Nepenthes mikei
Nepenthes mikei | |
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An upper pitcher of Nepenthes mikei from Mount Pangulubao, North Sumatra | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Caryophyllales |
Family: | Nepenthaceae |
Genus: | Nepenthes |
Species: | N. mikei
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Binomial name | |
Nepenthes mikei | |
Synonyms | |
Heterochresonyms
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Nepenthes mikei /nɪˈpɛnθiːz ˈmɪkiaɪ/ is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra. It is characterised by its black mottled lower and upper pitchers. The species is closely related to N. angasanensis and N. tobaica.[6]
The
Botanical history
Nepenthes mikei was discovered on
An early colour photograph of N. mikei was published by Mike Hopkins, Ricky Maulder, and Bruce Salmon, in a 1990 issue of the Carnivorous Plant Newsletter,[5] where the plant was identified simply as Nepenthes sp. 'New Species'.[4][5][6] The authors described it as follows:[5]
We saw another Nepenthes that is different than the others we saw in the higher highland areas. It has small pitchers slightly similar to N. tentaculata, N. tobaica and N. gracilis but tougher and thicker. The pitchers are always nicely colored with blackish lines and markings similar to N. fusca. There was very little variation with this species as all mature plants had ample rosettes on the ground and also at intervals up the stem. The stems were slimbing [sic] up to about 7 meters and had upper pitchers similar in color and shape to the lower pitchers but with the usual differences. The male inflorescences were about 20 centimeters, peduncle inclusive.
Prior to its description, N. mikei was known as N. minutissima among pitcher plant growers.[2][9] This name is a nomen nudum (naked name), as it was never formally published.[2]
Nepenthes mikei was formally described by Bruce Salmon and Ricky Maulder in a 1995 issue of the Carnivorous Plant Newsletter.[2] The herbarium specimen B.Salmon & R.Maulder 221719 is the designated holotype, and is deposited at the Auckland Institute and Museum (AK) in Auckland, New Zealand.[6][10] It was prepared on February 17, 1995, from a plant cultivated in New Zealand,[4] and consists of a vine bearing a female inflorescence, a lower pitcher, and a rosette.[2] The specimen was originally collected in 1989[4] from a "very steep ridge in wet mossy forest" near the summit of Mount Pangulubao, at an altitude of 2000 m.[2] The authors described the plant as growing "in peaty humus or moss at the base of 5–6 m tall trees".[2] Salmon and Maulder also pressed a second specimen of N. mikei from material collected at the same elevation on Pangulubao.[2][note a] Additional herbarium specimens of N. mikei are known and these show slight morphological variability.[note b]
In 1997,
Description
Nepenthes mikei is a climbing plant growing to a height of 7 m. The
Leaves are
Rosette and lower pitchers are
Upper pitchers are ovate in their basal third to fifth, becoming cylindrical above and infundibular towards the peristome. They are smaller than their lower counterparts, reaching only 8 cm in height by 2 cm in width. Wings are always reduced to ribs. In other respects, upper pitchers are similar to the lower traps.[7]
Nepenthes mikei has a
Most parts of the plant are glabrous. An indumentum of short, white or yellowish hairs is usually present on the tendrils and some parts of the inflorescence.[7] This indumentum is a mixture of simple and stellate hairs.[6] Caducous hairs cover developing pitchers and other parts.[6]
Ecology
Nepenthes mikei is
The typical habitat of this species is summit
The
Related species
Nepenthes mikei is most closely allied to the Sumatran endemics N. angasanensis and N. tobaica, and may be conspecific with the former.[6][7]
In their description of N. mikei, Salmon and Maulder noted many differences between it and N. angasanensis which are now known to be unreliable.[6] For example, the authors wrote that N. angasanensis produces offshoots from underground rhizomes, while N. mikei does not;[2] populations of N. mikei from Mount Bandahara are now known to produce such offshoots.[6][7] Similarly, N. angasanensis was said to lack a fasciculate spur,[2] but this has since been recorded in lower pitchers of this species.[6] Disregarding these supposed differences leaves only a few stable distinguishing features between the species. Firstly, the teeth lining the inner margin of the peristome are shorter in N. mikei, although both have minute teeth and this difference is minor.[6] Secondly, the pedicels of N. mikei bear simple bracteoles, while those of N. angasanensis do not.[6] Finally, N. angasanensis exhibits a greater density of digestive glands on the inner pitcher surface.[6]
