Lake Toba Pitcher Plant

I-Taxonomy

Usapho:	Nepenthaceae
I-Genus:	Nepenthes
Umyalelo:	Caryophyllales

Isishwankathelo

Nepenthes tobaica is a slender climbing pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra, named after Lake Toba, where it is so abundant that it is hard to miss. Its small green to red, often speckled pitchers sometimes carry a pair of 'eye spots' inside.

Nepenthes tobaica is a climbing plant with stems up to 7 m long and only about 6 mm thick. The leathery leaves, up to 20 cm long and 4 cm wide, are sessile or nearly so and clasp the stem, and white star-shaped hairs often grow in the leaf axils. Lower pitchers are ovoid below and cylindrical above, up to 20 cm tall and 4 cm wide, with a pair of wings that are often fringed. Upper pitchers reach 25 cm tall and 5 cm wide, with a well developed waxy zone and two ribs in place of the wings. The narrow peristome is up to 5 mm wide. A pair of 'eye spots' is sometimes present on the inner wall below the lid, and in some forms the underside of the lid is vivid red, making plants easy to spot. Danser described the pitchers as light green or yellowish green with red dots, or more red, rarely almost wholly red.

It is closely related to N. angasanensis, N. gracilis, N. mikei and N. reinwardtiana, and Barry Rice notes that it often has eye spots just like N. reinwardtiana. Five natural hybrids are recorded, with N. ampullaria, N. reinwardtiana, N. rhombicaulis, N. spathulata and N. spectabilis.

Ulwazi lweJografi

Ingingqi yoMthonyama: Sumatra, Indonesia (endemic); from the Gayo Lands of Aceh south to Jambi, most abundant around Lake Toba

Imimandla yeMozulu: Tropical, about 380-1,800 m; grown under glass outside the tropics

N. tobaica usually grows on the ground in exposed places, commonly at forest edges where it grows with Leptospermum and Rhodomyrtus. Early collectors on the plateau around Lake Toba called it one of the most common and characteristic plants of old clearings, scrub and grassland, climbing into Leptospermum trees, and it has also been found on vertical earth banks. Charles Clarke gives its elevation as 380 to 1,800 m, from near Sibolga to Mount Pangulubao, though Jebb and Cheek report it up to 2,750 m. Its known range was later extended south to Mount Sorik Merapi and to a high-altitude peat swamp near Lake Kerinci at 1,100 m, where it grows with N. ampullaria, N. gracilis, N. mirabilis, N. reinwardtiana and N. spathulata and the species hybridise extensively.

Iimpawu zoMzimba

Ubungakanani obuqolileyo: Slender stems to 7 m; pitchers up to 20-25 cm (8-10 in) tall

Izinga lokuKhula: Moderate

Uhlobo lomgibe: Pitfall Trap

The pitchers are pitfall traps at the ends of the leaf tendrils. Prey attracted by the lid's color and nectar glands loses its footing on the peristome or the slippery walls and falls into the fluid. In the lower pitchers of N. tobaica the glandular region is confined to the swollen lower part, and the upper pitchers have a well developed waxy zone on the inner wall. As in other Nepenthes, low pitchers tend to catch crawling prey and higher ones more flying insects.

Isikhokelo sokuKhathalela

Iimfuno zokukhanya

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 yonke imihla

IiMfuno zaManzi

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

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

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

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

Umhlaba

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)

Ubushushu

Ihlobo: Days 77-86°F (25-30°C); nights about 18°F cooler

Ubusika: Same as summer; no winter rest

Ukutya

Ukuphindaphinda: 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.

Ukusasaza

Iindlela: 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.

Ubunzima: Moderate

Iingcebiso zabaQalayo

Give it bright light, high humidity and a clear drop in temperature at night. The stems are thin, so provide a small support once the plant begins to climb.

Ukulungisa ingxaki

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.

Iingcebiso zokuKhula

Burnt leaf edges Troubleshooting

Leaf edges that burn and tendrils that stop forming pitchers mean the air is too dry. Raise the humidity before changing anything else.

Cool nights help Advanced

Most wild populations grow in the hills around Lake Toba. Days of 25-30°C (77-86°F) and nights about 10°C (18°F) cooler match its highland-lowland range.

Is it really N. tobaica? General

Plants in the trade under this name are sometimes a man-made cross between N. khasiana and N. ventricosa. Buy from a source that can state the plant's origin.

Inyaniso enika umdla

Danser wrote that it might be only a form of N. reinwardtiana, but no intermediate plants had been found.
Some plants sold as N. tobaica are probably a man-made cross between N. khasiana and N. ventricosa.
Around the town of Prapat plants have been seen flowering in April.
A mite, Creutzeria tobaica, was described from pitchers of a Javanese plant identified as N. tobaica, although the species has never been recorded outside Sumatra.
The IUCN Red List assessed it as Least Concern in 2018 (Clarke, assessment T39705A143965440).

Imbali

The earliest known specimen was collected by Johannes Elias Teijsmann on 8 February 1856, probably in the Batak lands of northern Sumatra; Matthew Jebb and Martin Cheek designated it the lectotype in 1997. B. H. Danser formally described N. tobaica in 1928 in The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies, by which time many herbarium specimens existed, all from the plateau north, east and south of Lake Toba.

The species has repeatedly been confused with the related N. angasanensis: plants called N. tobaica in Danser's 1940 description of N. densiflora are N. angasanensis, and the specimens in Tamin and Hotta's 1986 account of Sumatran Nepenthes include both. Towards the end of the 20th century new localities were found well south of the Toba region.

IiNkqubo

Imibuzo ebuza rhoqo

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. Injongo malunga ne-Bright light year round; no seasonal rest yokukhanya ngosuku.

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. I-pH yomhlaba: Acidic (sphagnum based).

Ayifuni ukuphumla. Ubushushu bebusika: 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. How often: Optional; fertilizer at most once or twice a month into pitchers.

Sumatra, Indonesia (endemic); from the Gayo Lands of Aceh south to Jambi, most abundant around Lake Toba. N. tobaica usually grows on the ground in exposed places, commonly at forest edges where it grows with Leptospermum and Rhodomyrtus.

I-IUCN Red List ichaza ukuba i-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.

Carnivoras ithengisa i Lake Toba Pitcher Plant eMexico. Bona izityalo ezifumanekayo kule phepha.

Iyafumaneka ukuze ithengwe

Nepenthes tobaica

$500MXN

≈ US$27.11

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Hlala uhlaziyiwe Lake Toba Pitcher Plant

Bhalisa ukufumana iingcebiso zokhathalelo, izikhokelo ezikhulayo, kunye nohlaziyo olukhethekileyo Lake Toba Pitcher Plant kunye nezinye izityalo ezitya inyama.

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