"The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies" is a seminal

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 B. H. Danser on the tropical pitcher plants of the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

and surrounding regions. It was originally published in the ''Bulletin du Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg'' in 1928, and reprinted by

Natural History Publications (Borneo) Natural History Publications (Borneo) Sdn. Bhd. is a publishing house based in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo. It is among the leading English language and natural history publishers in Malaysia and the entire Southeast Asian region. The company has publis ...

in 2006.Danser, B.H. 2006. ''The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies''. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu.

Content

Danser focused on species native to the

North Borneo North Borneo (usually known as British North Borneo, also known as the State of North Borneo) was a British Protectorate, British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo, which is present day Sabah. The territory of North Borneo ...

, the Malay Peninsula, and eastern

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

(an area roughly corresponding to

Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical Kingdom. It has been given different definitions. The ...

minus 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 ...

); species from outlying areas were only mentioned in the general discussion. Danser recognised 65 species in total, of which 52 were given detailed treatments. This number included 17 newly described

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 ...

: '' N. carunculata'' (later synonymised with '' N. bongso''),Clarke, C.M. 2001. ''

Nepenthes of Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia ''Nepenthes of Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia'' is a monograph by Charles Clarke on the tropical pitcher plants of Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, and their minor surrounding islands. It was published in 2001 by Natural History Publications (Bor ...

''. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu.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 ...

''. 2 volumes. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. '' N. clipeata'', '' N. dubia'', '' N. ephippiata'', '' N. fusca'', '' N. inermis'', '' N. insignis'', '' N. leptochila'' (later synonymised with '' N. hirsuta''),Clarke, C.M. 1997. ''

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

''. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu. '' N. mollis'', '' N. paniculata'', '' N. papuana'', '' N. pectinata'' (later synonymised with '' N. gymnamphora''), '' N. petiolata'', '' N. pilosa'', '' N. spectabilis'', '' N. tobaica'', and '' N. tomoriana''. All were described in great detail, with many accompanied by line drawings. Danser synonymised '' N. edwardsiana'' with '' N. villosa'', '' N. hemsleyana'' with '' N. rafflesiana'', and '' N. ramispina'' with '' N. gracillima''; all three were later reinstated as valid species.Scharmann, M. & T.U. Grafe 2013. Reinstatement of ''Nepenthes hemsleyana'' (Nepenthaceae), an endemic pitcher plant from Borneo, with a discussion of associated ''Nepenthes'' taxa. ''Blumea'' 58(1): 8–12. Following this exhaustive revision of the genus, Danser described only two more ''Nepenthes'' species: '' Nepenthes spathulata'' in 1935 and ''

Nepenthes densiflora ''Nepenthes densiflora'' () is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra, where it grows at an altitude of between 1700 and 3200 m above sea level.McPherson, S.R. & A. Robinson 2012. ''Field Guide to the Pitcher Plants of Sumatra and Ja ...

'' in 1940, with both descriptions also published in the ''Bulletin du Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg''.

Species

Danser recognised the following 65 taxa as valid species (though some, such as '' N. oblanceolata'', only tentatively so). The 13 taxa denoted with an asterisk (*) fall outside the monograph's geographical focus and are only mentioned in its general discussion. # '' N. alata'' # '' N. albomarginata'' # '' N. ampullaria'' # '' N. anamensis'' * # '' N. bicalcarata'' # '' N. bongso'' # '' N. boschiana'' # '' N. burbidgeae'' # '' N. burkei'' * # '' N. carunculata'' # '' N. clipeata'' # '' N. deaniana'' * # '' N. decurrens'' # '' N. distillatoria'' * # '' N. dubia'' # '' N. ephippiata'' # '' N. fusca'' # '' N. geoffrayi'' * # '' N. gracilis'' # '' N. gracillima'' # '' N. gymnamphora'' # '' N. hirsuta'' # '' N. hookeriana'' # '' N. inermis'' # '' N. insignis'' # '' N. kampotiana'' * # '' N. khasiana'' * # '' N. klossii'' # '' N. leptochila'' # '' N. lowii'' # '' N. macfarlanei'' # '' N. madagascariensis'' * # '' N. maxima'' # '' N. merrilliana'' # '' N. mirabilis'' # '' N. mollis'' # '' N. neglecta'' # '' N. neoguineensis'' # '' N. northiana'' # '' N. oblanceolata'' # '' N. paniculata'' # '' N. papuana'' # '' N. pectinata'' # '' N. pervillei'' * # '' N. petiolata'' # '' N. philippinensis'' * # '' N. pilosa'' # '' N. rafflesiana'' # '' N. rajah'' # '' N. reinwardtiana'' # '' N. sanguinea'' # '' N. singalana'' # '' N. spectabilis'' # '' N. stenophylla'' # '' N. tentaculata'' # '' N. thorelii'' * # '' N. tobaica'' # '' N. tomoriana'' # '' N. treubiana'' # '' N. trichocarpa'' # '' N. truncata'' * # '' N. veitchii'' # '' N. ventricosa'' * # '' N. vieillardii'' # '' N. villosa''

