Nepenthes lamii
Encyclopedia
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. Although long confused with N. vieillardii
, it is now recognised as a distinct species.
The specific epithet lamii honours Dutch
botanist Herman Johannes Lam, who made one of the earliest known collections of this species.
collections of N. lamii were made in the early 20th century. Lucien Sophie Albert Marie von Römer made one of the earliest collections of this species in November 1909. This specimen, designated as Von Römer 1037, was collected at 1460 m and includes female floral material. The duplicate collections Von Römer 1038 and Von Römer 1052 were collected at the same time and place, but lack floral material.
The next known collections of N. lamii were made from the Hellwig Mountains by August Adriaan Pulle
. On December 23, 1912, he collected Pulle 802 and Pulle 803 from Mount Erica at an elevation of 1520 m. Pulle 802 includes male floral material and is also preserved in alcohol
, whereas Pulle 803 has no floral parts. Four days later, on December 27, 1912, Pulle collected Pulle 843 bis, a male specimen, from an unspecified location in the Hellwig Mountains at an elevation of 1900 m. Both the specimens of von Römer and Pulle comprise very small and delicate plants.
Herman Johannes Lam, after whom the species is named, made a number of collections of N. lamii during the Van Overeem Expedition of 1920. He collected both male and female floral material on October 17, 1920, at the foot of Mount Doorman Top at an elevation of 3250 m (or 3200 m). These specimens are collectively designated as Lam 1637. Lam made a further collection of N. lamii on the following day, October 18, this time from 3520 m on Doorman Top. It represents the uppermost altitudinal limit for this species and for all Nepenthes. This material also consists of both male and female parts and is designated as Lam 1654. Both of Lam's specimens represent greatly stunted, dwarf plants.
All of the specimens of von Römer, Pulle, and Lam are deposited at Herbarium Bogoriense (BO), the herbarium
of the Bogor Botanical Gardens
.
in his seminal 1928 monograph, "The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies
". Danser interpreted specimens of N. lamii as representing an outlying population of N. vieillardii
(previously recorded only from New Caledonia
) and used two specimens of N. lamii (Pulle 843 bis and Lam 1654) to illustrate the latter species (figure 26 in his monograph). In addition to the specimens mentioned above, Danser also listed Docters van Leeuwen 10834 as New Guinean material of what he identified as N. vieillardii.
Danser explained his interpretation of N. vieillardii as follows:
For most of the remainder of the 20th century, authors followed Danser in treating N. lamii as a geographically isolated population of N. vieillardii. A prominent example of this is Matthew Jebb
's 1991 monograph, "An account of Nepenthes in New Guinea
", where an illustration of N. lamii (figure 27) is labelled as showing N. vieillardii.
In 1994, A. Wistuba
, H. Rischer, B. Baumgartl, and B. Kistler observed wild plants of N. lamii (which they called N. vieillardii
) during a trip to Doorman Top in search of the enigmatic N. paniculata
. The group were unsuccessful in rediscovering the latter species, but found N. maxima
on the mountain.
by Matthew Jebb
and Martin Cheek
in their 1997 monograph, "A skeletal revision of Nepenthes (Nepenthaceae)
". The authors distinguished it from N. vieillardii on the basis of a number of features of pitcher and indumentum morphology. They selected the holotype
and isotype
specimens from the Lam 1637 series; both are deposited at Herbarium Bogoriense. The type specimen is notable for exhibiting densely glandular tendril
s.
The next detailed treatments of N. lamii appeared in Cheek and Jebb's updated monograph of 2001, "Nepenthaceae
", and Stewart McPherson
's 2009 work, Pitcher Plants of the Old World
, which included colour habitat photographs of the species.
lets. The stem
, which may be branched, is rounded or angular in cross section and has internode
s up to 8 cm long.
