Nepenthes lowii
Encyclopedia
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
. This species is perhaps the most unusual in the genus
, being characterised by its strongly constricted upper pitchers, which bear a greatly reduced peristome
and a reflexed lid with numerous bristles on its lower surface.
colonial administrator and naturalist
Hugh Low
during his first ascent of Mount Kinabalu
. Low wrote the following account of his discovery:
The type specimen of N. lowii, designated as Low s.n., was collected by Hugh Low on Mount Kinabalu and is deposited at the herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
(K).
Nepenthes lowii was formally described
in 1859 by Joseph Dalton Hooker
. Hooker's original description and illustration were reproduced in Spenser St. John's Life in the Forests of the Far East, published in 1862. St. John wrote the following account of N. lowii on Mount Kinabalu:
In subsequent years, N. lowii was featured in a number of publications by eminent botanists such as Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel
(1870), Joseph Dalton Hooker
(1873), Frederick William Burbidge
(1882), Odoardo Beccari
(1886), Ernst Wunschmann (1891), Otto Stapf
(1894), Harry James Veitch
(1897), Jacob Gijsbert Boerlage (1900), and Elmer Drew Merrill
(1921). However, most of these publications made only passing mention of N. lowii. The first major taxonomic treatment was that of Günther Beck von Mannagetta und Lerchenau in 1895, who placed N. lowii in its own subgroup (Retiferae) on account of its unusual pitcher morphology.
A revised description and illustration of N. lowii were published in John Muirhead Macfarlane
's 1908 monograph, "Nepenthaceae
". Macfarlane also wrote about N. lowii in the Journal of the Linnean Society in 1914 and The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture in 1919.
In 1927, a new illustration of N. lowii was published in an article by Dutch
botanist B. H. Danser
in the journal De Tropische Natuur. The following year Danser provided a further emended Latin
diagnosis and botanical description of N. lowii in his seminal monograph "The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies
".
Nepenthes lowii was discovered on Mount Kinabalu and later found on Bukit Batu Lawi
. It was first recorded from Mount Murud
by Eric Mjöberg
during his first ascent of the mountain in 1922. Mjöberg wrote the following account of the Mount Murud summit area:
During the expedition, Mjöberg collected a single specimen of N. lowii from Mount Murud, which has been designated as Mjöberg 115. In 1926, Mjöberg found N. lowii on the north-eastern slope of Bukit Batu Tiban, although he did not collect any specimens.
Another specimen, Beaman 11476, was collected by John H. Beaman between April 10 and April 17, 1995, from the summit ridge of Mount Murud at an elevation of between 2300 and 2400 m above sea level. This latter specimen was collected as part of the eighth botanical expedition to Mount Murud since Eric Mjöberg's first ascent in 1922.
, a species endemic to Peninsular Malaysia
, although he suggested that it might represent a new species. This misidentification was published in 1965 in the proceedings of the UNESCO Humid Tropics Symposium, which was held in Kuching
two years earlier. It was based on a specimen collected by Iris Sheila Darnton Collenette from the Mesilau East River in July 1963. This plant bore several pitchers, each with a well-developed peristome
and long bristles on the underside of the lid. The confusion resulted from the fact that the peristome in upper pitchers of N. lowii is usually present only as a series of ridges and that N. macfarlanei also has bristles on the underside of the lid (although they are much shorter than those of N. lowii).
s are cylindrical in cross section and up to 8 cm long.
The leaves of this species are coriaceous in texture. The lamina or leaf blade is petiolate, oblong-lanceolate in shape, and up to 30 cm long by 9 cm wide. It has a rounded apex and an abruptly contracted base. The petiole
is canaliculate and up to 14 cm long. It forms a flat sheath that clasps the stem for two-thirds to four-fifths of its circumference. Three to four longitudinal veins are present on either side of the midrib. Pinnate veins run straight or obliquely with respect to the lamina. Tendril
s are up to 20 cm long and are not usually curled.
is cylindrical in cross section and widens towards the rear. It is up to 12 mm wide and bears prominent teeth and ribs. On the inner surface, the gland
ular region covers the basal half of the pitcher. The pitcher lid or operculum
is approximately orbiculate in shape. On its underside it possesses a number of very dense fleshy bristles measuring up to 2 cm in length. Other than these distinctive structures, the lid has no appendages. An unbranched spur
is inserted near the base of the lid.
The upper pitchers of N. lowii are very distinctive, being globose in the lower part, strongly constricted in the middle, and highly infundibular above. Aerial pitchers are relatively large, growing up to 28 cm high by 10 cm wide. Wings are reduced to ribs in upper pitchers and the peristome is present only as a series of ridges on the edge of the mouth. The inner surface of the pitcher is glandular throughout and has no waxy zone. The vaulted lid is reflexed away from the mouth and is oblong-ovate in shape. It is up to 15 cm long by 9 cm wide and lacks appendages. Numerous bristles, reaching up to 2 cm in length, are present on the lower surface of the lid. As in lower pitchers, the spur is unbranched. The upper pitchers of N. lowii are extremely rigid and almost woody in texture. After drying, the pitchers retain their shape better than those of any other species in the genus.
inflorescence
. The peduncle
reaches 20 cm in length, while the rachis
measures up to 25 cm. Partial peduncles are two-flowered, up to 20 mm long, and lack bract
s. Sepal
s are oblong in shape and up to 5 mm long. A study of 570 pollen
samples taken from three herbarium specimens (J.H.Adam 2406, J.H.Adam 2395 and SAN 23341, collected at an altitude of 1700–2000 m) found the mean pollen diameter to be 33.0 μm
(SE
= 0.2; CV
= 7.8%).
Most parts of the plant are virtually glabrous. However, an indumentum
of short brown hairs is present on inflorescences, developing parts, and the edges of rosette leaves.
