N. smilesii in Kirirom NP, Cambodia

[Sockhom]

Hello,

I've been told that there is a population of Nepenthes smilesii in Kirirom National Park in Cambodia, province of Kampong Speu.
One of my friend has been there before and I knew I wasn't going to see something "new".
However, as fas as I know, there had been no official record of N. smilesii in Kirirom NP and, thus, I wanted to collect some samples for Phnom Penh university (RUPP). I also wanted to see the plants myself.
Kirirom is not too difficult to reach from Phnom Penh. It's a well known place and at week ends, Khmers can be found looking for some walks along the trails or baths in the waterfalls. Black bears can also be seen from time to time but they are getting much rarer now because of poaching. The climate is cool there as it is more than 700 meters above sea level.
Kirirom is more or less a vast plateau and the vegetation is quite variable. Evergreen forest, pines forest and savannahs can be find there.
Away from the touristic spots , there are many trails which are seldom visited.
That's where I found N. smilesii. That plant is well known from local people and they call it "Bampong kralaom".
I apologize for the bad quality of the pictures. My trip in Kirirom has been a hell as it rained (downpours!) all day long - it never stopped. I was completely soaked and, normally, I should have never used my (wife's) camera in such conditions. You will see some drops in the lens from time to time. I'm sorry about that.
The landscape where N. smilesii grows is very atypical for Cambodia. It is different from the idea one can have of a tropical country. The Nepenthes are quite hidden by tall grasses and small bushes.
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N. smilesii, just like in Kampot (my other post) grows in very open habitats. The pines barely provide any shade. They thrives in full sand among herbs. The easiest way to spot them is by searching for their very tall flower scapes (up to 100 cm or more):
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The peristome of N. smilesii is often raised at the front but this is not a completely constant feature and
I am reluctant to use it as one of the most important keys to identify the species. That feature can also be observed in N. bokorensis, but, then again, it is not constant.
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Henri Lecomte, the french botanist who described N. thorelii and N. kampotiana refered to N. smilesii as a "dwarf" plant because it often stays at the rosette stage. Nevertheless, some smilesii pitchers can reach quite a big size:
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[Sockhom]

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I did not found many upper picthers that day but most of them were almost white and they could seriously compete with N. alba (the former N. gracillima):
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From time to time, one can find strains with crimson pitchers. I bet this is such plants which had been collected and introduced in horticultural circles as "Nepenthes thorelii":
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Local khmers who live in the park told me that it can be very cold at night and they have sometimes found ice (!) in the pitchers. This reminded me what's been said of the population of N. smilesii growing in Phu Kradung (Mount Kradung) in Thailand which is a 1500 m plateau.

I really hope that now you Nepenthes enthusiasts will be more familiar with that Indochinese species.


Truly,
François.

[David]

Those huge pitchers are quite spectacular. The whole habitat do not seem to be very bright or it does not receive much sunlight from the pictures. Kinda like how macfarlanei grows.

Thanks for the pictures. I enjoyed them all

[NepNut]

Nice report as always, August of 2009 is indeed a very exciting month for Indochine neps...