Leaves are thinly coriaceous and sessile. The lamina (leaf blade) is most commonly linear, but may also be lanceolate. It reaches 22 cm in length by 5 cm in width. It has an acute to acuminate apex and an obtuse base that may be decurrent for more than 2 cm down the stem, although it is variable in this respect. Three to four longitudinal veins are typically present on either side of the midrib, restricted to the distal quarter to third of the lamina, although they may number as many as 5 or as few as 0. Pinnate veins, which may or may not be distinct, emerge obliquely from the midrib to form an irregular network in the distal half of the lamina. Tendril
s may be densely glandular in some specimens. Laminae are typically green throughout, but may be tinged with purple, especially in stunted plants from higher elevations. The midrib and tendrils are often yellow and turn orange to red upon exposure to strong sunlight.
Rosette and lower pitchers are typically ovate in the basal half of the pitcher cup, becoming cylindrical and sometimes slightly infundibular above. A conspicuous hip often delimits these two parts of the trap. Terrestrial pitchers may also be entirely ovate. They are relatively small, rarely exceeding 7 cm in height by 3 cm in width, although they occasionally reach 12 cm by 4 cm. A pair of wings (≤8 mm wide) runs down the ventral surface of the pitcher cup. The wings bear fringe elements up to 5 mm long. The pitcher mouth is suborbicular and has an oblique insertion. The peristome
is cylindrical and becomes flattened and broader towards the sides and rear, measuring up to 7 mm in width. It bears ribs up to 0.5 mm high and spaced up to 0.8 mm apart. On the inner margin of the peristome, the ribs terminate in teeth up 1 mm long. The pitcher lid or operculum
is orbicular to elliptic with a rounded apex and a rounded to cordate base. It bears no appendages, although the midline may be thickened into a 1 mm high ridge. It reaches 4.5 cm in length by 3.8 cm in width. The lower surface of the lid bears numerous nectar glands. Most are orbicular and measure 0.1–0.2 mm in diameter; this type occurs at a density of 1500–2000/cm2. Larger, longitudinally elliptic glands of 0.4 mm, and occasionally even up to 3 mm, are concentrated around the midline. An unbranched spur measuring up to 5 mm in length is inserted near the base of the lid. It may or may not be flattened. Lower pitchers are typically reddish on their outer surface, often having speckles of a darker red colour. The inner surface varies from white to light orange. The peristome may be orange, through red, to purple. The lid is often yellowish on its lower surface and the same colour as the pitcher cup on its upper surface. Stunted plants from higher altitudes typically produce dark terrestrial pitchers.
Upper pitchers are infundibular and somewhat inflated in the basal quarter to third of the pitcher cup, becoming cylindrical or slightly infundibular above. A conspicuous hip often delimits these two parts of the trap. Rarely they may be wholly obovoid. Aerial traps are considerably larger than their terrestrial counterparts, growing to 18 cm in height by 5 cm in width. Ribs are present in place of wings. The peristome is cylindrical and up to 5 mm wide, being either uniformly broad throughout or slightly expanded at the sides and rear. Other parts are similar to those found in terrestrial traps. Aerial pitchers are usually yellowish throughout, occasionally with tinges of orange or red in older specimens. The ventral ridges are sometimes completely red. The inner surface may be white to cream coloured. The peristome ranges in colour from yellow to red, whereas the lid is most commonly yellow throughout.
Nepenthes lamii has a racemose
inflorescence
up to 14 cm long. The peduncle
constitutes up to 7 cm of this length and has a basal width of around 2 mm. Flowers are borne solitarily on pedicels
(≤10 mm long) that lack bract
s. Tepal
s are elliptic and measure up to 3 mm in length by 3.3 mm in width. The androphore is up to 2.5 mm long and bears an anther head measuring up to 1.25 mm by 1.5 mm.