. In Sabah
, N. lowii has been recorded from Mount Kinabalu
, Mount Tambuyukon
, Mount Alab, Mount Mentapok, Mount Monkobo, and Mount Trus Madi
. In northern Sarawak
, the species is known from Mount Api
, Mount Buli, Mount Mulu
, Mount Murud
, Bukit Batu Lawi
, Bukit Batu Tiban, the Hose Mountains
, the Tama Abu Range, and Bario
. The species has also been recorded from peaks in Brunei
, including Bukit Pagon
. Nepenthes lowii has an altitudinal distribution of 1650 to 2600 m above sea level.
Nepenthes lowii grows in nutrient-deficient soils of the upper montane zone. The species occurs both terrestrially and as an epiphyte
. Its typical habitat is mossy forest or stunted ridge-top vegetation. Nepenthes lowii often grows in a thick layer of peat moss over ultramafic, sandstone
, granite
, and limestone
substrates.
On Mount Kinabalu, the species has been recorded from the East Ridge, Mesilau East River, and an area below Kambarangoh
. Nepenthes lowii used to have a scattered distribution around the Mount Kinabalu summit trail, occurring in a narrow band between elevations of 1970 and 2270 m above sea level. Many of the N. lowii plants growing along the Kinabalu summit trail died as a result of the El Niño climatic phenomenon of 1997–1998 and others have been destroyed by climbers. It is now difficult to find the species on Mount Kinabalu and its presence along the summit trail is "uncertain".
The form of N. lowii from Mount Trus Madi produces significantly larger pitcher than that of nearby Mount Kinabalu. On Mount Murud, N. lowii occurs at elevations above 1860 m. Plants growing near the mountain's summit are very stunted due to the harsher climatic conditions and lack of protecting vegetation.
Mount Mulu is now the easiest place to see N. lowii. On Mount Mulu, the summit vegetation is greatly stunted, rarely exceeding a metre in height. It is dominated by rhododendron
s (particularly Rhododendron ericoides), as well as species of the genera Diplycosia and Vaccinium
.
of N. lowii is listed as Vulnerable
on the 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
based on an assessment carried out in 2000. This agrees with the informal classification of the species made by botanist Charles Clarke
in 1997, although Clarke noted that it is Conservation Dependent
if populations in protected areas are taken into account. However, it differs from the assessment by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre
, which classified N. lowii as "rare", placing it between "vulnerable" and "endangered
".
The upper pitchers of N. lowii are unusual in that they have a reflexed lid, which exposes numerous bristles on its underside. A white substance often accumulates amongst these bristles, the identity of which has been the subject of some debate. In the 1960s, J. Harrison assumed that these white beads were snail eggs. E. J. H. Corner
, who led the 1961 and 1964 Royal Society Expeditions to Mount Kinabalu, wrote the following:
However, observations of cultivated N. lowii by Peter D'Amato
and Cliff Dodd showed that these white beads were of the plant's own production. The substance has been described as having a sugary taste and "a slightly disagreeable odour". It is unknown why lower pitchers of N. lowii, which are otherwise typical of the genus, also have bristles and produce these white secretions. Charles Clarke
suggested that by providing a reward near the ground, the lower pitchers may serve to guide animals towards the upper pitchers.
Clarke carried out a series of field observations relating to N. lowii carnivory. At five of seven sites studied, N. lowii pitchers were found to contain significant amounts of animal excrement. A 2009 study found that mature plants derived 57–100% of their foliar nitrogen from tree shrew droppings. Another study published the following year showed that the shape and size of the pitcher orifice exactly match the dimensions of a typical tree shrew (Tupaia montana). A similar adaptation was found in N. macrophylla
and N. rajah
, and is also likely to be present in N. ephippiata
.
Nepenthes lowii is not the first Nepenthes species for which this has been proposed; as early as 1989 it was suggested that N. pervillei
, a species from the Seychelles
, benefits from bird excrement and may be moving away from carnivory. However, no comprehensive studies have been conducted into the carnivory of either species and this hypothesis is yet to be tested experimentally.
In his 1928 monograph, B. H. Danser
placed N. lowii in the Regiae
clade
, together with 14 other species. This differed from the sub-genus classification published by Günther Beck von Mannagetta und Lerchenau in 1895, which placed N. lowii in its own subgroup: Retiferae. Danser explained his assignment of N. lowii to Regiae as follows:
Nepenthes lowii is thought to be most closely related to N. ephippiata
. B. H. Danser
, who described the latter species in 1928, considered these taxa
similar to the point where he could find few reasons to distinguish them in a 1931 article. More recent treatments have retained N. ephippiata as a distinct species and outlined a number of morphological features that distinguish it from N. lowii.
The most obvious differences between these species are seen in the upper pitchers; those of N. ephippiata are less constricted in the middle and have a more developed peristome. In addition, N. ephippiata has short tubercles on the underside of the lid, as opposed to the long bristles of N. lowii.
. However, Anthea Phillipps
, Anthony Lamb
, and Ch'ien Lee
differ in their interpretation, noting that the plant exhibits influences of , such as a triangular lid and an elongated neck. They write that both N. fusca and N. lowii are common in the summit area, whereas N. chaniana is rare. Another possible parent species, , is apparently absent from the site.
Nepenthes fusca × N. lowii was discovered by Rob Cantley
and Charles Clarke
on Bukit Batu Lawi
in Sarawak
. Clarke later found larger plants of this hybrid in the Crocker Range
of Sabah
, particularly near the summit of Mount Alab. The pitchers of N. fusca × N. lowii have a slight constriction in the middle and range in colour from green to dark purple throughout.
This hybrid differs from N. fusca in the presence of bristles on the underside of the lid. Conversely, it has a dense indumentum
on the stem and at the margins of the lamina, compared to the virtually glabrous stem and leaves of N. lowii. It also differs from N. lowii in having a more developed peristome
, which is circular in cross section. While lower pitchers of N. lowii have prominent teeth, those of N. fusca × N. lowii are indistinct. In addition, a glandular appendage is present on the underside of the lid, a trait inherited from N. fusca.
