Nepenthes ephippiata or the Saddle-Leaved Pitcher-Plant, is a 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...

 endemic to Borneo

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....

. It occurs in the Hose Mountains

Hose Mountains

The Hose Mountains are a mountain range in central Sarawak, Borneo. They span the area between the watersheds of the Balleh and Balui Rivers. The mountains are covered in virgin tropical rainforest that supports a rich ecosystem of fauna and flora, including many endemic species...

 of central Sarawak

Sarawak

Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...

, as well as Mount Raya and Bukit Lesung in Kalimantan

Kalimantan

In English, the term Kalimantan refers to the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo, while in Indonesian, the term "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo....

. Plants from the Hose Mountains appear to lack the decurrent leaf attachment found in specimens from Central Kalimantan

Central Kalimantan

Central Kalimantan is a province of Indonesia, one of four in Kalimantan - the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its provincial capital is Palangka Raya.The province has a population of just over 2.2 million at the 2010 Census...

. Nepenthes ephippiata is closely related to N. lowii

Nepenthes lowii

Nepenthes lowii , or Low's Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo. It is named after Hugh Low, who discovered it on Mount Kinabalu...

.

B. H. Danser

B. H. Danser

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

 described the species in his 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...

", based only on part of a stem and an infructescence

Infructescence

Infructescence is defined as the ensemble of fruits derived from ovaries of an inflorescence, structured according to the inflorescence scheme....

.

Nepenthes ephippiata has no known natural hybrids.

Further reading

• Adam, J.H., C.C. Wilcock & M.D. Swaine 1992. Journal of Tropical Forest Science 5(1): 13–25.
• Adam, J.H. & C.C. Wilcock 1999. Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science 22(1): 1–7. Listed as Vulnerable (VU D1 v2.3).
• Clarke, C., J.A. Moran & L. Chin 2010. Mutualism between tree shrews and pitcher plants: perspectives and avenues for future research. Plant Signaling & Behavior 5(10): 1187–1189.
• Chin, L., J.A. Moran & C. Clarke 2010. Trap geometry in three giant montane pitcher plant species from Borneo is a function of tree shrew body size. New Phytologist 186 (2): 461–470.
• Danser, B.H. 1931. Nepenthaceae. Mitteilungen aus dem Institut für allgemeine Botanik in Hamburg 3: 217–221. Mansur, M. 2001. In: Prosiding Seminar Hari Cinta Puspa dan Satwa Nasional. Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia, Bogor. pp. 244–253.
• Nooteboom, H.P. (ed.) 1987. Report of the 1982–1983 Bukit Raya Expedition. Rijksherbarium, Leiden. Siregar, M., G. Somaatmadja & D. Darnaedi 1999. In: D. Darnaedi (ed.) Prosiding Seminar Nasional Konservasi Flora Nusantara. [National Seminar on Indonesian Plant Conservation Proceeding.] UPT Balai Pengembangan Kebun Raya, Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia, Bogor. pp. 107–115.