Most parts of the plant lack a persistent indumentum
, being glabrous. A very sparse covering of pale brown, woolly-scurfy hairs measuring 0.2–0.4 mm is present on developing parts. The only mature parts that retain an indumentum are the inflorescence and tendrils, which bear an inconspicuously puberulent covering of simple, black hairs of around 0.3 mm.
, including Mount Doorman Top (also known simply as Mount Doorman) and Mount Erica of the Hellwig Mountains. Sizable populations of this species have been found near Tembagapura
, a mining town
situated at around 1900 m in the Sudirman Range
. Nepenthes lamii has an altitudinal distribution of 1460–3520 m above sea level. The uppermost altitudinal limit of this species represents the highest known elevation of any Nepenthes, although Nepenthes sp. Papua
has been found at similar altitudes of around 3500 m.
The species is highly variable in terms of growth habit and stature. At lower elevations, it is a scrambling climber that grows both terrestrially and epiphytically
in a variety of habitats, including mossy forest, recovering vegetation, open scrub, and stunted lower and upper montane forest. It is exposed to strong or direct sunlight at these sites. Plants from higher altitudes become progressively more stunted and grow terrestrially among montane scrub and grass
es, montane heath
, or in open sites with little other vegetation. These dwarf ultrahighland specimens experience some of the lowest temperatures of any Nepenthes; nighttime temperatures as low as 4 °C are not uncommon above 3200 m and on the upper slopes of Mount Doorman Top they may fall below freezing. Plants growing in exposed sites on the mountain top also experience very strong winds. Although N. maxima
has also been recorded from Mount Doorman Top, no natural hybrids involving N. lamii have been found to date.
The size and distribution of natural populations of N. lamii are incompletely known, making it difficult to assess the species's conservation status
. However, the populations found near Tembagapura
appear to be secure for the time being due to the tight controls on access and development present in the area. The other known populations of N. lamii are all located in remote parts of Papua and many have not seen human contact in decades. Stewart McPherson
writes that N. lamii "may be anticipated from many of the high peaks of central Papua, and the species may accordingly have a wider distribution than is currently appreciated".
and is thus easily identified in the wild. Its pitchers are somewhat reminiscent of those of N. murudensis
and the giant form of N. tentaculata
, but both of these taxa
are restricted to Borneo
. Furthermore, although similar, the traps of N. lamii differ in that they have a round, as opposed to angular, pitcher mouth, and mature specimens never have filaments on the upper surface of the lid. In addition, the lower pitchers are ovate to ovate-cylindrical in N. lamii and possess a wider peristome.
Although long confused with N. vieillardii
, N. lamii can be distinguished from that species on the basis of several stable differences. Nepenthes lamii almost completely lacks an indumentum
on mature parts, whereas N. vieillardii bears a sparse to dense covering of white hairs measuring around 1 mm in length. In addition, the peristome
ribs of N. lamii are usually more widely spaced at 0.3–0.4 mm apart versus 0.2–0.3 mm in N. vieillardii. The density of nectar glands on the underside of the lid is also much higher in N. lamii (1500–2000 glands/cm2 versus 75–100 glands/cm2).
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 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...
, where it grows at an altitude of up to 3520 m above sea level, higher than any other 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...
species. Although long confused with N. vieillardii
Nepenthes vieillardii
Nepenthes vieillardii is a species of pitcher plant endemic to the island of New Caledonia. Its distribution is the most easterly of any Nepenthes species. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests....
, it is now recognised as a distinct species.
The specific epithet lamii honours Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
botanist Herman Johannes Lam, who made one of the earliest known collections of this species.
Botanical history
Early specimens
The first known herbariumHerbarium
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...
collections of N. lamii were made in the early 20th century. Lucien Sophie Albert Marie von Römer made one of the earliest collections of this species in November 1909. This specimen, designated as Von Römer 1037, was collected at 1460 m and includes female floral material. The duplicate collections Von Römer 1038 and Von Römer 1052 were collected at the same time and place, but lack floral material.