Nepenthes fusca × N. lowii is difficult to confuse with its putative parent species, but is somewhat similar to N. chaniana × . The latter hybrid can be distinguished on the basis of its peristome, which is wider, more flared, and less cylindrical. In addition, this hybrid has a less ovate lid, which lacks the bristles characteristic of N. lowii, and a denser indumentum covering the stem and leaves.
Nepenthes lowii × N. macrophylla
was discovered on Mount Trus Madi
by Johannes Marabini and John Briggs in 1983. Later that year, it was described as N. × trusmadiensis by Marabini. Briggs returned to Mount Trus Madi in 1984, but found only one small group of plants.
Nepenthes × trusmadiensis has petiolate leaves measuring up to 50 cm in length. The pitchers of this hybrid are some of the largest of any Bornean Nepenthes species, reaching 35 cm in height. They are roughly intermediate in form between those of its parent species. The lid is held away from the mouth as in N. lowii and bears short britles on its lower surface. The peristome has prominent ribs and teeth, but is not as developed as that of N. macrophylla. The inflorescence
of N. × trusmadiensis may be up to 50 cm long and has two-flowered pedicels
. Despite the size of the pitchers, this hybrid is not large in stature.
Nepenthes × trusmadiensis is restricted to the summit ridge of Mount Trus Madi and has been recorded from elevations of 2500 to 2600 m above sea level.
, Anthea Phillipps
and Anthony Lamb
called N. lowii × N. stenophylla
the "Mentapok Pitcher-Plant" after Mount Mentapok in Sabah
, from which it was collected in 1985 by John Briggs. It has since been recorded from several localities in northern Borneo, including Bukit Pagon
in Brunei
.
On Mount Mentapok, this hybrid is the result of a cross between a giant form of N. stenophylla with pitchers measuring up to 35 cm and a form of N. lowii with a very dark, almost black, inner surface and a "very narrow, distinctly rough peristome".
Nepenthes lowii × N. stenophylla has petiolate leaves and slender, waisted pitchers up to 25 cm high. The pitcher cup bears long dark streaks similar to those of N. stenophylla, while the striped peristome
is flattened and cylindrical in cross section. The lid is ovate in shape and may be held away from the mouth, exposing dark bristles on its lower surface. As in N. lowii, white secretions accumulate between these bristles. The characteristic glandular crest of N. stenophylla is reduced to a small mound under the lid.
Nepenthes lowii × N. stenophylla is only known from mossy forest along summit ridges at elevations of over 1500 m, where the upper altitudinal limit of N. stenophylla overlaps the lower altitudinal limit of N. lowii.
, N. hurrelliana
, N. muluensis
, N. veitchii
, as well as possible hybrids with N. hirsuta
and N. tentaculata
. A single example of N. lowii × N. rajah
grows along the Mesilau nature trail
.
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...
endemic to 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 named after Hugh Low
Hugh Low
Sir Hugh Low, GCMG was a British colonial administrator and naturalist. After a long residence in various colonial roles in Labuan, he became the first successful British administrator in the Malay Peninsula. His methods became models for future administrators. He made the first documented ascent...
, who discovered it on Mount Kinabalu
Mount Kinabalu
Mount Kinabalu is a prominent mountain on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. It is located in the East Malaysian state of Sabah and is protected as Kinabalu National Park, a World Heritage Site. Kinabalu is the tallest peak in Borneo's Crocker Range and is the tallest mountain in the Malay...
. This species is perhaps the most unusual 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...
, being characterised by its strongly constricted upper pitchers, which bear a greatly reduced peristome
Peristome
The word peristome is derived from the Greek peri, meaning 'around' or 'about', and stoma, 'mouth'. It is a term used to describe various anatomical features that surround an opening to an organ or structure. The term is used in plants and invertebrate animals, such as in describing the shells of...
and a reflexed lid with numerous bristles on its lower surface.
Discovery and naming
Nepenthes lowii was discovered in March 1851 by BritishUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
colonial administrator and naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
Hugh Low
Hugh Low
Sir Hugh Low, GCMG was a British colonial administrator and naturalist. After a long residence in various colonial roles in Labuan, he became the first successful British administrator in the Malay Peninsula. His methods became models for future administrators. He made the first documented ascent...
during his first ascent of Mount Kinabalu
Mount Kinabalu
Mount Kinabalu is a prominent mountain on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. It is located in the East Malaysian state of Sabah and is protected as Kinabalu National Park, a World Heritage Site. Kinabalu is the tallest peak in Borneo's Crocker Range and is the tallest mountain in the Malay...
. Low wrote the following account of his discovery:
A little way further we came upon a most extraordinary Nepenthes, of, I believe, a hitherto unknown form, the mouth being oval and large, the neck exceedingly contracted so as to appear funnel-shaped, and at right angles to the body of the pitcher, which was large, swollen out laterally, flattened above and sustained in an horizontal position by the strong prolongation of the midrib of the plant as in other species. It is a very strong growing kind and absolutely covered with its interesting pitchers, each of which contains little less than a pint of water and all of them were full to the brim, so admirably were they sustained by the supporting petiole. The plants were generally upwards of 40 ft long, but I could find no young ones nor any flowers, not even traces of either.
The type specimen of N. lowii, designated as Low s.n., was collected by Hugh Low on Mount Kinabalu and is deposited at the herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, is 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. "The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" and the brand name "Kew" are also used as umbrella terms for the institution that runs...
(K).
Nepenthes lowii 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 1859 by Joseph Dalton Hooker
Joseph Dalton Hooker
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM, GCSI, CB, MD, FRS was one of the greatest British botanists and explorers of the 19th century. Hooker was a founder of geographical botany, and Charles Darwin's closest friend...
