Shield-leaved Pitcher Plant
Nepenthes clipeata
134 malingaliro
Taxonomy
| Banja: | Nepenthaceae |
|---|---|
| Mtundu: | Nepenthes |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
Mwachidule
Nepenthes clipeata is known only from the sheer granite cliffs of Mount Kelam (Gunung Kelam) in West Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. Its round, shield-like leaves are unique in the genus, and it is perhaps the most endangered of all Nepenthes, listed as Critically Endangered.
Nepenthes clipeata is unmistakable. Its thick, leathery leaves are round to ovate, 7 to 20 cm long, and peltate: the tendril joins the underside of the blade well before its tip, near the centre. Danser noted that only the Philippine N. truncata has a comparably aberrant leaf. The stem does not climb, reaching about 2 m at most, and the tendrils are short, thick and never curved.
The plant produces only one type of pitcher. Pitchers are up to 30 cm (12 in) tall, globose at the base and narrowing into a slightly funnel-shaped upper part, without wings, under a strongly vaulted lid. All parts are densely covered in long brown hairs. The inflorescence is small, rarely over 25 cm. It is a member of the N. maxima group, and natural hybrids with N. albomarginata, N. rafflesiana and N. reinwardtiana have been recorded.
Zambiri za Geographic
Native Region: Mount Kelam, West Kalimantan, Borneo (endemic)
Zanyengo: Tropical, about 600-800 m on a single granite mountain
Nepenthes clipeata grows in crevices in the near-vertical granite walls of Mount Kelam, at about 600 to 800 m. Danser suggested that its leaves stand vertically against the rock with the pitchers behind them. Some reports had called it a limestone plant, but this does not agree with the granite type locality. The site lies outside any national park or forest reserve, and searches of the surrounding mountains have found no other populations.
Makhalidwe Athupi
Kukula Kwambiri: Non-climbing stems up to about 2 m; pitchers up to 30 cm (12 in) tall
Mlingo wa Kukula: Moderate
Mtundu wa Msampha: Pitfall Trap
The pitchers are pitfall traps. Their discoverer, Johannes Hallier, noted that the jug-shaped base can hold a large quantity of water, while the relatively narrow neck hinders the escape of insects that have fallen inside.
Kalozera Wosamalira
Zofunikira Zowala
Bright, diffuse light is excellent, and artificial lighting can be adequate if it is bright enough.
Bright light year round; no seasonal rest tsiku ndi tsiku
Zofunikira za Madzi
Mtundu: Purified water (distilled, reverse osmosis or rain) is safest
Njira: Water from above and let the excess drain. Do not keep the pot standing in a tray of water: plants sitting in trays often have dwarfed root systems.
pafupipafupi: Often enough to keep the mix evenly moist
Chinyezi: Very high: at least 60%, ideally near 90%
Nthaka
A 50:50 mix of long-fiber sphagnum moss and perlite is a good general starting point. After about a year, knock the plant out of its pot and look at the roots; if they are not exploring the mix, try a different one.
pH: Acidic (sphagnum based)
Kutentha
Chilimwe: Days 86-93°F (30-34°C), nights about 14°F cooler
Zima: Same as summer; tropical, grows all year
Kudyetsa
pafupipafupi: Optional; at most once or twice a month into the pitchers
Plants that catch insects need no feeding. Growers who want to fertilize can pour a small amount of orchid or epiphyte fertilizer into the pitchers once or twice a month, starting small and watching the effect. Fertilizing is optional.
Kufalitsa
Njira: Plants in legitimate trade come from in vitro propagation of seed. Seed requires a male and a female plant flowering at the same time; cross-pollination with other species in a collection is a risk, so the parentage of seedlings should be treated with caution.
Zovuta: Difficult
Malangizo Oyamba
Buy only legally propagated plants, never wild-collected ones: collection is one of the main threats to the few plants left on Mount Kelam.
Kusaka zolakwika
Leaf edges burning and tendrils failing to form pitchers: humidity too low. A small plant with a weak root system: the pot has been standing in water.
Malangizo Kukula
Humidity makes the pitchers Troubleshooting
Burned leaf edges and pitcherless tendrils usually mean the air is too dry.
Check the parentage Advanced
Seed raised in mixed collections may be hybrid. N. clipeata is morphologically distinct, so most hybrids become obvious as the plants mature.
Buy propagated plants only General
Collection for the plant trade helped bring this species to the edge of extinction. Choose plants raised in vitro from legally obtained seed.
Zochititsa chidwi
The name comes from Latin clipeus, a round shield, after the leaf shape.
Its discoverer reached it on a 45 m rattan ladder fixed to the cliff of Mount Kelam.
In 1995 only about 15 wild plants were thought to remain; Clarke later estimated as few as 2 to 6.
A 2010 survey found 260 plants, mostly on inaccessible cliffs, but a 2016 expedition found only seven.
Most flowering wild plants seen in 2010 were male.
The IUCN Red List assessed it as Critically Endangered in 2014 (Clarke and Lee, assessment T39652A19631488).
Chikumbutso
Johannes Gottfried Hallier first collected the species in 1894, climbing Mount Kelam five times between 30 January and 13 February. He found plants with unusually large pitchers growing on small patches of humus beside the rattan ladder that scaled the summit cliff. B. H. Danser described it in 1928 in The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies.
Collectors began visiting Mount Kelam in the 1980s and took large numbers of plants; local guides also gathered plants for their villages, where most died and were replaced. Droughts and fires during the 1997 to 1998 El Niño caused further losses. In 2005 the International Carnivorous Plant Society published plans for the Nepenthes clipeata Survival Project, to conserve as many genetically distinct lines as possible in cultivation; only three or four distinct lines of legally collected plants were thought to exist. The first plants were placed into in vitro culture from seed raised at the Munich Botanical Garden in 1997.
Malamulo
- Nepenthes clipeata, Wikipedia
- Nepenthes clipeata, Caryophyllales Network: Nepenthaceae (after Cheek & Jebb 2001, Flora Malesiana I, 15)
- Nepenthes: species of Borneo, The Carnivorous Plant FAQ (Barry Rice)
- Nepenthes clipeata Survival Project (Cantley, Clarke, Cokendolpher, Rice and Wistuba), Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 34(4): 116-120 (2005)
- Nepenthes: basic cultivation, The Carnivorous Plant FAQ (Barry Rice)
- Thumbnail guidelines on growing a tropical pitcher plant, The Carnivorous Plant FAQ (Barry Rice)
Mafunso ofunsidwa nthawi zambiri
Zithunzi za mbewu zomwe tigulitsa
Likupezeka Kuti Mugule
Mitundu Yogwirizana
Khalani Osinthidwa Shield-leaved Pitcher Plant
Lembetsani kuti mulandire malangizo osamalira, maupangiri akukulira, ndi zosintha zenizeni Shield-leaved Pitcher Plant ndi zomera zina zodya nyama.