A skeletal revision of Nepenthes (Nepenthaceae)
Encyclopedia
"A skeletal revision of Nepenthes (Nepenthaceae)" is a monograph
by Matthew Jebb
and Martin Cheek
on the tropical pitcher plant
s of the genus Nepenthes
. It was published in the May 1997 issue of the botanical journal
Blumea
. The work represented the first revision of the entire genus since John Muirhead Macfarlane
's 1908 monograph. Jebb and Cheek's revision was based on "collaborative work by both authors since 1984, largely on herbarium
specimens, but including fieldwork in New Guinea
, Indonesia
, Malaysia, Singapore
and Madagascar
". It was a precursor to their more exhaustive 2001 monograph, "Nepenthaceae
".
The authors recognised 82 species, including six described for the first time: N. argentii
, N. aristolochioides
, N. danseri
, N. diatas
, N. lamii
, and N. murudensis
. Additionally, N. macrophylla
was raised to a species from infraspecific rank. Jebb and Cheek also included five "little known taxa": N. deaniana
, N. junghuhnii
, N. melamphora var. lucida, N. neglecta, and N. smilesii
. Three taxa were excluded: N. cincta, N. cristata, and N. lindleyana. Three widespread natural hybrids were also covered.
Jebb and Cheek revised several of the taxonomic determinations made in B. H. Danser
's influential 1928 monograph, "The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies
". This included the recognition of N. eustachya
, N. hispida
, N. ramispina
, and N. sumatrana
as distinct species, whereas previously they had been treated as heterotypic synonyms of N. alata
, N. hirsuta
, N. gracillima
, and N. treubiana
, respectively. Jebb and Cheek also reduced Danser's N. carunculata to N. bongso
and N. leptochila to N. hirsuta
. A number of more recently described species were also sunk in synonymy, including N. faizaliana
and N. sandakanensis to synonyms of N. stenophylla
, N. longifolia
to a synonym of N. sumatrana
, N. talangensis
to a synonym of N. bongso
, N. tenuis
to a synonym of N. dubia
, and N. xiphioides to a synonym of N. pectinata. The authors also lectotypified
a number of names.
Nepenthes of Borneo
by Charles Clarke
was published in the same year as Jebb and Cheek's revision. Unlike the latter work, however, it was primarily an ecological monograph and did not attempt to provide an alternative taxonomic interpretation of the Bornean
taxa
(with the exception of treating N. borneensis in synonymy with N. boschiana
and retaining N. faizaliana
as a distinct species). However, several of the taxonomic revisions made by Jebb and Cheek were reversed in Clarke's subsequent monograph, Nepenthes of Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia
, published in 2001.
Taxonomist Jan Schlauer reviewed "A skeletal revision of Nepenthes (Nepenthaceae)" in the September 1998 issue of the Carnivorous Plant Newsletter
.
Schlauer disagreed with Jebb and Cheek's synonymisation of N. talangensis
with N. bongso
and their interpretation of N. stenophylla
, which, according to Schlauer, served to perpetuate "Danser's misconception".
"A skeletal revision of Nepenthes (Nepenthaceae)" was also reviewed by Zdeněk Žáček in a 1997 issue of Trifid
.
Monograph
A monograph is a work of writing upon a single subject, usually by a single author.It is often a scholarly essay or learned treatise, and may be released in the manner of a book or journal article. It is by definition a single document that forms a complete text in itself...
by Matthew Jebb
Matthew Jebb
Dr. Matthew H. P. Jebb is an Irish taxonomist and botanist specialising in the ant plant genera Squamellaria, Myrmecodia, Hydnophytum, Myrmephytum and Anthorrhiza, as well as the carnivorous plant genus Nepenthes....
and Martin Cheek
Martin Cheek
Dr. Martin Roy Cheek is a taxonomist and botanist specialising in the carnivorous plant genus Nepenthes.-Research:Cheek has described several new Nepenthes species, mostly with Matthew Jebb, including: N. argentii, N. aristolochioides, N. danseri, N. diatas,...
on the tropical pitcher plant
Pitcher plant
Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants whose prey-trapping mechanism features a deep cavity filled with liquid known as a pitfall trap. It has been widely assumed that the various sorts of pitfall trap evolved from rolled leaves, with selection pressure favouring more deeply cupped leaves over...
s of the genus Nepenthes
Nepenthes
The Nepenthes , popularly known as tropical pitcher plants or monkey cups, are a genus of carnivorous plants in the monotypic family Nepenthaceae. The genus comprises roughly 130 species, numerous natural and many cultivated hybrids...
