14 Feb 2008: Nepenthes species from Cambodia

[David]

sockhom
Nepenthes species from Cambodia

Hello .

Some of you already know this field report from other forums. Others don't. This is for them.

I found this new species of tropical pitcher plant when i was in Cambodia in july 2007.

I would like to share some informations - pictures and comments - about this nice species.

It's a shame Indochina Nepenthes are ignored by most of the taxonomists and i hope by posting such pictures, interest will raise among growers, hobbyists and why not ...taxonomists?

Cambodia is a wounded country as, i hope, most of you know. The kingdom is filled with landmines and this was my sole anxiety. I had to talk MUCH with locals and authorities before wandering in some areas.
Fortunately, i speak the language.

After visiting many places ( i missed the most interesting, though), i stumbled across an interesting location .

Here is the road. This is a national park and i was surrounded by jungle (where tigers and pythons live ).






Day temperature are warm (20-22°C) . After my journey in lowland Phnom Penh, it was a relief! The humidity level was very high. The open habitat mostly include ferns, bushes, sandy bogs and large flat stones.






After a few hours of trekking amond the Dicranopteris linearis -the resam fern-, my joy was immense to find my first highland / intermediate Nepenthes. I thought it was Nepenthes smilesii but it is definitely not.

No, it is not a machette in my bag .




Here are some pictures of the aerial pitchers:








For those who like taxonomy (like me ), you will find in the following pictures some details of the pitchers:

- Lid:



-Peristome:







- under the lid. A very colorful spot with lots of glands, mainly located in the center:



Ants love this orange place. I found plenty of them in the digestive fluid. They seem to be the main preys of those pitcher plants.



I managed to find some racemes:



and some seed pods:



sockhom
Re: Nepenthes species from Cambodia

Lower pitchers were hard to find, sometimes embedded in moss or in the surrouding vegetation:

I had to shout on snakes, spiders and centipedes before handling those crimson things!






This a lower-intermediate picther. The peristome is not fully folded yet. You can compare it with the upper.




I found many young plants. It was not always easy to not walk on them! As you see, this plant is close to the plants spread in collections as "thorelii". (Note: most of the Nepenthes thorelii in culture turn out to be Nepenthes smilesii. For more informations, see Marcello Catalano site: http://www.nepenthesofthailand.com/).







A mature lower shot with the underneath of the impressive lid:







Lastly, some shots of the whole plants: some were climbing as high as 7/8 metres others were scramblers and grow on rocks!














Of course, it was a truly intense experience. But still quite pale in comparison to my encounter with the khmer culture...

I hope you liked this field report


Friendly,

François Mey.


David
Re: Nepenthes species from Cambodia

Argghhh! My internet is super slow today. The pictures are not downloading. Can't see the pictures... Have to wait until tonight to check it out.

David
Re: Nepenthes species from Cambodia

Haa, haa, I can see the pictures now! Thanks! Really nice pictures and naration. Thanks for sharing.

The plant in picture with the caption... "A mature lower shot with the underneath of the impressive lid:" looks like heliamphora to me from the way the pitchers grow together.

The lowers look a little like thorelii. Nice lower picthers. Love the bright red stripped peristome.

Wow! Temperature at 20-22C is quite cold if I compare the temperatures we have in Malaysia. Even in the mornings the temperatures are only about 25C. This is not in the highlands of course. Would you know what the elevation is where these plants grow?

Interesting to note that the growing conditions are also similar to Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia. And the insect prey is also similar, ie. black ants.

Haa, haa, did not know you were an Asian.

P/s: if it is not a machette, it is an axe handle?


sockhom
Re: Nepenthes species from Cambodia

Quote: Would you know what the elevation is where these plants grow?
P/s: if it is not a machette, it is an axe handle?

The plant grows at 900-1000 masl.
It was not an axe but a net to catch insects and butterflies. I'm also an enthusiast entomologist, for almost 20 years now.


François.