"Nepenthaceae" is a monograph

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 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...

 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 1908 in Adolf Engler

Adolf Engler

Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler was a German botanist. He is notable for his work on plant taxonomy and phytogeography, like Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien , edited with Karl A. E...

's Das Pflanzenreich. It was the most exhaustive revision of the genus up to that point, covering all known species, and included detailed accounts of the structure, anatomy, and development of Nepenthes.

Macfarlane recognised 58 species, including 8 newly described ones: N. anamensis (later synonymised with 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....

), N. beccariana

Nepenthes beccariana

Nepenthes beccariana is a tropical pitcher plant. The species was described in 1908 by John Muirhead Macfarlane based on a specimen collected from the island of Nias, which lies off the western coast of Sumatra...

, N. copelandii

Nepenthes copelandii

Nepenthes copelandii is a species of pitcher plant native to the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. Originally known from Mount Apo near Davao City and Mount Pasian near Bislig, it has since been discovered on a number of peaks throughout Mindanao...

, 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. hemsleyana (later synonymised with N. rafflesiana

Nepenthes rafflesiana

Nepenthes rafflesiana , or Raffles' Pitcher-Plant, is a species of pitcher plant. It has a very wide distribution covering Borneo, Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, and Singapore. Nepenthes rafflesiana is extremely variable with numerous forms and varieties described. In Borneo alone, there are at...

), N. neglecta (possibly the natural hybrid between N. gracilis and N. mirabilis

Nepenthes × sharifah-hapsahii

Nepenthes × sharifah-hapsahii is a natural hybrid between N. gracilis and N. mirabilis. It has been recorded from Borneo, Sumatra, and Peninsular Malaysia,...

), N. philippinensis

Nepenthes philippinensis

Nepenthes philippinensis is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to the Philippines. It is known from Palawan and the Calamian Islands , where it grows at 0–600 m above sea level....

, and N. tubulosa (later synonymised with N. mirabilis

Nepenthes mirabilis

Nepenthes mirabilis , or the Common Swamp Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical carnivorous plant species of the pitfall trap variety. It has by far the widest distribution of any Nepenthes species and is known from the following countries and regions: Borneo, Sumatra, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia,...

). Macfarlane also described a number of new varieties and listed all manmade hybrids known at the time.

Macfarlane synonymised a number of species, including N. korthalsiana with N. gracilis

Nepenthes gracilis

Nepenthes gracilis , or the Slender Pitcher-Plant, is a very common lowland pitcher plant that is widespread in the Sunda region. It has been recorded from Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, central Sulawesi, Sumatra, and southernmost Thailand...

, N. macrostachya with N. mirabilis

Nepenthes mirabilis

Nepenthes mirabilis , or the Common Swamp Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical carnivorous plant species of the pitfall trap variety. It has by far the widest distribution of any Nepenthes species and is known from the following countries and regions: Borneo, Sumatra, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia,...

, 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:...

with 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...

(later reversed), and both N. teysmanniana and N. tomentella with N. albomarginata

Nepenthes albomarginata

Nepenthes albomarginata , the White-Collared Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant native to Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia, and Sumatra...

.

At the time of its publication, "Nepenthaceae" was praised for its many high quality illustrations (95 images in 19 figures) of both morphological and anatomical features.

Research conducted after World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 quickly rendered Macfarlane's monograph outdated. Much additional 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...

 material was accumulated during this time, representing both new species and better specimens of known taxa, which highlighted issues with previous interpretations. The need for a new revision of the genus was satisfied with the publication of B. H. Danser

B. H. Danser

Benedictus Hubertus Danser , often abbreviated B. H. Danser, was a Dutch taxonomist and botanist...

's seminal 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...

". However, Danser's treatment did not encompass the entire range of the genus. It would not be until 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,...

's 1997 monograph, "A skeletal revision of Nepenthes (Nepenthaceae)

A skeletal revision of Nepenthes (Nepenthaceae)

"A skeletal revision of Nepenthes " is a monograph by Matthew Jebb and Martin Cheek on the tropical pitcher plants 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...

", that the entire genus was once again revised in a single work.