Nepenthes mollis
Encyclopedia
Pitcher plant
Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants whose prey-trapping mechanism features a deep cavity filled with liquid known as a pitfall trap. It has been widely assumed that the various sorts of pitfall trap evolved from rolled leaves, with selection pressure favouring more deeply cupped leaves over...
species native to Kalimantan
Kalimantan
In English, the term Kalimantan refers to the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo, while in Indonesian, the term "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo....
, Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
. It is known only from a single dried herbarium
Herbarium
In botany, a herbarium – sometimes known by the Anglicized term herbar – is a collection of preserved plant specimens. These specimens may be whole plants or plant parts: these will usually be in a dried form, mounted on a sheet, but depending upon the material may also be kept in...
specimen and is the sole recognised species in the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Nepenthes
Nepenthes
The Nepenthes , popularly known as tropical pitcher plants or monkey cups, are a genus of carnivorous plants in the monotypic family Nepenthaceae. The genus comprises roughly 130 species, numerous natural and many cultivated hybrids...
of which the pitchers are unknown.
The habitat of N. mollis is listed as dense forest on a steep slope at an altitude of 1,800 m. The species is only known from Mount Kemul
Mount Kemul
Mount Kemul is a mountain in East Kalimantan. It is the type locality of the pitcher plant species Nepenthes fusca and Nepenthes mollis....
, the type locality, although a wider distribution is possible, as several higher neighbouring mountains remain unexplored. Charles Clarke
Charles Clarke (botanist)
Dr. Charles M. Clarke is a botanist and taxonomist specialising in the carnivorous plant genus Nepenthes. Clarke has an honours degree in Botany from Monash University in Melbourne, and a Ph.D. in Ecosystem Management at the University of New England, in Armidale, New South Wales.Clarke first...
suggests that it may occur in mossy forest.
Nepenthes mollis has no known natural hybrids. No infraspecific taxa of this species have been described. Nepenthes mollis has no nomenclatural or taxonomic synonyms
Synonym (taxonomy)
In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...
. Its conservation status
Conservation status
The conservation status of a group of organisms indicates whether the group is still extant and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future...
is listed as Data Deficient
Data Deficient
Data Deficient is a category applied by the IUCN, other agencies, and individuals to a species when the available information is not sufficient for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made...
on the 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
.
Discovery and type material
Nepenthes mollis has only been collected once, on October 17, 1925 by Frederik EndertFrederik Endert
Frederik Hendrik Endert was a Dutch botanist and plant collector.In 1915, Endert was appointed a Forest Officer in the Dutch East Indies Forest Service. From 1918 onwards he worked closely with the Forest Research Institute at Buitenzorg , Java...
on Mount Kemul
Mount Kemul
Mount Kemul is a mountain in East Kalimantan. It is the type locality of the pitcher plant species Nepenthes fusca and Nepenthes mollis....
in East Kalimantan
East Kalimantan
East Kalimantan is the second largest Indonesian province, located on the Kalimantan region on the east of Borneo island. The resource-rich province has two major cities, Samarinda and Balikpapan...
. The plant was collected near the summit of the mountain, at an elevation of approximately 1,800 m. It was discovered during an expedition to central Borneo by the Forest Research Institute of Bogor
Bogor
Bogor is a city on the island of Java in the West Java province of Indonesia. The city is located in the center of the Bogor Regency , 60 kilometers south of the Indonesian capital Jakarta...
(then known as Buitenzorg), on which Endert also collected N. fusca
Nepenthes fusca
Nepenthes fusca , or the Dusky Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo. It is found throughout a wide altitudinal range and is almost always epiphytic in nature, primarily growing in mossy forest....
for the first time.
Nepenthes mollis was formally described
Species description
A species description or type description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species which have been described previously, or are...
in 1928 by B. H. Danser
B. H. Danser
Benedictus Hubertus Danser , often abbreviated B. H. Danser, was a Dutch taxonomist and botanist...
in his seminal monograph "The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies
The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies
"The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies" is a seminal monograph by B. H. Danser on the tropical pitcher plants of the Dutch East Indies, North Borneo, the Malay Peninsula, and eastern New Guinea...
". Danser wrote of this species:
Though from this plant, collected by Endert on the last Borneo expedition, the pitchers are unknown, the other parts are so peculiar and differ from all other species in such a striking manner, that it seems allowed to me to base a new species on it. It was found on a steep mountain slope, covered with dense forest at 1800 m above sea level. It reminds one to the other species, discovered by Endert on the same mountain, viz. N. fuscaNepenthes fuscaNepenthes fusca , or the Dusky Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo. It is found throughout a wide altitudinal range and is almost always epiphytic in nature, primarily growing in mossy forest....
