Nepenthes gracilis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nepenthes gracilis

Upper pitcher of N. gracilis.
Bako National Park, Borneo.

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

Binomial name

Nepenthes gracilis
Korth. (1839)

Synonyms

Nepenthes angustifolia
Mast. (1881)
Nepenthes distillatoria
auct. non L.: Jack (1835)
Nepenthes distillatoria
auct. non L.: Wall. (1828)
[=N. distillatoria/N. gracilis]
Nepenthes korthalsiana
Miq. (1858)
Nepenthes laevis
Lindl. (1848)
Nepenthes laevis
Korth. ex Hook.f. in DC. (1873)
Nepenthes longinodis
G.Beck (1895)
Nepenthes obrieniana
Linden & Rodigas (1890) nom.ambiguum
[=?N. gracilis × N. rafflesiana × N. hirsuta × N. distillatoria/N. gracilis/N. mirabilis]
Nepenthes teysmanniana
Miq. (1858)
[=N. albomarginata/N. gracilis]

Nepenthes gracilis (pronounced /nəˈpɛnθiːz ɡɹˈæsɪlɪs/ or /ˈɡɹəˌsɪlɪs/, from Latin: gracilis = thin, slender), or the Slender Pitcher-Plant,^[1] is a very common lowland pitcher plant that is widespread in the Sunda region. The pitchers are relatively unremarkable with a very thin peristome and no unusual morphological features. Despite being a widespread plant, natural hybrids between N. gracilis and other species are quite rare.

1 Taxonomy
2 Infraspecific taxa
3 Natural hybrids
4 References

[edit] Taxonomy

In 2001, Charles Clarke performed a cladistic analysis of the Nepenthes species of Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia using 70 morphological characteristics of each taxon. The following is a portion of the resultant cladogram, showing part of "Clade 6". The sister pair of N. angasanensis and N. mikei has 79% support.^[2]

unnamed

	N. gracilis

	N. reinwardtiana

unnamed

N. tobaica

79%

	N. angasanensis

	N. mikei

[edit] Infraspecific taxa

Despite varying little across its range,^[2] N. gracilis has a number of infraspecific taxa. Most of these are no longer considered valid.

Nepenthes gracilis f. angustifolia (Mast.) Hort.Westphal (1993)
Nepenthes gracilis var. angustifolia (Mast.) Hort.Weiner in sched. (1985)
Nepenthes gracilis var. arenaria Ridl. ex Macf. (1908)
Nepenthes gracilis var. elongata Bl. (1852)
Nepenthes gracilis var. longinodis G.Beck (1895)
Nepenthes gracilis var. major Hort.Lindsay ex Dixon (1889)
Nepenthes gracilis var. teysmanniana (Miq.) Beck (1895)

[edit] Natural hybrids

The following natural hybrids involving N. gracilis have been recorded.

N. ampullaria × N. gracilis [=N. × trichocarpa]^[3]
(N. ampullaria × N. gracilis) × N. bicalcarata [=N. × trichocarpa × N. bicalcarata]
N. bicalcarata × N. gracilis [=N. × cantleyi]^[3]
? N. eustachya × N. gracilis
N. gracilis × N. mirabilis [=N. × ghazallyana, N. × grabilis, N. neglecta?]^[3]
N. gracilis × N. northiana [=N. × bauensis]^[4]
N. gracilis × N. rafflesiana^[3]
N. gracilis × N. reinwardtiana^[2]
N. gracilis × N. sumatrana

Nepenthes × trichocarpa

Nepenthes × cantleyi

? N. eustachya × N. gracilis

N. gracilis × N. sumatrana

[edit] References

^ Phillipps, A. & A. Lamb 1996. Pitcher-Plants of Borneo. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu.
^ ^a ^b ^c Clarke, C.M. 2001. Nepenthes of Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Clarke, C.M. 1997. Nepenthes of Borneo. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu.
^ Lee, C.C. 2004. Nepenthes. In: Sarawak Bau Limestone Biodiversity. H.S. Yong, F.S.P. Ng and E.E.L. Yen (eds). The Sarawak Museum Journal Vol. LIX, No. 80; Special Issue No. 6: 71–77.

Adam, J. H., R. Omar & C. C. Wilcock 2002. Phytochemical Screening of Flavonoids in Three Hybrids of Nepenthes (Nepenthaceae) and their Putative Parental Species from Sarawak and Sabah.PDF OnLine Journal of Biological Sciences 2(9): 623–625.
Athauda, S.B.P., K. Matsumoto, S. Rajapakshe, M. Kuribayashi, M. Kojima, N. Kubomura-Yoshida, A. Iwamatsu, C. Shibata, H. Inoue & K. Takahashi 2004. Enzymatic and structural characterization of nepenthesin, a unique member of a novel subfamily of aspartic proteinases.PDF (1.32 MiB) (manuscript BJ20031575) Biochemical Journal 381(1): 295–306.
Aung, H.H., L.S. Chia, N.K. Goh, T.F. Chia, A.A. Ahmed, P.W. Pare & T.J. Mabry 2002. Phenolic constituents from the leaves of the carnivorous plant Nepenthes gracilis. Fitoterapia 73(5): 445–447. PubMed
Clarke, C.M., R. Cantley, J. Nerz, H. Rischer & A. Witsuba (2000). Nepenthes gracilis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 10 May 2006.
Kato, M. 1993. Floral biology of Nepenthes gracilis (Nepenthaceae) in Sumatra. American Journal of Botany 80(8): 924–927. doi:10.2307/2445512
Mogi, M. & K.L. Chan 1997. Variation in communities of dipterans in Nepenthes pitchers in Singapore: Predators increase prey community diversity. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 90(2): 177–183.
Mokkamul, P., A. Chaveerach, R. Sudmoon & T. Tanee 2007. Species Identification and Sex Determination of the Genus Nepenthes (Nepenthaceae).PDF (702 KiB) Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences 10(4): 561–567.
Moran, J.A., W.E. Booth & J.K. Charles 1999. Aspects of Pitcher Morphology and Spectral Characteristics of Six Bornean Nepenthes Pitcher Plant Species: Implications for Prey Capture.PDF Annals of Botany 83: 521–528.
Normawati, Y. 2002. The effect of stem length on pitcher and inflorescence production in Nepenthes gracilis and Nepenthes mirabilis at Serendah Selangor. B.Sc. Thesis. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.