Pitcher-Plants of Borneo

Pitcher-Plants of Borneo is a monograph by Anthea Phillipps and Anthony Lamb on the tropical pitcher plants of Borneo. It was first published in 1996 by Natural History Publications (Borneo), in association with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Malaysian Nature Society.^[1] An updated and much expanded second edition was published in 2008 as Pitcher Plants of Borneo, with Ch'ien Lee as co-author.^[2]

Content

The taxonomy presented in the first edition is based on that of

The following 33 species, including one undescribed taxon, are covered in the first edition.

The second edition includes accounts of 36 species.

Reviews

Taxonomist Jan Schlauer reviewed Pitcher-Plants of Borneo in the June 1998 issue of the Carnivorous Plant Newsletter.^[5] He considered the work "a disappointment to all who expected an up-to-date review reflecting the present knowledge about the Bornean species of Nepenthes".^[5] However, Schlauer praised the watercolours, writing that most of them "give a quite accurate impression of the plants in the living condition (which must have been a particular challenge for the artist in those cases in which no living specimens were available, e.g. of the species from Kalimantan!)".^[5] Schlauer concludes by writing: "The book is a nice addition to the collection of any Nepenthes amateur bibliophile but it cannot be recommended for scientific purposes."^[5]

Reviewing the book for the June 1996 issue of the Bulletin of the Australian Carnivorous Plant Society, Tim Burfield wrote: "The authors have endeavoured to present a book which would be equally useful to beginners, experienced growers and general CP lovers and to that end they have struck a very good balance."^[6] Commenting on the retail price of $36, he opined that "the quality of the narrative, colour photographs and drawings make this cost justifiable".^[6]

References