, by its colour and its red-brown indumentum, but it differs by its quite other leaf shape and nervation, and its still denser indumentum.
The type specimen of N. mollis, Endert 4282, is deposited at Herbarium Bogoriense (BO), the herbarium
Herbarium
In botany, a herbarium – sometimes known by the Anglicized term herbar – is a collection of preserved plant specimens. These specimens may be whole plants or plant parts: these will usually be in a dried form, mounted on a sheet, but depending upon the material may also be kept in...
of the Bogor Botanical Gardens
Bogor Botanical Gardens
The Bogor Botanical Gardens are located 60 km south of the capital of Jakarta in Bogor, Indonesia. The botanical gardens are situated in the city center of Bogor and adjoin the Istana Bogor...
. It consists of a stem with leaves and a male inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
. The pitchers and female flowers of this species are unknown.
Description
Danser's original description of N. mollis and all subsequent descriptions are based on the single specimen of this species deposited at the herbarium of the Bogor Botanical Gardens.Nepenthes mollis appears to be a climbing plant. The stem grows to at least 4 m in length and is 6 to 9 mm thick. The section bearing adult leaves is cylindrical or "somewhat obtusely angular or flattened". Internodes
Plant stem
A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold buds which grow into one or more leaves, inflorescence , conifer cones, roots, other stems etc. The internodes distance one node from another...
are 10 to 15 cm long. Short stems and rosettes are unknown.
Leaves on the climbing stem are coriaceous, scattered, and sessile. Laminae
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are lanceolate or spathulate-lanceolate in morphology, approximately 18 to 20 cm long, and 3.5 to 4.5 cm wide. The apex of the lamina is acute. Margins are parallel to the midrib near the base, becoming decurrent into two wings. The wings are gradually attenuate, 1 cm wide at the top, and 4 to 6 cm long. The base of the lamina is about 2 cm wide. The leaves possess indistinct nervation. Pinnate veins are at first oblique, before curving towards the leaf margin and forming one, or rarely two, longitudinal veins on each side.
Tendril
Tendril
In botany, a tendril is a specialized stem, leaf or petiole with a threadlike shape that is used by climbing plants for support, attachment and cellular invasion by parasitic plants, generally by twining around suitable hosts. They do not have a lamina or blade, but they can photosynthesize...
s are up to 10 cm long, about 1.5 to 2 mm wide near the lamina, and up to 2.5 mm wide towards the pitcher. Developed tendrils seem to always possess a loop. The pitchers themselves are unknown.
Nepenthes mollis has a racemose
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
. The female inflorescence is unknown. The male inflorescence is densely covered with flowers and is described by Danser as "not robust" and "at last seemingly lateral". The peduncle
Peduncle (botany)
In botany, a peduncle is a stem supporting an inflorescence, or after fecundation, an infructescence.The peduncle is a stem, usually green and without leaves, though sometimes colored or supporting small leaves...
is approximately 7.5 cm long, 4 mm wide at the base, and 3 mm wide at the top. The rachis
Rachis
Rachis is a biological term for a main axis or "shaft".-In zoology:In vertebrates a rachis can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this case the rachis usually form the supporting axis of the body and is then called the spine or vertebral column...
is gradually attenuate and 10 to 15 cm long. Lower partial peduncles are about 12 mm long, the upper ones being slightly shorter. All are two-flowered and do not possess a bract
Bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis, or cone scale. Bracts are often different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of a different color, shape, or texture...
. Sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s are elliptic, obtuse, and approximately 4 mm long. The staminal
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
column is about 4.5 mm long, including the singly seriate anthers. A study of 120 pollen
Pollen
Pollen is a fine to coarse powder containing the microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce the male gametes . Pollen grains have a hard coat that protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants or from the male cone to the...
samples taken from the type specimen (Endert 4282) found the mean pollen diameter to be 37.2 μm
Micrometre
A micrometer , is by definition 1×10-6 of a meter .In plain English, it means one-millionth of a meter . Its unit symbol in the International System of Units is μm...
(SE
Standard error (statistics)
The standard error is the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of a statistic. The term may also be used to refer to an estimate of that standard deviation, derived from a particular sample used to compute the estimate....