The next known collections of N. lamii were made from the Hellwig Mountains by August Adriaan Pulle
August Adriaan Pulle
August Adrian Pulle was a Dutch professor and botanist. He made important contributions to knowledge of the Flora of Suriname and the island of New Guinea.-Education:...
. On December 23, 1912, he collected Pulle 802 and Pulle 803 from Mount Erica at an elevation of 1520 m. Pulle 802 includes male floral material and is also preserved in alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
, whereas Pulle 803 has no floral parts. Four days later, on December 27, 1912, Pulle collected Pulle 843 bis, a male specimen, from an unspecified location in the Hellwig Mountains at an elevation of 1900 m. Both the specimens of von Römer and Pulle comprise very small and delicate plants.
Herman Johannes Lam, after whom the species is named, made a number of collections of N. lamii during the Van Overeem Expedition of 1920. He collected both male and female floral material on October 17, 1920, at the foot of Mount Doorman Top at an elevation of 3250 m (or 3200 m). These specimens are collectively designated as Lam 1637. Lam made a further collection of N. lamii on the following day, October 18, this time from 3520 m on Doorman Top. It represents the uppermost altitudinal limit for this species and for all Nepenthes. This material also consists of both male and female parts and is designated as Lam 1654. Both of Lam's specimens represent greatly stunted, dwarf plants.
All of the specimens of von Römer, Pulle, and Lam are deposited at Herbarium Bogoriense (BO), the 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...
of the Bogor Botanical Gardens
Bogor Botanical Gardens
The Bogor Botanical Gardens are located 60 km south of the capital of Jakarta in Bogor, Indonesia. The botanical gardens are situated in the city center of Bogor and adjoin the Istana Bogor...
.
Grouping with N. vieillardii
The first author to describe specimens of N. lamii was B. H. DanserB. H. Danser
Benedictus Hubertus Danser , often abbreviated B. H. Danser, was a Dutch taxonomist and botanist...
in his 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...
". Danser interpreted specimens of N. lamii as representing an outlying population of N. vieillardii
Nepenthes vieillardii
Nepenthes vieillardii is a species of pitcher plant endemic to the island of New Caledonia. Its distribution is the most easterly of any Nepenthes species. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests....
(previously recorded only from New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
) and used two specimens of N. lamii (Pulle 843 bis and Lam 1654) to illustrate the latter species (figure 26 in his monograph). In addition to the specimens mentioned above, Danser also listed Docters van Leeuwen 10834 as New Guinean material of what he identified as N. vieillardii.
Danser explained his interpretation of N. vieillardii as follows:
N. Vieillardii has only been recorded from New Caledonia and the lsle of Pines up to the present, but the materials collected by the latter expeditions have shown, that at least in the western part of New Guinea it is not rare, in the latter country it varies more than in New Caledonia but it seemed impossible to me to distinguish separate species. Most alike the plants of New Caledonia are the number Pulle 834 and those of Docters van Leeuwen ; they only differ from the New Caledonia plants by the slightly developed indumentum, and the lid being more elliptical and bearing many glands on its lower surface. The plants of the Doormantop (Lam 1637 & 1654) have strongly abbreviate stems and are obviously an alpine form only ; they have nearly round lids like the plants of New Caledonia. The plants from the Ericatop are small and delicate in all parts ; they agree with the numbers first mentioned, by the elliptical and very glandular lids ; when the other New Guinea forms were not known, I would not have hesitated to distinguish those from the Ericatop specifically from those from New Caledonia. [...]
The habitat of this species in New Guinea are as well the virgin forest and the scrub as the treeless mountain tops. On the Doormantop, where Lam collected his plants, one would not expect Nepenthes, the winds being there very strong and the temperature often very low, according to Lam often below the freezing point before sunrise. This hardiness gives N. Vieillardii a fair chance of dispersion.
For most of the remainder of the 20th century, authors followed Danser in treating N. lamii as a geographically isolated population of N. vieillardii. A prominent example of this is 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....