. It was published in the May 1997 issue of the botanical journal
Scientific journal
In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. There are thousands of scientific journals in publication, and many more have been published at various points in the past...
Blumea
Blumea (journal)
Blumea - Journal of Plant Taxonomy and Plant Geography is a peer-reviewed journal of botany published by the National Herbarium of the Netherlands.Except for a short period during World War II, Blumea has been published continuously since 1934...
. The work represented the first revision of the entire genus since John Muirhead Macfarlane
John Muirhead Macfarlane
John Muirhead Macfarlane was a Scottish botanist. He was born and educated in Scotland, where he occupied several different academic positions at the University of Edinburgh before emigrating to the United States to assume a professorial chair at the University of Pennsylvania in 1893. He held...
's 1908 monograph. Jebb and Cheek's revision was based on "collaborative work by both authors since 1984, largely on herbarium
Herbarium
In botany, a herbarium – sometimes known by the Anglicized term herbar – is a collection of preserved plant specimens. These specimens may be whole plants or plant parts: these will usually be in a dried form, mounted on a sheet, but depending upon the material may also be kept in...
specimens, but including fieldwork in New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Malaysia, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
". It was a precursor to their more exhaustive 2001 monograph, "Nepenthaceae
Nepenthaceae (2001 monograph)
"Nepenthaceae" is a monograph by Martin Cheek and Matthew Jebb on the tropical pitcher plants of Malesia, which encompasses Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Singapore. It was published in 2001 by the National Herbarium of the Netherlands as the fifteenth volume of...
".
The authors recognised 82 species, including six described for the first time: N. argentii
Nepenthes argentii
Nepenthes argentii is a highland Nepenthes pitcher plant native to Mount Guiting-Guiting on Sibuyan Island in the Philippines. It is possibly the smallest species in the genus and does not appear to have a climbing stage....
, N. aristolochioides
Nepenthes aristolochioides
Nepenthes aristolochioides is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra, where it grows at elevations of 1800–2500 m above sea level. It has an extremely unusual pitcher morphology, having an almost vertical opening to its traps....
, N. danseri
Nepenthes danseri
Nepenthes danseri is a species of tropical pitcher plant. It is native to Halmahera and the northern coast of Waigeo Island...
, N. diatas
Nepenthes diatas
Nepenthes diatas is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra, where it grows at an altitude of between 2400 and 2900 m above sea level....
, N. lamii
Nepenthes lamii
Nepenthes lamii is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to New Guinea, where it grows at an altitude of up to 3520 m above sea level, higher than any other Nepenthes species...
, and N. murudensis
Nepenthes murudensis
Nepenthes murudensis , or the Murud Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Mount Murud in Borneo, after which it is named. It is of putative hybrid origin: its two original parent species are thought to be N. reinwardtiana and N...
. Additionally, N. macrophylla
Nepenthes macrophylla
Nepenthes macrophylla , the Large-Leaved Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant known only from a very restrictive elevation on Mount Trus Madi in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo...
was raised to a species from infraspecific rank. Jebb and Cheek also included five "little known taxa": N. deaniana
Nepenthes deaniana
Nepenthes deaniana is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to the Philippines, where it grows at an altitude of 1180–1296 m above sea level. The species is known only from the summit region of Thumb Peak, a relatively small, ultramafic mountain in Puerto Princesa Province, Palawan.Nepenthes...
, N. junghuhnii
Nepenthes junghuhnii
Nepenthes junghuhnii is a tropical pitcher plant belonging to the genus Nepenthes. This species has been the source of much confusion since its discovery. The taxon originally named N. junghuhnii by John Muirhead Macfarlane has never been formally published...
, N. melamphora var. lucida, N. neglecta, and N. smilesii
Nepenthes smilesii
Nepenthes smilesii is a tropical pitcher plant native to northeastern Thailand, southern Laos, Cambodia, and western Vietnam. Nepenthes smilesii can tolerate an extended dry season and is most common in open, sandy savannah and grassland....
. Three taxa were excluded: N. cincta, N. cristata, and N. lindleyana. Three widespread natural hybrids were also covered.