. Hooker's original description and illustration were reproduced in Spenser St. John's Life in the Forests of the Far East, published in 1862. St. John wrote the following account of N. lowii on Mount Kinabalu:
We soon came upon the magnificent pitcher-plant, the Nepenthes Lowii, which Mr. Low was anxious to obtain. We could find no young plants, but took cuttings, which the natives said would grow. [...] We at last reached a narrow, rocky ridge, covered with brushwood, but with thousands of plants of the beautiful Nepenthes Lowii growing among them. [...] We sent our men on next morning to wait for us at the cave, while we stayed behind to collect specimens of the Nepenthes Lowii and the Nepenthes Villosa. The former is, in my opinion, the loveliest of them all, and its shape is most elegant. [...] The outside colour of the pitchers is a bright pea-green, the inside dark mahogany; the lid is green, while the glandular are mahogany-coloured. A very elegant claret jug might be made of this shape.
In subsequent years, N. lowii was featured in a number of publications by eminent botanists such as Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel
Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel
Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel was a Dutch botanist.He was head of the botanical gardens at Rotterdam , Amsterdam and Utrecht . He directed the Rijksherbarium at Leiden from 1862...
(1870), Joseph Dalton Hooker
Joseph Dalton Hooker
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM, GCSI, CB, MD, FRS was one of the greatest British botanists and explorers of the 19th century. Hooker was a founder of geographical botany, and Charles Darwin's closest friend...
(1873), Frederick William Burbidge
Frederick William Burbidge
Frederick William Thomas Burbidge was a British explorer who collected many rare tropical plants for the famous Veitch Nurseries. Burbidge's first job was as a gardener at Kew Gardens...
(1882), Odoardo Beccari
Odoardo Beccari
Odoardo Beccari was an Italian naturalist perhaps best known for discovering the titan arum, the plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world, in Sumatra in 1878...
(1886), Ernst Wunschmann (1891), Otto Stapf
Otto Stapf
Otto Stapf FRS was an Austrian born botanist and taxonomist.Stapf trained in Vienna, moving to Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 1890. He was keeper of the Herbarium from 1909 to 1920...
(1894), Harry James Veitch
Harry Veitch
Sir Harry James Veitch was an eminent English horticulturist in the nineteenth century, who was the head of the family nursery business, James Veitch & Sons, based in Chelsea, London...
(1897), Jacob Gijsbert Boerlage (1900), and Elmer Drew Merrill
Elmer Drew Merrill
Elmer Drew Merrill was an American botanist, specializing in the flora of the Asia-Pacific region.He was born in East Auburn, Maine, and attended the University of Maine where he received a B.S. in 1898...
(1921). However, most of these publications made only passing mention of N. lowii. The first major taxonomic treatment was that of Günther Beck von Mannagetta und Lerchenau in 1895, who placed N. lowii in its own subgroup (Retiferae) on account of its unusual pitcher morphology.
A revised description and illustration of N. lowii were published in John Muirhead Macfarlane
John Muirhead Macfarlane
John Muirhead Macfarlane was a Scottish botanist. He was born and educated in Scotland, where he occupied several different academic positions at the University of Edinburgh before emigrating to the United States to assume a professorial chair at the University of Pennsylvania in 1893. He held...
's 1908 monograph, "Nepenthaceae
Nepenthaceae (1908 monograph)
"Nepenthaceae" is a monograph by John Muirhead Macfarlane on the tropical pitcher plants of the genus Nepenthes. It was published in 1908 in Adolf Engler's Das Pflanzenreich...
". Macfarlane also wrote about N. lowii in the Journal of the Linnean Society in 1914 and The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture in 1919.
In 1927, a new illustration of N. lowii was published in an article by Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
botanist B. H. Danser
B. H. Danser
Benedictus Hubertus Danser , often abbreviated B. H. Danser, was a Dutch taxonomist and botanist...
in the journal De Tropische Natuur. The following year Danser provided a further emended Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
diagnosis and botanical description of N. lowii 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...
".
New localities
 |
 |
Nepenthes lowii was discovered on Mount Kinabalu and later found on Bukit Batu Lawi
Bukit Batu Lawi
Bukit Batu Lawi is a mountain located in the Malaysian part of Borneo. At 2,046 m , it is one of the highest mountains in the state of Sarawak.- Further reading :* Lightner, Sam Jr. All Elevations Unknown...
. It was first recorded from Mount Murud
Mount Murud
Mount Murud or Muru is a sandstone mountain located in the Malaysian part of Borneo. At 2,423 m , it is the highest mountain in the state of Sarawak....
by Eric Mjöberg
Eric Mjöberg
Dr Eric Georg Mjöberg was a Swedish zoologist and ethnographer who led the first Swedish scientific expeditions to Australia in the early 1900s, and worked in Indonesia. The plant Vaccinium mjoebergii J.J.Sm...
during his first ascent of the mountain in 1922. Mjöberg wrote the following account of the Mount Murud summit area:
We found ourselves in a strange landscape where low bushes with thick leathery leaves constituted the predominating vegetation. Here and there smaller trees were seen, among them a conifer with trunk and larger branches practically covered with the yellow blossoms of a small, richly flowering, epiphytic orchid. Bright scarlet or snow-white flowers of rhododendron and similar plants were met with everywhere; and most noticeable were the enormous and characteristically shaped pitchers of Nepenthes lowii, hitherto recorded only from Kinabalu and Batu Lawi.
During the expedition, Mjöberg collected a single specimen of N. lowii from Mount Murud, which has been designated as Mjöberg 115. In 1926, Mjöberg found N. lowii on the north-eastern slope of Bukit Batu Tiban, although he did not collect any specimens.
Another specimen, Beaman 11476, was collected by John H. Beaman between April 10 and April 17, 1995, from the summit ridge of Mount Murud at an elevation of between 2300 and 2400 m above sea level. This latter specimen was collected as part of the eighth botanical expedition to Mount Murud since Eric Mjöberg's first ascent in 1922.