's 1991 monograph, "An account of Nepenthes in New Guinea
An account of Nepenthes in New Guinea
"An account of Nepenthes in New Guinea" is a monograph by Matthew Jebb on the tropical pitcher plants of New Guinea. It was published in the March 1991 issue of Science in New Guinea, a journal of the University of Papua New Guinea. The monograph was the result of work carried out by Jebb during an...
", where an illustration of N. lamii (figure 27) is labelled as showing N. vieillardii.
In 1994, A. Wistuba
Andreas Wistuba
Dr. Andreas Wistuba is a German taxonomist and botanist specialising in the carnivorous plant genera Heliamphora and Nepenthes. More than half of all known Heliamphora species have been described by Wistuba.-Publications:...
, H. Rischer, B. Baumgartl, and B. Kistler observed wild plants of N. lamii (which they called N. vieillardii
Nepenthes vieillardii
Nepenthes vieillardii is a species of pitcher plant endemic to the island of New Caledonia. Its distribution is the most easterly of any Nepenthes species. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests....
) during a trip to Doorman Top in search of the enigmatic N. paniculata
Nepenthes paniculata
Nepenthes paniculata is a species of pitcher plant belonging to the genus Nepenthes.Nepenthes paniculata is probably endemic to Mount Doorman Top in New Guinea . It has been recorded from mossy forest on a ridge top at 1,460 m altitude....
. The group were unsuccessful in rediscovering the latter species, but found N. maxima
Nepenthes maxima
Nepenthes maxima , the Great Pitcher-Plant, is a carnivorous pitcher plant species of the genus Nepenthes. It has a relatively wide distribution covering Sulawesi, New Guinea, and the Maluku Islands. It is closely related to N. eymae....
on the mountain.
Recognition as a distinct species
Nepenthes lamii was formally describedSpecies description
A species description or type description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species which have been described previously, or are...
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,...
in their 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...
". The authors distinguished it from N. vieillardii on the basis of a number of features of pitcher and indumentum morphology. They selected the holotype
Holotype
A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...
and isotype
Isotype
Isotype can refer to:* In crystallography, an "isotype" is a synonym for isomorph* In biology, per the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, the "isotype" is a duplicate of the holotype....
specimens from the Lam 1637 series; both are deposited at Herbarium Bogoriense. The type specimen is notable for exhibiting densely glandular tendril
Tendril
In botany, a tendril is a specialized stem, leaf or petiole with a threadlike shape that is used by climbing plants for support, attachment and cellular invasion by parasitic plants, generally by twining around suitable hosts. They do not have a lamina or blade, but they can photosynthesize...
s.
The next detailed treatments of N. lamii appeared in Cheek and Jebb's updated monograph of 2001, "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...
", and Stewart McPherson
Stewart McPherson (geographer)
Stewart R. McPherson is a British geographer.He studied at the University of Durham in England, the University of Tübingen in Germany and Yale University in the United States....
's 2009 work, Pitcher Plants of the Old World
Pitcher Plants of the Old World
Pitcher Plants of the Old World is a two-volume monograph by Stewart McPherson on the pitcher plants of the genera Nepenthes and Cephalotus. It was published in May 2009 by Redfern Natural History Productions...
, which included colour habitat photographs of the species.
Description
Nepenthes lamii reaches a maximum height of around 4 m, although plants growing towards the upper altitudinal limit of this species are greatly stunted shrubShrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
lets. The stem
Plant stem
A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold buds which grow into one or more leaves, inflorescence , conifer cones, roots, other stems etc. The internodes distance one node from another...
, which may be branched, is rounded or angular in cross section and has internode
Plant stem
A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold buds which grow into one or more leaves, inflorescence , conifer cones, roots, other stems etc. The internodes distance one node from another...
s up to 8 cm long.
