N. kongkandana and N. mirabilis in southern Thailand

[NepNut]

This trip, I went with Mr. Marcello Catalano whom has extensive knowledge in Thailand's nep species to confirm the correct ID. The site that we visited is very near to the first site that I visited last trip. I was surprise to find N. mirabilis growing in a very close proximity to the N. kongkandana where the habitat is usually dry.

Also, with the recent wet weather, the coloration of the pitchers are more vivid compared to the ones I saw during the dry season just almost a months ago.

Please take a look....

Habiatat - 1 - This is one of the example of the typical habitat




N. kongkandana bush -1


N. kongkandana bush -2


N. kongkandana plant -1


N. kongkandana plant -2


N. kongkandana plant -3


N. kongkandana pitcher -1


N. kongkandana pitcher -2


N. kongkandana pitcher -3


N. kongkandana pitcher -4 Very nice intermediate pitcher


N. kongkandana pitcher -5


N. kongkandana pitcher -6


N. kongkandana pitcher -7


I just have to post this even though they're N. mirabilis... . These are a few beauties that I managed to take pictures... they were found growing among N. kongkandana










Sorry that I have to spoil your mood by showing you this pictures.... the lost of habitat is a real threat to the survival of nepenthes. I was "shocked & awed" when I saw the clearing of lands at another site that we visited. I suspected the land will likely be clear and develop but not just a month after my last visit.... The forest just right next to the recently cleared lands have many N. ampullaria, N. mirabilis, N. x kuchingensis and N. gracilis. It's a very sad to see it may disappear right before our eyes in the very near future...

Mr. Marcello "admiring" (for lack of better word) the destruction of prestine wild nep habitat

[Sockhom]

Great report, Cpnut. Thanks!

I'm sure Marcello and you had a good time.
I'm looking forward to read more about N. kongkandana in the near future.
I still want to fully know what makes it distinct from N. smilesii.

Cheers,

François.

[paphioboy]

Great! New neps in the wild.. Interesting how neps can grow in these relatively dry bushland instead of dripping wet primary forests..

[TranMinh]

I really hate to see the jungle getting destroy. The jungle helping us a lot but people now only care about the money.

[Betta Fantasy]

Is Kongkandana names after someone 'Kong' ? Is this a species confirmed or still not sure and could be some wild hybrid. The pitcers resemble sanguinea but not the leaves.

[Robert]

Mirabilis varied in many way but they are still mirabiilis

[NepNut]

Originally Posted by Betta Fantasy

Is Kongkandana names after someone 'Kong' ? Is this a species confirmed or still not sure and could be some wild hybrid. The pitcers resemble sanguinea but not the leaves.

Hi Betta,
Glad you brought up these questions because there're many unknowns about the N. Tiger from Thailand particularly the ones from southern Thailand. All these studies are still on going so more data can be collected to formally describe the difference between the species. These tigers all looked very similar to a normal person like me... Don't be surprise, you might already have an actual N. kongkandana in your collection which is label as N. thorelii spp or N. tiger... According to Marcello, N. kongkandana might be wide spread among cultivation.

N. kongkandana was named after Dr. Kongkanda Chayamarit, Senior Botanist at the Forest Herbarium in Bangkok by Dr. Martin Cheek. The reason why I brought Marcello along for this trip is because he has been helping ppl like Dr. Martin Cheek and Stewart McPherson to scientifically catalouge and record the findings (including the species publication of N. kongkandana) so that we can start to separate what is what among so many N. Tigers variety in Thailand... There must be easily up to 20 different Tigers (including the Giant Tigers) that I have seen in cultivation today. With the recent publication of N. thai, I hope one day the name of N. Tiger will be a memorable history...

There's still not much information available online on N. kongkandana since it's still very new, so far the most comprehensive description available is from Steward McPherson's "Pitcher Plants of the Old World" Vol One which was first printed in May of 2009. Still, more data need to be collected and I hope Mercello can use the findings from this trip to complete the task.

FYI, we stumbled upon this specimen on the way out of the forest... this might be the natural hybrid of N. kongkandana x mirabilis which only have uppers. So far, this is the only plant that we found that might be a natural hybrid



Robert,
Yes... N. mirabilis is very common... but what interest me the most is the suspected evolutionary link to N. viking in Thailand.... I'm still looking for that