Painted pitcher plant

Description

Nepenthes burbidgeae also known as the painted pitcher plant or Burbidge's Pitcher-Plant, is a tropical pitcher plant with a patchy distribution around Mount Kinabalu and neighbouring Mount Tambuyukon in Sabah, Borneo.The leaves of this species are coriaceous and petiolate. The lamina or leaf blade is oblong in shape and up to 40 cm long by 10 cm wide. It has an acute apex and its base is typically abruptly attenuate. The petiole is winged, up to 15 cm long,and clasps the stem. It is often decurrent into two narrow wings that extend down the stem. Three to four longitudinal veins are present on either side of the midrib. Pinnate veins are inconspicuous. Tendrils are up to 30 cm long, Rosette and lower pitchers are rounded-infundibular or conical in shape. Unlike the pitchers of many other Nepenthes species, those of N. burbidgeae have no obvious constriction in the middle. The lower pitchers are relatively large, being up to 25 cm high by 10 cm wide. A pair of fringed wings, measuring up to 10 mm in width, runs down the front of each pitcher. The glandular region, which bears minute overarched glands, covers the basal half of the pitcher's inner surface. The pitcher mouth is round and elongated into a short neck at the rear. The peristome is flattened and expanded, measuring up to 30 mm in width. Its inner margin is lined with a series of small but distinct teeth. The inner portion of the peristome accounts for around 49% of its total cross-sectional surface length.The pitcher lid or operculum is ovate and up to 8 cm wide. It bears a distinct keel as well as a characteristic hooked appendage on its lower surface. An unbranched spur (≤12 mm long) is inserted near the base of the lid.