Great Pitcher Plant

Таксономија

Семејство:	Nepenthaceae
Род:	Nepenthes
Нарачај:	Caryophyllales

Преглед

Nepenthes maxima, the great pitcher plant, is a climbing tropical pitcher plant from New Guinea, Sulawesi and the Maluku Islands. It is one of the most variable species in the genus, and its tall, often red striped and spotted upper pitchers have made it a classic of conservatory collections.

Nepenthes maxima is a climbing plant with leathery, oblong to lanceolate leaves, usually 15 to 30 cm long in the climbing stems. As in other Nepenthes, the tip of each leaf extends into a tendril that carries a pitcher. Lower pitchers are ellipsoid or ovate below and cylindrical towards the mouth, up to about 20 cm tall, with two fringed wings down the front. Upper pitchers are funnel shaped to tubular, 7 to 30 cm tall, usually with two raised ribs in place of the wings. The lid is ovate and heart shaped at the base and carries two appendages on its underside, a flattened one near the base and a thread- or club-shaped one near the tip. B. H. Danser described the pitchers as light green to white, often with brown-red or violet spots near the mouth, with the peristome and lid often red or striped.

The species is extraordinarily variable across its range, particularly in its pitchers. Plants in drier, somewhat seasonal parts of New Guinea tend to produce elongated pitchers with narrow peristomes and a well developed waxy zone, while plants in constantly humid areas often have a reduced waxy zone and an enlarged peristome. Some forms, especially from Sulawesi, have distinctly wavy leaf margins, a trait named forma undulata in 1985.

Nepenthes maxima gives its name to a loosely defined 'N. maxima complex' that also includes N. boschiana, N. chaniana, N. epiphytica, N. eymae, N. faizaliana, N. fusca, N. klossii, N. platychila, N. stenophylla and N. vogelii. Like all Nepenthes, plants are either male or female.

Географски информации

Матичен регион: New Guinea, Sulawesi and the Maluku Islands (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea); possibly Wowoni Island

Климатски зони: Tropical lowland to highland; grown under glass outside the tropics

Nepenthes maxima has a relatively wide range covering New Guinea, Sulawesi and the Maluku Islands, and it may also be present on Wowoni Island. Barry Rice classes it as a lowland-highland species. The herbarium collections B. H. Danser examined in 1928 came from about 600 to 2,100 m above sea level, and photographed populations span Sulawesi at 400 m to New Guinea at 2,600 m. Pitcher form tracks the climate: elongated, waxy pitchers in drier, seasonal parts of New Guinea and wide-rimmed pitchers in perhumid areas.

Физички карактеристики

Зрела големина: Climbing; lower pitchers to about 20 cm (8 in), upper pitchers 7-30 cm (3-12 in) tall

Стапка на раст: Moderate

Тип на стапица: Pitfall Trap

The pitchers are pitfall traps hanging from the leaf tendrils. Their inner walls are slippery and very hard for prey to climb, and the ribbed rim, the peristome, helps both to retain prey and to conduct it into the pitcher. The lid's coloring and nectar glands attract insects, and those clinging to its underside are at risk of falling in. In N. maxima the inner surface of the pitcher is glandular, with roughly 800 to 1,700 glands per square centimeter depending on the pitcher type. The balance between peristome and waxy zone varies with climate: a fully wetted peristome is thought to trap prey more effectively than the waxy zone, but it performs poorly in dry conditions, which may explain why plants from drier areas rely on a well developed waxy zone.

Водич за нега

Светлински барања

Bright, diffuse sunlight. Artificial lighting can be enough if it is bright. Windowsills and outdoor settings outside the tropics are usually unsuitable because the air is too dry, so most growers use a humid greenhouse or growing chamber.

Bright light year round; no seasonal rest дневно

Потребни вода

Тип: Purified water (distilled, reverse osmosis or rain) is safest

Метод: Water from above and let the excess drain. Plants left standing in trays often develop dwarfed root systems.

Фреквенција: Keep the mix moist; frequent watering suits an airy, well drained mix

Влажност: High: at least 60%, ideally near 90%

Почва

Start with a 50:50 mix of long-fiber sphagnum moss and perlite. Match the mix to your conditions: in a very humid setting with frequent watering an almost pure aggregate mix works, while a brighter, drier setting needs more sphagnum to hold water. After about a year, knock the plant out of its pot and check that the roots are spreading through the mix.

pH: Acidic (sphagnum based)

Температура

Лето: Days 77-93°F (25-34°C); nights 14-18°F cooler

Зима: Same as summer; no winter rest

Хранење

Фреквенција: Optional; fertilizer at most once or twice a month into pitchers

Optional. If you want to fertilize, pour a small amount of orchid or epiphyte fertilizer directly into the pitchers once or twice a month, starting small and watching the effect. Plants that catch insects need nothing more, and many growers never fertilize Nepenthes.

