contains one species, ''Cephalotus follicularis'' the Albany pitcher plant, a small carnivorous pi ...
'' as well as 120 species of ''Nepenthes'', including one described for the first time (''
N. micramphora''). A further five "
incompletely diagnosed taxa" are included:
''N.'' sp. Misool,
''N.'' sp. Papua (later identified as ''
N. lamii''),
[Robinson, A., J. Nerz, A. Wistuba, M. Mansur & S. McPherson 2011. ''Nepenthes lamii'' Jebb & Cheek, an emended description resulting from the separation of a two-species complex, and the introduction of ''Nepenthes monticola'', a new species of highland pitcher plant from New Guinea. In: McPherson, S.R. '' New Nepenthes: Volume One''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. pp. 522–555.] ''N.'' sp. Phanga Nga (later described as
''N. mirabilis'' var. ''globosa''),
''N.'' sp. Sulawesi (later described as ''
N. nigra''),
[Nerz, J., A. Wistuba, C.C. Lee, G. Bourke, U. Zimmermann & S. McPherson 2011. ''Nepenthes nigra'', a new pitcher plant from Central Sulawesi. In: McPherson, S.R. '' New Nepenthes: Volume One''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. pp. 468–491.] and
''N.'' sp. Trang (later described as ''
N. kerrii''). ''
Nepenthes hamiguitanensis
''Nepenthes hamiguitanensis'' is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to a single peak on the Philippine island of Mindanao, where it grows at elevations of 1200–1600 m above sea level. Once thought to be a natural hybrid between '' N. m ...
''—which would be described in McPherson's next book, ''Carnivorous Plants and their Habitats''—is treated here as a
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. micramphora'' and ''
N. peltata''.
[Gronemeyer, T., A. Wistuba, V. Heinrich, S. McPherson, F. Mey & A. Amoroso 2010. ''Nepenthes hamiguitanensis'' (Nepenthaceae), a new pitcher plant species from Mindanao Island, Philippines. In: S.R. McPherson ''Carnivorous Plants and their Habitats''. Volume 2. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. pp. 1296–1305.]
Species
In addition to ''
Cephalotus follicularis
''Cephalotus'' ( or ; Greek: ''κεφαλή'' "head", and ''οὔς''/''ὠτός'' "ear", to describe the head of the anthers) is a genus which contains one species, ''Cephalotus follicularis'' the Albany pitcher plant, a small carnivorous pi ...
'', the following 120 species and 5
undescribed taxa
In taxonomy, an undescribed taxon is a taxon (for example, a species) that has been discovered, but not yet formally described and named. The various Nomenclature Codes specify the requirements for a new taxon to be validly described and named. U ...
of ''Nepenthes'' are covered in the book.
# ''
N. adnata''
# ''
N. alata''
# ''
N. alba''
# ''
N. albomarginata''
# ''
N. ampullaria''
# ''
N. angasanensis''
# ''
N. argentii''
# ''
N. aristolochioides''
# ''
N. attenboroughii''
# ''
N. beccariana''
# ''
N. bellii''
# ''
N. benstonei''
# ''
N. bicalcarata''
# ''
N. bokorensis''
# ''
N. bongso''
# ''
N. boschiana''
# ''
N. burbidgeae''
# ''
N. burkei''
# ''
N. campanulata''
# ''
N. chaniana''
# ''
N. clipeata''
# ''
N. copelandii''
# ''
N. danseri''
# ''
N. deaniana''
# ''
N. densiflora''
# ''
N. diatas''
