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Sulawesi Neps Part Three - save the best till last....


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While trying to get closer to a roosting Diabolical Nightjar (don't some birds have fantastic names? - it's also known as Satanic Nightjar) I found these little beauties - N. eymae as far as I can tell!

Look on the extreme left of the photo - there is a pitcher visible!

eym1.jpg

eym2.jpg

eym3.jpg

An unopened trap:

eym4.jpg

I love the angular shape of the pitchers.

eym5.jpg

eym6.jpg

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Hello Jonathan :lol: !

You did a wonderful trip!

Those late pictures are true gems.

But i don't think they're eymae upper picthers either. I also suspect a hybrid involving Nepenthes maxima.

Then again, i could be wrong.

Friendly,

François.

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Thanks for showing the wonderful photos (in all threads). My first thought was N. eymae as well, but from what I have seen the lid is much narrower on the upper pitchers on this species. Whatever it is, it has not only nice shape, but it is very colourful as well, more so than most uppers I have seen from the "N. maxima complex".

Regards,

Christer

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  • 2 weeks later...

Absolutely stunning.

I posted my own thoughts about this plant over on the Nepenthes forum; I'm personally convinced there is no maxima involved at all at the direct parent level - there are too many characteristics on that plant which don't even express remnants of such parentage, let alone those of eymae (lid, leaves, stem etc.).

Then again, I could be proven very, very wrong! ;)

Cheers

Amori

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Hi Jonathan

I posted on the pitcherplant forums (http://www.pitcherplants.proboards34.com/index.cgi). I'm almost certain you have taken photographic evidence of a glabrata hybrid or an entirely new taxon. I went against a direct maxima parentage because the whole plant, including the pitcher appearances do not match. Here's why:

1) Leaves of maxima and eymae are strongly petiolate, whereas this plant's leaves are as sessile as can be and clasping. Had you taken photos of plants in their rosette stage and their pitchers, I could add more, had they been present.

2) Pitcher morphology:

i) lid shape is orbicular as opposed to narrow, especially for aerial pitchers - lid shape defines the shape of the pitcher opening when it opens (take inermis, for example). In this case, the pitcher is fully inflated and the lid covers the mouth entirely;

ii) lid underside is missing glandular crests, or even remnants thereof;

iii) peristome isn't substantial enough to warrant it direct eymae and maxima parentage, even if they belong to aerial pitchers.

I'm sure there's more I could say, but I'm limited on time for the moment so I'll leave it at that. As a final note, I believe this potential* taxon will be greatly sought after if and once it enters cultivation through legitimate methods - it is indeed endowed with very attractive upper pitchers!

Cheers

Amori

* Thanks Aidan for pointing that out. It seems I've been using the term taxon incorrectly! :lol::D

Edited by Amori
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How could I forget... I think there's room for another piece of "organic porcelain". The resemblance is uncanny. :D

... and before you get too excited about a potential new taxon, Jonathan would need to be able to find the plant again!

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I have GPS coordinates - vital as the site is one of the very few known places for Diabolical Nightjar; also a taxon unknown in life until very recently!

20061028062321.jpg

20061028062043.jpg

(photos gratefully c/o Dave Farrow)

The site would be very easy to relocate but is a rather remote corner of Indonesia, rarely visited by anyone other than small numbers of hardcore birders.

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Of course!! How could I forget! Good question Julian! Jonathan, did you observe any inflorescences on this plant?

Great pics of the Nightjars, by the way!

Cheers

Amori

PS. Nepenthes enthusiasts are in for some great surprises to come. I believe so, at least.

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