Размножување

Методи: Stem cuttings: cut a green stem into segments with about two leaves each, trim each leaf to about a third of its size, bury the lower half in the mix and keep the pot in a closed bag at 100% humidity. Roots usually form within a month or so. Cuttings made under water root better. Seed needs a male and a female plant flowering at the same time; the long, threadlike seed should be sown immediately.

Тешкотија: Moderate

Совети за почетници

Give it room: most Nepenthes become large plants in time, and N. maxima is a climber. Keep it bright, warm and very humid, water from above, and expect old pitchers to die off as new ones form.

Отстранување проблеми

Leaf edges burning and tendrils failing to form pitchers: humidity is too low. Small plant with a weak root system: the pot has been left standing in water. Roots not exploring the mix after a year: change the mix.

Совети за одгледување

Water from the top General

Water over the mix and let it drain. Unlike Sarracenia and flytraps, Nepenthes left standing in a tray tend to develop stunted roots.

Humidity makes the pitchers Troubleshooting

If new leaves form without pitchers or the leaf edges burn, raise the humidity first. At least 60% is needed, and closer to 90% is better.

Know where your plant comes from Advanced

N. maxima grows from near sea level in Sulawesi to high elevations in New Guinea. A known origin tells you whether to aim for warmer lowland nights or a cooler highland drop at night.

Интересни факти

The name maxima comes from the Latin maximus, 'greatest'.
Before Linnaeus, Rumphius recorded it in the Moluccas as 'Cantharifera alba'.
On Ambon its Malay name was recorded as tempajan setan, which Danser translated as 'devil's water cask'.
A Sulawesi plant sold as N. maxima 'Lake Poso' since 2009 was described in 2016 as a separate species, N. minima.
Natural hybrids are known with N. glabrata, N. klossii, N. neoguineensis and N. tentaculata, and possibly N. eymae.
The IUCN Red List assessed the species as Least Concern in 2018 (Clarke, assessment T39675A143962061).

Историја

The type specimen was collected by Caspar Reinwardt on Gunung Roemengan in the Manado region of Sulawesi, and the species was published under Reinwardt's name by Nees in 1824 in the Annales des Sciences Naturelles. Rumphius had already recorded a white pitcher plant from the Moluccas, his 'Cantharifera alba', which Danser considered almost certainly to be this species.

Several later names proved to be the same plant. Hooker described N. celebica in 1873, and Maxwell Masters published N. curtisii in The Gardeners' Chronicle in 1887, and a form named N. curtisii var. superba came from the Veitch nursery. John Muirhead Macfarlane was the first to unite N. maxima, N. celebica and N. curtisii, and Danser agreed with him in his 1928 monograph The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies, noting that N. maxima varies more than most other Nepenthes, especially in New Guinea.

Извори

Често поставувани прашања

Bright, diffuse sunlight. Artificial lighting can be enough if it is bright. Windowsills and outdoor settings outside the tropics are usually unsuitable because the air is too dry, so most growers use a humid greenhouse or growing chamber. Aim for about Bright light year round; no seasonal rest of light a day.

Purified water (distilled, reverse osmosis or rain) is safest. Water from above and let the excess drain. Plants left standing in trays often develop dwarfed root systems.

Start with a 50:50 mix of long-fiber sphagnum moss and perlite. Match the mix to your conditions: in a very humid setting with frequent watering an almost pure aggregate mix works, while a brighter, drier setting needs more sphagnum to hold water. After about a year, knock the plant out of its pot and check that the roots are spreading through the mix. ПХ на почвата: Acidic (sphagnum based).

Не му треба неподвижност, зимска температура: Same as summer; no winter rest.

Optional. If you want to fertilize, pour a small amount of orchid or epiphyte fertilizer directly into the pitchers once or twice a month, starting small and watching the effect. Plants that catch insects need nothing more, and many growers never fertilize Nepenthes. Колку често: Optional; fertilizer at most once or twice a month into pitchers.

New Guinea, Sulawesi and the Maluku Islands (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea); possibly Wowoni Island. Nepenthes maxima has a relatively wide range covering New Guinea, Sulawesi and the Maluku Islands, and it may also be present on Wowoni Island.

ИУЦН Црвената листа го проценува како Least Concern.

Stem cuttings: cut a green stem into segments with about two leaves each, trim each leaf to about a third of its size, bury the lower half in the mix and keep the pot in a closed bag at 100% humidity. Roots usually form within a month or so. Cuttings made under water root better. Seed needs a male and a female plant flowering at the same time; the long, threadlike seed should be sown immediately.

Leaf edges burning and tendrils failing to form pitchers: humidity is too low. Small plant with a weak root system: the pot has been left standing in water. Roots not exploring the mix after a year: change the mix.

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