# ''
N. distillatoria''
# ''
N. dubia''
# ''
N. edwardsiana''
# ''
N. ephippiata''
# ''
N. eustachya''
# ''
N. eymae''
# ''
N. faizaliana''
# ''
N. flava''
# ''
N. fusca''
# ''
N. glabrata''
# ''
N. glandulifera''
# ''
N. gracilis''
# ''
N. gracillima''
# ''
N. gymnamphora''
# ''
N. hamata''
# ''
N. hirsuta''
# ''
N. hispida''
# ''
N. hurrelliana''
# ''
N. inermis''
# ''
N. insignis''
# ''
N. izumiae''
# ''
N. jacquelineae''
# ''
N. jamban''
# ''
N. junghuhnii''
# ''
N. kampotiana''
# ''
N. khasiana''
# ''
N. klossii''
# ''
N. kongkandana''
# ''
N. lamii''
# ''
N. lavicola''
# ''
N. lingulata''
# ''
N. longifolia''
# ''
N. lowii''
# ''
N. macfarlanei''
# ''
N. macrophylla''
# ''
N. macrovulgaris''
# ''
N. madagascariensis''
# ''
N. mantalingajanensis''
# ''
N. mapuluensis''
# ''
N. masoalensis''
# ''
N. maxima''
# ''
N. merrilliana''
# ''
N. micramphora''
# ''
N. mikei''
# ''
N. mindanaoensis''
# ''
N. mira''
# ''
N. mirabilis''
# ''
N. mollis''
# ''
N. muluensis''
# ''
N. murudensis''
# ''
N. naga''
# ''
N. neoguineensis''
# ''
N. northiana''
# ''
N. ovata''
# ''
N. paniculata''
# ''
N. papuana''
# ''
N. peltata''
# ''
N. pervillei''
# ''
N. petiolata''
# ''
N. philippinensis''
# ''
N. pilosa''
# ''
N. pitopangii''
# ''
N. platychila''
# ''
N. rafflesiana''
# ''
N. rajah''
# ''
N. ramispina''
# ''
N. reinwardtiana''
# ''
N. rhombicaulis''
# ''
N. rigidifolia''
# ''
N. rowanae''
# ''
N. sanguinea''
# ''
N. saranganiensis''
# ''
N. sibuyanensis''
# ''
N. singalana''
# ''
N. smilesii''
# ''
N. spathulata''
# ''
N. spectabilis''
# ''
N. stenophylla''
# ''
N. sumatrana''
# ''
N. surigaoensis''
# ''
N. talangensis''
# ''
N. tenax''
# ''
N. tentaculata''
# ''
N. tenuis''
# ''
N. thorelii''
# ''
N. tobaica''
# ''
N. tomoriana''
# ''
N. treubiana''
# ''
N. truncata''
# ''
N. veitchii''
# ''
N. ventricosa''
# ''
N. vieillardii''
# ''
N. villosa''
# ''
N. vogelii''
;Incompletely diagnosed taxa
#
''N.'' sp. Misool
#
''N.'' sp. Papua (''
N. lamii'')
#
''N.'' sp. Phanga Nga (
''N. mirabilis'' var. ''globosa'')
#
''N.'' sp. Sulawesi (''
N. nigra'')
#
''N.'' sp. Trang (''
N. kerrii'')
Reviews
The book has been praised for its scope, detail, and high quality photographs.
[Christenhusz, M.J.M. & M.F. Fay 2009. ''Phytotaxa'' 2: 46–48.][Ziemer, B. 2011. Reviews: ''Pitcher Plants of the Old World''. '']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 ...
'' 40(2): 74. In their review for the journal ''
Phytotaxa
''Phytotaxa'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal for rapid publication on any aspect of systematic botany. It publishes on a wide range of subjects, but focuses on new species, monographs, floras, revisions, reviews, and typification issues. ...
'', Maarten J. M. Christenhusz and Michael F. Fay wrote:
This is to date the only publication dealing with the genus ''Nepenthes'' throughout its geographical range. He cPhersonhumbly refers the reader to other taxonomic works, but these are all regional treatments. The level of information provided on all the species of ''Nepenthes'' is outstanding and has no precedent.
References
External links
Photographs from the book
{{Nepenthes monographs
Nepenthes literature
2009 non-fiction books