Leaves are thinly coriaceous and sessile. The lamina (leaf blade) is most commonly linear, but may also be lanceolate. It reaches 22 cm in length by 5 cm in width. It has an acute to acuminate apex and an obtuse base that may be decurrent for more than 2 cm down the stem, although it is variable in this respect. Three to four longitudinal veins are typically present on either side of the midrib, restricted to the distal quarter to third of the lamina, although they may number as many as 5 or as few as 0. Pinnate veins, which may or may not be distinct, emerge obliquely from the midrib to form an irregular network in the distal half of the lamina. Tendril
Tendril
In botany, a tendril is a specialized stem, leaf or petiole with a threadlike shape that is used by climbing plants for support, attachment and cellular invasion by parasitic plants, generally by twining around suitable hosts. They do not have a lamina or blade, but they can photosynthesize...
s may be densely glandular in some specimens. Laminae are typically green throughout, but may be tinged with purple, especially in stunted plants from higher elevations. The midrib and tendrils are often yellow and turn orange to red upon exposure to strong sunlight.
Rosette and lower pitchers are typically ovate in the basal half of the pitcher cup, becoming cylindrical and sometimes slightly infundibular above. A conspicuous hip often delimits these two parts of the trap. Terrestrial pitchers may also be entirely ovate. They are relatively small, rarely exceeding 7 cm in height by 3 cm in width, although they occasionally reach 12 cm by 4 cm. A pair of wings (≤8 mm wide) runs down the ventral surface of the pitcher cup. The wings bear fringe elements up to 5 mm long. The pitcher mouth is suborbicular and has an oblique insertion. The peristome
Peristome
The word peristome is derived from the Greek peri, meaning 'around' or 'about', and stoma, 'mouth'. It is a term used to describe various anatomical features that surround an opening to an organ or structure. The term is used in plants and invertebrate animals, such as in describing the shells of...
is cylindrical and becomes flattened and broader towards the sides and rear, measuring up to 7 mm in width. It bears ribs up to 0.5 mm high and spaced up to 0.8 mm apart. On the inner margin of the peristome, the ribs terminate in teeth up 1 mm long. The pitcher lid or operculum
Operculum (botany)
An operculum, in botany, is a term generally used to describe a structure within a plant, moss, or fungus acting as a cap, flap, or lid. In plants, it may also be called a bud cap.Examples of structures identified as opercula include:...
is orbicular to elliptic with a rounded apex and a rounded to cordate base. It bears no appendages, although the midline may be thickened into a 1 mm high ridge. It reaches 4.5 cm in length by 3.8 cm in width. The lower surface of the lid bears numerous nectar glands. Most are orbicular and measure 0.1–0.2 mm in diameter; this type occurs at a density of 1500–2000/cm2. Larger, longitudinally elliptic glands of 0.4 mm, and occasionally even up to 3 mm, are concentrated around the midline. An unbranched spur measuring up to 5 mm in length is inserted near the base of the lid. It may or may not be flattened. Lower pitchers are typically reddish on their outer surface, often having speckles of a darker red colour. The inner surface varies from white to light orange. The peristome may be orange, through red, to purple. The lid is often yellowish on its lower surface and the same colour as the pitcher cup on its upper surface. Stunted plants from higher altitudes typically produce dark terrestrial pitchers.
Upper pitchers are infundibular and somewhat inflated in the basal quarter to third of the pitcher cup, becoming cylindrical or slightly infundibular above. A conspicuous hip often delimits these two parts of the trap. Rarely they may be wholly obovoid. Aerial traps are considerably larger than their terrestrial counterparts, growing to 18 cm in height by 5 cm in width. Ribs are present in place of wings. The peristome is cylindrical and up to 5 mm wide, being either uniformly broad throughout or slightly expanded at the sides and rear. Other parts are similar to those found in terrestrial traps. Aerial pitchers are usually yellowish throughout, occasionally with tinges of orange or red in older specimens. The ventral ridges are sometimes completely red. The inner surface may be white to cream coloured. The peristome ranges in colour from yellow to red, whereas the lid is most commonly yellow throughout.