Nepenthes angasanensis and N. mikei are more easily distinguished by their differing ecology. While N. angasanensis is generally found growing terrestrially or
Nepenthes tobaica differs from N. mikei in a number of floral and vegetative features. Whereas the latter has a shorter inflorescence with flowers borne singly on pedicels, N. tobaica has two-flowered partial peduncles. In addition, N. tobaica lacks the fasciculate spur of N. mikei and generally has wider laminae.[3][6][7]
Salmon and Maulder also compared N. mikei to N. adnata and N. tentaculata.[2] Stewart McPherson noted that the species may also superficially resemble N. eustachya in the shape of its pitchers.[7]
In 2001,
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Clarke concluded that the "relationships between [these species] are very complex and are somewhat difficult to interpret at present".[6]
Natural hybrids
Four
N. diatas × N. mikei
Nepenthes diatas is restricted to Mount Bandahara and thus this hybrid only occurs on that mountain.[6] This cross is common between 2300 and 2700 m, where the altitudinal ranges of the two species overlap.[6][15] It was first reported in 1998.[15]
This hybrid is similar to N. mikei and also produces mostly black lower pitchers. It differs in that the terrestrial traps have a wider basal portion. The plant is also larger in stature, having broader stems and leaves, and bears a wider peristome than N. mikei.[6]
Nepenthes diatas × N. mikei has only been found at the forest margins in the summit area of Mount Bandahara. It has not been recorded from the mountain's open blangs.[6]
Other hybrids
Three other natural hybrids — with N. gymnamphora, N. ovata, and N. spectabilis — have been observed. All three were first reported in 1995 by Salmon and Maulder from Mount Pangulubao.[2] Nepenthes gymnamphora × N. mikei was given the informal name N. × pangulubauensis in 1996.[18]
Notes
- a.^ The second specimen of N. mikei, B.Salmon & R.Maulder 221718, was collected at the same elevation as the holotype and pressed on the same day. It consists of two lower pitchers, two upper pitchers, and a short shoot with pitchers. This specimen is also deposited at the Auckland Institute and Museum (AK).[2]
- b.^ The herbarium specimen de Wilde & de Wilde-Duyfjes 13190 exhibits pitchers with forked spurs, unlike the fasciculate spurs of the holotype.[6] It is deposited at Herbarium Bogoriense (BO), the herbarium of the Bogor Botanical Gardens in Bogor, Java.[6]
References
- ^ .
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Salmon, B.R. & R.G. Maulder 1995. Two new species of Nepenthes from North Sumatra, Indonesia. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 24(3): 77–85.
- ^ a b c Jebb, M.H.P. & M.R. Cheek 1997. A skeletal revision of Nepenthes (Nepenthaceae). Blumea 42(1): 1–106.
- ^ a b c d e Cheek, M.R. & M.H.P. Jebb 2001. Nepenthaceae. Flora Malesiana 15: 1–157.
- ^ 19(1–2): 19–28.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at Clarke, C.M. 2001. Nepenthes of Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s McPherson, S.R. 2009. Pitcher Plants of the Old World. 2 volumes. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.
- ^ Schlauer, J. N.d. Nepenthes gymnamphora. Carnivorous Plant Database.
- ^ Schlauer, J. 1995. Re: N.xiphioides + N.mikei. Carnivorous Plant Mailing List, September 26, 1995.
- ^ Schlauer, J. N.d. Nepenthes mikei. Carnivorous Plant Database.
- ^ Salmon, B.R. & R.G. Maulder 1999. Notes on Nepenthes from Northern Sumatra. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 28(1): 14–18.
- ^
- Field Guide to the Pitcher Plants of Sumatra and Java. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.
- ^ Clarke, C.[M.] 1997. Another nice trip to Sumatra. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 26(1): 4–10.
- ^ a b c Harwood, P., H. Rischer & A. Wistuba 1998. The carnivorous flora of Gunung Bandahara. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 27(2): 59–61.
- ^ Wistuba, A., J. Nerz & A. Fleischmann 2007. Nepenthes flava, a new species of Nepenthaceae from the northern part of Sumatra. Blumea 52(1): 159–163.
- A Field Guide to the Nepenthes of Sumatra. PILI-NGO Movement, Bogor.
- ^ Schlauer, J. N.d. Nepenthes × pangulubauensis. Carnivorous Plant Database.
- 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.
- (in German) Meimberg, H. 2002. "Molekular-systematische Untersuchungen an den Familien Nepenthaceae und Ancistrocladaceae sowie verwandter Taxa aus der Unterklasse Caryophyllidae s. l." (PDF). 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.
- Meimberg, H., S. Thalhammer, A. Brachmann & G. Heubl 2006. Comparative analysis of a translocated copy of the trnK intron in carnivorous family Nepenthaceae. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39(2): 478–490.
External links
- Photographs of N. mikei at the Carnivorous Plant Photofinder