Misidentification
Despite its unique pitcher morphology, N. lowii has been misidentified at least once in the literature; Bertram Evelyn Smythies tentatively assigned a specimen of N. lowii to N. macfarlaneiNepenthes macfarlanei
Nepenthes macfarlanei is a carnivorous pitcher plant species endemic to Peninsular Malaysia. It produces attractive red-speckled pitchers. Lower pitchers are ovoid to cylindrical and up to 20 cm high. The lower surface of the lid is densely covered with short, white hairs...
, a species endemic to Peninsular Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia , also known as West Malaysia , is the part of Malaysia which lies on the Malay Peninsula. Its area is . It shares a land border with Thailand in the north. To the south is the island of Singapore. Across the Strait of Malacca to the west lies the island of Sumatra...
, although he suggested that it might represent a new species. This misidentification was published in 1965 in the proceedings of the UNESCO Humid Tropics Symposium, which was held in Kuching
Kuching
Kuching , officially the City of Kuching, and formerly the City of Sarawak, is the capital and most populous city of the East Malaysian state of Sarawak. It is the largest city on the island of Borneo, and the fourth largest city in Malaysia....
two years earlier. It was based on a specimen collected by Iris Sheila Darnton Collenette from the Mesilau East River in July 1963. This plant bore several pitchers, each with a well-developed peristome
Peristome
The word peristome is derived from the Greek peri, meaning 'around' or 'about', and stoma, 'mouth'. It is a term used to describe various anatomical features that surround an opening to an organ or structure. The term is used in plants and invertebrate animals, such as in describing the shells of...
and long bristles on the underside of the lid. The confusion resulted from the fact that the peristome in upper pitchers of N. lowii is usually present only as a series of ridges and that N. macfarlanei also has bristles on the underside of the lid (although they are much shorter than those of N. lowii).
Stem and leaves
Nepenthes lowii is a climbing plant. The stem may attain a length of more than 10 m and is up to 20 mm in diameter. InternodePlant 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...
s are cylindrical in cross section and up to 8 cm long.
Petiole (botany)
In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...
is canaliculate and up to 14 cm long. It forms a flat sheath that clasps the stem for two-thirds to four-fifths of its circumference. Three to four longitudinal veins are present on either side of the midrib. Pinnate veins run straight or obliquely with respect to the lamina. 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 20 cm long and are not usually curled.
Pitchers
Rosette and lower pitchers are bulbous in the lower part and ventricose in the middle, becoming wider towards the mouth. They are smaller than their aerial counterparts, reaching only 10 cm high by 4 cm wide. Lower pitchers are rarely seen, as the plant quickly enters the climbing stage. A pair of fringed wings runs down the front of each pitcher, although these are often reduced and only present in the upper portion of the pitcher cup. The peristomePeristome
The word peristome is derived from the Greek peri, meaning 'around' or 'about', and stoma, 'mouth'. It is a term used to describe various anatomical features that surround an opening to an organ or structure. The term is used in plants and invertebrate animals, such as in describing the shells of...
is cylindrical in cross section and widens towards the rear. It is up to 12 mm wide and bears prominent teeth and ribs. On the inner surface, the gland
Gland
A gland is an organ in an animal's body that synthesizes a substance for release of substances such as hormones or breast milk, often into the bloodstream or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface .- Types :...
ular region covers the basal half of the pitcher. The pitcher lid or operculum
Operculum (botany)
An operculum, in botany, is a term generally used to describe a structure within a plant, moss, or fungus acting as a cap, flap, or lid. In plants, it may also be called a bud cap.Examples of structures identified as opercula include:...
is approximately orbiculate in shape. On its underside it possesses a number of very dense fleshy bristles measuring up to 2 cm in length. Other than these distinctive structures, the lid has no appendages. An unbranched spur
Spur (biology)
A spur in botany is a spike, usually part of a flower.In certain plants, part of a sepal or petal develops into an elongated hollow spike extending behind the flower, containing nectar which is sucked by long-tongued animals . Plants with such structures include Delphinium, Aquilegia, Piperia, and...
is inserted near the base of the lid.
Inflorescence and indumentum
Nepenthes lowii has a racemoseRaceme
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 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...
reaches 20 cm in length, while 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...
measures up to 25 cm. Partial peduncles are two-flowered, up to 20 mm long, and lack 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...
s. 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 oblong in shape and up to 5 mm long. A study of 570 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 three herbarium specimens (J.H.Adam 2406, J.H.Adam 2395 and SAN 23341, collected at an altitude of 1700–2000 m) found the mean pollen diameter to be 33.0 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....
= 0.2; 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...
= 7.8%).
Most parts of the plant are virtually glabrous. However, 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 short brown hairs is present on inflorescences, developing parts, and the edges of rosette leaves.
Habitat and distribution
Nepenthes lowii is endemic to a number of isolated peaks in BorneoBorneo
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....
. In 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...
, N. lowii has been recorded from Mount Kinabalu
Mount Kinabalu
Mount Kinabalu is a prominent mountain on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. It is located in the East Malaysian state of Sabah and is protected as Kinabalu National Park, a World Heritage Site. Kinabalu is the tallest peak in Borneo's Crocker Range and is the tallest mountain in the Malay...
, Mount Tambuyukon
Mount Tambuyukon
Mount Tambuyukon or Tamboyukon is Malaysia's third highest mountain at 2,579 m . It lies close to the famous Mount Kinabalu. The mountain supports a wide range of unique flora and fauna, including a number of pitcher plant species of the genus Nepenthes....
, Mount Alab, Mount Mentapok, Mount Monkobo, and Mount Trus Madi
Mount Trus Madi
Mount Trus Madi or Trusmadi is Malaysia's second highest mountain at . It lies in the state of Sabah, close to Mount Kinabalu. The mountain supports a wide range of unique flora and fauna, perhaps most notably Nepenthes macrophylla, a species of pitcher plant.The natural hybrid Nepenthes ×...
. In 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...
