Nepenthes tenax
Encyclopedia
Nepenthes tenax is a lowland species of tropical pitcher plant
native to northern Queensland
, Australia
. It is the third Nepenthes
species recorded from the continent and its second endemic species. Nepenthes tenax is closely related to the two other Australian Nepenthes species: N. mirabilis
and N. rowanae
.
Nepenthes tenax grows to a height of around 100 cm with pitchers rarely exceeding 15 cm. The stem is usually self-supporting. In its natural habitat, it is sympatric
with N. mirabilis and N. rowanae. Simple and complex natural hybrids involving both of these species have been found.
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...
native to northern Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It is the third 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 recorded from the continent and its second endemic species. Nepenthes tenax is closely related to the two other Australian Nepenthes species: 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,...
and N. rowanae
Nepenthes rowanae
Nepenthes rowanae is a species of pitcher plant endemic to Cape York, Australia. It is closely related to N. mirabilis and was once considered an extreme form of this species.-Taxonomy:...
.
Nepenthes tenax grows to a height of around 100 cm with pitchers rarely exceeding 15 cm. The stem is usually self-supporting. In its natural habitat, it is sympatric
Sympatry
In biology, two species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus regularly encounter one another. An initially-interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species sharing a common range exemplifies sympatric speciation...
with N. mirabilis and N. rowanae. Simple and complex natural hybrids involving both of these species have been found.