= 0.4; CV
Coefficient of variation
In probability theory and statistics, the coefficient of variation is a normalized measure of dispersion of a probability distribution. It is also known as unitized risk or the variation coefficient. The absolute value of the CV is sometimes known as relative standard deviation , which is...
= 6.1%).
All parts of the plant are covered in an indumentum
Indumentum
The indumentum is a covering of fine hairs or bristles on a plant or insect.In plants, the indumentum types are:*pubescent*hirsute*pilose*villous*tomentose*stellate*scabrous*scurfy...
of very dense brown hairs. The stem has a velvety coating of dense, coarse, brown, spreading hairs. These hairs are up to 2 mm long, some being shorter and branched, others longer and unbranched. A similar, though longer and much denser, covering of hairs exists on younger parts of the stem and near the axils, on the underside and top of the midrib, and on the undeveloped pitchers. The underside of the leaves is densely hirsute and bears short branched and longer unbranched, softer hairs. The upper surface is also densely hirsute, but has short, simple, whitish hairs. The peduncle and axis are entirely covered in an indumentum of red-brown hairs. The partial peduncles, sepals, and staminal column bear short, crisp hairs.
Danser describes the colour of herbarium specimens as "fallow-dun to ochraceous-brown, the indumentum dark-red-brown".
Taxonomy
Danser placed N. mollis in the cladeClade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
Regiae
Nepenthes classification
The taxonomy of Nepenthes has been revised several times during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.-Nineteenth century:The first subgeneric division of the Nepenthes was made by Joseph Dalton Hooker in his 1873 monograph, "Nepenthaceae"...
, together with 14 other species: N. boschiana
Nepenthes boschiana
Nepenthes boschiana , or Bosch's Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo. It is most closely related to N. faizaliana. Nepenthes borneensis is considered a synonym of this species. Nepenthes boschiana has no known natural hybrids...
, N. burbidgeae
Nepenthes burbidgeae
Nepenthes burbidgeae , also known as the painted pitcher plant or Burbidge's Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant with a patchy distribution around Mount Kinabalu and neighbouring Mount Tambuyukon in Sabah, Borneo.-Botanical history:...
, N. clipeata
Nepenthes clipeata
Nepenthes clipeata , or the Shield-Leaved Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant known only from the near-vertical granite cliff faces of Mount Kelam in Kalimantan, Borneo...
, N. ephippiata
Nepenthes ephippiata
Nepenthes ephippiata , or the Saddle-Leaved Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo. It occurs in the Hose Mountains of central Sarawak, as well as Mount Raya and Bukit Lesung in Kalimantan. Plants from the Hose Mountains appear to lack the decurrent leaf attachment found in...
, N. fusca
Nepenthes fusca
Nepenthes fusca , or the Dusky Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo. It is found throughout a wide altitudinal range and is almost always epiphytic in nature, primarily growing in mossy forest....
, N. klossii
Nepenthes klossii
Nepenthes klossii is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to New Guinea.-Botanical history:Nepenthes klossii was discovered in southwestern New Guinea during the Wollaston Expedition of 1912 to 1913...
, N. lowii
Nepenthes lowii
Nepenthes lowii , or Low's Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo. It is named after Hugh Low, who discovered it on Mount Kinabalu...
, N. maxima
Nepenthes maxima
Nepenthes maxima , the Great Pitcher-Plant, is a carnivorous pitcher plant species of the genus Nepenthes. It has a relatively wide distribution covering Sulawesi, New Guinea, and the Maluku Islands. It is closely related to N. eymae....
, N. oblanceolata
Nepenthes maxima
Nepenthes maxima , the Great Pitcher-Plant, is a carnivorous pitcher plant species of the genus Nepenthes. It has a relatively wide distribution covering Sulawesi, New Guinea, and the Maluku Islands. It is closely related to N. eymae....
(now considered a junior synonym
Synonym (taxonomy)
In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...
of N. maxima), N. pilosa
Nepenthes pilosa
Nepenthes pilosa is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo. It is characterised by a dense indumentum of long yellow-brown hairs. Pitchers have a distinctive hook-shaped appendage on the underside of the lid...
, N. rajah
Nepenthes rajah
Nepenthes rajah is an insectivorous pitcher plant species of the Nepenthaceae family. It is endemic to Mount Kinabalu and neighbouring Mount Tambuyukon in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Nepenthes rajah grows exclusively on serpentine substrates, particularly in areas of seeping ground water where the...
, N. stenophylla
Nepenthes stenophylla
Nepenthes stenophylla , or the Narrow-Leaved Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo. The species produces attractive funnel-shaped pitchers up to 25 cm high...