, the species is known from Mount Api
Mount Api
Mount Api is a limestone mountain located in Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak, Malaysia. Neighbouring Mount Benarat and Mount Buda are part of the same formation...
, Mount Buli, Mount Mulu
Mount Mulu
Mount Mulu is a sandstone and shale mountain. At 2376 m, it is the second highest mountain in the state of Sarawak, after Mount Murud. It is located within the boundaries of Gunung Mulu National Park, which is named after it....
, Mount Murud
Mount Murud
Mount Murud or Muru is a sandstone mountain located in the Malaysian part of Borneo. At 2,423 m , it is the highest mountain in the state of Sarawak....
, Bukit Batu Lawi
Bukit Batu Lawi
Bukit Batu Lawi is a mountain located in the Malaysian part of Borneo. At 2,046 m , it is one of the highest mountains in the state of Sarawak.- Further reading :* Lightner, Sam Jr. All Elevations Unknown...
, Bukit Batu Tiban, the Hose Mountains
Hose Mountains
The Hose Mountains are a mountain range in central Sarawak, Borneo. They span the area between the watersheds of the Balleh and Balui Rivers. The mountains are covered in virgin tropical rainforest that supports a rich ecosystem of fauna and flora, including many endemic species...
, the Tama Abu Range, and Bario
Bario
Bario is a Malaysian village located in the centre of the Kelabit Highlands in the north east of Sarawak, very close to the international border with Indonesian Kalimantan, and 3280 feet above sea level. It is the main settlement in the Kelabit Highlands...
. The species has also been recorded from peaks in 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...
, including Bukit Pagon
Bukit Pagon
Bukit Pagon is the highest mountain in Brunei. It is situated on the border with Malaysia on the island of Borneo. Bukit Pagon is located in the Temburong District of Brunei. This district is separated from the rest of Brunei by part of the Sarawak State of Malaysia.The pitcher plant species...
. Nepenthes lowii has an altitudinal distribution of 1650 to 2600 m above sea level.
Epiphyte
An epiphyte is a plant that grows upon another plant non-parasitically or sometimes upon some other object , derives its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and sometimes from debris accumulating around it, and is found in the temperate zone and in the...
. Its typical habitat is mossy forest or stunted ridge-top vegetation. Nepenthes lowii often grows in a thick layer of peat moss over ultramafic, sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
, granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
, and limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
substrates.
On Mount Kinabalu, the species has been recorded from the East Ridge, Mesilau East River, and an area below Kambarangoh
Kambarangoh
Kambarangoh is an area along the summit trail to Low's Peak on Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, Borneo. It lies between the Power Station and Layang-Layang. It is named after the only telecommunications station on the mountain, which is owned by Kambarangoh Telecoms.The road leading up to the Power...
. Nepenthes lowii used to have a scattered distribution around the Mount Kinabalu summit trail, occurring in a narrow band between elevations of 1970 and 2270 m above sea level. Many of the N. lowii plants growing along the Kinabalu summit trail died as a result of the El Niño climatic phenomenon of 1997–1998 and others have been destroyed by climbers. It is now difficult to find the species on Mount Kinabalu and its presence along the summit trail is "uncertain".
The form of N. lowii from Mount Trus Madi produces significantly larger pitcher than that of nearby Mount Kinabalu. On Mount Murud, N. lowii occurs at elevations above 1860 m. Plants growing near the mountain's summit are very stunted due to the harsher climatic conditions and lack of protecting vegetation.
Mount Mulu is now the easiest place to see N. lowii. On Mount Mulu, the summit vegetation is greatly stunted, rarely exceeding a metre in height. It is dominated by rhododendron
Rhododendron
Rhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...
s (particularly Rhododendron ericoides), as well as species of the genera Diplycosia and Vaccinium
Vaccinium
Vaccinium is a genus of shrubs or dwarf shrubs in the plant Family Ericaceae. The fruit of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry, blueberry, bilberry or whortleberry, lingonberry or cowberry, and huckleberry...
.
Conservation status
The conservation statusConservation 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...
of N. lowii is listed as Vulnerable
Vulnerable species
On 30 January 2010, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 9694 Vulnerable species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and sub-populations.-References:...
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...
based on an assessment carried out in 2000. This agrees with the informal classification of the species made by botanist 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...
in 1997, although Clarke noted that it is Conservation Dependent
Conservation Dependent
Conservation Dependent was an IUCN category assigned to species or lower taxa which were dependent on conservation efforts to prevent the taxon becoming threatened with extinction...
if populations in protected areas are taken into account. However, it differs from the assessment by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre
World Conservation Monitoring Centre
The United Nations Environment Programme's World Conservation Monitoring Centre is an executive agency of the United Nations Environment Programme, based in Cambridge in the United Kingdom. UNEP-WCMC has been part of UNEP since 2000, and has responsibility for biodiversity assessment and support...
, which classified N. lowii as "rare", placing it between "vulnerable" and "endangered
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
".
Carnivory
Nepenthes lowii is known to catch very few prey items compared to other Nepenthes. Preliminary observations suggest that this particular species may have moved away from a solely (or even primarily) carnivorous nature and be adapted to "catching" the droppings of birds and tree shrews feeding at its nectaries.E. J. H. Corner
Edred John Henry Corner FRS was a botanist who occupied the posts of assistant director at the Singapore Botanic Gardens and Professor of Tropical Botany at the University of Cambridge...
, who led the 1961 and 1964 Royal Society Expeditions to Mount Kinabalu, wrote the following:
[...] a ringing gonging which we traced to tupaiasTupaia (genus)Tupaia is a genus of treeshrew in the Tupaiidae family.The genus was first described by Thomas Stamford Raffles in 1821, as having an elongated snout, 8 to 10 incisors, well developed limbs, five-toed naked feet, and the sole furnished with projecting pads and sharp claws, with a habit and tail of...
scampering over the pitchers of N. lowii and banging the old empty and resonant pitchers together. The late Professor J. Harrison of Singapore discovered that a snail laid its eggs in the hairs under the lid and that the tupaias came to eat them.