Nepenthes lamii has a racemose
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
up to 14 cm long. The peduncle
Peduncle (botany)
In botany, a peduncle is a stem supporting an inflorescence, or after fecundation, an infructescence.The peduncle is a stem, usually green and without leaves, though sometimes colored or supporting small leaves...
constitutes up to 7 cm of this length and has a basal width of around 2 mm. Flowers are borne solitarily on pedicels
Pedicel (botany)
A pedicel is a stem that attaches single flowers to the main stem of the inflorescence. It is the branches or stalks that hold each flower in an inflorescence that contains more than one flower....
(≤10 mm long) that lack bract
Bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis, or cone scale. Bracts are often different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of a different color, shape, or texture...
s. Tepal
Tepal
Tepals are elements of the perianth, or outer part of a flower, which include the petals or sepals. The term tepal is more often applied specifically when all segments of the perianth are of similar shape and color, or undifferentiated, which is called perigone...
s are elliptic and measure up to 3 mm in length by 3.3 mm in width. The androphore is up to 2.5 mm long and bears an anther head measuring up to 1.25 mm by 1.5 mm.
Most parts of the plant lack a persistent indumentum
Indumentum
The indumentum is a covering of fine hairs or bristles on a plant or insect.In plants, the indumentum types are:*pubescent*hirsute*pilose*villous*tomentose*stellate*scabrous*scurfy...
, being glabrous. A very sparse covering of pale brown, woolly-scurfy hairs measuring 0.2–0.4 mm is present on developing parts. The only mature parts that retain an indumentum are the inflorescence and tendrils, which bear an inconspicuously puberulent covering of simple, black hairs of around 0.3 mm.
Ecology
Nepenthes lamii is endemic to the higher peaks of central Papua province in West Papua, New GuineaNew 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...
, including Mount Doorman Top (also known simply as Mount Doorman) and Mount Erica of the Hellwig Mountains. Sizable populations of this species have been found near Tembagapura
Tembagapura
Tembagapura is a town built to support the Grasberg Mine in the Indonesian province of Papua. Construction of the mine and its infrastructure including the town, commenced in the late-1960s....
, a mining town
Mining town
A mining community, also known as a mining town or a mining camp, is a community that houses miners. Mining communities are usually created around a mine or a quarry for the extraction or smeltering of ore.-United States:...
situated at around 1900 m in the Sudirman Range
Sudirman Range
The Sudirman Range or Dugunduguoo or Nassau Range is a mountain range in Papua province, Indonesia.Located at , it comprises a western portion of the Maoke Mountains. The highest peak in Oceania and Australasia, Puncak Jaya , is located here, as well as the large Grasberg copper and gold mine,...
. Nepenthes lamii has an altitudinal distribution of 1460–3520 m above sea level. The uppermost altitudinal limit of this species represents the highest known elevation of any Nepenthes, although Nepenthes sp. Papua
Nepenthes sp. Papua
Nepenthes sp. Papua, also known as Nepenthes sp. West-Papua and Nepenthes sp. Doormans Top 1, is an undescribed tropical pitcher plant known from a single mountain in central West Papua. The species is an extreme highlander, growing at elevations of 3100–3500 m above sea level, and has on occasion...
has been found at similar altitudes of around 3500 m.
The species is highly variable in terms of growth habit and stature. At lower elevations, it is a scrambling climber that grows both terrestrially and epiphytically
Epiphyte
An epiphyte is a plant that grows upon another plant non-parasitically or sometimes upon some other object , derives its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and sometimes from debris accumulating around it, and is found in the temperate zone and in the...
in a variety of habitats, including mossy forest, recovering vegetation, open scrub, and stunted lower and upper montane forest. It is exposed to strong or direct sunlight at these sites. Plants from higher altitudes become progressively more stunted and grow terrestrially among montane scrub and grass
Grass
Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...
es, montane heath
Heath (habitat)
A heath or heathland is a dwarf-shrub habitat found on mainly low quality acidic soils, characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation, often dominated by plants of the Ericaceae. There are some clear differences between heath and moorland...