Jebb and Cheek revised several of the taxonomic determinations made in B. H. Danser
B. H. Danser
Benedictus Hubertus Danser , often abbreviated B. H. Danser, was a Dutch taxonomist and botanist...
's influential 1928 monograph, "The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies
The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies
"The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies" is a seminal monograph by B. H. Danser on the tropical pitcher plants of the Dutch East Indies, North Borneo, the Malay Peninsula, and eastern New Guinea...
". This included the recognition of N. eustachya
Nepenthes eustachya
Nepenthes eustachya is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra, where it grows from sea level to an elevation of 1600 m. The specific epithet eustachya, formed from the Greek words eu and stachys , refers to the racemose structure of the inflorescence.-Botanical history:Nepenthes eustachya...
, N. hispida
Nepenthes hispida
Nepenthes hispida is a tropical pitcher plant species native to Borneo. It grows at elevations of 100 to 800 m in kerangas forest. It is known with certainty only from Lambir Hills National Park and surrounding areas....
, N. ramispina
Nepenthes ramispina
Nepenthes ramispina is a highland Nepenthes pitcher plant species, native to Peninsular Malaysia. It is very similar to N. gracillma and there is much debate about whether the two should be treated as separate species.-Natural hybrids:...
, and N. sumatrana
Nepenthes sumatrana
Nepenthes sumatrana is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to the Indonesian island of Sumatra, after which it is named.-Discovery and taxonomy:...
as distinct species, whereas previously they had been treated as heterotypic synonyms of N. alata
Nepenthes alata
Nepenthes alata is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to the Philippines. It is found on all the major islands of the archipelago, with the possible exception of Palawan. It is one of the easiest and most popular Nepenthes species in cultivation....
, N. hirsuta
Nepenthes hirsuta
Nepenthes hirsuta , the Hairy Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo. It is characterised by an indumentum of thick brown hairs, which is even present on the inflorescence. Pitchers are mostly green throughout with some having red blotches on the inside surfaces.N. hirsuta...
, N. gracillima
Nepenthes gracillima
Nepenthes gracillima is a highland Nepenthes pitcher plant species, native to Peninsular Malaysia.-Infraspecific taxa:*Nepenthes gracillima f. ramispina Hort.Westphal [=N. ramispina]...
, and N. treubiana
Nepenthes treubiana
Nepenthes treubiana is a tropical pitcher plant native to Western New Guinea and possibly also the island of Misool.This species occurs on the cliffs of the McCluer Gulf and in coastal regions of the Fakfak peninsula...
, respectively. Jebb and Cheek also reduced Danser's N. carunculata to N. bongso
Nepenthes bongso
Nepenthes bongso is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra, where it has an altitudinal distribution of 1000–2700 m above sea level. The specific epithet bongso refers to the Indonesian legend of Putri Bungsu , the spirit guardian of Mount Marapi.The species was formally described by Pieter...
and N. leptochila to N. hirsuta
Nepenthes hirsuta
Nepenthes hirsuta , the Hairy Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo. It is characterised by an indumentum of thick brown hairs, which is even present on the inflorescence. Pitchers are mostly green throughout with some having red blotches on the inside surfaces.N. hirsuta...
. A number of more recently described species were also sunk in synonymy, including N. faizaliana
Nepenthes faizaliana
Nepenthes faizaliana is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to the limestone cliffs of Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak, Borneo. It is thought to be most closely related to N. boschiana.-Botanical history:...
and N. sandakanensis to synonyms of N. stenophylla
Nepenthes stenophylla
Nepenthes stenophylla , or the Narrow-Leaved Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo. The species produces attractive funnel-shaped pitchers up to 25 cm high...
, N. longifolia
Nepenthes longifolia
Nepenthes longifolia is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra, where it grows at elevations of between 300 and 1100 m above sea level. The specific epithet longifolia, formed from the Latin words longus and folius , refers to the exceptionally large leaves of this species.-Botanical...
to a synonym of N. sumatrana
Nepenthes sumatrana
Nepenthes sumatrana is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to the Indonesian island of Sumatra, after which it is named.-Discovery and taxonomy:...
, N. talangensis
Nepenthes talangensis
Nepenthes talangensis is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra, where it grows in upper montane forest at elevations of 1800–2500 m above sea level....
to a synonym of N. bongso
Nepenthes bongso
Nepenthes bongso is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra, where it has an altitudinal distribution of 1000–2700 m above sea level. The specific epithet bongso refers to the Indonesian legend of Putri Bungsu , the spirit guardian of Mount Marapi.The species was formally described by Pieter...