However, observations of cultivated N. lowii by Peter D'Amato
Peter D'Amato
Peter D'Amato is an American author, businessman, and carnivorous plant authority. He is the owner of California Carnivores, the largest nursery of carnivorous plants in the world, and the author of The Savage Garden , a book on the cultivation of insectivorous plants...
and Cliff Dodd showed that these white beads were of the plant's own production. The substance has been described as having a sugary taste and "a slightly disagreeable odour". It is unknown why lower pitchers of N. lowii, which are otherwise typical of the genus, also have bristles and produce these white secretions. 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...
suggested that by providing a reward near the ground, the lower pitchers may serve to guide animals towards the upper pitchers.
Clarke carried out a series of field observations relating to N. lowii carnivory. At five of seven sites studied, N. lowii pitchers were found to contain significant amounts of animal excrement. A 2009 study found that mature plants derived 57–100% of their foliar nitrogen from tree shrew droppings. Another study published the following year showed that the shape and size of the pitcher orifice exactly match the dimensions of a typical tree shrew (Tupaia montana). A similar adaptation was found in N. macrophylla
Nepenthes macrophylla
Nepenthes macrophylla , the Large-Leaved Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant known only from a very restrictive elevation on Mount Trus Madi in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo...
and 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...
, and is also likely to be present in 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...
.
Nepenthes lowii is not the first Nepenthes species for which this has been proposed; as early as 1989 it was suggested that N. pervillei
Nepenthes pervillei
Nepenthes pervillei is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to the Seychelles, specifically the islands of Mahé and Silhouette. It grows in rocky areas near granitic mountain summits at elevations of between 350 and 750 m above sea level....
, a species from the Seychelles
Seychelles
Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....
, benefits from bird excrement and may be moving away from carnivory. However, no comprehensive studies have been conducted into the carnivory of either species and this hypothesis is yet to be tested experimentally.
Related species
| |
||||||||
| 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. 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. 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. 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.... * |
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. 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... |
||||||
| 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... |
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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. mollis Nepenthes mollis Nepenthes mollis , or the Velvet Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant species native to Kalimantan, Borneo. It is known only from a single dried herbarium specimen and is the sole recognised species in the genus Nepenthes of which the pitchers are unknown.The habitat of N. mollis is listed as... |
N. lowii | ||||||
In his 1928 monograph, B. H. Danser
B. H. Danser
Benedictus Hubertus Danser , often abbreviated B. H. Danser, was a Dutch taxonomist and botanist...
placed N. lowii in the 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"...
clade
Clade
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...
, together with 14 other species. This differed from the sub-genus classification published by Günther Beck von Mannagetta und Lerchenau in 1895, which placed N. lowii in its own subgroup: Retiferae. Danser explained his assignment of N. lowii to Regiae as follows:
Most aberrant is N. Lowii, the leaves and the stem of which are coarse, whereas the indumentum is almost absent and the pitchers show a peculiar form and have no peristome, the lid is vaulted, the midrib is keeled but has no appendage, the lower surface is covered with thick hairs, the glands of the inner surface of the pitcher are so large, that the interspaces are reduced to lines. All these characters, however seem to have little taxonomic value. The form of the pitcher is analogous to that of N. inermisNepenthes inermisNepenthes inermis is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra. The specific epithet inermis is Latin for "unarmed" and probably refers to the upper pitchers of this species, which are unique in that they completely lack a peristome....
of the Montanae group, which also has no peristome. The peculiar bristles on the lower surface of the lid are found less developed in N. MacfarlaneiNepenthes macfarlaneiNepenthes macfarlanei is a carnivorous pitcher plant species endemic to Peninsular Malaysia. It produces attractive red-speckled pitchers. Lower pitchers are ovoid to cylindrical and up to 20 cm high. The lower surface of the lid is densely covered with short, white hairs...
. The large, flat glands on the inner surface of the pitchers are also found in the lower part of the pitchers of N. RajahNepenthes rajahNepenthes 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...
. This is the reason why I have not distinguished a separate group for this species.
Nepenthes lowii is thought to be most closely related to 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...
. B. H. Danser
B. H. Danser
Benedictus Hubertus Danser , often abbreviated B. H. Danser, was a Dutch taxonomist and botanist...
, who described the latter species in 1928, considered these taxa
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...
similar to the point where he could find few reasons to distinguish them in a 1931 article. More recent treatments have retained N. ephippiata as a distinct species and outlined a number of morphological features that distinguish it from N. lowii.
Natural hybrids
At least seven natural hybrids involving N. lowii have been recorded.N. fusca × N. lowii
This hybrid was initially identified as a cross with (known as at the time) by Charles ClarkeCharles 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...
. However, 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,...
differ in their interpretation, noting that the plant exhibits influences of , such as a triangular lid and an elongated neck. They write that both N. fusca and N. lowii are common in the summit area, whereas N. chaniana is rare. Another possible parent species, , is apparently absent from the site.
Nepenthes fusca × N. lowii was discovered by Rob Cantley
Rob Cantley
Robert Cantley is a conservationist and Managing Director of Borneo Exotics, a Sri Lankan-based plant nursery specialising in tissue-cultured and seed-grown Nepenthes species and hybrids. Cantley has contributed to a number of papers on Nepenthes...
and 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...
on Bukit Batu Lawi
Bukit Batu Lawi
Bukit Batu Lawi is a mountain located in the Malaysian part of Borneo. At 2,046 m , it is one of the highest mountains in the state of Sarawak.- Further reading :* Lightner, Sam Jr. All Elevations Unknown...
in 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...