, or in open sites with little other vegetation. These dwarf ultrahighland specimens experience some of the lowest temperatures of any Nepenthes; nighttime temperatures as low as 4 °C are not uncommon above 3200 m and on the upper slopes of Mount Doorman Top they may fall below freezing. Plants growing in exposed sites on the mountain top also experience very strong winds. Although N. maxima
Nepenthes maxima
Nepenthes maxima , the Great Pitcher-Plant, is a carnivorous pitcher plant species of the genus Nepenthes. It has a relatively wide distribution covering Sulawesi, New Guinea, and the Maluku Islands. It is closely related to N. eymae....
has also been recorded from Mount Doorman Top, no natural hybrids involving N. lamii have been found to date.
The size and distribution of natural populations of N. lamii are incompletely known, making it difficult to assess the species's conservation status
Conservation status
The conservation status of a group of organisms indicates whether the group is still extant and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future...
. However, the populations found near Tembagapura
Tembagapura
Tembagapura is a town built to support the Grasberg Mine in the Indonesian province of Papua. Construction of the mine and its infrastructure including the town, commenced in the late-1960s....
appear to be secure for the time being due to the tight controls on access and development present in the area. The other known populations of N. lamii are all located in remote parts of Papua and many have not seen human contact in decades. Stewart McPherson
Stewart McPherson (geographer)
Stewart R. McPherson is a British geographer.He studied at the University of Durham in England, the University of Tübingen in Germany and Yale University in the United States....
writes that N. lamii "may be anticipated from many of the high peaks of central Papua, and the species may accordingly have a wider distribution than is currently appreciated".
Related species
Nepenthes lamii is quite morphologically distinct from all other Nepenthes of New GuineaNew 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...
and is thus easily identified in the wild. Its pitchers are somewhat reminiscent of those of 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...
and the giant form of N. tentaculata
Nepenthes tentaculata
Nepenthes tentaculata , or the Fringed Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant with a very wide distribution across Borneo and Sulawesi...
, but both of these 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...
are restricted 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....
. Furthermore, although similar, the traps of N. lamii differ in that they have a round, as opposed to angular, pitcher mouth, and mature specimens never have filaments on the upper surface of the lid. In addition, the lower pitchers are ovate to ovate-cylindrical in N. lamii and possess a wider peristome.
Although long confused with N. vieillardii
Nepenthes vieillardii
Nepenthes vieillardii is a species of pitcher plant endemic to the island of New Caledonia. Its distribution is the most easterly of any Nepenthes species. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests....
, N. lamii can be distinguished from that species on the basis of several stable differences. Nepenthes lamii almost completely lacks an indumentum
Indumentum
The indumentum is a covering of fine hairs or bristles on a plant or insect.In plants, the indumentum types are:*pubescent*hirsute*pilose*villous*tomentose*stellate*scabrous*scurfy...
on mature parts, whereas N. vieillardii bears a sparse to dense covering of white hairs measuring around 1 mm in length. In addition, the peristome
Peristome
The word peristome is derived from the Greek peri, meaning 'around' or 'about', and stoma, 'mouth'. It is a term used to describe various anatomical features that surround an opening to an organ or structure. The term is used in plants and invertebrate animals, such as in describing the shells of...
ribs of N. lamii are usually more widely spaced at 0.3–0.4 mm apart versus 0.2–0.3 mm in N. vieillardii. The density of nectar glands on the underside of the lid is also much higher in N. lamii (1500–2000 glands/cm2 versus 75–100 glands/cm2).