Nepenthes macrovulgaris

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Nepenthes macrovulgaris

Nepenthes macrovulgaris. Sabah, Borneo.

Conservation status

Vulnerable (IUCN)

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Nepenthaceae
Genus:	Nepenthes
Species:	N. macrovulgaris

Binomial name

Nepenthes macrovulgaris
Turnbull & Middleton (1988)

Nepenthes macrovulgaris (Latin: macro = large, vulgaris = common) is a species of pitcher plant. It is a lowland plant and grows at altitudes ranging from 500 to 800 m in sub-montane forest clearings and mossy forest. Its range is restricted to three mountains: Mount Kinabalu, Mount Tambuyukon and Mount Silam, all in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Pitchers grow to around 25 cm high and range in colour from green to brown, with the speckled form being the most common.^[1]^[2]

[edit] Taxonomy

N. macrovulgaris is most closely related to N. hirsuta and N. hispida, and may be difficult to distinguish from them.

Morphological differences between *N. macrovulgaris*, *N. hirsuta* and *N. hispida* (Steiner, 2002 after Clarke, 1997)
N. macrovulgaris	N. hirsuta	N. hispida
leaves charteous ≤30 cm, oblong to linear	leaves coriaceous ≤20 cm, canaliculate-spathulate or obovate	leaves coriaceous sessile ≤28 cm, oblanceolate-oblongate
apex acute to obtuse	apex acute or roundish	apex acuminate-obtuse, often unequal
base attenuate into a winged petiole, wings wider towards the base, clasping stem for about ½ its diameter, not decurrent	base attenuate, forming laterally flattened, semi-amplexicaul sheath	base attenuate, amplexicaul and often decurrent onto the internode
longitudinal veins: 2-3 on each side	longitudinal veins not prominent	longitudinal veins: 3 on each side
adult pitchers and stem glabrous, young pitchers with short, thin hairs	stem densely covered with long brown hairs, not as bristle-like as those of N. hispida	stem very densely covered with bristle-like purple-grey hairs

[edit] Etymology

Turnbull and Middleton, who described the species in 1988, explain that they chose the specific epithet macrovulgaris to:^[3]

[...] indicate a relatively large plant and to indicate that no single characteristic uniquely distinguishes this taxon from all others. The suffix vulgaris does not indicate that this species is either common or ordinary. On the contrary, it is quite striking. The epithet is an irregular combination of Greek and Latin. The name was used in the field to identify living material which was distributed to growers and this informal name is now commonly used by collectors. We feel that to change the name now would create unnecessary confusion.

[edit] References

^ Clarke, C.M. 1997. Nepenthes of Borneo. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu.
^ Steiner, H. 2002. Borneo: Its Mountains and Lowlands with their Pitcher Plants. Toihaan Publishing Company, Kota Kinabalu.
^ Phillipps, A. & A. Lamb 1996. Pitcher Plants of Borneo. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu.

Schnell, D., Catling, P., Folkerts, G., Frost, C., Gardner, R., et al. (2000). Nepenthes macrovulgaris. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Listed as Vulnerable (VU A1cd v2.3).