, N. tenuis
Nepenthes tenuis
Nepenthes tenuis is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra. The species was first collected in 1957, from a remote mountain in the western part of the island. It remained undescribed until 1994, and was only rediscovered in the wild in 2002. Prior to this, N...
to a synonym of N. dubia
Nepenthes dubia
Nepenthes dubia is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra. The specific epithet dubia is the Latin word for "doubtful".-Botanical history:...
, and N. xiphioides to a synonym of N. pectinata. The authors also lectotypified
Lectotype
In botanical nomenclature and zoological nomenclature, a lectotype is a kind of name-bearing type. When a species was originally described on the basis of a name-bearing type consisting of multiple specimens, one of those may be designated as the lectotype...
a number of names.
Nepenthes of Borneo
Nepenthes of Borneo
Nepenthes of Borneo is a monograph by Charles Clarke on the tropical pitcher plants of Borneo. It was first published in 1997 by Natural History Publications , and reprinted in 2006. Clarke describes it as "primarily an ecological monograph"...
by Charles Clarke
Charles Clarke (botanist)
Dr. Charles M. Clarke is a botanist and taxonomist specialising in the carnivorous plant genus Nepenthes. Clarke has an honours degree in Botany from Monash University in Melbourne, and a Ph.D. in Ecosystem Management at the University of New England, in Armidale, New South Wales.Clarke first...
was published in the same year as Jebb and Cheek's revision. Unlike the latter work, however, it was primarily an ecological monograph and did not attempt to provide an alternative taxonomic interpretation of the Bornean
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
taxa
Taxon
|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...
(with the exception of treating N. borneensis in synonymy with N. boschiana
Nepenthes boschiana
Nepenthes boschiana , or Bosch's Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo. It is most closely related to N. faizaliana. Nepenthes borneensis is considered a synonym of this species. Nepenthes boschiana has no known natural hybrids...
and retaining N. faizaliana
Nepenthes faizaliana
Nepenthes faizaliana is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to the limestone cliffs of Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak, Borneo. It is thought to be most closely related to N. boschiana.-Botanical history:...
as a distinct species). However, several of the taxonomic revisions made by Jebb and Cheek were reversed in Clarke's subsequent monograph, Nepenthes of Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia
Nepenthes of Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia
Nepenthes of Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia is a monograph by Charles Clarke on the tropical pitcher plants of Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, and their minor surrounding islands. It was published in 2001 by Natural History Publications...
, published in 2001.
Taxonomist Jan Schlauer reviewed "A skeletal revision of Nepenthes (Nepenthaceae)" in the September 1998 issue of the Carnivorous Plant Newsletter
Carnivorous Plant Newsletter
The Carnivorous Plant Newsletter is the official publication of the International Carnivorous Plant Society , the largest such organization in the world.-History and editorship:...
.
The paper is a must for all interested seriously in the taxonomy of Nepenthes, and it is another important step towards an improvement of Danser's classical treatment. However, several debatable points have to be clarified previous to the completion of the Flora Malesiana account.
Schlauer disagreed with Jebb and Cheek's synonymisation of N. talangensis
Nepenthes talangensis
Nepenthes talangensis is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra, where it grows in upper montane forest at elevations of 1800–2500 m above sea level....
with N. bongso
Nepenthes bongso
Nepenthes bongso is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra, where it has an altitudinal distribution of 1000–2700 m above sea level. The specific epithet bongso refers to the Indonesian legend of Putri Bungsu , the spirit guardian of Mount Marapi.The species was formally described by Pieter...
and their interpretation of N. stenophylla
Nepenthes stenophylla
Nepenthes stenophylla , or the Narrow-Leaved Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo. The species produces attractive funnel-shaped pitchers up to 25 cm high...
, which, according to Schlauer, served to perpetuate "Danser's misconception".
"A skeletal revision of Nepenthes (Nepenthaceae)" was also reviewed by Zdeněk Žáček in a 1997 issue of Trifid
Trifid (journal)
Trifid is a quarterly Czech-language periodical and the official publication of Darwiniana, a carnivorous plant society based in the Czech Republic. Typical articles include matters of horticultural interest, field reports, and scientific studies. The journal was established in 1996. It is...
.