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New Nepenthes species from Mt. Mantalingahan


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Dear members of the CPUK Forum,

Since our last poster, Alastair Robinson, Volker Heinrich and I have continued our travels across the Philippines studying the remarkable Nepenthes which grow here.

On Mt. Mantalingahan in southern Palawan we encountered a possible new species which we introduce here for the purpose of engaging discussion.

Mount Mantalingahan is in southern Palawan and is the island's highest peak. The mountain itself isn't particularly tough, taking four days to the summit and back, and takes in some beautiful scenery, as well as a couple of Palaweno native tribal villages where the locals live by means of traditional, subsistence farming methods.

This new plant produces spectacular pitchers that are reminiscent of N. mira however fundamentally different in their overall shape, size and structure. I will soon travel to the type locality of N. mira in northern Palawan and will review closely the differences which are apparent between the two plants.

Though not remarkably different from N. mira, this nonetheless distinct species makes for a handsome addition to the family of Nepenthes species on Palawan. We would be very grateful for any comments from those that grow N. mira in cultivation.

Enthusiasts will note the obvious morphological similarities between this species and its near Bornean neighbours, N. villosa and rajah, which, taking into account the common features that link N. mira, spec. nov. 'DA' and the newly rediscovered N. deaniana, makes for further compelling evidence for the sympatric evolution of this tribe prior to the dissolution of the land bridge linking the two islands.

The species remains undescribed. The good news is that our climb coincided with a joint biodiversity-research expedition initiated by an international NGO and Philippine University, and they have made legal herbarium collections that will allow for a formal description of the species to take place.

You may recognise the similarity between the plants shown below and a Palawan Nepenthes species photographed by Joachim Nerz and Andreas Wistuba almost 10 years ago. They may be one and the same, but limited online time means we have not had the chance to locate the good gentlemen in question and establish where their pictures were taken.

Thanks and my best regards to you all

Stewart, Alastair and Volker

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Dear members of the CPUK Forum,

Since our last poster, Alastair Robinson, Volker Heinrich and I have continued our travels across the Philippines studying the remarkable Nepenthes which grow here.

On Mt. Mantalingahan in southern Palawan we encountered a possible new species which we introduce here for the purpose of engaging discussion.

Mount Mantalingahan is in southern Palawan and is the island's highest peak. The mountain itself isn't particularly tough, taking four days to the summit and back, and takes in some beautiful scenery, as well as a couple of Palaweno native tribal villages where the locals live by means of traditional, subsistence farming methods.

This new plant produces spectacular pitchers that are reminiscent of N. mira however fundamentally different in their overall shape, size and structure. I will soon travel to the type locality of N. mira in northern Palawan and will review closely the differences which are apparent between the two plants.

Though not remarkably different from N. mira, this nonetheless distinct species makes for a handsome addition to the family of Nepenthes species on Palawan. We would be very grateful for any comments from those that grow N. mira in cultivation.

Enthusiasts will note the obvious morphological similarities between this species and its near Bornean neighbours, N. villosa and rajah, which, taking into account the common features that link N. mira, spec. nov. 'DA' and the newly rediscovered N. deaniana, makes for further compelling evidence for the sympatric evolution of this tribe prior to the dissolution of the land bridge linking the two islands.

The species remains undescribed. The good news is that our climb coincided with a joint biodiversity-research expedition initiated by an international NGO and Philippine University, and they have made legal herbarium collections that will allow for a formal description of the species to take place.

You may recognise the similarity between the plants shown below and a Palawan Nepenthes species photographed by Joachim Nerz and Andreas Wistuba almost 10 years ago. They may be one and the same, but limited online time means we have not had the chance to locate the good gentlemen in question and establish where their pictures were taken.

Thanks and my best regards to you all

Stewart, Alastair and Volker

And next beautiful and impressive plant :twisted:

I think that it is definitely the same plant as Mr. A.Wistuba has on his site (Nepenthes spec. Palawan 1).

Your picture:

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r137/stewart61/602.jpg

and A.Wistuba picture:

http://www.wistuba.com/shop/images/nsppalawan3.jpg

But it is a great discover. I'm waiting for next fresh photos :D

Btw. the freshly opened pitcher on third photo is beautiful. And pitcher on the fifth photo is upper?

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Marek,

We observed a significant population sample of plants (hundreds, not to mention field notes of the University botanists) and found no true upper pitchers at all.

Pitchers higher up were generally more slight, but tendril attachment was from the front.

This suggests that uppers are very rare for this species, if not entirely absent for all intents and purposes. This is fitting since the majority of plants are short and upright or at most subscandent in scrubby vegetation and among rocks.

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Thank you very much for the reports, Stewart. Always great to partake in new discoveries, if only vicariously.

(Hey, kids: ain't the Internet great? Huh? Well, until 20 years ago you would have had to wait ages until stuff like this became available for public consumption - and even then only with grainy, off-color photographs in obscure and expensive specialist mags. So count your blessings, kids, and don't take everything for granted!

Hans, still remembering rotary phones and cameras with film!)

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Hi Andreas,

Alastair here - I'm just returned from the Philippines.

That's certainly great news, and I look forward to reading your paper.

I realise that your description is probably from seed grown materials, since the Philippine authorities report that no collections of this species have been made and deposited within the country. Not a surprise given local bureaucracy!

If there is a locally deposited specimen, please do inform them (the Palawan PCSD or National Herbarium) which herbarium the material is held at. This is of particular importance now, as their laws on collecting and describing new species from within the country have tightened up considerably (in a similar fashion to Venezuela and Brazil); it would be a shame for any of your work to be delayed.

I have contacts at Diliman and Palawan if you need any assistance at all.

Good luck with the final preparations!

Bis bald,

Alastair.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Many thanks for the link - it was this very research group that we shared the mountain camps with on Mantalingahan; they were a most inspiring set of biologists and gave us plant-people a good insight into the endemic mammalian life, showing us trapped mountain rats/shrews and a number of bats to boot; fascinating!

It was also their resident botanist on the expedition who made the herbarium collections of the Mantalingahan Nepenthes on our behalf; this is the first collection of this species for a herbarium, which was all rather exciting - it was great to be involved with such a professional crowd!

Do let me know if you come across any similar write-ups - they're certainly of interest!

Thanks again,

Alastair.

EDIT: To address your observation, yes, those forests on Palawan that haven't been decimated by logging, slash-and-burn or mining activites are some of the most impressive I've seen. Mantalingahan isn't the best of these, but it is perhaps the most extensive area of ecologically valuable forest; it should -- hopefully -- lead to the protection of other biologically diverse habitats on the island.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hello,

for info:

this species' name is now officially Nepenthes mantalingajanensis Nerz et Wistuba. The description was published in "Das Taublatt" 2007/3, the journal of the GFP (german CP society). The text says that the type specimen was grown from seed. There are also some very nice pictures including full plants, flowers, pitchers and habitat. The pitchers seem to be not as colourful as in Stewarts photos but more green to grey. I hope to have some seedlings soon from Stewarts seed :-)

Mathias

Edited by Mathias
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It's so amazing to view these new species only days after they were discovered. My thanks and congratulations to all involved.

BTW, my cultivated N. mira has flowered several times and has never produced true "upper" pitchers.

Paul

Edited by killerplantsguy
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