. Clarke later found larger plants of this hybrid in the Crocker Range
Crocker Range
Crocker Range , is a mountain range on the island of Borneo. Politically, it is within the boundary of the Malaysian state of Sabah, located in the northern half of Borneo. The mountain range separates the east coast and west coast of Sabah. At an average height of 1800m, it is the highest mountain...
of 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...
, particularly near the summit of Mount Alab. The pitchers of N. fusca × N. lowii have a slight constriction in the middle and range in colour from green to dark purple throughout.
This hybrid differs from N. fusca in the presence of bristles on the underside of the lid. Conversely, it has a dense 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...
on the stem and at the margins of the lamina, compared to the virtually glabrous stem and leaves of N. lowii. It also differs from N. lowii in having a more developed peristome
Peristome
The word peristome is derived from the Greek peri, meaning 'around' or 'about', and stoma, 'mouth'. It is a term used to describe various anatomical features that surround an opening to an organ or structure. The term is used in plants and invertebrate animals, such as in describing the shells of...
, which is circular in cross section. While lower pitchers of N. lowii have prominent teeth, those of N. fusca × N. lowii are indistinct. In addition, a glandular appendage is present on the underside of the lid, a trait inherited from N. fusca.
Nepenthes fusca × N. lowii is difficult to confuse with its putative parent species, but is somewhat similar to N. chaniana × . The latter hybrid can be distinguished on the basis of its peristome, which is wider, more flared, and less cylindrical. In addition, this hybrid has a less ovate lid, which lacks the bristles characteristic of N. lowii, and a denser indumentum covering the stem and leaves.
N. lowii × N. macrophylla
Nepenthes macrophylla
Nepenthes macrophylla , the Large-Leaved Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant known only from a very restrictive elevation on Mount Trus Madi in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo...
was discovered on Mount Trus Madi
Mount Trus Madi
Mount Trus Madi or Trusmadi is Malaysia's second highest mountain at . It lies in the state of Sabah, close to Mount Kinabalu. The mountain supports a wide range of unique flora and fauna, perhaps most notably Nepenthes macrophylla, a species of pitcher plant.The natural hybrid Nepenthes ×...
by Johannes Marabini and John Briggs in 1983. Later that year, it was described as N. × trusmadiensis by Marabini. Briggs returned to Mount Trus Madi in 1984, but found only one small group of plants.
Nepenthes × trusmadiensis has petiolate leaves measuring up to 50 cm in length. The pitchers of this hybrid are some of the largest of any Bornean Nepenthes species, reaching 35 cm in height. They are roughly intermediate in form between those of its parent species. The lid is held away from the mouth as in N. lowii and bears short britles on its lower surface. The peristome has prominent ribs and teeth, but is not as developed as that of N. macrophylla. The 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...
of N. × trusmadiensis may be up to 50 cm long and has two-flowered pedicels
Pedicel (botany)
A pedicel is a stem that attaches single flowers to the main stem of the inflorescence. It is the branches or stalks that hold each flower in an inflorescence that contains more than one flower....
. Despite the size of the pitchers, this hybrid is not large in stature.
Nepenthes × trusmadiensis is restricted to the summit ridge of Mount Trus Madi and has been recorded from elevations of 2500 to 2600 m above sea level.
N. lowii × N. stenophylla
In Pitcher-Plants of BorneoPitcher-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 , in association with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Malaysian Nature Society...
, 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...
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...
called N. lowii × 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...
the "Mentapok Pitcher-Plant" after Mount Mentapok in 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...
, from which it was collected in 1985 by John Briggs. It has since been recorded from several localities in northern Borneo, including Bukit Pagon
Bukit Pagon
Bukit Pagon is the highest mountain in Brunei. It is situated on the border with Malaysia on the island of Borneo. Bukit Pagon is located in the Temburong District of Brunei. This district is separated from the rest of Brunei by part of the Sarawak State of Malaysia.The pitcher plant species...
in 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...
.
On Mount Mentapok, this hybrid is the result of a cross between a giant form of N. stenophylla with pitchers measuring up to 35 cm and a form of N. lowii with a very dark, almost black, inner surface and a "very narrow, distinctly rough peristome".
Nepenthes lowii × N. stenophylla has petiolate leaves and slender, waisted pitchers up to 25 cm high. The pitcher cup bears long dark streaks similar to those of N. stenophylla, while the striped peristome
Peristome
The word peristome is derived from the Greek peri, meaning 'around' or 'about', and stoma, 'mouth'. It is a term used to describe various anatomical features that surround an opening to an organ or structure. The term is used in plants and invertebrate animals, such as in describing the shells of...
is flattened and cylindrical in cross section. The lid is ovate in shape and may be held away from the mouth, exposing dark bristles on its lower surface. As in N. lowii, white secretions accumulate between these bristles. The characteristic glandular crest of N. stenophylla is reduced to a small mound under the lid.
Nepenthes lowii × N. stenophylla is only known from mossy forest along summit ridges at elevations of over 1500 m, where the upper altitudinal limit of N. stenophylla overlaps the lower altitudinal limit of N. lowii.
Other hybrids
A number of other natural hybrids involving N. lowii have been recorded. These include crosses with N. fuscaNepenthes 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. 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...
, N. muluensis
Nepenthes muluensis
Nepenthes muluensis , or the Mulu Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo. It grows in highland habitats at elevations of 1700 to 2400 m above sea level.-Botanical history:...
, 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...
, as well as possible hybrids with 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...
and N. tentaculata
Nepenthes tentaculata
Nepenthes tentaculata , or the Fringed Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant with a very wide distribution across Borneo and Sulawesi...
. A single example of N. lowii × 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...
grows along the Mesilau nature trail
Mesilau
Mesilau, named after Mesilau River, is an area situated at approximately 2000 m above sea level on the East Ridge of Mount Kinabalu in Kinabalu National Park, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. It is the site of the Mesilau Nature Resort, which is owned and operated by Sutera Sanctuary Lodges...
.
External links
- Danser, B.H. 1928. 23. Nepenthes Lowii HOOK. F. 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.