Nepenthes thorelii aggregate distribution map

[Sockhom]

This is a map I made (via Powerpoint) for the lecture I gave at the 2010 ICPS conference.
Although, it is far from complete - a lot of further surveys are required - this is a good document for the readers interested in this particular group of pyrophytic species. The map excludes other species which occur in Indochina such as Nepenthes mirabilis (found in the four countries), N. mirabilis var. globosa (known also as "Viking" in horticultural circles), N. ampullaria, N. sanguinea, N. gracilis (the three last ones occur in Thailand).

As you can see, N. smilesii (formerly known as N. anamensis) is the most widespread species. It is mostly found between 600 and 1000 masl but can be found at sea level in southern Cambodia and up to 1500 m in Vietnam.
Many species are very localised (and endangered) such as N. kerrii or N.andamana. N. thorelii has not been relocated with certainty.
A lot of areas have yet to be prospected. The northern half of the Cambodian territory, the north and center parts of Vietnam as well as the majority of Laos (and all its mountains) have to be surveyed.

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[allenphoon]

hmm...why sometime some species can distributed far and manage to remain without having chance mate with the other species?

[sooxiwei]

controversial...on one hand, it is a knowledge base...on the other hand, people will head to those location to wipe out what is there to be taken...

[NepNut]

Nice work !!

Howerver, I was wondering why you didn't include N. kongkandana?

C Way,
Trust me, even with a dot on the map, it's not as easy as you think if you want to locate the neps...

[marcellocatalano]

Originally Posted by NepNut

Trust me, even with a dot on the map, it's not as easy as you think if you want to locate the neps...

Exactely.
I think N. kongkandana hasn't been included because it hasn't been officially published yet, but the spot on the map would be on the coast opposite to the N. kerrii's coast.
Allenphoon: even if on the map the spots are close, the plants in the wild grow in areas that are separated by natural boundaries, and Nepenthes don't produce hybrids so easily in the wild, they really have to grow one next to the others, in the same colony, to do so. For my experience, if you have something like 50 meters between one colony and the other (but colonies can be from 10 meters to many km large!), 98% you won't find hybrids. I guess it's a problem of habitat (every species wants its specific habitat, where the other species and its hybrids might not be able to grow) and flowering period, not a problem of distance for insect pollination. And of course my experience only includes Thailand, where a very harsh dry season plays a big role.
In Borneo, Malaysia etc, I'm quite sure that you can find 3-4-5 and more species growing for km and km in the same area, and if they share the same kind of habitat, then the flowering period remains the only obstacle and you get more hybrids.

[NepNut]

oic... thanks for the explaination, Cello. Does that mean there's still a chance for N. kongkandana to lose it's species status??

[marcellocatalano]

Originally Posted by NepNut

oic... thanks for the explaination, Cello. Does that mean there's still a chance for N. kongkandana to lose it's species status??

Nope, or at least not more than N. suratensis
The thing is: Cheek discovered kongkandana in 2000 and after 10 years he still didn't describe it. I can't describe it unless Cheek says he's not interested anymore, otherwise it would mean stealing his discovery. But Cheek is famous for taking a loooooooong time to do everything.
Plus, N. kongkandana is a twin of N. kerrii as much as N. suratensis is a twin of N. andamana. If one day the scientists will decide that these twins are actually the same species, we will lose N. kongkandana (if it will have been described in the mean time) and N. suratensis, because they have been described AFTER their corresponding twin, and so they would become synonims. I hope that was clear

BUT right now we are at a stage, in Nepenthes taxonomy, where if someone decides to consider suratensis or kongkandana as synonims, many other species would fall. So right now the wise taxonomists are trying to find a better way to classify the genus, including subspecific ranks (varieties, subspecies etc), so that the "inbetween" taxons like our twins will not disappear but they will find their place in the new classification.

In case Cheek says "I think kongkandana is the same as kerrii, so I will not describe it anymore", I will do it, so that we are in a stable situation where all the taxons in the game have been described, and if any change in taxonomy happens in the next 10-100 years, these taxons (probably extinct) will only probably fall in different ranks (varieties, subspecies etc) but they won't get lost and in the mean time they will be more easily identified, distributed, protected etc, because they have a name.

[NepNut]

All comes down to it, it's better to have a more official names other than "tiger" this and "tiger" that...

You guys keep up the good work !!

[Sockhom]

Hi,

Yes, I didn't include N. kongkandana because it's not published yet. I don't know if it will be one day.
The map is far from complete. There are several dots in Cambodia and in Vietnam that I have withdrawn because I haven't studied the Nepenthes yet, or because I wasn't able to identify old locations names.
This map is going to be denser within a few years, for sure!

Marcello is right about the current state of Nepenthes taxonomy. We wan safely say that it is in its "infancy". Maybe, in the distant or quite near future, taxonomists will reclassify a lot of taxa (and I'm not talking only about the species from the "thorelii aggregate"), but, until then, we need to locate, study, name, and spread the plants in cultivation.

All the best,

François.