Nepenthes argentii Jebb & Cheek

Pitcher plant (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Caryophyllales > Nepenthaceae > Nepenthes

Characteristics

Terrestrial, monopodial shrub c. 30 cm tall. Stem erect, terete, 2-4 mm wide, 22 cm apparently buried in leaf litter, 4 cm above ground, with leaves congested (4 per cm of stem), internodes obscured. Leaves thickly coriaceous, more or less petiolate; blade obovate-oblanceolate, 3.5-4 by 1.4-2.2 cm, apex obtuse to truncate, base cuneate-decurrent; petiole 1-1.8 cm long, sheathing, clasping the stem for about half its circumference, not auriculate or decurrent. Longitudinal nerves 1 or 2 on each side of the midrib in the marginal half, mostly inconspicuous. Pennate nerves inconspicuous. Lower pitchers infundibuliform-shortly cylindrical, 4-4.7 by 2.2-2.4 cm, with two fringed wings 1.5-2 mm wide, fringed elements 3 mm long, often grouped and webbed together in clusters of 2-4, elements or groups of elements 1-2 mm apart; mouth subcircular, almost flat, abruptly rising in the rear to provide a stout column 5 mm high, 2.5 mm wide, for the lid; peristome subcylindrical, c. 1 mm wide, ribs laterally flattened, highly pronounced, 0.1-2 mm high, 5 mm apart, inner surface with stout, incurved teeth, up to 1 mm long near the column, outer surface never sinuate, adnate to underside of lid, forming a short transverse wall c. 7 by 2-3 mm high, with triangular teeth below; lid suborbicular, to 1.3 by 1.8 cm, apex rounded, base cordate, lower surface lacking appendages, glands very dense, pit-like, near the centre elliptic, 0.2 by 0.3 mm, near the edge orbicular, 0.15 mm wide; spur stout, rounded 1-1.5 mm long. Upper pitchers apparently not formed. Male inflorescence unknown. Fruit (mature) unknown. Seed unknown. Indumentum absent from stem and upper surface of leaves, lower surface of leaf and tendril densely invested with persistent patent red hairs c. 2 mm long, simple or with a short inconspicuous branch, remainder of blade with red sessile glands only. Pitcher outer surface and lid densely invested with minute reddish stellate hairs 0.1-0.2 mm wide, with 3-5 erect arms, and with sparser appressed, twisted, sub-simple hairs 2-3 mm long bearing up to 5 or 6 short branches, giving a slightly matted appearance and felty texture. Inflorescence axis with whitish hairs c. 0.6 mm long, particularly at base and apex; tepals glabrescent; carpels densely hairy with appressed reddish hairs. Colour of pitchers buff mottled red, peristome dark purple, lid spotted red underneath, mostly mottled red on top. Young fruit brown.
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Growth form shrub
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Environment

Subalpine shrubbery with smooth wind-clipped canopy 30 cm tall on a ridge of ultramafic rock; 1400 m.
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Cultivation

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Images

Nepenthes argentii unspecified picture

Distribution

Nepenthes argentii world distribution map, present in Philippines

Conservation status

Nepenthes argentii threat status: Vulnerable

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:995702-1
WFO ID wfo-0000382396
COL ID 46X78
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Nepenthes argentii