, N. truncata
Nepenthes truncata
Nepenthes truncata is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to the Philippines. It is known from the islands of Dinagat, Leyte, and Mindanao. The species grows at an elevation of 0–1500 m above sea level...
, and N. veitchii
Nepenthes veitchii
Nepenthes veitchii |James Veitch]], nurseryman of the Veitch Nurseries), or Veitch's Pitcher-Plant, is a Nepenthes species from the island of Borneo. The plant is widespread in north-western Borneo and can also be found in parts of Kalimantan. N...
. With regards to the classification of N. mollis, Danser wrote:
The taxonomic place of N. ephippiata and N. mollis is uncertain, as the pitchers are unknown, but the coarse stems and leaves, the yellowish colour of the former and the abundant hirsute indumentum and red-brown colour of the latter leave hardly any doubt whether both are Regiae.
Matthew Jebb
Matthew Jebb
Dr. Matthew H. P. Jebb is an Irish taxonomist and botanist specialising in the ant plant genera Squamellaria, Myrmecodia, Hydnophytum, Myrmephytum and Anthorrhiza, as well as the carnivorous plant genus Nepenthes....
, in his account of Nepenthes in New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, suggests that N. mollis "may have a similar growth-form to that of N. ampullaria
Nepenthes ampullaria
Nepenthes ampullaria , the Flask-Shaped Pitcher-Plant, is a very distinctive and widespread species of Nepenthes, present in Borneo, Sumatra, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, the Maluku Islands, and New Guinea...
, with the climbing stems rarely, if ever, producing pitchers".
In Nepenthes of Borneo
Nepenthes of Borneo
Nepenthes of Borneo is a monograph by Charles Clarke on the tropical pitcher plants of Borneo. It was first published in 1997 by Natural History Publications , and reprinted in 2006. Clarke describes it as "primarily an ecological monograph"...
, Charles Clarke
Charles Clarke (botanist)
Dr. Charles M. Clarke is a botanist and taxonomist specialising in the carnivorous plant genus Nepenthes. Clarke has an honours degree in Botany from Monash University in Melbourne, and a Ph.D. in Ecosystem Management at the University of New England, in Armidale, New South Wales.Clarke first...
notes that "from Fig. 14 in Danser (1928), [N. mollis] looks somewhat like N. hirsuta
Nepenthes hirsuta
Nepenthes hirsuta , the Hairy Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo. It is characterised by an indumentum of thick brown hairs, which is even present on the inflorescence. Pitchers are mostly green throughout with some having red blotches on the inside surfaces.N. hirsuta...
", although he states that it seems to be larger than that species. Jan Schlauer also suspects it is related to N. hirsuta.
Possible rediscovery
In 1999, an article by Bruce Salmon entitled "Nepenthes mollis (Nepenthaceae)—Rediscovered?" was published in the Carnivorous Plant NewsletterCarnivorous Plant Newsletter
The Carnivorous Plant Newsletter is the official publication of the International Carnivorous Plant Society , the largest such organization in the world.-History and editorship:...
. In the article, Salmon describes male specimens of an unidentified Nepenthes species, referred to as N. sp., collected on Mount Lumarku
Mount Lumarku
Mount Lumarku or Lumaku is a mountain in southwestern Sabah. The pitcher plant species Nepenthes fusca, Nepenthes hurrelliana, and Nepenthes tentaculata are native to this mountain....
at an altitude of 1,700 m in "tall dense forest on an exposed ridge line". Based on close morphological similarities and plausible geographical overlap, he suggests that the unidentified taxon
Taxon
|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...
may represent N. mollis. Salmon compares the two as follows:
While describing the stems and leaves [of N. sp.] I came across a drawing of N. mollis in Danser's monograph (Danser, 1928). It looked exactly like the pressed specimen that I had in front of me. I then began to compare the two and found that they matched exactly, including the hairiness, except for the following differences.
N. mollis N. sp. Leaf Base: Decurrent into 2 wings, 1 cm broad at the top, 4-6 cm long, gradually attenuate. Decurrent for 1-2 cm. Pedicels: Without bract. Bract originating from the base of the pedicel 3-4 mm long.
To bring these differences into perspective, remember that the differences above are both from pressed herbarium specimens and that Danser never saw a live specimen of N. mollis.
