International Carnivorous Plant Society
Encyclopedia
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
founded in 1972. It is the International Cultivar Registration Authority
International Cultivar Registration Authority
An International Cultivation Registration Authority is an organization responsible for ensuring that each plant cultivar receives a unique, authoritative botanical name....
for carnivorous plant
Carnivorous plant
Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods. Carnivorous plants appear adapted to grow in places where the soil is thin or poor in nutrients, especially nitrogen, such as acidic...
s. As of June 2011, the society had around 1400 members.
The ICPS is probably best known for its quarterly publication, 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:...
.
Conservation efforts
The ICPS has set up the Nepenthes clipeata Survival Project (NcSP) to facilitate ex situ conservation of this species. With only an estimated 15 plants remaining in the wild as of 1995, Nepenthes clipeataNepenthes clipeata
Nepenthes clipeata , or the Shield-Leaved Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant known only from the near-vertical granite cliff faces of Mount Kelam in Kalimantan, Borneo...
is the most endangered
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
of all known 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. It is estimated that there are only three or four genetically-distinct lines of "white market" (legally collected) plants in cultivation.
The ICPS partially funded the establishment of The Rare Nepenthes Collection, which aims to conserve 4 of the rarest Nepenthes species: 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. clipeata
Nepenthes clipeata
Nepenthes clipeata , or the Shield-Leaved Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant known only from the near-vertical granite cliff faces of Mount Kelam in Kalimantan, Borneo...
, N. khasiana
Nepenthes khasiana
Nepenthes khasiana |endemic]]) is a tropical pitcher plant of the genus Nepenthes. It is the only Nepenthes species native to India....
, and N. rigidifolia
Nepenthes rigidifolia
Nepenthes rigidifolia is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra, where it grows at elevations of 1000–1600 m above sea level.The specific epithet rigidifolia is formed from the Latin words rigidus and folia . It refers to the stiff, coriaceous texture of the leaf blade...
.