Tropical pitcher plant (Nepenthes hemsleyana)
Description
Nepenthes hemsleyana is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo, where it grows in peat swamp forest and heath forest below 200 m above sea level. The specific epithet hemsleyana honours English botanist William Botting Hemsley, who described N. macfarlanei and N. smilesii. Nepenthes hemsleyana is very similar to the typical form of N. rafflesiana, but is elongated in all respects. The upper leaves of N. hemsleyana have proportionally longer laminae (leaf blades) and proportionally shorter petioles than do those of N. rafflesiana, but these differences are not nearly as pronounced in the lower leaves. In N. hemsleyana the tendrils are always round in cross section, whereas in N. rafflesiana they may be flattened or even winged. Nepenthes hemsleyana also differs from that species in retaining a well developed waxy zone in its upper pitchers. It frequently bears multicellular, filiform appendages on the upper surface of the lid, similar to those of the N. tentaculata group of species; these have never been documented in N. rafflesiana. Leaf colouration also distinguishes the two species; in closed forest the leaves of N. hemsleyana are dark green or reddish, as compared to bright green in N. rafflesiana.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum:
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Class:
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Order: Caryophyllales
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Family: Nepenthaceae
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Genus: Caryophyllales
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