Infrageneric classification

Danser divided 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 ...

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 ...

'' into six

clades A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

based on observations of herbarium material. The clades were the ''Vulgatae'', ''Montanae'', ''Nobiles'', ''Regiae'', ''Insignes'', and ''Urceolatae''. Danser's classification was undoubtedly a great improvement on previous attempts, and forms the basis for more recent monographs, such as those of

Charles Clarke Charles Rodway Clarke (born 21 September 1950) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Norwich South from 1997 until 2010, and served as Home Secretary from December 2004 until May 2006. Early life T ...

(''

'' and ''

'') and

Matthew Jebb Matthew Hilary Peter Jebb (born 1958) is an Irish botanist and taxonomist specialising in the ant plant genera ''Squamellaria'', '' Myrmecodia'', '' Hydnophytum'', ''Myrmephytum'' and '' Anthorrhiza'', as well as the carnivorous plant genus '' ...

and

Martin Cheek Martin Roy Cheek (born 1960) is a botanist and taxonomist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.A skeletal revision of ''Nepenthes'' (Nepenthaceae)" and " Nepenthaceae"). Charles Clarke writes that Danser's monograph "remains the definitive taxonomic work on ''Nepenthes''" and explains its importance as follows:

The discoveries of the early 20th century were brought together by Danser and neatly integrated to shed light on many of the unsolved problems of Macfarlane's monograph. Although he did not collect the material he used, Danser seemed to have gained a good understanding of the genus, which extended beyond classical taxonomy. He speculated about the relationships between certain species on the basis of their evolution and ecology as much as their structural characteristics–something that nobody had done previously.

Reprint

Danser's monograph was reprinted by

in April 2006 with a 15-page introduction by ecologist and botanist

.Clarke, C.M. 2006. Introduction. In: Danser, B.H. ''The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies''. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu. pp. 1–15.

Reviews

The 2006 reprint was reviewed by Barry Rice in the September 2007 issue of the ''

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 ...

'':Rice, B. 2007. Book Review. ''

'' 36(3): 71.

Having a high quality copy of the work is very desirable so you can easily cross reference its contents with subsequent ''Nepenthes'' monographs. The line drawings are far more nicely presented than can be obtained from photocopied or web versions. To add further delight to the pleasure, the famous ''Nepenthes'' expert Dr. Charles Clarke helps lead this voyage of adventure on the high seas of ''Nepenthes'' history, by prefacing the work with a fifteen page discussion of Danser—both the man and the eponymous work. With Clarke as your Admiral at the helm, Danser is more approachable than ever before.

Rice pointed out the " fortunate omissions" of Danser's 1935 and 1940 papers, but concluded by saying that "the new version of Danser (1928) is still a valuable addition to our ever-enlarging collections of carnivorous plant books".

Notes

:a.Danser's monograph includes a formal description of '' N. petiolata'', but as a

Philippine 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 ...

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 ...

this plant is excluded from the official species count, which comes to 51.

References

External links

"The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies" as transcribed by Arthur Lauffenburger
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies Nepenthes literature 1928 documents 2006 books Biology papers Works originally published in French magazines Works originally published in science and technology magazines 1928 in biology