In living specimens of N. sp. the base of the leaf is petiolate in the lower 4-5 cm with the leaf edges curled upwards. When pressed they are flattened and the leaf is narrowly lanceolate as in Danser's drawing of N. mollis. The leaf-sheathing on pressed plants of N. sp. is also flattened and looks decurrent instead. Without reference to a living plant you would be none the wiser. Could this be the same with Danser's N. mollis specimen? The degree of supposed leaf decurrence and the bracts on the pedicels can be explained by natural variation within the range of this species. There are enough high mountains between those that contain N. sp. (G. Lumarku, G. Murud, Meligan Range) in the northwest and N. mollis (G. Kemul) in the southeast to provide a link between the two.
Salmon also notes that the growth habit of N. sp. is similar to that proposed for N. mollis, writing "N. mollis reputedly lacks upper pitchers. N. sp. also exhibits this trait especially in the upper 70 cm of a flowering stem". He suggests that plants may cease pitcher production when stressed, such as during a dry season
Dry season
The dry season is a term commonly used when describing the weather in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which oscillates from the northern to the southern tropics over the course of the year...
.
However, some authors consider the hypothesis equating these two species to be rather improbable. An editor's note by Jan Schlauer accompanying Salmon's article cautions that live specimens from the type locality of N. mollis must be examined before the two taxa are united.
The identity of the specimens from G. Lumarku with N. mollis should be proven by comparison with authentic pitchered material from G. Kemul. Unless this is done, the data above cannot be taken as an emendation of Danser's original description of N. mollis but are only referring to north Bornean plants without doubt.
Species description
A species description or type description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species which have been described previously, or are...
as N. hurrelliana
Nepenthes hurrelliana
Nepenthes hurrelliana is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo, where it has been recorded from northern Sarawak, southwestern Sabah, and Brunei. It is of putative hybrid origin; its two original parent species are thought to be N. fusca and N. veitchii...
in 2003 by Martin Cheek
Martin Cheek
Dr. Martin Roy Cheek is a taxonomist and botanist specialising in the carnivorous plant genus Nepenthes.-Research:Cheek has described several new Nepenthes species, mostly with Matthew Jebb, including: N. argentii, N. aristolochioides, N. danseri, N. diatas,...
and Anthony Lamb
Anthony Lamb
Anthony L. Lamb M.A., Dip. Ag., D.T.A. is a British botanist, born in Sri Lanka, and specialising in the flora of Borneo. Lamb was educated at Blundell's School in Tiverton and at St John's College at Cambridge...
. Its natural range is now known to cover northern Sarawak
Sarawak
Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...
, Brunei
Brunei
Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...
, and southwestern Sabah
Sabah
Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...
, although it has not been recorded from Kalimantan
Kalimantan
In English, the term Kalimantan refers to the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo, while in Indonesian, the term "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo....
. If N. mollis and N. hurrelliana were shown to be conspecific, the latter would become a heterotypic synonym
Synonym (taxonomy)
In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...
of the former.
Recent monographs on the genus maintain that N. mollis has not been relocated in the wild since Endert's original collection. In the 2008 edition of Pitcher Plants of Borneo, Anthea Phillipps
Anthea Phillipps
Anthea Phillipps B.Sc. is a British botanist. Phillipps was brought up in Sabah, Borneo as a child . She received a Botany degree from the University of Durham, England. She worked at the Sabah Museum before joining the Sabah Parks service from 1980 to 1987 as Park Ecologist, where she studied...
, Anthony Lamb
Anthony Lamb
Anthony L. Lamb M.A., Dip. Ag., D.T.A. is a British botanist, born in Sri Lanka, and specialising in the flora of Borneo. Lamb was educated at Blundell's School in Tiverton and at St John's College at Cambridge...
, and Ch'ien Lee
Ch'ien Lee
Ch'ien C. Lee is a photographer and botanist specialising in the carnivorous plant genus Nepenthes. Lee has described several new Nepenthes species, including N. chaniana, N. gantungensis, N. glandulifera, N. jamban, N. lingulata, N. palawanensis, N. pitopangii,...
write: "some climbing stems of the recently described N. hurrelliana appear very similar to [N. mollis], though it is uncertain if these plants are related".
External links
- Danser, B.H. 1928. 28. Nepenthes mollis DANS., spec. nova. In: The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands IndiesThe Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies"The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies" is a seminal monograph by B. H. Danser on the tropical pitcher plants of the Dutch East Indies, North Borneo, the Malay Peninsula, and eastern New Guinea...
. Bulletin du Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg, Série III, 9(3–4): 249–438.